Dusting off your CV to get back on the job hunt?
The job market has changed radically in the past few years. If you haven’t updated your resume in some time, what might have worked back then may very well be out of date now. In fact, you should be updating your resume every six months, even if you don’t plan on job hunting any time soon. It’s just good practice.
Now, here is my big job hunt hot take: finding jobs and applying to them is half the battle. Leveraging your network of friends and family and LinkedIn’s elusive algorithm will help you get your name in front of people. Networking is a tricky skill, though, and I’m sure the inner introverts are screaming at the thought. Alas, if you want your dream job to come true, you gotta know how to pitch yourself.
Thankfully, networking events are a solid spot to refine this skill and find like-minded individuals from different fields. Lucky for you, we’re hosting a job expo with our pals at Listerine®.
That’s right, the event, Listerine®’s Fresh Job Confidence, will be taking place from 10am to 2pm on Thursday May 15 2025. The event will be taking place at Greenhouse located in Sydney’s Salesforce Tower. So not only will you get some solid connections, you’ll also be able to snap a fancy pic for your LinkedIn as well.
But, as I said, networking is only half the battle. You’ll still need your resume to be up to scratch. Imagine making a new contact and then embarrassing them with a haphazard resume. It’s a thought that’d make any corporate cowboy shed a tear.
That’s why we spoke to Kate Richardson. Kate’s been both a hiring manager and a career coach, so she’s seen both sides of the fence. She’s also helped hundreds of folks fix their resume mistakes, so who better to spill all the insider knowledge? Here’s what Kate had to say on how you should write a killer CV in 2025.
What should your resume include?
Everyone generally knows what information should be on a resume. We know it needs our skills, past experiences, and contact details. But everything gets a little lost in the mix. It’s like a profile on Hinge — we know we need photos, a bio, and some interests, but making them attractive to people is the hard part. Knowing which information is needed is the same as choosing between that photo of you fishing or posing with your dog.
On average, a recruiter will spend seven seconds looking at your resume. Unless your mistake is so eye-catching and peculiar it demands attention, they’ll probably immediately sort you into the ‘No’ pile. For that reason, you want to ensure your resume tells a hiring manager who you are as fast as possible.
Regarding your resume, Kate says you should only include information supporting why you should be chosen for the role. “The best CVs focus on results, not responsibilities. The best question to ask yourself is not ‘What did I do in this role?’ but ‘What does the person reading need to know I did in this role?’”
Kate also suggests you tailor the information on your resume to match the industry you’re applying to. While most of us probably have a default resume we’re sending out to anyone who will take it, Kate says we need to be more tactical. “If you’re applying for a role in hospitality, then a Responsible Service of Alcohol accreditation might be important,” said Kate. “But if you’re applying for a Communications role in a large corporation, then an RSA won’t interest the person reading.”
Common mistakes made on CVs
It’s tough to know the difference between a genuine mistake on a resume or something the recruiter just didn’t vibe with. Maybe your font choice of Arial instead of Times New Roman wasn’t landing that day, or maybe you have the same name as their ex. Whatever it is, sometimes your resume not getting picked isn’t your fault at all.
In saying that, Kate gave us the scoop on some of the biggest mistakes she’s seen from countless resumes.
First, Kate says that you shouldn’t format your responsibilities as a “shopping list,” which is news to me. I always thought more responsibilities were good, but Kate suggests otherwise.
“Focus on the ‘so what’ — showcase your achievements and accomplishments. It demonstrates your ability to perform that kind of role successfully and gives people a level of confidence in what you can do. It sets you apart from someone else who has similar experience.”
As you can expect, Kate has also seen countless ChatGPT written applications. Not to shame anyone, I get it. Applying for dozens of roles daily and writing a personalised cover letter is a special kind of hell. Some hiring managers, however, can immediately tell when you’ve used ChatGPT to write your CV — because they’ve likely already seen it before. “There are lots of examples of recruiters on LinkedIn talking about receiving five identical cover letters for the same role” shared Kate.
“You can use ChatGPT to help craft your Professional Summary at the top of your resume, but again, don’t just blindly copy and paste. Use it as a starting point, and then add your personal flavour firstly, because you want to capture someone’s attention quickly. And secondly, because that will help you stand out in a sea of bland applications.”
Finally, Kate urges applicants to limit personal information on a CV. Yes, recruiters want to know about your interests to see if they align with the company — but there’s a limit. We can’t all be personality hires — someone has to actually do the work!
How to design a resume
Settling on the design of your resume is an age-old debate. How many pages do you need? How much information do you provide? Picture or no picture?
Well, thanks to Kate, we have the answer.
Again, recruiters are only looking at your resume for seven seconds. Laying all your information out so recruiters can read it is your ticket to landing in that golden ‘Yes’ pile. To help organise it, you should use the ‘Google Bullet Point‘ formula. For example, you should arrange your achievements as: Accomplished X, as measured by Y through doing Z’.
Like this: Accomplished ‘slaying’, as measured by ‘serving’ through doing ‘Hot To Go dance’. Of course, you should expand on it, but you get the gist.
Like everything in life, length is also important. The average resume should be around one to two pages, maybe three if you’re later in your career. “A CV should focus on the last 10 to 15 years of your career” Kate shared.
If you’re reading this, odds are you’re only starting out in your career. The temptation to fill your resume out with your achievements in school is valid, but not necessary. Quality comes before quantity here. “In terms of education, there’s no need to include your schooling on your resume but do include any formal education (e.g. university, TAFE) as well as short courses or accreditations that are relevant to the type of role you’re applying for.” suggested Kate.
Where does this leave your headshot you may ask? Well, that’s a very good question.
In the past, having a photo of yourself on your resume was fairly good practice. But most hiring managers can skip over to your LinkedIn to see what you look like. Also, with AI scanning resumes, recruiters suggest it’s not worth the (digital) ink. Kate even suggested that your photo might actually hurt your chances of getting hired.
“I suggest you leave it off, as it lessens the chances of unconscious biases or judgements creeping in,” Kate shared. “[Leaving it off] keeps the focus on the content of your resume, not your hair colour. Keep the resume focused on what you can do, not what you look like.”
Sadly, this also means that your impeccably designed resume might not make the cut. As Kate put it, “If you have fancy images or graphics and tables, the system may not be able to read your resume correctly.”
Well, I don’t know about you, but this has been a much-needed reality check about my resume. I guess it’s time to part with my grainy 240p headshot and joke about enjoying a cup of cold water on a hot day.
If you’re stumped on your job hunt and want more tips to find your next gig, sign up for Listerine®’s upcoming Fresh Job Confidence event.
If that’s not enticing enough, you can also win $500 AND a one-on-one session with Kate Richardson just by showing up on the day.
Best of luck to you all on your job hunt!
See T&Cs here.
Image credit: iStock
The post Everything You Need To Include In Your CV In 2025, According To A Career Coach appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
