CV Assist Blog

From Atlassian and Canva to Salesforce, here are the 50 best places to work in Australia

Who do you want to work for in 2019? Check out the TOP 50 from 2018

The title of being one of Australia’s best places to work has again been claimed by a number of fast-growing technology companies, with the likes of Atlassian, Canva and Salesforce featuring in this year’s list of the 50 great workplaces compiled by Great Place to Work Australia.

The 11th annual study was dominated by local and international tech companies, with the average age of companies on this year’s list being 48 years old. Of those companies, 75% of their workers are full-time, with average non-management salaries of $94,000.

At the top of the list for companies with over 1,000 employees is international marketing software company Salesforce and home-grown success story Atlassian. Both companies were in the top three for companies with 100-999 employees last year, showing their consistency as good places to work.

“At Salesforce we believe a strong culture lays the foundation for a strong business. Testament to the passion and purpose that goes into creating Salesforce’s workplace culture, we’re extremely honoured to again be recognised as the number one Best Place to Work in Australia for 2018,”  Mark Innes, general manager of Asia Pacific at Salesforce, said in a statement.

At the top of the list for companies with between 100-999 employees is another local startup success story Canva, which earlier this year was pronounced one of Australia’s latest unicorns, thanks to a valuation of more than $1 billion. Following Canva is medical technology company Stryker and accounting company Intuit.

And for the small end of the pack for businesses with fewer than 100 employees, dental company Avenue Dental took the top spot, followed by IT services company Insentra, and data and analytics firm Altis Consulting.

The survey involved 63,740 Australian employees from 160 companies, with scores deduced by a 58-question survey provided to employees, as well as an assessment of the company by Great Place to Work against nine key practice areas.

In a statement, managing director of Great Place to Work Australia Zrinka Lovrencic said maintaining a fantastic workplace culture is leading to businesses having better retention rates. While there was a general 21.4% increase in unfilled positions in the broader job market between May 2017 to May 2018, voluntary turnover at the companies on this year’s list decreased by 30%.

“This is telling us that despite the labour market shortage and an abundance of opportunities, the employees at the 50 Best Places to Work are less interested in looking for new opportunities,” Lovrencic said.

“Being a great workplace is no longer something that is just ‘nice to have’: today it is imperative to business vitality and success.”

Never too late to look at culture

Tristan White’s business The Physio Co has been on the Best Places to Work list for the past 10 years, coming in eighth this year for companies with between 100-999 employees. But the chief executive tells SmartCompany when he started the physiotherapy business in 2004, a focus on workplace culture was nowhere to be found.

“For the first five years, I had no freaking idea what culture was, and I was running a business with about 20 people, all doing our very best, but really I didn’t know what I was doing,” he says.

“None of us really knew where the business was heading, and I began to wonder if business was for me, but then I decided to find a solution.”

It was at that point White’s “obsession” with culture started, as he set about transforming Physio Co from a “haphazard” group of people to a group with a clear set of core purposes and values. White says sticking to those values over time has led his business to success, so much so that he centres all business actions and communications around those values.

While it was hard to move the goalposts for all his employees literally overnight, White believes it’s never too late for businesses to get cracking on culture. However, he advises business owners to try and find that sweet spot on the continuum of focusing on people, and focusing on business performance.

“When tough times come, you can find yourself focusing a bit too much on the numbers and not enough on the people and culture, so it’s about finding that balance,” he says.

