Video Transcript:
Hi, my name is Drue Vickery and I’m a Mentoring and Employer Engagement Specialist with AMES Australia’s Community Education team. AMES Australia remains focused on supporting our community in developing and reinforcing the skills employers need.
Our series of tips and suggestions focus on your job search within the current labour market. We have included topics that are particularly relevant right now, such as video interviews and digital networking, in addition to topics which are always important, like resume reviewing and the use of Linkedin. Keep an eye out over the coming weeks and as always, stay safe everyone!
Review your resume
Hello, I’m Monica Quinones and today’s video will help you to focus on revising your resume.
Firstly, it’s critically important before you begin job searching, that you review, revise and update your resume. Tailoring to suit a specific job advertisement will come later, but to begin with your resume should look professional, uncluttered, sophisticated and modern.
Spend the time to organise the information in a clear and easily comprehensible way, so that the employers you send it to can quickly see that you are a suitable applicant.
Having the right structure to achieve this is critical.
You also need to go over all of your content to ensure everything is accurate; your work history, qualifications and certificates, skills and referees (including their contact details).
Check your timelines carefully.
If you are applying for two or more different occupations, it may be beneficial to have two different resumes so that you can highlight the relevant skills and experience for each. The best way to do this is to start with a comprehensive resume, completely updated, and then amend for each occupation, saving as a separate resume.
Save each application you submit, as you may find your amended documents useful for future applications.
Understand your transferrable skills
Australian employers often focus on locally developed skills. A lack of local experience can be a difficult barrier for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. It is not insurmountable.
When applying for a job for which you have no local experience, listing your transferable skills and their relevance to the job is critical. Transferable skills are the universal skills you’ve developed which are relevant to all workplaces, including:
Communication and customer service
Information Technology
General project management and organisational skills
The exact method you use to include your transferable skills in your application will depend on the job advertisement requirements and the application method; It could be in addressing selection criteria, in a cover letter, and/or in your resume.
When listing these skills, you’ll need to provide context of actually demonstrating them. Simply stating that you have IT skills is unconvincing, but explaining that you utilised your IT skills to develop a customer database is very impressive!
Ultimately, your challenge is to clearly and convincingly build your case as to why you’re the best candidate for the job. Transferable skills are likely to be the supporting skills rather than the key technical skills you highlight to get the job – remember, specific and technical skills will get you noticed, but soft and transferable skills show that you can use these technical skills effectively in a workplace.
Optimise your resume for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
My name is Thanushki Kankanage and today’s video will guide you through how to optimise your resume for the Applicant Tracking System. An Applicant Tracking System, or ATS, is software which scans your resume automatically when you apply for a job online. Most major companies use this software, so it’s important to keep in mind when preparing your resume. With that in mind, here are a few guidelines:
Microsoft Word (.docx) format is recommended.
PDF should be fine for most ATS, but some might struggle with it, so .docx is the safest option.
Other formats (i.e. Google Docs, etc. are not recommended unless you are specifically told otherwise).
Use simple formatting. Don’t put anything in the header or footer, don’t use graphs, borders, horizontal lines, charts or complex tables. Simple text, basic headings and bullet points should be fine. Elaborate formatting is likely to confuse the ATS, and information in the header and footer might get missed altogether. Space out your content; clear space is your friend!
Use the keywords from the job posting. The ATS will be programmed to look for the keywords from the job posting. If you have the skills and experience the employer is looking for and you are a good candidate for the job then it is likely you already have many of the necessary keywords in your resume, but a quick check to ensure you’ve covered everything is always advisable and will confirm the ATS is identifying plenty of matches in your application and passing you through the screening stage.
Also, if you are submitting your details through a website which asks you to input all your information through forms, take note of the terminology they use and mirror this in your resume. For instance, if they use the term Employment History and your resume uses Work History, update it to reflect the term the web form uses.
Follow the submission instructions carefully. When submitting your online application, ensure you follow all the instructions carefully. Take note of supported file types when attaching files, check file sizes against limits and check file naming support (text only, no characters or punctuation). Make a mistake with this and you might not even get to the ATS!
I hope this video was useful for you. If you have any questions about it feel free to reach out to us at AMES Australia and watch out for our next video!
This update is produced and reviewed by AMES Australia Employment Team.
Producer: Drue Vickery
Content Production: Arthur Chan
If you have any questions or wish to get in touch with AMES Australia to see how we can help you in your career journey, call 13 2637 during business hours.
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