What to put on a backpacker CV in Australia

What goes at the top of my CV?

Your name, working phone number, email, current town or suburb and earliest start date. Add relevant shift availability and state work rights accurately. Leave passport numbers and identity documents out of a general CV.

Example to adapt: “Cairns-based customer-service worker available from [date] for weekday and weekend shifts. Experience with payments, stock replenishment and closing routines. Seeking a front-of-house role.” Use only details that are true for you.

What order should I use?

Keep a master CV with your full experience, then select what helps this application. Job Jumpstart recommends collecting the following information:

• Contact and availability: where you are, when you can start and how to reach you.
• Short profile and relevant skills: a few lines focused on this role.
• Experience: employer, role, location, dates and concrete responsibilities, with recent work first.
• Training and licences: completed qualifications relevant to the work.
• Referees: people who have agreed to be contacted, following the advert's requirements.

How do I describe my experience?

Use specific tasks instead of unsupported claims such as “hardworking team player”. Numbers help if you know them; do not invent achievements.

Turn a vague claim into a task the recruiter recognises. Instead of “good with people”, describe answering customer questions or resolving a booking problem. Instead of “hardworking”, describe the cleaning, stock or packing routine you handled.

For labouring, prioritise relevant licences and practical tasks. For hostel work, highlight cleaning, guest service, booking systems or languages you actually know.

What should a working-holiday application include?

Make it easy to see whether your dates fit the job. Include your current location, visa subclass, visa expiry, earliest start and the months you can commit. Keep passport and visa-document numbers out of the CV; provide evidence through the employer’s recruitment process when requested.

• Check your working-holiday conditions

  Your proposed length of employment must fit the conditions applying to your visa.

What if I have no Australian experience?

Include work from home, with a short explanation of unfamiliar employers. If you have no paid experience, use relevant volunteering, study projects or responsibilities. Workforce Australia recommends school and volunteer examples for first-time applicants.

List completed training, planned courses, driving licence, vehicle access and equipment experience separately.

What should I check before sending it?

Ask referees before sharing their details. Check the phone number, spelling and dates, then open the exported file on your phone to check readability. Use your name and the role in the filename and follow the requested format.

Add a short message naming the job, your relevant experience and availability. Answer screening questions honestly. Keep the CV version you sent and record the application so you know what to discuss if they call.