Australian resume format: an annotated example

Choose the section order around your experience

For someone with relevant employment, this is a useful starting order: contact details, a brief summary, relevant skills, work experience and education. If a recent qualification or project is your strongest evidence, move it above less relevant employment.

Keep the dates visible within each section. A reader should be able to follow your work history without piecing it together from several pages.

The summary and skills section are optional. If they repeat the same words without adding useful information, give that space to an example of your work.

Walk through an Australian resume example

Jordan Lee is a fictional applicant for an administration assistant role. The fictional employer wants someone to maintain order records, arrange deliveries and answer customer enquiries. These are teaching details, not a customer resume or a suggested employment history.

Contact details and summary

Jordan Lee
Melbourne, VIC · [Phone] · [Email]

Administration assistant

Office support professional with experience maintaining customer orders, arranging deliveries and preparing records for the accounts team. Uses Excel to check outstanding items and keeps colleagues informed when delivery details change.

The location tells the reader where Jordan is based. The summary identifies useful work rather than describing Jordan as a “highly motivated team player”. Each claim appears again as evidence below.

Relevant skills

• Order administration: recording customer requests and checking delivery details.
• Excel: filters, basic formulas and checks for missing entries.
• Customer enquiries: confirming order information and recording follow-up actions.

This section names the level of work. It would be misleading to change “basic formulas” to “advanced Excel” just because the advertisement uses that phrase.

Work experience

Office Assistant — Example Office Supplies
Melbourne, VIC · January 2023–August 2026

• Entered customer orders into the shared register and checked quantities against delivery notes before forwarding records to accounts.
• Arranged delivery windows with customers and updated the dispatch team when addresses or access details changed.
• Used Excel filters to prepare a list of outstanding orders for the weekly team meeting.

The bullets show the task, the relevant detail and who used the work. They give an interviewer something concrete to ask about. A measured result would be useful if Jordan had one; a made-up percentage would weaken the document.

Education

Diploma of Business — Example College
Completed 2022

This fictional entry is deliberately simple. Use your actual qualification and institution. Include relevant projects or awards when they strengthen the application, and identify unfinished study accurately.

If Jordan were applying for a role centred on reporting, the Excel example could move higher. For a customer service role, the enquiry and delivery work might deserve more detail. The same career record can support different applications.

Set a readable layout before adjusting length

Use a straightforward single-column layout as a starting point. Put a clear heading above each section, use consistent dates and leave enough space between roles to distinguish them. Try reading from top to bottom without relying on colour or a sidebar to work out where to go next.

Keep essential contact details in the main document body. If you use a footer for page numbers, the reader should still be able to find your name and contact information without it.

For an early-career application, try arranging the relevant material across one or two readable pages. Treat that as an editing starting point. The University of Sydney's resume guide describes one to three pages as common across most industries and advises adapting the document to the role. An employer's stated limit takes priority.

When a document runs long, review repeated duties, unrelated short courses and old details before shrinking the text. You can keep the full history in your own career record.

Decide which personal details belong

For a general Australian application, your name and reliable contact details are the useful starting point. Sydney's guidance says a photo, date of birth and nationality are unnecessary; a residential address is optional.

Check whether each additional detail helps the employer assess the application or contact you. A portfolio makes sense when it demonstrates relevant work. An unrelated personal account usually adds little.

If referees are requested, ask their permission before sharing their details and follow the application instructions. Keep the information current so someone can actually reach them.

Check the exported file, not just the editor

Open the exact file you plan to send. Look at both the first page and the page breaks. A heading stranded at the bottom of a page, a clipped bullet or a broken link can be easy to miss in the editor.

Try these checks:

• Can you read the name, contact details and recent experience without zooming in?
• Are the dates consistent with your application form?
• Do the links open the intended portfolio or profile?
• Can you select and copy the text in the expected order?
• Does the file meet the employer's requested format and size limit?

The copy-and-paste check can reveal obvious reading-order problems. It does not certify compatibility with every applicant tracking system. Use the ATS keywords guide for deciding which terms your experience supports.

Save the final file with a clear name, such as Jordan-Lee-Administration-Resume.pdf, using the extension of the file you actually exported. Keep that version with the job posting.

Questions about Australian resume format

Is a CV different from a resume in Australia?

Employers may use either term for an ordinary job application; Sydney's guide also uses both. Read the instructions for the requested content and length. An academic CV can require publications, research and other detail that this example does not cover.

Should education come before employment?

Put the stronger evidence for this vacancy first. A recent graduate may lead with education and relevant projects. Someone with directly relevant employment may lead with that work. Keep a clear chronology within each section.

Should I submit Word or PDF?

Use the format the employer requests. If several formats are accepted, choose one that preserves a readable layout and selectable text, then reopen it before uploading. Do not rename a file extension to make it appear to be a different format.

What if all my experience is overseas?

Keep relevant overseas experience and make its context clear. The guide to a resume with no Australian experience shows how to explain employers, responsibilities and projects to a reader unfamiliar with them.

Once you have chosen the content, explore OfferUnderway's resume templates for the document layout and use the resume-tailoring guide to refine the emphasis for a particular role.