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Australian resume format for Indians: drop the photo and declaration, lead with results

Tips · 2026-10-23 · 10 min read

The Australian resume format for Indians starts with what you remove. Take out the photo, date of birth, marital status, father's name, religion, passport number and the "I hereby declare" line. Replace the career objective with a short professional summary, and fill the space with measurable achievements, licences and duties that match the job. An Australian recruiter reads for evidence that you can do this role, not for personal details.

Indian resume vs Australian resume: a section-by-section comparison

Most Indian resumes follow a format built for campus placements. Australian recruiters expect something leaner, as the table shows.

Personal details to delete before you apply

Australian law protects employees from discrimination, and Fair Work says visa holders and migrant workers have the same workplace rights and protections as everyone else, including protection from discrimination. Employers there do not expect age, marital status or religion on a resume.

Delete these lines:

• Photo. It adds nothing to a skills-based decision and uses space you need for results.
• Date of birth, gender and marital status. Where a visa has an age rule, it is checked in the visa application, not on your resume.
• Father's name, religion, caste and nationality line. None of these are relevant to the job.
• Passport number and Aadhaar or PAN details. Identity numbers belong in official forms only, never in a document you send to strangers.
• Full permanent address. City and state are enough, for example "Pune, Maharashtra (open to relocating to Australia)".

The passport point matters for safety as well as style. Scamwatch advises never sending your passport or identity documents to an employer or recruitment firm unless you are certain they are genuine. A resume full of identity numbers is exactly what a fake recruiter wants to collect.

Why the career objective and the declaration have to go

The career objective tells the reader what you want. An Australian recruiter wants to know what you offer, so swap it for a professional summary. A good one names your occupation, how long you have done it, two results that prove your level and the kind of role you are targeting.

Example: "Site engineer with eight years on high-rise residential projects in Bengaluru and Dubai. Led a team of 12 through structural works and handover on schedule. Looking for a sponsored site engineer role in Western Australia."

The declaration at the end ("I hereby declare that the above information is true to the best of my knowledge") is unknown in Australian hiring and reads as a template. Your signature, date and place go with it. In their place, list two or three referees, or write "Referees available on request" and have them ready.

What to add: achievements, scope and licences

Responsibilities show what your job was. Achievements show how well you did it. Under each role, keep the duties short and add results you can stand behind in an interview: budgets managed, people supervised, deadlines met, defects reduced, systems introduced. Use only figures your referees could confirm.

Licences and tickets deserve their own section. List each one with the issuing body and expiry date. Be careful with trades: Trades Recognition Australia does not award Australian qualifications, occupational registrations or licences, and in NSW, overseas qualifications are not recognised for electrical or plumbing contractor licences or certificates. Write what you hold in India or the Gulf accurately, and never imply you already hold an Australian licence.

If you would rather not start from a blank page, Build AI CV can help you draft the new version; whatever tool you use, fill it with your own achievements and check every line yourself.

Describing Indian and Gulf employers an Australian recruiter has never heard of

A recruiter in Sydney knows the big Indian IT names, but rarely a mid-sized EPC contractor in Vadodara or a facilities firm in Doha. Under each employer, add one plain line: what the business does, its sector and its size. "Mid-sized EPC contractor delivering industrial plants across western India" gives the reader context in a few seconds.

Then describe your duties in the words of the role, not the internal designation. Indian titles such as "Executive", "Associate" or "Senior Officer" mean little abroad. Our article on why duties matter more than designations explains how Australian assessors look at the same problem. If you are coming back from the Gulf, our guide to Gulf return jobs in Australia covers what changes in the process.

Your resume has to match the documents checked later

For a sponsored job, the resume is the first of several documents that describe your career, and they must tell the same story. On the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482), applicants need at least 1 year of relevant work experience in the nominated occupation or a related field, gained within the last 5 years. Some primary applicants also need a skills assessment, which must be started before the visa is lodged.

Trades Recognition Australia's migration assessment, for example, compares your qualifications and employment history with Australian standards. If your resume says "Electrical Supervisor, 2019 to 2024" and your experience letter says "Junior Engineer, 2020 to 2024", someone will ask why. Check every title, date and duty against your appointment letters, relieving letters and payslips before you send a single application. The Home Affairs skills assessment page explains how each occupation's assessing authority is found.

