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Create ResumeYour resume should not just describe what you were responsible for. It should prove what you actually contributed. In the Australian job market, hiring managers do not have time to interpret vague task lists, guess your impact, or translate “responsible for” into evidence. They want to see whether you made things faster, easier, cheaper, safer, better, more compliant, more profitable, or more reliable. That is the difference between a resume that sounds busy and a resume that makes a recruiter stop scrolling.
A responsibility tells me what sat in your job description. Proof tells me what happened because you were in the role. And that distinction matters more than most candidates realise.
Most resumes are full of responsibilities because that feels safe. Candidates write what they were hired to do, what their role covered, and what tasks they handled. On paper, that looks professional. In screening, it often looks incomplete.
A responsibility based resume usually sounds like this:
Weak Example
Responsible for managing customer enquiries
Assisted with reporting and administration
Worked with internal stakeholders
Supported daily operations
Helped improve processes
None of that is technically wrong. That is the problem. It is correct, but it is not useful enough.
When I read a resume like that, I still have too many unanswered questions. How many customer enquiries? What type of customers? What reports? What stakeholders? What operations? What changed because of your support? Did you improve anything, or were you simply present while work happened around you?
This is where many candidates lose momentum. They think their resume is explaining their experience. From a recruiter’s side, it is often only naming the general area they worked in.
When recruiters screen resumes, we are rarely reading slowly from top to bottom with a cup of tea and a generous heart. Lovely idea. Not usually reality.
We are trying to answer a few practical questions quickly:
Does this person match the core requirements of the role?
Have they worked in a similar environment, industry, scale or function?
Can I see evidence that they performed well?
Are they likely to make the hiring manager’s shortlist?
Is there enough substance here to justify a conversation?
A resume with proof makes those questions easier to answer.
A resume without proof creates friction. The recruiter has to guess. Hiring managers have to infer. ATS software may pick up keywords, but keywords alone do not prove capability. A human still needs to believe your experience is relevant.
This is especially important in Australia because many roles attract strong applicant volumes, particularly in administration, operations, customer service, marketing, HR, finance, project support, technology and management roles. When several candidates have similar job titles, proof becomes the separator.
Hiring managers do not shortlist people because they “handled tasks”. They shortlist people because they can see signs of competence, judgement, ownership, performance and relevance.
Responsibilities are not enough because they do not show how well you did the work.
A job title may get you considered. Evidence gets you taken seriously.
I am not saying responsibilities are useless. They do matter. A recruiter needs to understand what your role covered.
The issue is that responsibilities should provide context, not carry the whole resume.
Think of it this way. Responsibilities answer:
“What were you supposed to do?”
Proof answers:
“What did you actually make happen?”
A strong resume usually needs both. You need enough role context so the reader understands your position, but you also need outcomes, scale, complexity and contribution.
Weak Example
Good Example
The good version does not just say reporting. It explains audience, purpose, scope and business value. That is what makes it stronger.
Weak Example
Good Example
Again, the second version gives me something to work with. It shows scale, practical impact and commercial relevance.
Proof does not always need to be dramatic. You do not need to have saved the company millions or personally rescued the business from collapse. Most good work is more ordinary than that. The key is to make the value visible.
Proof is any clear evidence that helps the reader understand the scale, quality, outcome or relevance of your work.
This can include numbers, but it does not have to be only numbers. Many candidates avoid proof because they think, “I do not have exact metrics.” That is often not true. They may not have perfect data, but they usually have useful evidence.
Proof can include:
Metrics such as revenue, cost savings, turnaround time, volume, conversion rates, accuracy, retention, compliance results or customer satisfaction
Scale such as team size, budget size, number of clients, number of projects, number of locations or transaction volume
Outcomes such as improved efficiency, reduced errors, faster response times, better reporting, stronger stakeholder alignment or smoother onboarding
Complexity such as tight deadlines, regulatory requirements, system changes, multi site operations or difficult stakeholder groups
Recognition such as promotions, awards, internal selection, leadership trust or being chosen for high priority work
Tools and systems used in a meaningful context, not just dumped into a skills list
Before and after improvements that show what changed because of your involvement
The strongest resume bullets usually combine a few of these.
