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Create ResumeA resume grammar check in Australia is not just about fixing commas, spelling, and typos. It is about making sure your resume reads clearly, professionally, and credibly to an Australian recruiter or hiring manager. The strongest resume grammar check should review spelling in Australian English, sentence structure, tense consistency, job title accuracy, bullet point clarity, capitalisation, punctuation, ATS readability, and whether your wording sounds natural for the Australian job market. I see good candidates lose trust quickly because their resume looks rushed, over edited, translated too literally, or written in generic template language. Grammar does not get you hired by itself, but poor grammar can absolutely make a strong candidate look careless.
Most candidates think resume grammar is a final polish step. A quick spellcheck, a skim read, maybe one pass through Grammarly, and done. That is where many people go wrong.
Recruiters do not read resumes like English teachers. We read them under pressure, with incomplete context, while comparing several candidates against the same role. That means grammar mistakes do not appear as isolated little errors. They create doubt.
A small typo in a casual email may not matter. A typo in your resume can feel different because your resume is supposed to be the cleanest, most controlled version of your professional story. If that document is messy, recruiters start wondering what else has been missed.
This is especially true in Australia, where hiring communication tends to value clarity, directness, and practical credibility. Overly formal, awkward, inflated, or badly structured wording can make a resume feel less trustworthy. You do not need to sound like a corporate brochure. You need to sound competent, clear, and easy to understand.
Here is the hiring reality candidates often miss: recruiters are not only checking whether you have the right skills. They are also checking whether your resume makes it easy to say yes. Grammar, wording, and structure either reduce friction or create it.
A good resume grammar check is much broader than looking for spelling mistakes. I would never check a resume only for grammar in the narrow school textbook sense. That misses the real issue.
A proper Australian resume grammar check should cover:
Australian English spelling
Correct job title capitalisation
Consistent tense across current and previous roles
Clear bullet point structure
Natural sentence flow
Strong action verbs without exaggeration
Correct punctuation
Accurate use of industry terms
ATS friendly formatting
Consistent dates, locations, and employer names
Removal of vague filler phrases
Clear distinction between responsibilities and achievements
Grammar that supports credibility rather than sounding over written
The point is not to make every sentence sound fancy. Actually, that often makes a resume worse. The point is to make the resume clean, specific, readable, and believable.
A resume can be technically grammatical and still sound wrong. I see this often with resumes that have been heavily edited by AI tools or translated from another language. The grammar may be correct, but the phrasing feels unnatural for Australian hiring culture.
For example, “I was responsible for the successful execution of duties in alignment with organisational excellence” is not grammatically broken. It is just not useful. It tells me almost nothing. A stronger version would be: “Managed daily store operations, supported rostering, and resolved customer issues during peak trading periods.”
That is the difference between correct grammar and effective resume writing.
If you are applying for jobs in Australia, your resume should generally use Australian English unless the employer specifically uses another standard. This matters more than candidates think, especially when resumes have been built from US templates.
Common Australian English preferences include:
Organisation, not organization
Specialisation, not specialization
Labour, not labor
Programme is acceptable in some contexts, but program is commonly used in Australian business and technology settings
Licence as a noun and license as a verb
Practise as a verb and practice as a noun
Most recruiters will not reject you because of one American spelling. Let us be realistic. But inconsistent spelling across a resume can make the document feel copied, patched together, or not properly reviewed.
The bigger issue is consistency. If your resume uses “organisation” in one section and “organization” in another, it signals poor attention to detail. That can be a problem in roles where written communication matters, such as administration, project coordination, marketing, legal support, finance, HR, customer success, government, education, and executive support.
Australian resumes also tend to avoid excessive self promotion language. Phrases like “dynamic go getter”, “visionary professional”, “results driven superstar”, and “passionate ninja” do not land well. They feel inflated. In Australian hiring, direct evidence usually beats dramatic adjectives.
A cleaner approach is to show what you did, where you did it, and what changed because of it.
Some grammar mistakes are technically small but professionally loud. They interrupt the reader and make the resume feel less reliable.
