Applying to BHP is not the same as applying to a startup in Surry Hills. Australia’s largest employers have specific resume expectations, use particular ATS platforms, and filter candidates in ways that differ from the rest of the market. If you’re targeting these companies, a generic resume won’t cut it.
This guide covers what Australia’s biggest employers actually want to see, how their hiring systems work, and how to format your resume so it gets through their screening process and onto a recruiter’s desk.
How Australia’s Top Employers Screen Resumes
Most large Australian employers use ATS platforms to manage the volume of applications they receive. BHP receives over 100,000 applications per year. Commonwealth Bank gets a similar volume. Telstra, Woolworths, and the Big 4 accounting firms each process tens of thousands.
At this scale, every resume goes through automated screening before a human reads it. The system scans for keywords, checks formatting, and ranks candidates against the job description. If your resume doesn’t pass the ATS, no recruiter will ever see it.
Understanding which ATS each company uses, and how that system processes resumes, gives you a real advantage. The format that works in one system won’t always work in another.
For general guidance on entering the Australian job market, see our market entry guide.
BHP
What They Use
BHP uses SAP SuccessFactors for their recruitment process. Candidates apply through BHP’s careers portal, which feeds into SuccessFactors for parsing and screening.
SuccessFactors handles standard resume formats well but struggles with graphics, charts and multi-column layouts. Stick to a single-column, text-based resume in PDF or Word format.
What They Want to See
BHP hires across mining, engineering, corporate and technology functions. The company values safety culture above almost everything else. If you’re applying for any operational role, your resume should explicitly mention safety qualifications, certifications, and experience.
For engineering and operations roles:
- White Card, Standard 11 (or state equivalent mining induction)
- Relevant trade licenses with license numbers
- FIFO experience if applicable (state the roster pattern you’ve worked)
- Safety record and specific safety initiatives you’ve led
For corporate and technology roles:
- Industry experience in mining or resources (preferred but not always required)
- Project management certifications (PMP, PRINCE2)
- SAP experience if relevant (BHP runs SAP across their operations)
- Location flexibility (BHP has offices in Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and remote mine sites)
Resume Format
Two pages maximum. BHP’s recruiters are direct about this preference. They want a clear summary at the top, followed by reverse-chronological work history with bullet points, education and certifications.
Don’t include a photo. Don’t include your date of birth, nationality, or marital status. While some Australian companies still see these occasionally, BHP explicitly follows anti-discrimination guidelines.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)
What They Use
CBA uses Workday as their primary HR and recruitment platform. Workday’s resume parsing is solid but works best with clean, simply formatted documents. Avoid text boxes, images and fancy formatting.
When you apply through CBA’s careers site, Workday extracts your resume data and populates fields automatically. You’ll have a chance to review and edit the parsed data, but getting it right the first time reduces friction.
What They Want to See
CBA is Australia’s largest bank by market capitalization and employs over 48,000 people. They hire across retail banking, institutional banking, technology, risk, compliance and operations.
For technology roles (CBA’s largest hiring area):
- Cloud certifications (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Agile/Scrum experience with specific methodology certifications
- Programming languages listed explicitly (not buried in bullet points)
- Experience with financial services regulations (APRA, ASIC compliance)
For banking and finance roles:
- CPA or CA designation (required for senior accounting roles)
- AML/CTF (Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Financing) experience
- Risk management frameworks (Basel III/IV knowledge for risk roles)
- Customer-facing metrics (NPS scores, portfolio size, client retention rates)
For graduate programs: CBA runs one of Australia’s most competitive graduate programs. They want a concise one-page resume with strong academic results (WAM/GPA), extracurricular leadership and demonstrated interest in financial services. Their graduate screening includes cognitive testing and video interviews before resume review.
Resume Format
Two pages is the standard for experienced hires. One page for graduates. CBA’s internal recruiters have mentioned in public talks that they prefer resumes with a professional summary, clear section headers and quantified achievements.
Telstra
What They Use
Telstra uses SmartRecruiters as their ATS. SmartRecruiters is a modern platform with good parsing capabilities, but it still works best with standard formatting.
Telstra’s application process is primarily online through their careers portal. They also accept referrals (Telstra has an active employee referral program), and referred candidates often receive faster screening.
What They Want to See
Telstra is Australia’s largest telecommunications company. Their hiring focuses heavily on technology, engineering, customer service and network operations.
For technology and engineering roles:
- Telecommunications experience (preferred, not always required)
- Network certifications (CCNA, CCNP for network roles)
- Cloud and DevOps skills (Telstra has been investing heavily in cloud infrastructure)
- Agile methodology experience
For customer-facing roles:
- Customer service metrics (call resolution rates, NPS, handle time)
- Sales metrics if applicable
- Experience with CRM platforms (Salesforce is used across Telstra’s operations)
For leadership roles:
- Team size and budget responsibility
- Change management experience (Telstra has undergone significant organizational transformation under the T25 and T28 strategies)
- Stakeholder management across multiple business units
Resume Format
Two pages maximum. Telstra values concise communication and expects resumes to reflect that. Bullet points over paragraphs. Quantified achievements over vague descriptions.
Telstra has publicly committed to diverse hiring practices. Don’t include personal details beyond your name, contact information and location. No photo, no age, no nationality.
Woolworths Group
What They Use
Woolworths Group (which includes Woolworths supermarkets, Big W and Dan Murphy’s) uses PageUp as their ATS. PageUp is an Australian-built platform that’s widely used across Australian employers.
