How to Structure Your CV
Some of the sections below are optional and should be removed if not applicable.
1. Overview
2. Employment Chronology
Placing a brief chronologically ordered list of roles at the top of your resume assists the hiring manager in seeing the alignment of your experience and their role. Eg, they need a project manager and then see your resume that lists roles such as project administration, project support officer, project officer, junior project manager, project manager.
Keep in mind that these are roles that you have had not necessarily your actual job title at the time. An example for an ex-ADF member, you may have been a telecommunications technician and then been asked to be the project manager of a suitably sized project. If you are applying for a project support officer role then this section is the right place to highlight that experience.
3. Security Clearance
4. Business Skills
5. Qualifications and Education
Your educational experience and achievements should be listed here, along with dates and type of qualification.
A common strategy is to separate the section into Education and Certifications.
While we can have a good old fashioned chat about the usefulness of formal education and certifications the key here is they help you get an interview and job interviews. If you have the time and want to decrease your job hunting efforts we would recommend exploring your education/certification options.
6. Employment Experience
This section should include all of your relevant work experience, listed with the most recent first. Include your job title, the name of the organisation, time in post, and your key responsibilities.
It is ok to have gaps in your experience CV, the interview provides an opportunity for you to discuss these gaps if asked by the interview panel.
7. Other Relevant Experience
Optional: In some resumes they call this section Hobbies and Interests. It should only be used to call out skills and experience you have which highlight your suitability for a role which haven’t been stated in other sections. If your hobbies and interests don’t support the role you are applying for leave this out in order to keep your resume short.
8. Honours and Awards
As the title implies, a simple list of your honours and awards.
