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From my experience, these two words mean the same thing in most Australian jobs.
Wikipedia has a good summary account of the role of the résumé which includes:
A résumé (pronounced /ˈrɛzjʊmeɪ/ rez-ew-may or /rɛzjʊˈmeɪ/; French: [ʁezyme]; sometimes spelled resume) is a document used by individuals to present their background and skillsets. Résumés can be used
for a variety of reasons but most often to secure new employment.[1] A typical résumé contains a summary of relevant job experience and education. The résumé is usually one of the first items, along with a cover letter and sometimes job application packet, that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview, when seeking employment. The résumé is comparable to a curriculum vitae (CV) in many countries, although in English Canada and the United States résumé is substantially shorter than CV.
To decide how long your résumé should be, make sure you follow any instructions given. It is becoming more common in government job vacancies for the size of the application to have a word or page limit. For example the DEEDI ‘Guide for Applicants – Making a difference’, the following guidance is given:
You are required as part of your application to provide the selection panel with a resume. Your resume is to provide the selection panel with a summary of your education, work history, and any other training and
skills you have gained through school, study, work experience and hobbies. Your resume should include where you have worked to date, jobs held during your period of employment and major duties performed. Your resume may also contain the details of two referees who can provide an objective assessment of your work performance. Your resume may be considered as a part of an application or may be considered on its own, so it may be vital to include as much information as possible to allow the panel to assess your suitability for the role. A resume should generally be no more than four pages.
If no limit is given – ask the contact officer or recruitment area what is expected. Generally, if your résumé exceeds four pages, it is too long.
This popular slideshare presentation (80,000 views in 9 months) shows how one individual used a common social media tool to get his resume out and to find work – beats the cold call letter.
When you are engaging someone to assist you with the writing of selection criteria, you need to decide if you require a basic or more expert level of support.
The basic level of support includes providing information to a writer, who will then take this information and ensure it is well presented, and in the appropriate format.
If you need more expert assistance, including understanding recruitment processes and selection criteria, you may need to engage the services of a ‘job coach/writer’ with recruitment and human resource experience. A good job coach will brainstorm with you to find your most complex and relevant examples for the advertised role.
For example, when addressing the criteria/capability ‘personal drive and integrity’, I will ask my clients questions like:
- When have you enthusiastically attended or organised training in relation to Values, Code of Conduct, Ethics, Respectful (harassment-free and non-discriminatory) Workplaces, Fraud or Conflict of Interest?
- When have you taken on roles to show your commitment to quality workplaces (e.g. harassment contact officer)?
- Can you think of a time when you have identified something that needed to be improved in your team, then went and did something about it?
- Tell me about some times when you have been given a difficult job (lack of staff, tight deadlines, technology problems…..), but stuck at it and achieved a good result?
If the vacancy is a team leadership role, I will be looking for higher-level examples, through questions such as:
- What have you done to ensure everyone in your team has had the appropriate corporate training? Have you ever introduced a ‘Values’ training session to show your Agency’s commitment to these Values?
- What do you do in your team meetings to show that you are committed to non-discriminatory workplaces?
- Have you identified, investigated or worked with corporate service teams to resolve harassment of fraud or code of conduct matters?
- When have you been selected to undertake a challenging project?
For senior leadership roles, examples that are more significant will be sought through discussing:
- What have you done to ensure your division/Department has shown leadership in engaging and retaining employees?
- Where have you identified something that would enhance a new policy initiative and worked across divisions or with other government departments to make this happen?
- What have you done to build a culture that reinforces appropriate risk-taking, initiative and personal resilience?
Following this brainstorming, it is important to select examples that are most relevant to the advertised role, and to present these concisely within the word limit.
For more tips on addressing selection criteria – please subscribe to this blog (top left corner).
For expert assistance with writing your claims against selection criteria, you can contact me at brisbanejobcoach@gmail.com
PLEASE NOTE – I AM UNABLE TO TAKE ON ANY NEW CLIENTS AT PRESENT. CLICK HERE TO SEE OTHER PROVIDERS WHO MAY BE ABLE TO ASSIST YOU.
If you do a Google search you will find many resume and selection criteria writers – all offering different services. The fees differ significantly, and vary according to what services are included (eg amount of personal consultation, number of drafts provided, level of specialisation of the job, turnaround time; and whether resume, cover letters, selection criteria and interview coaching are purchased at the same time).
You will find providers who advertise that they will provide a resume for $110. You should ask if the resume writer will help you with the content of your resume - or whether they just reformat your old resume. At the higher end, prices are advertised at $349 for Early Career, $549 for Mid Career and $749 for Executive resumes.
With selection criteria, it depends on the number of criteria and length of writing required (i.e is one page per criterion required? or two pages only to cover 5 criteria?). You should anticipate paying somewhere between $150 – $300 per page. With very specific technical or executive roles, which require a much greater time commitment and expertise of the writer, a quote of up to $2000 is possible.
You will need to provide information to the job coach or writer. Some providers send you a set of questions based on the job and criteria. Others will interview you. Some prepare a first draft and ask you to fill in specific details.
Most providers will ask for payment before the service commences. Unfortunately – the few clients who dont pay, even when happy with the service - drive providers to establish this rule of business.
Would you invest $200 to $2000 to win that dream job? For many the answer is a clear YES.
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Do you need someone who understands the Integrated Leadership System (Australian Government) or Capability Leadership Framework (Queensland Government)?
Contact me at brisbanejobcoach@gmail.com or 0403766812
Send me your draft resume, and details of any job/s that you are interested in. Tell me if you need to work on your application (covering letter, resume or selection criteria) or if you need interview practice. I can provide a no obligation free quote.
My specialty is coaching people for job interviews. I enjoy assisting people to win jobs – and would love to hear from you. Cheryl
For further tips on addressing selection criteria – please subscribe to this blog (top left corner).
Marie has great skills – but she just cannot get an interview.
A recruitment consultant told her that her resume and cover letter were poorly written (for Marie, English was a second language), and that she had not highlighted her achievements in these documents.
Marie saw a job advertised with Employer X, which was a good match for her skills. She decided to invest in the services of a Resume Writer. The Resume Writer talked to her about her work experiences and identified achievements that Marie had not thought to include. In no time – the Resume Writer produced a very professional resume and cover letter, that Marie was proud to submit to Employer X.
Employer X read Marie’s resume and was impressed by her experience and skills. They flagged Marie as a candidate worthy of progressing to the interview stage of the selection process. Before finalising the list of candidates to be interviewed, Employer X decided to check the web presence of the preferred candidates.
Marie’s name was ‘Googled’.
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Marie was the treasurer of a charity group TICK
Marie was registered with Facebook TICK
Marie’s Facebook Privacy settings prevented public viewing of her profile TICK
Marie had a Linkedin profile TICK
Marie’s Linkedin profile looked like her old resume (typos and poor English expression) BOO……
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Marie did not get an interview.
It is a good idea to make sure your online presence is consistent with your job application. Talk to your Resume Writer or Job Coach if you need help with your on-line profiles.
- You have heard and read about the importance of a professional on-line presence.
- All of your friends and colleagues are talking about Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter….
- You just have not had time to learn these tools.
- You just want someone to sit with you to get you started.
——– GET STARTED TODAY ——–
To discuss – contact me on 0403766812 or brisbanejobcoach@gmail.com
Fees – starting at A$250 (plus GST) for 2 hours of individual tuition. Or get together with a couple of friends/work colleagues and ask for a quote.
To get some good video tips about applying for jobs in Australia you may like to visit linkme. You can also search for jobs and upload your resume on to linkme so that Employers can search for you.