PageUp processes resumes well in both PDF and Word format. It handles standard formatting without issues but can struggle with heavily designed resumes.
What They Want to See
Woolworths is Australia’s largest private employer with over 200,000 team members. Hiring spans retail operations, supply chain, technology, corporate and store management.
For store and operations roles:
- Retail experience with specific metrics (sales per hour, shrinkage reduction, team size)
- RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) for Dan Murphy’s and BWS roles
- Food safety certifications for supermarket roles
- Customer service awards or recognition
For supply chain and logistics:
- Forklift license and other warehouse certifications
- Volume metrics (units processed, orders picked per hour)
- Experience with warehouse management systems (WMS)
- Safety record and initiatives
For corporate and technology roles:
- Retail industry experience (valued but not required for tech roles)
- Data analytics skills (Woolworths is a data-heavy organization)
- Project delivery experience at scale
- Supply chain optimization experience
For management and leadership:
- P&L responsibility and store/department financial performance
- Team development (training programs designed, promotions facilitated)
- Safety and compliance management
- Multi-site or multi-department oversight
Resume Format
One to two pages depending on experience level. Store-level roles can use a one-page resume. Corporate and management roles should use two pages.
Woolworths values straightforward communication. No jargon. No corporate buzzwords. If you managed a store, say what you managed, how big it was and what results you delivered.
The Big 4 Accounting Firms
Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG in Australia
All four firms use different ATS platforms, but their resume expectations are remarkably similar.
Deloitte uses Workday. PwC uses Workday. EY uses their own Careers portal built on Oracle Taleo. KPMG uses SAP SuccessFactors.
Despite the different systems, the format requirements converge: clean layouts, no images, standard sections and quantified achievements.
What They Want to See
For graduate programs (the most common entry point):
- Strong academic record (HD/D average, or WAM above 70 for most firms)
- University name and degree clearly stated
- Extracurricular leadership roles
- Part-time work or internships demonstrating work ethic
- One page maximum
For experienced hires in audit and assurance:
- CPA or CA designation (or clearly in progress)
- Big 4 or mid-tier firm experience
- Industry specialization (financial services, energy, technology, government)
- Client portfolio size and complexity
- Audit methodology experience (IFRS, AASB standards)
For advisory and consulting roles:
- Project examples with scope, methodology and outcomes
- Client-facing experience and stakeholder management
- Industry expertise
- Published thought leadership or speaking engagements (senior roles)
For technology and digital roles:
- Technical certifications (cloud, data, cybersecurity)
- Consulting methodology combined with technical delivery
- Client impact metrics
- Agile and DevOps experience
Resume Format
One page for graduates. Two pages for experienced hires. No exceptions at the Big 4. They receive thousands of applications per intake, and lengthy resumes signal poor prioritization skills.
Use a professional summary of two to three sentences. Follow with reverse-chronological experience. End with education, certifications and skills.
The Big 4 explicitly discourage creative resume formats. No infographics. No color blocks. No non-standard fonts. These firms value conformity in communication style, and your resume is the first test.
Cross-Company Patterns
ATS Platforms
The dominant ATS platforms at Australia’s top companies are:
- Workday: CBA, Deloitte, PwC
- SAP SuccessFactors: BHP, KPMG
- PageUp: Woolworths, many Australian government departments
- SmartRecruiters: Telstra
- Oracle Taleo: EY
All of these platforms handle clean, simply formatted resumes well. None of them handle graphics, charts, or multi-column layouts reliably. The safest approach is a single-column layout in PDF or Word format.
Universal Expectations
Across all of these employers, several resume elements are consistently expected:
Professional summary: Two to three sentences at the top of the resume. Not an objective statement. A summary of who you are, what you do and what you bring.
Quantified achievements: Every company on this list has publicly stated that they want to see metrics. Revenue, cost savings, team size, project scope, customer satisfaction scores. Numbers prove impact.
Certifications section: Australian employers check certifications. Include the full certification name, issuing body and date obtained. For regulated professions, include license numbers.
Clean formatting: Single column, standard fonts (Calibri, Arial, Garamond), consistent spacing, no graphics. This isn’t about creativity. It’s about getting past the screening software and into a human’s hands.
What NOT to Include
- Photos (anti-discrimination laws make this a negative signal)
- Date of birth or age
- Nationality or visa status (unless specifically asked)
- Marital status or number of children
- Full mailing address (city and state are sufficient)
- References (“Available upon request” is unnecessary; leave the section off entirely)
Tailoring Your Resume for Each Application
Don’t send the same resume to BHP and CBA. Read the job description. Identify the key requirements and preferred qualifications. Mirror the language from the job description in your resume.
If the job description says “stakeholder engagement,” use that exact phrase, not “client management” or “relationship building.” ATS systems match keywords literally. The closer your language matches the posting, the higher your ranking.
This doesn’t mean fabricating experience. It means describing your genuine experience using the terminology that each employer uses.
1Template’s resume builder makes it easy to create multiple versions of your resume, each tailored to a specific company and role, while maintaining consistent formatting that passes ATS screening.
Final Advice
Australia’s top employers are specific about what they want. They’ve built their hiring systems around filtering large volumes of applications efficiently. Your resume needs to work within those systems, not against them.
Research the company. Check which ATS they use. Format accordingly. Quantify your achievements. Include relevant certifications. Keep it to two pages. These aren’t creative suggestions. They’re baseline requirements for getting your resume read at Australia’s most competitive employers.
