• Get ready for your career in science
• You and the job you want
• Employers and the labour market
• Practical Skills to Find Work
  • Job searching techniques
  • The hidden job market - (Networking, Direct canvassing and Information Interviewing)
  • Self employment
  • Writing job applications
    • Employer forms
    • Addressing selection criteria
    • Cover letters (includes sample)
    • Resume (includes sample)
  • How to write a career objective
  • Interviews
  • Sample interview questions
• Useful Resources

Practical Skills to Find Work

Resumes

• Your resume markets your qualifications, experience and skills to an employer and is an important mechanism to gain job interviews.  This means it is worth your time and effort to produce a good one.
• Everyone’s resume will be a bit different as it needs to reflect the individual.    Having said that there are a number of important things to keep in mind when you are writing your resume.
• Content is the most important thing in your resume but you can create a professional impression by paying attention to style, layout and overall presentation.  As with all written documents the spelling and grammar is important so if this is not your strong point get some assistance.

Information to include on your resume:

Bio/contact details

• Your name
• Your address (if you include more than one address make it clear why eg residential address during semester; home address during leave; preferred address for correspondence)
• Telephone numbers – this should be the number that is most convenient for an employer to contact you on, or leave a message.  If you are expecting employers to call ensure any voice mail message is appropriate enough for professional calls.
• Date of birth, nationality, marital status or any other personal information is optional to include.  The best guide is to think what information is useful to your application eg stating you have Permanent Residency or Australian Citizenship if your country of origin is not Australia may be relevant

Education

• Tertiary
• Name of the institute eg Monash University, Clayton Campus
• Title of course and subject major eg Bachelor of Science, major Chemistry
• List any accomplishments that you think are highlights eg scholarships, awards or high academic results.  Usually a copy of your academic transcript is attached so don’t write all your subjects here
• Campus involvements can be another section that summarises the clubs you joined or activities you undertook eg Host for Open Day 2005, Member of Monash Science Society – Social Committee 2006
• Secondary
• Name of Secondary School
• Name of Qualification – eg VCE; to make a decision about whether to include ENTER score or list of your subjects consider what it reveals to an employer eg if you have continued in a subject area it could be a good example of genuine interest in a field 
• Again show any key accomplishments such as roles of leadership, scholarships or awards
• A brief statement on campus involvements, with a focus on senior year levels eg team member of hockey club 2002-2003; editor of student newspaper

Skills and Knowledge Summary

• There are a number of ways to incorporate information about your skills and knowledge in to your resume document.  You can include them in statements about the responsibilities that you have held in work or extra-curricular activities eg if you are working in retail in you might write under responsibilities “provision of high quality customer service including the ability to advise on product availability and pricing during sales period”
• The alternative is to highlight your strengths in a separate section that states the possession of the skill and provides evidence to substantiate how you have applied that skill or developed it.  Eg “High quality customer service skills developed through 2 years work experience as a retail assistant in a major department store and participation in company training package, recognised by an award for service excellence.”
• The key to getting it right is to be brief, clear about the skills and have an example to back up the skill. Avoid the shopping list style i.e. bullet points down the page that have one or two words as they are meaningless without reference to you.

Knowledge

Employment History

• Course related

Information on employment that has supplemented your academic learning is important to include.  It may be a vacation placement, an internship or employment where knowledge and skills from your course have been applied.

• General Employment

Work you have undertaken to support yourself during study is also important to include as it provides information on customer groups you have dealt with, responsibilities you have met and is evidence of time management, self reliance and workplace behaviours such as co-operating with colleagues and meeting employer expectations.  Keep information concise and specific.  If you have been in a series of short term casual jobs keep the information minimal and use summary statements rather than detail every job
Eg                   Casual Labourer/Process Worker
                        Bellbird Labour Hire Agency

• Various casual assignments including machine operator, electronic equipment assembler and picking/packing orders for motor suppliers.

Extra Curricular Activities/Voluntary Work

• Activities undertaken outside of work or study that require a level of commitment can be examples of your ability to work in diverse settings and to deal with a broad range of people.  Work as a volunteer may have built workplace skills that transfer into other employment roles so can be helpful to include on your resume.  Community commitment can also be an expression of interest in a particular field eg volunteer with environmental advocacy groups.  Voluntary work is done for no payment, with not for profit organisations.  Participation in student committees, community groups, sporting teams may be other examples of extra –curricular activities to include.  Travel can also prove to be a way that interpersonal, organisational and self management skills can be developed.

Interests/Hobbies

• This is an optional inclusion in your resume. Sometimes employers like to know what activities you do outside of work and study, sometimes they don’t.  The reason you might include information on your interest is to reveal additional attributes you have eg learning a language in a community centre may be an example of your ability to learn a subject other than science and in a different learning environment.
• If your hobbies are socialising with friend, taking the dog for a walk or watching television, leave this information out as it bears no relevance to your employability.

Professional Memberships/Professional Development

Student membership of a professional association may be worth including on your resume as it is evidence of being in the information loop for your field.  Ensure you include details of any seminars or workshops you have attended or special interest groups you participate in.

Referees

• People who support your application for a particular job application are referees.
• Employers may ask for details of your referees at the time of advertising or they may only want to know the details after they have interviewed you and are considering you for the position.
• Previous work supervisors (including casual and part time work) tutors or academics are often good referees for graduate employment as they can comment on your experience and personal qualities.  Sometimes character references can be provided but they may be less helpful to a lot of employers as the comments they can offer may not assist with determining your suitability for a job.
• Family and close relatives are not generally viewed as being objective enough to provide a referee comment.  If you have worked in a family business don’t despair, consider a customer or client of the business as a potential referee.

How Do You Select a Referee?

• Ensure you gain consent before you use their details on your application
• Be certain you have their support – you want positive feedback
• Inform them of your application and check their availability to be reached for comment by the employer
• It is often preferable from the employer’s perspective to be able to contact your referee by telephone to talk over your application or in some instances be able to send them a referee report for completion.  If you have a written reference it is best not to attach it to your resume.  Let the employer know that it can be provided upon request.