The 50 best places to work in Australia are:

Over 1,000 employees

1. Salesforce
2. Atlassian
3. Cisco Systems Australia
4. Hilton
5. Mecca Brands
6. Mars
7. Kennards Hire
8. Dhl Express
9. Sap Australia
10. Campbell Arnotts

Between 100-999 employees

1. Canva
2. Stryker
3. Intuit
4. The Bluerock
5. Zendesk
6. Omd
7. Abbvie Australia
8. The Physio Co
9. Summit Homes Group
10. Nova Systems
11 Ansarada
12. Adobe
13. Kronos
14. Envato
15. Jetts Fitness
16. Optiver
17. Richard Crookes Constructions
18. Wavemaker Australia
19. L’occitane Australia
20. Autodesk Australia

Under 100 employees

1. Avenue Dental
2. Insentra
3. Altis Consulting
4. Rackspace
5. Invest Blue
6. Amicus
7. Maple Event Group
8. Cobild
9. Melbourne Real Estate
10. Bluefin Resources
11. Mexia
12. Luminary
13. Stanford Brown
14. Meltwater
15. Cordelta
16. Frontier Advisors
17. Corin Australia
18. Canstar
19. I2c Architects
20. Elantis Premium Funding

The Modern Mindset and the 6 Core Human Needs

Today I met with a behavioral consultant and trainer from The Modern Mindset to discuss how we can support CV Assist customers in achieving their goal, to find their dream role or next career move.

Our conversation was insightful!  We focused our discussions not just on what you want but more on what you need!  Many customers come to me and feel stuck and unsure of their next steps, their resumes are confusing as they are trying to change career but unsure how to do this.  This is where we honed in on the 6 Core Human Needs.  Before we look at your resume, we can help you to focus on what you need and then align this with your personal, work and lifestyle goals and objectives. Take a look at the 6 human needs below and start to re-order them in your priorities as a starting point.  

The Six Human Needs
1. Certainty: assurance you can avoid pain and gain pleasure
2. Uncertainty/Variety: the need for the unknown, change, new stimuli
3. Significance: feeling unique, important, special or needed
4. Connection/Love: a strong feeling of closeness or union with someone or something
5. Growth: an expansion of capacity, capability or understanding
6. Contribution: a sense of service and focus on helping, giving to and supporting others

This is just scratching the surface of providing you with the focus, balance and motivation you need to have true confidence in everything you do. 

Understanding the value of shaping your attitude, drive and performance are vital, as how you think and what you think impacts on your daily decisions and performance. Developing the skills you need has the capacity to elevate your mind and physical state and create far-reaching possibilities, opportunities, and outcomes.

Our results are a reflection of the strategies we run in our minds in any given relationship. Whether with a job task, colleagues, conflict, performance, time management, organisation, interaction, even clients. We continuously run strategies on a subconscious level that may or may not serve us. This is what sets apart those achieving results and those not. So developing the ability to think better (more resourcefully), is where The Modern Mindset comes in.  Find out more @ www.themodernmindset.com

 

19 Reasons Why This Is An Excellent Resume

Recruiters spend an average of six seconds reviewing a resume before they make the initial decision on candidates, according to research conducted by TheLadders, an online job-matching service for professionals. That means you have to win them over fast. See this article on Business Insider Australia

 

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1. It includes a URL to the jobseeker’s professional online profile.

If you don’t include URLs to your professional online profiles, hiring managers will look you up regardless. Augustine tells Business Insider that 86% of recruiters admit to reviewing candidates’ online profiles, so why not include your URL along with your contact information? This will prevent recruiters from having to guess or mistaking you for someone else.

2. It uses consistent branding.

“If you have a common name, consider including your middle initial on your resume and online professional profiles to differentiate yourself from the competition,” says Augustine. For example, decide if you’re Mike Johnson, Michael Johnson, or Mike E. Johnson. Then use this name consistently, be it on LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.

3. It includes a single phone number and email address.

“Choose one phone number for your resume where you control the voicemail message and who picks up the phone,” she advises. The same rule applies to an email address.

4. It does not include an objective statement.

There’s no point in including a generic objective about a “professional looking for opportunities that will allow me to leverage my skills,” says Augustine. It’s not helpful and distracting. Ditch it.

5. Instead, it includes an executive summary.

Replace your fluffy statement with an executive summary, which should be like a “30-second elevator pitch” where you explain who you are and what you’re looking for. “In approximately three to five sentences, explain what you’re great at, most interested in, and how you can provide value to a prospective employer,” Augustine says.

