Home Union Organiser Resume template
Union Organiser resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what union organisers actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most union organisers should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Union organiser with a background in community engagement and workplace representation, focused on building member power across multiple worksites. Skilled at recruitment, dispute resolution and campaign planning, with a practical understanding of the Fair Work Act and enterprise bargaining. Comfortable working independently across a sector and keeping detailed membership and campaign records.
Key skills
- Community engagement
- Policy analysis and advice
- Stakeholder management
- Written communication
- Problem solving
- Client relationships and advisory
- People leadership
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Campaign management software
- Member databases
- Zoom or video conferencing
- Social media platforms
Experience: example bullet points
- Recruited and onboarded new members across a portfolio of worksites, increasing membership density and improving retention through regular site visits and one-on-one conversations.
- Represented members in grievance meetings and disciplinary processes, resolving disputes at the workplace level and escalating to the Fair Work Commission where necessary.
- Planned and ran workplace campaigns, including protected industrial action ballots, coordinating communication and logistics across multiple sites.
- Briefed union leadership on emerging workplace issues and helped shape the union's bargaining position ahead of enterprise agreement negotiations.
- Ran member meetings, delegate training sessions and community events to build workplace support and identify new activists.
- Maintained membership and contact records in the union's database, ensuring data accuracy for campaigning and compliance.
- Grew membership at a target worksite by [X]% over six months through a sustained one-on-one recruitment drive.
Education
Bachelor degree in industrial relations, law, politics or a related social science, or a diploma in community services or business, combined with union-specific training such as the ACTU Organising Works program.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- Fair Work Act 2009
- Fair Work Commission
- enterprise bargaining
- protected industrial action
- right of entry
- workplace delegate
- union membership recruitment
- grievance handling
- dispute resolution
- industrial relations
- Work Health and Safety
- campaign management
- member databases
- Australian Council of Trade Unions
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.