What is a resume?
A resume is a written document of everything that relates to your work history. Your resume can include your experience, skills, achievements, education and qualifications. As your resume is often the first impression that your potential employer will have of you, it’s also one of the most important documents that you will ever create.
The resume is most often used as a tool to secure the first job interview. Upon applying for a job, you will usually have to submit your resume to a hiring manager, HR manager or recruiter. Based on their impression of your resume, the hirer will decide whether to call you in for an interview.
Your resume needs to be up to date, meticulously correct, and it’s essential to land a job - you can’t/won’t secure a first interview without it.
What is a CV?
CV stands for Curriculum Vitae, which is Latin for ‘Course of life’. Technically, a resume is generally a shorter account of professional and educational history; whereas a CV is longer than a resume and more in-depth, covering professional accomplishments, awards and recognitions.
However, in the New Zealand market, the words ‘resume’ and ‘CV’ are used interchangeably, and you can assume they mean the same thing. As such, you can assume that all of the tips apply to both a resume and CV.
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Our recruitment consultants will review your resume and contact you if we find a position that matches your qualifications.
How long should a resume be?
Your resume should be no longer than 3-4 pages long. If you are a student, you may not yet have a great deal of experience, so 1-2 pages is completely acceptable.
If you have several years’ worth of experience and accomplishments, however, it can be a challenge to keep it within the 3-4 page limit when writing a CV.
Truly great resumes are short and succinct – so be sure to follow our guidelines as to what to include and exclude in your resume.
How to create the perfect CV layout
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Having a well-presented resume is critical to securing your perfect job. It’s not enough to have great content; your CV layout needs to be easy-to-read, professional and appealing.
Your hiring manager will have seen hundreds of different CVs in NZ. That means that it’s important that you follow the general standard when laying out and ordering the information, to help them navigate the content and to ensure your experience stands out.
What to include in a resume
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If you know what to include in a resume and apply it, your CV will help secure your first interview. Conversely, provide too much information or the wrong kind of information, and your CV could end up at the bottom of the pile. Here’s a list of what to include in your CV in NZ.
What not to include in a resume
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Sometimes, knowing what not to include is just as important as knowing what to include in a resume. This isn’t about deceiving the employer; it’s about leaving out irrelevant information so that the CV comes across as focused and professional. Here’s a list of what not to include in your CV.
How to tailor your resume
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Tailoring is the key to making a good resume great. If you ensure that the information is personalised specifically to the role and employer, your CV will stand out from the pack.
First, start with researching the role and employer in NZ, and identify what achievements or skills you have that are relevant for the job at hand. Then, bring those achievements and skills to the forefront using these key tips.
How to write a career objective
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While often overlooked, career objectives are one of the most important parts of your resume as they complement your experience and skills and give prospective employers a sense of your work-related ambitions.
They don’t need to be particularly long to make an impact, but they do need to be well considered and well executed to be both meaningful and impressive. Here are our tips on writing a career objective that wows every employer you encounter.
What is the best resume font?
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Every candidate wants to put their best font forward, particularly when it comes to their resume. Just like you shouldn't begin your resume with your "Activities and Interests" section or allow it to creep onto five pages, the best resume font is one that covers a few bases.
Here are the best fonts for resume writing - see how they weigh in with your favourites.
How to ensure an ATS-friendly resume
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Many professionals struggle to hear back on applications not because they lack skills or experience, but because their CV isn’t optimised for applicant tracking systems (ATS). Before applications reach a hiring manager, ATS software scans resumes for relevant keywords, structure and role alignment, meaning overly generic, highly designed or poorly structured CVs can be screened out early.
This is especially critical in finance and tech roles, where employers seek specific technical, systems and commercial expertise. An ATS‑friendly resume uses a clean format, relevant job-ad language and clear, standard headings to make key skills easy to identify, helping strong candidates progress through initial screening and stand out for the right reasons.
How to create a resume using AI
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Jobseekers are turning to AI CV makers to help clearly and confidently articulate their experience in an increasingly competitive hiring market. AI can be a useful writing assistant, helping turn rough notes into structured, achievement‑focused bullet points, tailor CVs to specific roles and improve clarity, tone and relevance.
However, it cannot replace judgement, invent real experience or guarantee outcomes, and over‑reliance risks creating generic or inaccurate applications. With employers facing high volumes of increasingly similar CVs, especially in technical roles where credibility is critical, AI is most effective when used thoughtfully while candidates retain ownership of content, individuality and accuracy.
Top 5 resume skills to put on your resume
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While the skills for your resume will vary according to the role you’re applying for, its seniority and the industry you work in, there are some skills that will always be valued by employers.
Here are our tips on the top resume skills you should include on your resume.
How to find the professional resume template that is right for you
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A resume template is used as a guide for how a professional resume should be laid out. Resume templates also provide helpful information for what content should be included in an NZ CV.
Visit our resume templates page for resume samples, including finance and accounting resumes and more.
Online resume - making sure your resume stands out online
Increasingly, employers are interested in seeing your digital resume. A digital resume is, as it sounds, a resume that is readily accessible online via your own or a third-party platform.
In creating an online resume, there are many different options available. You can take a full ‘bells-and-whistles’ approach, and build your own website or create a video to create a big impact. Or you can leverage an existing networking platform, such as LinkedIn. You can also use a free online resume builder.
An online resume has the advantage of being discoverable by potential employers, but also has the disadvantage of not being tailored to suit a specific role that you may be going for. While they certainly have their place and will become increasingly more important, digital resumes are best used in conjunction with a more traditional, offline resume.
You can never invest too much time in crafting the perfect resume. Even if you get the basics right, there are important nuances to consider that will help ensure that your resume gets to the top of the pile.