6. It uses reverse chronological order.

This is the most helpful for recruiters because they’re able to see what you’ve been doing in recent years immediately, says Augustine. “The only time you shouldn’t do this is if you’re trying to transition to another career altogether, but then again, in this situation, you’ll probably be relying more on networks,” than your resume, she says.

7. It uses keywords like “forecasting” and “strategic planning.”

Many companies use some kind of screening process to identify the right candidates. You should include the keywords mentioned in the job posting throughout your resume.

“Identify the common keywords, terminology, and key phrases that routinely pop up in the job descriptions of your target role and incorporate them into your resume (assuming you have those skills),” advises Augustine. “This will help you make it past the initial screenings and on to the recruiter or hiring manager.”

8. It provides company descriptions.

It’s helpful for recruiters to know the size of the company you used to work for, advises Augustine.

“Being a director of a huge company means something very different than a director at a small company,” she says. You can go to the company’s “About Us” section and rewrite one or two lines of the description. This should be included right underneath the name of the company.

9. It does not list achievements in dense blocks of text.

Recruiters receive so many resumes to scan through at a time, so make it as easy as possible for them to understand why you’re perfect for the job. Dense blocks of text are too difficult to read, says Augustine.

10. Instead, achievements are listed in three bullet points per job.

Under each job or experience you’ve had, explain how you contributed to or supported your team’s projects and initiatives.
“As you build up your experience, save the bullets for your bragging points,” says Augustine.

11. It quantifies achievements.

“Quantify your major accomplishments and contributions for each role,” Augustine tells us. This can include the money you saved or brought in for your employer, deals closed, and projects delivered on time or under budget. Do not use any more than three to five bullet points.

12. Accomplishments are formatted as result-and-then-cause.

A good rule is to use the “result BY action” sentence structure whenever possible. For example: “Generated approximately $US452,000 in annual savings by employing a new procedure which streamlined the business’s vendor relationships.”

13. White space draws the reader’s eyes to important points.

Recruiters do not spend a lot of time scanning resumes, so avoid dense blocks of text. “The key is to format the information in a way that makes it easy to scan and recognise your job goals and relevant qualifications,” Augustine tells us.

14. It doesn’t use crazy fonts or colours.

“Stick to black and white colour,” says Augustine. As for font, it’s best to stick with the basics, such as Arial, Tahoma, or Calibri.

15. It does not include pronouns.

Augustine says you should never write your resume in third person because everyone knows you’re the one writing it (unless you go through a professional resume writing service).

Instead, you should write it in first person, and do not include pronouns. “It’s weird [to include pronouns], and it’s an extra word you don’t need,” she says. “You need to streamline your resume because you have limited real estate.”

16. It does not include images.

“Avoid adding any embedded tables, pictures, or other images in your resume, as this can confuse the applicant-tracking software and jumble your resume in the system,” says Augustine.

17. It doesn’t use headers or footers.

It may look neat and concise to display your contact information in the header, but for “the same reason with embedded tables and charts, it often gets scrambled in an applicant tracking system,” says Augustine.

18. Education is listed at the bottom.

Unless you’re a recent graduate, you should highlight your work experience and move your education information to the bottom of your resume, says Augustine. Never include anything about your high-school years.

19. It doesn’t say “references upon request.”

Every recruiter knows you’re going to provide references if they request it so there’s no reason for you to include this line. Again, remember that space on your resume is crucial so don’t waste it on a meaningless line, Augustine tells us.

