I work in Recruitment here in Australia and have also worked in Recruitment in the UK.

JTL, I agree with you!! You are right in saying you dont need to "Australianise" a CV (or Resume) and keeping it in the bullet point format is perfectly acceptable. I took my Australia CV to the UK and used it there successfully. Then updated the same CV and bought it back here and also with a successful outcome.

I always say that the CV is purely to give them just enough information to make them want to know more, so they ask for an interview.

But just know that alot of companies over here have decided on the "Selection Criteria" application. The best advice I can give for these types of applications is ALWAYS back up your claims with examples.

Good luck!!

Hels

In article <[email protected]> ,
member31018@british_expats.com (Geordie George) wrote:

    > *Subject:* Re: CV format and looking for work
    > *From:* Geordie George <member31018@british_expats.com>
    > *Date:* Wed, 13 Apr 2005 03:42:38 +0000
    >
    >
    > > I must have missed that bit as I can't see that written anywhere!
    > > :rolleyes:
    >
    > Just thought I’d throw my and Mr GG’s experience in here, as we’re
    > applying for jobs in Sydney at the moment (or avoiding it, as the case
    > tends to be!).
    >
    > Patrick is a Process/Product Engineer, whilst in my last role in the UK
    > I worked as a Project Manager for a medical communications company. I
    > mention this, because whilst Mr GG’s occupation is fairly specialised,
    > my CV (as I tend to have it) emphasises the admin side of things, so is
    > a bit more general.
    >
    > Patrick has found most of the roles he’s applying for are advertised
    > through agencies. He’s spent most of his time here going in to
    > recruitment consultants’ offices and meeting people there. I’ve been
    > much better off applying for roles directly – either through searching
    > the websites previously mentioned or as found in the Sydney Morning
    > Herald of a weekend (although I have also registered with a couple of
    > agencies). Both approaches seem to be yielding results, as we’ve both
    > had a number of interviews. So I guess it’s horses for courses.
    >
    > Only thing I would say is that the recruitment process seems quite
    > lengthy over here – Patrick has just been invited to attend an
interview
    > for a role that he applied for before he even left the UK (and that was
    > about 7 weeks ago now!). I too am finding the same thing, so I think
    > this applies regardless of industry? Has anyone else had similar
    > experiences?
    >
    > Regarding the CV – we both updated our UK ones, rather than adapting or
    > Australianising them at all. They do follow a paragraph format, but
    > that’s how they were, we’ve not changed that. Feedback from recruitment
    > consultants has been positive – none have advised either Mr GG or I to
    > revamp our CVs at all.
    >
    > With regards to selection criteria – again I think this depends on the
    > industry and the type of role that you’re applying for. Patrick’s done
    > none, I seem to have done hundreds! Keep e-copies of all the ones that
    > you complete and then you can just cut and paste bits from different
    > ones to suit a new application you want to send in. They do tend to be
    > about four pages long, but I can now whip them off in about 30 minutes!
    > It’s worth investing the time getting the first couple right and then
    > you can adapt as suits best.
    >
    > Hope that helps,
    > Nichola
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com
    >

For timings, I called an agency in Sydney about an IT job at 16:30 on
the Thursday before Easter (24th March) - the recruiter had left for
the weekend but called back on the Tuesday morning (29th March) at
10:00. I had an interview with the agency the same day at mid-day,
first interview with the client (techie interview with team leader and
one of the tech team) on Wednesday 30th, second interview (PM and
department manager) Friday 1st, third interview (head of IT) Monday
4th, started work Wednesday 6th.

For the resume, mine is almost unchanged from my UK one. I
'internationalised' it by removing the 'Ltd.' from company names,
changed the education bits a little (I give minimal details anyway - it
was 18 years ago and not relevant to IT work) and added a bit about my
PR visa. Oh, and I call it a resume and not a CV. All the same
otherwise - contact details first, then a few paragraphs on skills,
names of IT certs and bullet points of tools used, then job details and
roles, going backwards from the most recent. Training/certs in more
details, ending up with a small personal details bit. Three pages. I
reckon recruiters have seen enough resumes from the UK that they are
happy with them now.

One nice thing is that the two agencies I've been through so far
haven't mangled my resume like those in the UK used to do. I've been
for interviews in the UK where the client gave me a copy of the CV they
received from the agency and I hardly recognised it as mine.


Paul

2 things to remember:
a good CV(resumes) won't get you a job - only an invitation to the next stage, but you can guarantee a crap one will stop you.
The easier it is to see what your skillset is (particularly in IT) the easier it is for the agent/employer to match you to the job - so I would suggest a summary as the first thing on the resume.Equally, a covering note tailored to the requirements of the job will go a long way (and will differentiate you from the 'spray and pray' merchants who blast out their details for almost every job, whether relvant or not.)