The mistakes I notice most often include:
Random changes between past and present tense
Long bullet points that try to say three things at once
Inconsistent capitalisation of job titles and departments
Missing words caused by over editing
Repeated words such as “managed managed” or “the the”
Confusing plural and singular agreement
Awkward phrases copied from job ads
Inconsistent punctuation at the end of bullet points
Incorrect use of apostrophes
Spelling mistakes in software, qualifications, company names, or locations
Sentence fragments that do not clearly explain the work performed
The worst mistakes are not always the obvious typos. The worst mistakes are the ones that make the reader pause and think, “What does this actually mean?”
For example:
Weak Example
“Responsible for managing team and improve process for customer enquiries and reporting weekly reports.”
This sentence has several problems. The tense shifts, the wording is clumsy, and “reporting weekly reports” sounds careless.
Good Example
“Managed a team of six customer service staff, improved enquiry handling processes, and prepared weekly performance reports for management.”
The improved version is not flashy. It is simply clearer. Clear wins.
Another common issue is using present tense for old jobs.
Weak Example
“Manage payroll queries and support onboarding for new employees.”
This is fine if it is your current role. If the role ended in 2022, it should be past tense.
Good Example
“Managed payroll queries and supported onboarding for new employees.”
Recruiters notice tense because it helps us understand what you currently do versus what you used to do. When the tense is wrong, your timeline becomes less clear.
Candidates often ask whether a grammar mistake will actually cost them an interview. The honest answer is: sometimes, yes.
Not because recruiters are sitting there with red pens feeling morally superior. That is not the issue. The issue is trust.
If a resume has several grammar issues, the recruiter may start questioning:
Did this person rush the application?
Are they serious about this role?
Will they communicate clearly with clients, managers, or stakeholders?
Is the resume accurate, or has it been carelessly assembled?
Did they understand the job requirements properly?
Are there stronger candidates with cleaner documents?
This matters even more when written communication is part of the role. For an accountant, administrator, project coordinator, marketing specialist, executive assistant, customer service lead, policy officer, HR advisor, or sales professional, poor resume grammar can quietly damage your positioning.
The frustrating part is that many candidates have the right capability but present it poorly. I have seen resumes where the experience is genuinely strong, but the wording makes the candidate look less sharp than they are. That is a fixable problem, but only if you treat grammar as part of positioning, not just proofreading.
A grammar check should protect your credibility. It should make the recruiter focus on your value, not your mistakes.
Recruiters usually scan before they read. That means grammar issues are noticed in layers.
First, we notice visible mess. This includes inconsistent formatting, strange spacing, obvious typos, and bullet points that look chaotic.
Then we notice readability. Can we quickly understand your role, level, industry, and relevance?
Then we notice credibility. Does the wording sound specific and believable, or does it sound like a template?
Then we notice fit. Does your resume match what the hiring manager actually needs?
Grammar supports all of this. It helps the recruiter move through your resume without friction.
What many candidates misunderstand is that recruiters are not looking for perfect literary writing. We are looking for professional clarity. The best resumes are usually not the most beautifully written. They are the easiest to understand.
A good Australian resume should answer these questions quickly:
What role are you targeting?
What level are you operating at?
What industries or environments have you worked in?
What systems, tools, or methods do you know?
What responsibilities have you handled?
What outcomes have you contributed to?
Why are you a credible match for this role?
If grammar problems make those answers harder to find, your resume is working against you.
Do not rely on one tool or one read through. Resume errors are easy to miss because you already know what you meant to say. Your brain fills in the gaps. Very annoying of it, frankly.
Use a layered checking process.
First, check spelling and Australian English consistency. Set your document language to English Australia where possible. This helps catch US spelling and inconsistent language settings.
Second, check tense. Current roles should usually use present tense. Previous roles should use past tense. If you are describing a completed project within your current role, past tense may still be appropriate.
Third, check bullet structure. Each bullet should usually start with a strong verb and explain a complete idea. Avoid bullets that are too long, too vague, or packed with multiple unrelated tasks.
Fourth, read for meaning. Ask yourself whether a stranger could understand the sentence without knowing your job. If not, rewrite it.