For example:
That bullet works because it shows the problem, the action and the result. It also tells me the candidate understands why the work mattered.
One of the biggest mistakes candidates make is confusing activity with impact.
A busy resume tells me you did many things. An effective resume tells me why those things mattered.
There is a difference between:
Attended stakeholder meetings
Supported project delivery
Prepared documentation
Assisted with onboarding
Managed inbox queries
And:
Coordinated weekly stakeholder updates for a system implementation project, keeping business users aligned on milestones, risks and process changes
Prepared project documentation used by delivery teams to track actions, decisions and outstanding dependencies
Improved onboarding documentation for new starters, reducing repeated questions and helping managers train staff more consistently
Managed a shared inbox receiving up to 120 enquiries per week, triaging urgent issues and improving response consistency across the team
The second group still describes work, but it does more than list tasks. It shows judgement, volume, purpose and contribution.
This is what hiring managers notice. They are not just asking, “Can this person do the task?” They are asking, “Can this person do the task properly, in our environment, without creating extra work for everyone else?”
That is the quiet question behind many hiring decisions.
The phrase “responsible for” is not evil, but it is usually lazy resume language.
When a resume repeatedly says “responsible for”, it often makes the candidate sound passive. It tells me the responsibility existed, but not whether the person owned it well.
For example:
Weak Example
Better:
Good Example
The good version shows actual involvement. It gives a clearer picture of what the candidate did and why it mattered.
“Responsible for” also hides performance. Two people can both be responsible for the same function and perform very differently. One may be proactive, accurate and trusted. The other may need constant chasing. The phrase does not help me tell the difference.
Use stronger verbs when they are accurate:
Managed
Led
Delivered
Improved
Coordinated
Built
Reduced
Resolved
Streamlined
Implemented
Analysed
Increased
Developed
Negotiated
Reconciled
Supported
Advised
The verb should reflect your actual level of ownership. Do not inflate. Australian hiring managers can smell exaggerated leadership language from a suburb away.
Proof gives recruiters confidence. It helps us understand not only what you did, but how your experience compares to the role we are hiring for.
For example, imagine I am recruiting for an operations coordinator role. I see two candidates.
Candidate one says:
Candidate two says:
Candidate two is easier to shortlist because I can see the environment, pace and practical relevance.
This does not mean candidate two is automatically better. It means their resume gives me more evidence.
That is the point candidates often miss. Your resume is not judged only on your experience. It is judged on how clearly your experience is communicated.
A strong candidate with a vague resume can lose to a slightly less experienced candidate with a clearer resume. That may feel unfair, but it happens constantly. Hiring is not a mind reading exercise. If the value is not visible, the reader may not give you credit for it.
Many candidates talk about applicant tracking systems as if the ATS is the final boss. It is not. The ATS is usually one part of the process. Human screening still matters heavily, especially once your resume reaches a recruiter or hiring manager.
A proof based resume helps with both.
For ATS, proof based content naturally includes relevant keywords in context. For example, instead of simply listing “stakeholder management”, you might write:
That bullet includes relevant terminology, but it does not read like keyword stuffing.
For human screening, the same bullet gives evidence of cross functional communication, change support, issue management and practical delivery.
This is where good resume writing becomes more strategic. You are not just trying to insert keywords. You are showing how those keywords appeared in real work.
A skills list can tell me you know a term. A proof based bullet shows me you have used it in a work setting.
That difference matters.
The easiest way to improve your resume is to take each responsibility and ask better questions.
Instead of asking, “What did I do?” ask:
What was the purpose of this work?
Who relied on it?
How often did I do it?
What volume, scale or complexity was involved?
What changed, improved or became easier?
What problem did I help prevent or solve?
What tools, systems or processes did I use?
What would have gone wrong if this work was done badly?
That last question is underrated. Sometimes the value of your work is not obvious because it is preventative. You kept things accurate, compliant, organised, on time or under control. That still counts.
For example, payroll, compliance, scheduling, reporting, administration and customer support roles often involve work where the “win” is that problems do not happen. That is still impact.
Weak Example
Good Example
This is far stronger because it shows scale, risk and accuracy.
Weak Example
Good Example
This tells me the candidate has volume experience, customer handling ability and pressure tolerance.