Quantify Your Impact - 6 Secrets of Great Resumes from Forbes

1. Quantify Your Impact

Tip: Show your accomplishments in numbers, not just words.  It’s such an easy way to standout since few people do this. Answer questions such as: how much money did you manage? How many people attended your last event? How many views did your promotional video have?  This is a great article from Forbes on the 6 secrets of great resumes

Examples:

·        Weak: Managed a budget to plan large-scale events for students

·        Strong: Managed $12,000 budget to plan large-scale events for 2,500 students

·        Weak: Compiled a pitch deck for buyout of automotive company

·        Strong: Compiled a 44-page pitch deck for buyout of $53 million automotive company

·        Weak: Wrote articles on entrepreneurship and technology

·        Strong: Wrote 8 articles on entrepreneurship and technology, generating 107,000 page views, 8,003 likes, and 3,723 tweets

 

2. Make Your Interests As Quirky As Possible

Tip: To quote Drake (another great philosopher), you need to “start from the bottom.” The last line of your resume is where most people list their interests, but don’t actually say anything interesting. You like movies, sports, and traveling? How original! Instead, say something that could strike an emotional chord or spark a memorable conversation mid-interview. At the very least, be highly specific.

Examples: Settlers of Catan, Quentin Tarantino films, Mediterranean cooking, Lego Star Wars collections.

Reason: In Give and Take, Wharton professor Adam Grant emphasizes that similarities matter most when they’re rare. “We bond when we share uncommon commonalities, which allow us to feel that we fit in and stand out at the same time,” he says. Your interests are a huge bonding opportunity with your resume reader. Don’t waste it.

3. Show The Competition

Tip: This one gets me every time. So many people win awards, get into selective programs, and do other impressive things but don’t convey the full amazingness of those accomplishments. It’s because they don’t show the competition; they don’t reveal how many other people were gunning for that very same spot.

Examples:

·        Weak: Won Granny Smith University’s Innovation Competition

·        Strong: Won $1,000 for Granny Smith University’s Innovation Competition (80+ entrepreneurs competed)

·        Weak: Accepted into Johnny Appleseed Management Program

·        Strong: Accepted into Johnny Appleseed Management Program (9% admit rate, Granny Smith University selects 50 students per year)

Reason: Social proof is one of the most powerful principles of influence, according to psychologist Robert Cialdini. By showing your competition, you emphasize how coveted your accomplishments are. Many people tried, but only you succeeded. By doing this, you safeguard yourself in case the recruiter hasn’t heard of your program, award, or honor – which they most likely haven’t and won’t bother looking up.

4. Ask An Employee For Feedback

Tip: Relationships are more important than resumes. Before applying to any company, always connect with an employee – whether through information sessions, introductions, or alumni outreach. If the conversation goes well, kindly ask for feedback on your resume before applying.

This accomplishes two things. First, it’s an extremely efficient way to customize your resume to different companies. Employees offer highly specific edits (“hey try using this buzz word, we love that”). Secondly, this is an awesome way to internally pass along your resume without even asking. If an employee finds you impressive, kind, and sincere, there’s a good chance they’ll put in a word with recruiters.

Example: Here’s an email I’ve used before.

Hey Jeff,

Great chatting yesterday! I really enjoyed hearing about your experiences at [Company X] and I’m excited to apply for [Position Y].

I know you’re super busy, but could you spare 2 minutes to share any feedback on my resume before I submit? Even a quick gut reaction would mean a lot.

Best,

Jon

Reason: The Foot-In-The-Door Phenomenon refers to people’s tendency to more readily complete larger requests after they’ve already agreed to smaller ones. By asking for feedback, you’re doing just that. Requesting two minutes of their time is an easy starting point, especially if you’ve built rapport beforehand. Before you know it, they may help out in bigger ways by making referrals, brokering introductions, and more.

5. Associate Yourself With Big Brands

Tip: Build instant credibility by associating yourself with trusted institutions, even if you’ve never directly worked for one. Did any of your clients include Fortune 500 companies? If you worked at a startup, was it backed by notable venture capitalists? Were you featured in any major publications? Well-known brands shine when recruiters scan resumes so find a way to include them.