Engineers have an extra layer, set out in our guide on what an Indian engineering degree and experience must prove. For the wider visa picture, see our planning guide to the Skills in Demand (482) visa.

Turning your Indian resume into an Australian one: eight steps

1. Open a fresh document instead of editing the old one, so no leftover personal fields slip through.
2. Write your header: name, city, phone with country code, a professional email and one line on work rights or sponsorship.
3. Write a three- or four-line professional summary for the role you are targeting.
4. List your work history, newest first, with a one-line employer description, duties and two to four results per role.
5. Add a licences and tickets section with issuing body and expiry dates.
6. Add education, highest first, and drop school marks unless they are recent and strong.
7. Check every title and date against your experience letters, and get documents that are not in English translated.
8. Tailor the summary and top results to each job ad before you send it.

For step 7, Home Affairs requires all non-English documents to be translated into English, with both the original and the translation provided. Sort this early if your experience letters are in Hindi, Arabic or another language.

For step 8, start with a live vacancy. A role such as this civil engineering technician job in Perth, or the openings in our administration jobs category, list the duties and requirements your summary and results should answer.

Common mistakes Indian applicants make with an Australian resume

• Sending the campus-placement format. A photo, personal details and a declaration on the first page tell the recruiter the resume was not written for Australia.
• Listing CTC and expected salary. Salary is discussed later; a rupee figure on the resume can anchor the conversation in the wrong place.
• Responsibilities with no results. "Responsible for site supervision" says less than one real figure about what you delivered.
• Inflated titles or dates. Anything that does not match your experience letters can surface during a skills assessment or visa check.
• Sending identity documents with the resume. The Australian High Commission lists requests for your passport, contact through WhatsApp and a job promised on arrival among the signs of a scam. Our page on where to report a fake overseas job agent covers what to do next.
• Using the same resume for every job. Tailor the summary and top results to each ad.

New Zealand jobs: the same resume, two adjustments

The format above works for New Zealand employers too. Retarget the summary for the New Zealand role and the city. If the job is at ANZSCO skill level 3 to 5, Accredited Employer Work Visa applicants must show they can speak and understand English, and test results must be no more than 2 years old, so mention your result if you have one.

Standing out once the format is right

Once your resume is clean, a little extra proof helps. Optional: a verified Talent Tabloid profile lets employers check your experience and can help your application stand out.

On MigrateJobs, each vacancy lists its requirements in detail: experience, qualifications, licences and English. Read them line by line before you send your resume and any trade certificates from the job page.

Frequently asked questions

Should I put a photo on my resume for Australian jobs?

No. Australian employers do not expect a photo, and leaving it out keeps the reader on your skills and results. The same goes for date of birth, marital status, religion and your father's name. Add a professional photo to an online profile instead if you want one.

Is a resume the same as a CV in Australia?

In everyday use, yes. Australian employers use both words for the same document: a summary of your work history, achievements, skills and qualifications. What matters is the format inside it, not the label on the file.

Should I mention my visa status on an Australian resume?

Yes, in one plain line near the top. Say that you are in India and open to employer sponsorship, or name the visa you already hold. Recruiters screening sponsored roles look for this first, and a clear line saves them guessing.

How do I show Indian or Gulf experience to an Australian employer?

Add one line under each employer saying what the business does and how large it is, then list your duties and results in the language of the role. Keep titles, dates and duties identical to your experience letters, because a skills assessment or visa check compares them.

Do I need a different resume for New Zealand jobs?

Mostly no. The same clean, results-led format works for New Zealand employers. Adjust the summary for the New Zealand role, and if the job sits at a level where Immigration New Zealand asks for English evidence, mention your test result.

Key takeaways

• Remove the photo, date of birth, marital status, father's name, religion, identity numbers and the declaration.
• Replace the career objective with a short professional summary for the role.
• Show results, not only responsibilities, and give every licence its issuing body and expiry.
• Explain unfamiliar Indian and Gulf employers in one line each.
• Keep titles, dates and duties identical to your experience letters.
• Never send your passport or identity documents to a recruiter you have not verified.

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