Resume & CV Tips for Australia
What Australian employers and applicant tracking systems actually look for, with real before-and-after examples you can copy into your own resume today.
Most resumes that get knocked back in Australia aren’t badly written. They’re written for a different market. An overseas format with a photo and date of birth, a list of duties with no results, or a two-column template that confuses the recruiter’s software can all sink an application before a person reads it.
The good news is that the Australian format is simple, and fixing a resume usually takes an afternoon, not a rewrite of your career. This guide covers the layout, length and wording Australian employers expect, then walks through a full before-and-after example.
Resume or CV?
In Australia the two words are used almost interchangeably. Most job ads say “resume” and mean a focused document of two to three pages. “CV” is mainly used in academia, research and medicine, where a longer record of publications, grants and appointments is expected. If an ad asks for a CV for an ordinary office, trade or hospitality role, it almost always means a standard resume.
The structure that works
Australian recruiters often spend well under a minute on a first read, so put the most useful information at the top and keep the order predictable.
| Section | What to include |
|---|---|
| Header | Name, suburb and state (e.g. Maylands, WA), mobile, email, LinkedIn, and a one-line work rights statement such as “Australian citizen” or “Full work rights, no sponsorship required”. |
| Profile | Three or four lines: the role you’re targeting and two or three results that prove you can do it. |
| Key skills | Seven to twelve skills, using the same words as the job ad. Group them if it helps, e.g. technical, compliance, software. |
| Experience | Most recent first. For each role, one line on scope, then four to six bullets showing results. |
| Education & tickets | Put Australian licences and tickets first: White Card, RSA, Working with Children Check, First Aid, forklift licence, AHPRA registration and so on. |
| Referees | “Available on request” is fine. Have two people ready and ask them first. |
If you’re missing a ticket or certificate that keeps appearing in ads for your target role, a short course can close that gap quickly, and it shows initiative. Browse our affordable Australian courses to see what’s available.
Getting past ATS software
Most large employers and recruitment agencies, and the big job boards, use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to sort applications. These systems read your resume as plain text and match it against the job ad. A resume that looks great to a person can come out scrambled.
Formatting that ATS can read
- One column, no text boxes or tables
- Standard fonts such as Calibri or Arial, 10.5 to 12pt
- Plain headings: Experience, Education, Skills
- Contact details in the body, not the page header or footer
- File name like Jane-Nguyen-Admin-Officer-Resume.pdf
Keywords that match the ad
- Pick out the five to seven main requirements in the ad
- Use their exact wording in your skills and bullets
- Name the software you’ve used: MYOB, Xero, SAP, Power BI
- Include Australian standards and licences by name
For a step-by-step check before you hit submit, use our ATS resume checklist. If you’re using AI tools to help write applications, read our guide to AI job applications in Australia first, because generic AI wording is easy for recruiters to spot.
Writing bullets that show results
The most common weakness we see is a list of duties. A duty tells the employer what you were supposed to do. A result tells them what happened because you did it. Each bullet should start with an action, include a number where you have one, and finish with the outcome.
| Duty (weak) | Result (stronger) |
|---|---|
| Responsible for customer service | Handled 35+ customer enquiries a week with a 92% satisfaction score, cutting the email backlog by 28% in three months. |
| Worked on safety initiatives | Introduced daily pre-start checks that reduced lost-time injuries by 18% across two WA sites in 12 months. |
| Helped with month-end | Automated bank reconciliations in Excel Power Query, reducing month-end close from five days to three. |
| Served customers at the bar | Served up to 200 customers a shift during peak events while maintaining full RSA compliance. |
Not every job comes with metrics. Use whatever is countable: how many customers, staff, sites, orders or shifts; how often you were trusted to open or close; what you were promoted to or asked to train others in. “Trained four new starters on the POS system” is still a result.
A full before-and-after example
Here’s one experience entry from a resume we reworked for someone moving from retail into an administration role in Perth.
Before
- Retail assistant, 2023 to 2025
- Served customers
- Did stock take
- Used the computer system
- Other duties as required
After
- Retail Assistant, Midland store (busiest in region), 2023 to 2025
- Processed 80+ transactions a day and resolved refunds and complaints without escalation
- Led monthly stock counts of 3,000+ items, keeping variance under 1%
- Entered orders and stock adjustments in the store’s inventory system
- Trained three new staff on opening, closing and cash handling procedures
Nothing in the “after” version is invented. It’s the same job, described in terms an office manager cares about: accuracy, systems, problem solving and reliability. That’s what a career-change resume needs to do.
Government selection criteria
State and federal government jobs often ask you to address selection criteria, either one by one or in a one- to two-page “pitch”. Read the ad carefully, because the format varies between agencies.
- Copy each criterion into your document and respond to every one directly
- Use the STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Some agencies also like a short reflection on what you learned
- Aim for a third to half a page per criterion, unless the ad sets a word limit
- For a pitch, put your strongest examples against the criteria that matter most for the role
Graduates, career changers and new arrivals
Graduates
Put Education above Experience for your first role. Include placements, major projects, relevant units and awards. Part-time and volunteer work counts, so describe it with results just like any other job.
Career changers
Open with a skills section that links what you’ve done to what the new role needs. A “Relevant projects” section can show outcomes from courses, volunteering or side work. Keep dates on all your roles, though. Hiding them tends to raise more questions than it answers.
New arrivals and international candidates
Australian employers want to know two things quickly: can you legally work here, and will your experience translate? State your work rights in the header, using the visa subclass if it helps (e.g. “Subclass 189 permanent resident”). Translate overseas job titles into their Australian equivalents, and name international standards that Australians recognise, such as ISO, ITIL or IFRS. If you’re studying an Australian ticket or certificate, list it with an expected completion date.
If you’re job hunting in WA, our guide to the 2026 Perth job market covers which roles are hiring and how to tailor your resume for them. When your resume is ready, see our list of the top job boards in Australia.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Listing duties instead of results | Rewrite each bullet as action, number, outcome. |
| No work rights statement | Add one line to the header. Recruiters will often skip applications where this is unclear. |
| Designer templates with columns and icons | Switch to a clean one-column layout that ATS can read. |
| US or UK spelling | Set spellcheck to English (Australia): organise, licence, centre. |
| Photo, date of birth or marital status | Remove them. They aren’t expected in Australia. |
| Best achievements buried on page two | Move them into your profile and the first bullet of each role. |
Cover letters
Keep cover letters to one page. Open by linking your background to the two or three things the ad emphasises most, using its wording. Give two or three specific examples with results. Close with your availability, location and any relevant tickets or licences. A tailored half-page letter beats a generic full page every time.
Frequently asked questions
One to two pages early in your career, and two to three pages for most experienced candidates. Government and academic roles can be longer if the ad asks for more detail.
No. Photos aren’t expected in Australia, except for some modelling, acting or hospitality front-of-house roles where the ad specifically asks for one.
“Referees available on request” is widely accepted. Have two referees ready, usually recent managers, and check with them before you start applying.
PDF keeps your formatting intact and is the safe default. Send a Word document if the ad or the recruiter asks for one, since some older systems read .docx files more reliably.
Use a one-column layout, plain headings and the exact keywords from the ad. A quick test is to copy all the text from your PDF and paste it into a plain text file. If it comes out jumbled, an ATS will probably struggle too.
Fill the gaps on your resume
Missing a ticket or certificate that keeps showing up in job ads? Our short, affordable online courses help you add verifiable Australian skills to your resume.
Explore CoursesThis guide is general information about resume and application practices in Australia. Employer requirements vary, so always follow the instructions in the specific job ad you’re applying for.