Advice for Job Seekers

• Contact details should be on front page
  
• Ensure it is grammatically correct and well set out
  
• Establish the purpose of the CV and have:
  • a general CV
  • a specific CV for a particular job
  CVs should be brief but targeted enough to explain your relevance to the key job task at hand. Even the CV for an executive position compared to an independent director role should be reframed.
• Provide a career synopsis at the top of the CV. 3-5 lines describing yourself in terms of experience, achievements and desired job objectives. Don’t make a shopping list of things like good listener, good writer etc. These things should be implicit. The summary should be impactful and akin to a lead paragraph in newspaper or magazine article. It is designed to catch the eye and give the reader a quick framework from which to consider the following matters.
• Clearly describe the roles that you have had. Make sure you clearly identify the organisation and the job title. Explain what the role was in terms of content, responsibilities and your achievements.
  For example
  • “All risk responsibilities for manufacturing division, with 45 staff reporting, risk profile covering AUD$15 million.”
    
  Then put some scope around the role and tell about your achievements. You should always include the dates you worked in the role. Usually years is sufficient e.g. 2000-2004. People reading your CV are looking for your results and what you have achieved in your roles.
• Write the CV in the third party, i.e. he or she, do not use personal pronouns such as I or my. After all, the CV may go into various places and locations where you may not be perceived as the original writer.
  
• Keep personal information to the bottom of the CV. It is not important to list down what your spouse does for a living – unless it may have a direct influence on your ability to be involved in an appointment i.e. ability to relocate. It is not essential to list how many children you have or their ages, however it can be helpful to note if it will directly affect your ability to relocate/travel in relation to a senior executive appointment.
  
• It is not necessary at any senior level to list awards from early days, or even your awards from the local tennis club etc.
• We do strongly encourage you to list your qualifications on the front page and to include other roles such as board or council appointments, membership of professional organisations such as AICD, AIM or AHRI etc.
  
• Don’t assume that everyone knows the organisations that you have worked for. Of course if it is a large organisation they probably will but smaller organisations they won’t. Be prepared to explain what the lesser known organisations are before your list the title of the role you had with them.
  ABC Engineering Pty Ltd
  (Mid-Cap engineering company established in 1990; current revenues $25M and 100
  staff; servicing the automotive industry).
  HR Manager
• The length or your CV should be 2-4 pages. It can be longer but you will lose reader interest. Any shorter than 2 pages and you are probably not giving enough content about your achievements in the roles etc.