Fifth, check names and details. Company names, job titles, qualifications, software names, suburb names, and dates must be accurate. A typo in “Salesforce”, “MYOB”, “Xero”, “Microsoft Excel”, “Sydney”, or an employer name looks careless.
Sixth, remove inflated wording. If a phrase sounds impressive but does not actually explain anything, cut it or replace it with evidence.
Seventh, read the resume aloud. This is one of the simplest ways to catch awkward phrasing. If you stumble while reading it, the recruiter may stumble too.
Finally, review the resume in PDF format before submitting. Formatting can shift. Spacing can break. Headers can look strange. Do not assume the Word version and final upload look the same.
Grammar tools can be useful, but they are not recruiters. They can catch mechanical problems, but they cannot fully judge hiring relevance.
Tools such as Grammarly, Microsoft Editor, Google Docs spellcheck, LanguageTool, and built in word processing checks can help identify spelling mistakes, punctuation issues, repeated words, and basic grammar problems.
They can help with:
Typos
Missing commas
Repeated words
Basic grammar errors
Inconsistent spelling
Awkward sentence length
Some clarity issues
But they often struggle with:
Australian hiring tone
Resume positioning
Industry specific wording
Whether a bullet sounds credible
Whether a sentence is too vague
Whether your achievement is framed strongly
Whether your resume matches the role
Whether your wording sounds like AI wrote it after three coffees and a leadership podcast
This is where candidates need judgement. A tool may suggest more formal wording, but more formal is not always better. In Australian resumes, overly polished corporate language can feel unnatural.
For example:
Weak Example
“Instrumental in the facilitation of cross functional operational deliverables.”
This sounds like someone is trying to impress rather than communicate.
Good Example
“Coordinated tasks across operations, sales, and finance teams to keep weekly reporting and client updates on track.”
The second version is more useful because it tells the reader what happened.
Use grammar tools as a safety net, not as the final decision maker.
The strongest resume sentences are specific, active, and easy to scan. They do not try to explain your entire job in one breath.
A useful structure is:
Action
Scope
Context
Result or purpose
You do not need every bullet to include all four parts, but this structure keeps your writing focused.
Weak Example
“Worked on admin duties and helped team with different things across office.”
This is too vague. “Different things” is where credibility goes to quietly die.
Good Example
“Coordinated office administration, maintained client records, and supported diary management for a team of four consultants.”
This gives the recruiter something real to work with.
Weak Example
“Responsible for customer service and complaints.”
This is not wrong, but it is thin.
Good Example
“Handled customer enquiries and complaints across phone and email channels, resolving issues within service level timeframes.”
This is stronger because it shows communication channels, responsibility, and performance context.
Weak Example
“Assisted with reports and data.”
Again, too broad.
Good Example
“Prepared weekly sales reports using Excel, checked data accuracy, and shared performance updates with the state manager.”
The good version helps the recruiter picture the work. That is what you want. Not drama. Not fluff. Just enough detail to make your experience believable.
Applicant tracking systems are not grammar judges in the human sense, but poor grammar and formatting can still affect how your resume is parsed, searched, and understood.
ATS platforms usually scan resumes for job titles, skills, employers, qualifications, dates, and keywords. If your wording is inconsistent, badly formatted, or overly creative, important information may be missed or misread.
Common ATS related grammar and formatting issues include:
Using unusual symbols instead of simple bullet points
Placing key information inside graphics or text boxes
Using inconsistent job title wording
Splitting dates and employer names across confusing lines
Using abbreviations without the full term where needed
Overusing vague language instead of role relevant terms
Writing long paragraphs that bury important skills
Using inconsistent spelling of software and certifications
For example, if a job ad asks for “Work Health and Safety” and your resume only says “WHS” once in a vague paragraph, you may be less searchable. If you use both terms naturally where relevant, you make the resume easier for both ATS and human readers.
This does not mean stuffing keywords everywhere. That is not strategy. That is panic wearing a keyboard.