I bow to JacktheLad's knowledge and experience, but I can guarantee that if you want to find a good job in Sydney (at least) in IT, you have to make an attempt to include what the Aussies want to see (e.g. references). It may be different in Queensland where ther isn't the same competition (but I doubt it).

P.S. I've some 20+ years recruitment experience, and currently work in IT recruitment in the Sydney market!!

Where did I say not to include references? In fact, where did I say anything that went against anything you suggested in your post?

All I said was you recruitment agents try to make it seem like a black art to get your resume read my employers. Thats BS. If you tailor it to the requirements, it will get read. Theres no such thing as Australianisation of a CV, apart from calling it a resume and taking out any parochial UK language.

Differentiating yourself from the 'spray and pray' (love the phrase) is always vital. UK or OZ.

Believe me, the competition for jobs in QLD is as hot as Sydney, just fewer jobs and fewer people going for them.

Cheers,
JTL

No worries JTL.

Give the market here is 'contingency driven' (i.e. no placement, no fee) - and the vast majority of jobs are lodged with 3 or more agencies, most recruitment consultants will only go for easy pickings, so the less they have to do to understand how your skills match and the quicker they can pass on your details, the more likely it is they will consider you.

Consequently - if your resume contains anything they might not understand (e.g. English acronyms) or lacks crucial info (e.g. visa status, availability, references, etc.) it will get pushed back in line. Unless you've got a skill which is in very high demand, the chances are therefore significantly diminished.

We're in the process of trying to educate a number of our clients to the changing dynamics of the market here - and the need to speed up the recruitment process. IT skills are again moving into shortage - and good candidates are picking up 3 or 4 offers within a couple of weeks. However, some of the companies haven't woken up to the fact it's no longer a candidate rich market - and are still recruiting as they have for the last 3 years (i.e as slowly as possible, with as many people involved in the process as possible!). Surprise surprise, by the time they make a decision, the people they wanted have gone!

In article <[email protected]> ,
member6847@british_expats.com (kevmitch) wrote:

    > *Subject:* Re: CV format and looking for work
    > *From:* kevmitch <member6847@british_expats.com>
    > *Date:* Sun, 17 Apr 2005 07:22:56 +0000
    >
    >
    > > Where did I say not to include references? :confused: In fact,
    > > where did I say anything that went against anything you suggested in
    > > your post?
    > >
    > > All I said was you recruitment agents try to make it seem like a
black
    > > art to get your resume read my employers. Thats BS. If you tailor it
    > > to the requirements, it will get read. Theres no such thing as
    > > Australianisation of a CV, apart from calling it a resume and taking
    > > out any parochial UK language.
    > >
    > > Differentiating yourself from the 'spray and pray' (love the phrase)
    > > is always vital. UK or OZ.
    > >
    > > Believe me, the competition for jobs in QLD is as hot as Sydney, just
    > > fewer jobs and fewer people going for them.
    > >
    > > Cheers,
    > > JTL
    >
    > No worries JTL.
    >
    > Give the market here is 'contingency driven' (i.e. no placement, no
fee)
    > - and the vast majority of jobs are lodged with 3 or more agencies,
most
    > recruitment consultants will only go for easy pickings, so the less
they
    > have to do to understand how your skills match and the quicker they can
    > pass on your details, the more likely it is they will consider you.
    >
    > Consequently - if your resume contains anything they might not
    > understand (e.g. English acronyms) or lacks crucial info (e.g. visa
    > status, availability, references, etc.) it will get pushed back in
line.
    > Unless you've got a skill which is in very high demand, the chances are
    > therefore significantly diminished.
    >
    > We're in the process of trying to educate a number of our clients to
the
    > changing dynamics of the market here - and the need to speed up the
    > recruitment process. IT skills are again moving into shortage - and
good
    > candidates are picking up 3 or 4 offers within a couple of weeks.
    > However, some of the companies haven't woken up to the fact it's no
    > longer a candidate rich market - and are still recruiting as they have
    > for the last 3 years (i.e as slowly as possible, with as many people
    > involved in the process as possible!). Surprise surprise, by the time
    > they make a decision, the people they wanted have gone!
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com
    >

Hmm, is it normal to include references in your resume? Mine says
'references available on request' and I've never been asked for them
before a job has been offered No agency has commented on the lack of
them on the resume, that applies both in the UK and in Australia. Why
would anyone need them before an offer is made, 'subject to
satisfactory references'?




Paul

Bit worried now, that I've gone the wrong way about my CV. I've kept mine on one page, trying to keep straight to the point, bullet points, thinking that the person reading it is busy and has lots of others to read, and will possibly just skim through it.

It says you have Australian citizenship on your CV yet you say you are going as a PR. This would confuse me if I was hiring