Hi there, it’s Ash, aka the Still Life Nomad! Today I’m going to teach you how to write a New Zealand-specific resume. Their resumes are a ton of fun to write, and include some elements not typically seen on a US resume. Let’s get into it!

The Header

First, develop your header. Instead of putting your full address, just put the city, state, country, and zip code. Also be sure to include your full name, phone number (country code if not from NZ) and email. I like to add a line on the bottom to separate it from the rest of the resume.

Professional Summary

Next, write your professional summary. This is a third person summary describing your passions, skills, experience, and goals. In other words, who you are as a person.

Key Skills

Next, write your key skills. New Zealand focuses on soft skills such as empathy, compassion, communication, and collaboration. The US values hard skills like project management, Microsoft, hospitality, ect. I recommend having a mix of both but focus on the soft skills.

Work Experience – Most Recent Job

For the first job experience, use your most recent job. Include the most details and bullet points with this position.

Work Experience – All Other Jobs

Next, write the remainder of your jobs that you can fit. Keep in mind that it is acceptable to have a 2 page resume in New Zealand. With these, try to keep the phrasing more brief and use 3 bullet points max.

Education, Volunteer, and References

Finally, on the bottom of your second page add your education, volunteer experiences, and the line “references available upon request”.

There you have it, your New Zealand-specific resume!

Like I mentioned in the last post, print off maybe 50 copies of your resume before you leave for New Zealand. Then, go to each establishment, offer them your resume, and see if they provide you with an interview or even a direct job offer. Good luck!

Love,

Ash