Common Resume Mistakes

We survey Australian employers of all sizes - local, national and international companies, Government departments, employment agencies and educational bodies - ensuring we are armed with the correct information needed for your resume / application.

Employers contacted by Aussie Résumés have included (amongst others):

AC Nielsen
Adelaide Bank
Australian Public Service Commission
Bankers Trust
Bounty Gold Mine
Chadwick Personnel
Department of Human Services
Department of Public Works and Services
L’oreal
Mirvac Hotels
Pegasus
Sony Australia Ltd
Stamford Hotel
Transfield
various shire councils

They responded in regards to vacant advertised positions, including:

Accountant
Administration Co-ordinator
Auditor
Customer Service Officer
Driver
Environmental Scientist
Executive Officer
Human Resources Officer
IT Support
Marketing Manager
Media Researcher
Medical Practice Manager
Operations Manager
Personal Assistant
Receptionist
Sales Assistant
Sales Manager
Storeman
Supermarket Manager
Teacher
Technical Support Officer
Trainee Engineering Manager

Here are some common mistakes as highlighted by employers. It could be costing you an interview!

Profile

Forget the section labelled "Career Objective". Latest survey results were very surprising indeed, revealing that 99% of employers want to see this section in your resume! The survey also revealed that your profile (or something similarly named) needs to contain the right mix of information.

Page Length

Asia Pacific employers prefer (in fact demand) a résumé of 3 to 4 pages in length. If you're living in Australia and seeking a job in the APAC region, then opt for the Aussie way and not the Yankee way! If you are applying for a position in the US or UK, their market is different to ours and we can assist in this area.
Only 9% of our respondents wanted to see 5 or 6 pages (this was for special circumstances), and only 8 respondents wanted to see 1 or 2 pages!
To quote one employer "usually any less than 3-4 pages does not give a clear picture of past experience and skills".

Date of Birth

There is no legal requirement for you to supply your date of birth.
This was an area where we saw a dramatic change compared to previous surveys.
Results from the Aussie Résumés Employer Survey was quite surprising: 38% stated yes they did like to see date of birth, 47% stated “it doesn’t matter”, and 12% said they don't want to see it. (3% of participants didn't respond to the question.)
(Note: this is a debatable issue and needs to be considered for your particular circumstance. It is a sad fact that some employers will, and do, discriminate based on age. There are many contentious issues and factors to be considered. We would be happy to offer more opinion on this subject to our clients.)

Phone Referees

If your resume states "references available upon request" or similar, you may be doing yourself an injustice.
99% of surveyed employers want to see a list of phone referees, compared to 95% from the last survey. (Note: employers should not be contacting your referees without prior permission - usually obtained at interview. However, you must also be aware that this isn't a perfect world!)
Most government positions require a list of two or three phone referees, on application.
Our latest survey revealed a new trend as it relates to referees - as a client of Aussie Resumes we provide you with advice in this area.
To quote an employer: “Referee names and contact details should be provided. Failure to do so indicates something to hide.”

Graphics & Borders

Unless you're in a role which requires a great deal of creative flair such as: website designer; graphic artist; photographer; etc - stay away from graphics, photos and fancy borders, no matter how desperate you are in gaining the hiring manager's attention! This was one area specifically commented on, time and time again. (This also applies to IT applicants who insert Microsoft logos.)

Enlightening Employer Comments

"In the recently advertised position, we received over 350 resumes. The resumes that were automatically excluded were the ones that had spelling mistakes, unprofessional email addresses, any that had an inappropriate photo attached, anywhere they had used Monster or Seek resume services."
"Spelling is critical. I often shortlist people who can spell liaison / liaise correctly. Everyone seems to use this word but so many spell it incorrectly. To me it demonstrates an attention to detail. Also, if I receive a resume without a covering letter I don't even respond to it."
"Having just received over 500 applications for a part time IT support officer job, addressing the selection criteria in the covering letter was of paramount importance. If I had to wade through each CV to find the details, I was immediately put off."
“The more professional the résumé the greater appeal to me as the job provider. I generally give each résumé 2 minutes of my time. It's a very short window of opportunity."
When we asked employers about what bugs them, this was the response from just one employer!

“Plastic folders, career goals, attributes not backed up by proof or specific examples (i.e. loyal, hardworking), spelling and grammatical errors, résumés that are obviously the same from job to job applied for with just the job title changed (or sometimes forgotten to be changed), attached testimonials and certificates (pages of them!), irrelevant personal interests, really long résumés.”

We think that really sums it up!!

As reflected by our employer surveys, it is CRITICAL your resume, cover letter and / or selection criteria contain the correct information. The above is just a small representation of our survey results. We were very excited by the results from our latest employer survey as trends have definitely changed!

Why would you guess (or include incorrect information) and potentially jeopardise your career prospects?

We've done all the legwork to ensure you have the correct information employers demand. Our clients love our resumes but, even more importantly, so does their new employer!

For more information about the guaranteed services we provide, please click on one of the links below.

To have a qualified writer write your resume, click here
To write your own resume that an employer will love, click here

Have some questions? Complete this form. Prompt reply guaranteed!

Please Note: This article is copyright. Use in an article, on your website, or in any other form is strictly prohibited without written consent. Please contact for permission.

Aussie Résumés Pty Ltd is a registered company. Find out more about company registration.