The better approach is to use the language of the role naturally. If the job requires stakeholder management, rostering, payroll, Xero, CRM, compliance, case management, or project coordination, those terms should appear clearly where they genuinely match your experience.
Grammar supports ATS performance because clean, consistent writing helps the system and the recruiter understand the same thing.
Hiring managers usually care less about perfect grammar than recruiters do during first screening, but they care deeply about clarity. By the time your resume reaches a hiring manager, it needs to help them make a decision quickly.
Hiring managers are usually asking:
Can this person do the work?
Have they worked in a similar environment?
Do they understand the level of responsibility?
Will they need heavy support or can they operate confidently?
Is their communication likely to be clear with the team, clients, or stakeholders?
Does their resume match what the recruiter told me?
Grammar mistakes become a problem when they interfere with those answers.
For example, a hiring manager looking for an operations coordinator does not want vague statements like “supported business operations where required”. They want to see scheduling, supplier coordination, reporting, stock control, compliance, process improvement, or team support if those are relevant.
A hiring manager looking for a marketing specialist does not want “created content and did campaigns”. They want channels, platforms, campaign types, audience, reporting tools, and outcomes.
Good grammar makes your experience easier to evaluate. Bad grammar forces the reader to work harder. In hiring, making people work harder is rarely a smart move.
Before you submit your resume, use this checklist. It is simple, but it catches the errors that regularly weaken otherwise decent applications.
Check that:
Your resume uses Australian English spelling consistently
Your current role uses present tense where appropriate
Your previous roles use past tense
Every bullet point makes sense as a complete idea
Job titles, company names, and dates are accurate
Software names and certifications are spelled correctly
Bullet point punctuation is consistent
Capitalisation is consistent across headings and job titles
You have removed vague phrases that do not add evidence
Your resume does not switch between first person and third person
Your summary sounds like a real professional, not a template
Your achievements are specific enough to be credible
Your formatting looks clean in PDF
Your contact details are correct
Your file name is professional and easy to identify
A good file name would be something like “Priya Sharma Resume Project Coordinator”. A weak file name would be “resume final final updated version new one”. I wish I were exaggerating. I am not.
Some roles have a much lower tolerance for resume grammar problems because written communication is part of the job.
Be especially careful if you are applying for roles in:
Administration
Executive support
Customer service
Marketing and communications
Human resources
Recruitment
Finance
Legal support
Policy and government
Education and training
Project coordination
Client success
Sales and account management
For these roles, your resume is evidence of your communication standard. If your resume has avoidable grammar errors, it can undercut your claim that you have strong written communication skills.
That does not mean trades, logistics, hospitality, retail, healthcare, construction, or technical candidates can ignore grammar. Clarity still matters. But the risk is higher when the job itself requires careful writing, reporting, documentation, client emails, proposals, or stakeholder communication.
A resume for an electrician does not need to sound like a policy paper. A resume for a policy officer absolutely needs strong writing discipline. Different roles, different expectations. That is how hiring works.
The best resume grammar check does not simply ask, “Is this sentence correct?” It asks, “Is this sentence helping me get shortlisted?”
That is the standard I would use.
A sentence can be grammatically correct and still fail because it is too vague, too passive, too inflated, or too disconnected from the role.
For example:
Weak Example
“Highly motivated professional with excellent communication skills and a strong ability to work in fast paced environments.”
There is nothing technically shocking here. The problem is that it sounds like thousands of other resumes. It gives no evidence.
Good Example
“Customer service professional with three years of experience handling high volume enquiries, resolving complaints, and supporting daily store operations in busy retail environments.”
The good version is more useful because it gives the recruiter context, scope, and relevance.
This is where candidates need to stop treating resume grammar like a school assignment. Your resume is a positioning document. Grammar is one part of that positioning.
The goal is not to sound perfect. The goal is to sound credible, relevant, and clear enough that the recruiter can confidently move you forward.
Written by Simar Malhi, a recruiter and headhunter with international recruitment experience. I write about CVs, job applications, hiring decisions, and the reality behind recruitment processes. My goal is to help candidates understand more honestly how employers, recruiters, and hiring managers actually select candidates.
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