You need to view your resume as a sales and marketing document and use this avenue to sell yourself as the 'best buy' to an employer. Your resume should present your most relevant experience and detail your relevant skills and competencies.

Below is some information on making your resume professional and effective. Alternatively, if you are a member of the site you can use our online Resume Builder. Here are some EXAMPLE RESUMES.

Part 1 - Contact Details

Full name, home address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address. This must be presented on the first page of your resume.

Part 2 - Career Statements

A brief statement at beginning of resume helps the employer to understand your motivation for applying for the position.

Eg. Commercial Lawyer: My goal is to work in a large law company that provides me with opportunities to build on the knowledge I already have to develop expertise in contract negotiations for large corporate clients.

Career statements should have three components:

• Emphasise your skills or experience
• Show that the job is a logical next step for you
• State the job you are interested in

You should include career statements in your resume if you are:

• Applying for your first or second job
• Changing career direction
• Graduating from TAFE, training course, university
• Returning to workforce after a break
• Working in your first three years of employment

Less effective if:

• Applying for senior position, such as one in management
• Applying for very junior role (casual shop assistant)
• Showing a long work history in same field

Part 3 - Skills Experience and Attributes

The single most powerful way to make your resume stand out is to include competency statements that highlight your attributes.

They are succinct paragraphs that tell the reader the knowledge, skills, attributes, and abilities you possess that match those required for the position.

Writing a Competency statement:

• A snappy title: the words you should use should summarise your positive qualities, preferably using the jargon in the job ad.
• A statement of fit: explaining that you possess the necessary qualities for the job.
• Evidence: the recruiter should be able to check the contents of your statement by referring to your qualifications or referees listed in your resume.

Eg. Business Development

My current role involves business development activities to generate new business. I am required to competently discuss BIO Power services to external organisations and to be responsive to the leads for potential referrals. During my tenure with BIO Power I have successfully met all targets involving the development of new contacts and business opportunities. I have also developed proposals/quotes for various services, and have generated and delivered marketing breakfasts for clients involving seminars on services that BIO Power provides. Earlier this year I negotiated and obtained the contract for the provision of our services with a major corporate engineering company, worth $25, 000.

Personal qualities

Communication skills - Verbal & written - assume that communication skills are important for every job and try to demonstrate them in your resume. Assess the role. Determine what sort of situations/ demands would be placed on you, this will inform you as to what type and degree of communication skills you will need.

Draw on your work history to demonstrate communication skills eg. Giving presentations, public speaking experiences (toastmasters' course).

Team Skills / team player - Happy and effective working in groups with other people. Reflect in your resume experienc