Are you having trouble passing ‘go’ and securing an interview? You are an interesting person with a story to tell, right? Unfortunately the reality is Hiring Managers are inundated with CV’s from the minute they advertise a role, so they often scan documents for keywords and giveaways as to the candidates overall employability.   Long gone are the days of essay style formats and generic objectives. Short and sharp is the key to passing go and your resume needs to show you are a good match for the job that you are applying for and not a long story of how you got to this point.

Be mindful of personal details: Include essentials such as mobile phone and email address but be tactful in when considering the inclusion of non relevant details such as age, marital status and physical appearance as they do not reflect to your ability to do the job.

Education history with a timeline: When listing your relevant tertiary studies, it is important to omit any subjects or units from your CV, if transcripts are required they will be asked for separately.

Position descriptions with value: When it comes to describing your previous roles, filing papers is not nearly as informative as processing data into an information system. Describe your key value adding activities, keeping it to 3 or 4 lines per employment.

Simplified layout: 1 – 2 pages is the goal. Your resume should be tailored to each role, so make sure to include only relevant work experience. If you lack the graphic design flare, choose a simple template as your base.

Omit the obvious: Use your name as a title and resist the urge to use “CV or resume” as the title. When listing contact details, no need for “Phone:” or “email:” it should be obvious to the recruiter, as should your role responsibilities so refrain from titling “duties” under your position title.

These 5 simple aspects of your resume show great attention to detail and could mean the difference between the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ pile. By focusing the hiring managers’ attention to key points you will provide an easy read.

If you grab their attention within the first 10 seconds, highlight the important and eliminate the irrelevant, you are more likely to retain their attention and increase your chances of gaining an interview.

So you see a job advertisement for a role that you know you’d be great for. You get your resume and covering letter together and click apply.

You wait with anticipation to hear back so that you can explain how perfect you are for this job, but instead you are left wondering what happened.

Now think of your resume like a sales catalogue, how often would you flick through a whole catalogue if you can’t find what you are looking for in the first couple pages? The front page of your resume should be a showcase of your experience and achievements and how your strengths relate to the role you’re applying for. This is your opportunity to sell yourself and demonstrate that you have what it takes to succeed in this role.

How can you communicate that you have what it takes?

• Make your experience visible. Don’t make it a challenge for the reader to draw out the relevant experiences and accomplishments. Don’t just write your duty statement but rather a broad statement which describes your role. Follow this with 3-4 bullet points describing your key achievements. Too many bullet points can make your duties blur together, similarly writing it as paragraphs can also make it difficult to identify the key points. Try using a combination of concise bullet points for your duties and possibly a sentence or two for your achievements during the role.
• Make it relevant. This is an important aspect of your experience section as you can take the time to ensure your skills, knowledge and attitude link to what the position requires. Try to list as many relevant achievements as you can and not just a list of your duties or every aspect of your role if it is not relevant.
• Use Verbs. Try to start every new point with an action work i.e. strengthened, developed, delivered etc. Avoid using phrases like “responsible for” as this does not demonstrate your competency. eg ‘I was responsible for the safety management system’ could be replaced with ‘I developed and implemented a safety management system for the organisation’.
• Show your value. Don’t be afraid to sell yourself and highlight your key achievements. Remember to keep them concise and quantify any achievements to back up your results with facts, figures, percentages etc eg if you managed a budget, approximately what was the budget worth, or if you managed a team, how many were in the team.

Remember most people will very rarely look through a catalogue to the last page so make sure it easy for the hiring manager to find the information they need to verify that you have what it takes.

Contact Safety Recruitment Australia today to find out how we can help you to improve your resume.

Interviewing can be nerve-racking, even for a seasoned professional. The main point of the interview process is to provide hiring managers with the opportunity to see if you have the required skills and competencies for the role.

Most interviews will encompass an aspect of behavioural questioning for example “Can you tell me about a time you encountered a complex hazard. What controls did you implement and what was the outcome?”

While this question can seem either irrelevant to the role or a little too specific, the reasoning behind such behavioural questions is that past behaviours are the best predictor of future behaviour.

When answering behavioural questions ensure you have relevant practical examples ready to draw upon. Keep in mind the key competencies of the role and think about a situation you have experienced that you can use as an example. Areas to focus on could include the ability to influence, conflict resolution, teamwork, time management, problem solving, risk identification and mitigation, decision making and leadership and initiative.