Weak Example
Good Example
This gives much more useful recruitment context.
When I assess whether a resume bullet is strong, I look for four things: context, action, evidence and relevance.
Context tells the reader what environment you were working in. This could include the industry, team size, customer type, project type, business function or level of complexity.
Without context, your bullet can feel too vague.
For example, “managed reporting” is weak because reporting can mean almost anything. Reporting for a small local team is different from reporting for a national leadership group.
Action explains what you actually did. This is where strong verbs matter. The action should be specific enough to show your contribution without exaggerating your authority.
If you supported a project, say what part you supported. If you improved a process, say what you changed. If you managed stakeholders, say who they were and what you managed with them.
Evidence proves the scale or result. This can be a number, outcome, improvement, volume, frequency, recognition, project result or operational change.
Evidence is what stops the bullet from feeling like a job description.
Relevance connects your experience to the role you want next. Not every achievement deserves equal space. A good resume is not a full career archive. It is a positioning document.
For example, if you are applying for operations manager roles, your resume should prioritise leadership, process improvement, team performance, reporting, risk management and stakeholder outcomes. If you are applying for customer success roles, your proof should focus more on retention, customer outcomes, onboarding, account growth, issue resolution and relationship management.
This is where candidates often go wrong. They include proof, but not the right proof.
Proof changes depending on the role. A sales resume should not sound like an administration resume. A project manager resume should not sound like a customer service resume. Hiring managers are looking for different evidence depending on the function.
For Australian job seekers, this matters because role titles can be broad. “Coordinator”, “advisor”, “manager” and “specialist” can mean very different things across organisations. Your proof helps define the real level of your work.
For administration roles, proof often comes from accuracy, volume, coordination, systems, deadlines and stakeholder support.
Good Example
For customer service roles, proof often comes from call volume, resolution quality, customer satisfaction, escalation handling and system usage.
Good Example
For sales roles, proof usually needs numbers. Revenue, pipeline, conversion, retention, growth and territory performance matter.
Good Example
For project roles, proof comes from delivery scope, timelines, budgets, stakeholders, risks, governance and outcomes.
Good Example
For HR and recruitment roles, proof should show hiring volume, employee lifecycle work, stakeholder advice, compliance, process improvement and candidate or employee experience.
Good Example
For finance roles, proof should show accuracy, reporting deadlines, reconciliations, compliance, system improvements, audit outcomes and business support.
Good Example
For technology roles, proof should connect tools and technical work to business impact. Do not just list platforms. Show what you built, fixed, automated, secured or improved.
Good Example
Not every role has clean metrics. Some workplaces do not track performance properly. Some managers do not share results. Some achievements are qualitative. That does not mean you have no proof.
You can still use evidence by showing:
Approximate volume
Frequency of work
Size of team supported
Types of stakeholders
Complexity of tasks
Systems used
Deadlines managed
Risks reduced
Problems solved
Processes improved
Level of trust or ownership
For example:
That does not include a hard result, but it is still more useful than “prepared reports”.
Another example:
This shows trust, complexity and escalation experience.
Be honest with numbers. Do not invent metrics. But do not underplay your work just because the company did not hand you a neat performance dashboard.
A practical estimate is fine if it is truthful. “Approximately 40 calls per day” is useful. “Handled high volume calls” is vague. “Handled 500 calls per day” when you clearly did not is a quick way to lose credibility.
Some candidates try to add proof but weaken it with poor execution. The idea is right, but the delivery needs work.
Numbers only help when they mean something.
Saying “managed 50 reports” does not tell me much if I do not know what type of reports, who used them or why they mattered.
Better:
A resume should support your next move. If your proof is impressive but irrelevant, it may distract from your positioning.
For example, a marketing candidate applying for a content strategy role should not over focus on office administration achievements from five years ago unless they support the story in a meaningful way.
There is a big difference between leading, supporting, coordinating and contributing. Use the right word.
Australian hiring managers tend to be practical. If you claim you “led” a project but later explain in the interview that you only booked the meetings, the trust drops quickly.
Some resume bullets are technically detailed but feel unnatural.
For example:
That sounds like someone swallowed a corporate brochure and asked for seconds.
Better:
Plain language usually performs better because it feels more credible.
