How to write an Australian hospitality CV

Keep it to one or two pages

One page is enough if you have under five years of experience. Two pages is the limit for anyone else. Managers will not read a third page.

Use this order

• Name, phone, email, suburb. No photo, date of birth or marital status.
• Two-line summary: your role, years of experience and the type of venue you work best in.
• Licences and certificates: RSA, RCG, Food Safety, First Aid. Put these near the top, because they decide whether you can be rostered.
• Work rights: one line, for example 'Full work rights in Australia' or the visa type and any hours limit that applies to you.
• Experience, newest first: venue, role, dates, and three to five bullet points.
• Availability: days and times you can work.
• References: two recent venue managers, or 'Available on request'.

Write bullets that show results

Replace duties with outcomes a manager can picture. 'Served customers' tells them nothing. These tell them a lot:

• Ran bar service for 120-seat venue on Friday and Saturday nights
• Trained four new staff on the POS and cocktail menu
• Handled cash-up and closing alone, with no discrepancies
• Kept service speed during a sold-out event for 800 guests

Mistakes that get a CV ignored

• Missing RSA or RCG when the job needs it
• Gaps in dates with no explanation
• A long list of skills with no examples
• Overseas job titles that Australian managers will not recognise, with no short explanation
• Typos. In hospitality they read as carelessness

Overseas experience

Keep overseas roles, but translate them. Name the type of venue and its size, and describe what you did in plain terms. A manager in Sydney should understand your level in a few seconds.