Because answering behavioural questions can be like telling a story the best way to tackle the answer is to follow this simple format:

• Situation. What context did your example take place in?
• Task. What is it you were doing or asked to do?
• Action. What steps did you take?
• Results. What was the outcome of your actions?

By preparing yourself with a range of examples you can easily adapt these stories to answer quite a few different behavioural questions. Just remember not to use negative examples or examples that do not have positive outcomes as you want to leave the interviewer with the impression that you are a STAR candidate.

Looking for work can be a full time job in itself and it’s hard to know if you’re doing it well.

Sure, when you get call backs and interviews you have a general indication of how you’re going in the m

arket, but what happens when you’re in a candidate rich, job poor market?

We have prepared a self-audit checklist to help you employ the right tactics for a successful job hunt.

Sometimes breaking into the workplace health & safety industry can feel like a fairytale far from reality.

It can be frustrating and seem hopeless at times, but you must remember that these things take planning, determination and most of all it takes time.

Everybody has to start somewhere so we have prepared our top start up tips to help turn your dreams into reality:

• Differentiation– One of the most important parts of breaking into a market is differentiating yourself from the crowd. While every candidate brings their own strength to the table you need to find yours and highlight this to your potential new employer. This could be anything from your practical workplace experience, to your awareness of the market. Past graduates have been offered jobs on the back of volunteer work. So is there an opportunity to gain WHS experience by doing volunteer work?
• Demonstrate your ability – Look at the industries that you have worked in previously and focus your transferable skills. Everyone has to start somewhere but show the Hiring Manager that you have the skills necessary to succeed in this role. Highlight your strengths in an easy to read and well-structured resume and cover letter.
• Confidence– Put your best foot forward. Your confidence and drive to succeed will be one of your greatest attributes in a market full of entry-level and graduate candidates. Don’t forget to follow up on any applications you put forward as making a phone call could differentiate yourself from being just another applicant. If you call prior to submitting your application you may also get more information that will allow you to customise your application.
• Knowledge– Ensure you have the right qualification for the industry you want to break into. In looking at becoming a safety professional in today’s market it is an expectation that you are tertiary qualified in the area of safety. Tertiary qualifications in safety typically start with the Cert IV in Work Health and Safety followed by the; Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Bachelor, Post Graduate Certificate through to a Masters in Safety.
• Tenacity– Be prepared to put in the hard yards and treat job hunting as a full time role. It will be the dedicated and hardworking candidates that find themselves landing those entry level or graduate roles, so make this an opportunity to rise above the rest.

Most importantly a potential employer will hire someone who has loads of energy and enthusiasm. The right attitude is just as important as a qualification.

Cover letters are an important part of the application process as they are your first point of contact with the hiring manager.

The main aim of the covering letter is to sell yourself as the perfect candidate for the role and invite the hiring manager to call you in for an interview.

An engaging cover letter is your opportunity to shine and stand out from the crowd and can make the difference between getting shortlisted or cut from the application process. Unless specifically asked not to submit a covering letter, we would always recommend including one for all the jobs you apply for.

So what makes a great cover letter?

One of the most obvious but also most commonly forgotten parts of a great cover letter is the structure. Any good cover letter should start with the date and your contact details. Your cover letter should ideally be addressed to the person who will be reading your application, which in most cases is the hiring manager. If you are unsure who the hiring manager is then play it safe with a generic title like ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ or ‘To whom it may concern’. Avoid titles like dear; Sirs, Recruitment Team or HR Department.

While it is good to highlight all your great skills and abilities on your cover letter, it shouldn’t exceed one page. You are only trying to engage the reader and inspire them to open your resume to learn more about you. Cover letters should follow these three basic rules:

• Introduction paragraph: Your first paragraph should identify the role you are applying for and express your interest in the position.
• Body: This is where you can sell yourself and demonstrate why you are the best candidate for this role. Make your points sharp and to the point using relevant examples or key achievements that link your experience to the key requirements of the role that you are applying for.
• Closing paragraph: Thank the reader for their time and invite them to meet with you to allow you to discuss your suitability and reiterate why you are the best person for the role. Finish off with a call to action for example “I look forward to hearing from you”.

Remember while it can be time consuming tailoring your cover letter for every job you apply for, it will be worth your investment in the long run as it demonstrates you have a genuine interest in the role you are applying for. Hiring managers will know if they have received a generic cover letter, so take the time to customise each application and show your enthusiasm for the job and deliver them a cover letter they won’t forget.

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