Examples:

·        Strengthened relationships with 7 strategic partners (including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble & Emirates Airlines) through follow-up meetings with senior leadership

·        Hired and managed 6 students from Penn and Yale including programmers, salespeople, and graphic designers

·        Collaborated with Zagat’s “Restaurateur of the Year” Stephen Starr to run a Philadelphia-wide Restaurant Week at 8 different venues

Reason: Authority is another one of Cialdini’s principles of influence. If you don’t have it, the best way to convey authority is by associating yourself with those who do.

 

Bonus Tip: for college students, an easy way to do this is by becoming a campus ambassador for a notable company. Check out The Campus Job for a quick way to find these types of “campus rep” positions.

6. Follow The “Rule of Seven”

Tip: Great resumes send a consistent message. They convey a personal brand. They make recruiters think, “this kid has done this before. If we hire him, he’ll fit right in.” To accomplish this, follow the Rule of Seven. Find buzzwords (and their derivatives) on the company’s website and repeat them seven times in your resume.  For instance, when applying for marketing jobs, use verbs like “marketed,” “advertised” and “promoted” to describe your accomplishments. When applying to a startup, use verbs like “built,” “created,” and “initiated.” And so forth. If you’re really crafty, you don’t have to change much when tailoring to different jobs.

Example:

·        For Marketing Job: “Marketed YouTube Campaign Video featuring CNN’s Larry King (9,400 views)”

·        For Startup Job:  “Created YouTube Campaign Video featuring CNN’s Larry King (9,400 views)”

(by the way, see how I dropped CNN in there? Everyone knows Larry King but CNN is another recognized brand that recruiters gravitate towards. Tip 5 in action.)

Reason: The old adage says customers must see an advertisement seven times before they take action. Apply the same thinking here. After all, your resume is the ultimate personal marketing tool. Make sure you position yourself properly so recruiters know you’re a fit.

Bonus Tip: One of the biggest missed opportunities is when people write “summer intern” on resumes. Stop doing that! Specify your role (ex: “marketing intern”). It’s another branding opportunity. Another way to fulfill the Rule of Seven is through your “relevant coursework” section (if you have one). When applying for a finance job, for example, list statistics and quantitative classes first.

5 reasons why you're not getting the job you want

So your CV is done and it’s looking good right? But why are you still not getting to interview?  Writing or updating your resume for a new role or change in career direction can be daunting and seem like a huge task.  Let’s face it, it’s hard to sell yourself when you feel pressure to find a job or simply dream of a change in career.  Getting all your job history into a nice free template you downloaded online is the easy part, even the application process is simple, but selling yourself and ensuring you stand out from the hundreds of other applicants is where we come in to secure that interview.  If your applying for positions with no response, it's most likely your resume is letting you down or your just not telling them loud enough why you are the only candidate for the role. 

Top 5 reasons you’re not getting the job you want:

  1. Your CV is NOT targeted to or selling you into the role and what the employer is looking for
  2. You did not submit a cover letter, who reads them anyway right? Wrong! I want to know why you’re the ONLY candidate for this specific role
  3. Your LinkedIn does not align with your CV and possibly your photo may not be as professional as it could be
  4. You’re not prepared at interview! Do your research on the company and ask questions!
  5. You’re not prepared at interview! Do role play and prepare to answer the hard questions about you

7 ways to make LinkedIn help you find a job

Career experts agree that LinkedIn is an essential job search tool. Not only can you instantly get the word out to hundreds, if not thousands, of colleagues, bosses and potential employers about your latest accomplishments, ambitions and changes in employment status, but your LinkedIn profile can also serve as a passive job magnet, since recruiters and hiring managers use the site as a gold mine for locating candidates. 

Take a look at Forbes article on the: 7 ways to make LinkedIn help you find a job >

Page 1 of your resume is key to selling you into your dream role

Page 1 is your chance to shine and tell them why YOU are the ONLY candidate for this role. Use your space wisely and ensure you are laser focused on your skills, passion and experience the job description is seeking.  See below example of a before and after resume we produced for one of our customers (details have been edited for privacy policy reasons). 

Need more guidance? check out our Advice Section >>