Every resume bullet should help answer the employer’s silent question: “Why should we trust this person to do the job well?”
If the bullet does not help answer that, it may not deserve space.
In Australian job ads, you will often see phrases like “demonstrated experience”, “proven ability”, “track record”, “strong stakeholder management” or “ability to work in a fast paced environment”.
Candidates often read these as generic requirements. Recruiters read them as evidence requests.
“Demonstrated experience” means: show me where you have done this before.
“Proven ability” means: do not just list the skill, give me a reason to believe it.
“Strong stakeholder management” means: tell me who the stakeholders were, what you managed with them, and what made it difficult.
“Fast paced environment” usually means: volume, deadlines, shifting priorities, pressure, ambiguity, or all of the above with a calendar invitation attached.
“Attention to detail” means: show me work where accuracy mattered and mistakes had consequences.
This is why proof matters. The job ad is not asking for slogans. It is asking for evidence.
A resume that repeats the job ad language without backing it up looks shallow. A resume that proves the job ad requirements through specific examples looks much stronger.
Many candidates worry that their title does not exactly match the role they want. Sometimes that is a real issue. But often, proof can bridge the gap.
Job titles are messy. One company’s “coordinator” is another company’s “advisor”. One “manager” leads people. Another manages a function with no direct reports. Some candidates are under titled for years because their workplace is slow, political or allergic to updating position descriptions.
Recruiters know this. We do not only look at titles. We look at scope.
If your title is slightly junior but your proof shows strong ownership, scale and results, you may still be competitive.
For example:
That tells me more than the title alone.
On the other hand, if your title sounds senior but your resume has no proof of leadership, budget ownership, decision making, stakeholder influence or outcomes, the title will not carry you very far.
Proof helps correct the story.
Not every bullet needs a metric. Not every line needs to be a masterpiece. But every bullet should earn its place.
A practical approach is to make sure most bullets include at least two of the following:
What you did
Who or what it affected
Scale or volume
Tool, system or method
Outcome or improvement
Complexity or risk
Business purpose
For example:
This has action, process, audience and outcome.
Another example:
This has action, frequency, problem and improvement.
The goal is not to make every bullet long. The goal is to make every bullet meaningful.
A resume full of vague one line responsibilities feels thin. A resume full of oversized paragraphs feels exhausting. The best resume bullets are specific, readable and commercially aware.
Read your current resume and highlight every bullet that could have been copied from a job description. Those are your weak points.
Then ask yourself:
Does this bullet show what I actually contributed?
Can the reader understand the scale of the work?
Have I shown the result, purpose or value?
Is this relevant to the role I want next?
Could another candidate in the same role write the exact same thing?
That last question is brutal but useful.
If another candidate with the same job title could write the same bullet, it is probably too generic.
For example:
Almost anyone could write that.
Better:
Now the bullet belongs to a more specific person in a more specific role.
Your resume does not need to tell your entire life story. It needs to give enough proof for the reader to understand your value quickly.
A proof based resume sends several signals at once.
It shows that you understand your work, not just your tasks. It shows that you can connect effort to outcomes. It shows that you are commercially aware enough to explain why your role mattered. It also makes the interview stronger because the hiring manager has better material to ask about.
This is one of the hidden benefits candidates underestimate. A vague resume leads to vague interview questions. A strong resume can shape the interview in your favour.
If your resume says:
The interviewer may ask you about that improvement. That gives you a chance to discuss initiative, process thinking, communication and practical problem solving.
Your resume is not just a screening document. It sets the agenda for the conversation.
That is why proof matters so much.
Before sending your resume, read each bullet and ask, “Would a recruiter believe this, understand it, and care?”
All three matter.
A recruiter needs to believe it, so avoid exaggeration.
They need to understand it, so avoid vague corporate language.
They need to care, so connect your work to something relevant.
A good resume does not make the reader work hard. It gives them clear evidence and lets them make a confident decision.
In the Australian job market, where hiring processes can be slow, competitive and sometimes painfully inconsistent, your resume has to do more than exist politely in the applicant pool. It has to make your value obvious.
Responsibilities explain the job. Proof explains why you are worth interviewing.
That is the resume shift most candidates need to make.
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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