Resume & Cover Letter Workshops

Downloadable Documents

What is a Resume?

First opportunity to market yourself and get an interview!
A resume is a personal summary of your professional history and qualifications
Includes information about your career goals, education, work experience, activities, honors, and any special skill you might have
A “snapshot” of you and written with the employer’s interests in mind

Ten Steps to Creating a Resume
(Created within your employment goal!)

Identifying Information
Job Objective
Skill Category Headings
Skill Demonstration Statements
Resume Formats
Employment History
Professional Development
References
Highlight of Qualifications
Personal Skills Statements
General Guidelines

1. Identifying Information

Add your name, permanent address, phone number and email at the top of your resume
Avoid using nicknames
Double check contact information is correct

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2. Job Objective

What type of work are you looking for?
Resumes should target a specific job
Review qualifications and requirements of the job

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3. Skill Category Headings

Make a list of the 3 or 4 strongest skills category headings that make a good candidate for the job
Based on the job description, what 3 skills would an employer be looking for?

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4. Skill Demonstration Statements

Use the term “accomplished or demonstrated”
Write examples related to each of the skill categories and show HOW you have demonstrated this skill
Include paid or unpaid work, volunteer work, parenting, hobby or experiential learning experiences such as field placements, co-op

Example: Assisted customers (duty)
Assisted customers with product knowledge and purchases and made a significant contribution to the company’s overall sales goals.

Here’s how:

Start with an verb and noun: “Supervised team”

Qualify and quantify with the 5 W’s:

Who, What, When, Where, Why

By asking the 5 W’s, you can develop a Demonstration statement of your skill: “Supervised a team of twenty sales representatives daily for a retail chain”

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5. Resume Formats

Chronological (focuses more on work history)
Functional (focuses more on skills)
Combination

Chronological Resume

Work experience is arranged in order (most recent first) by dates of the jobs

Places emphasis on job titles and work history and experience

Emphasizes a steady employment record

Easiest to prepare

BUT…..

A chronological resume may also:

Expose job hopping or spotty work history

Expose lengthy stay in one job without promotion

May appear repetitious and boring to read if similar jobs were held

Functional Resume

Work experience is described by emphasizing skills
Provides descriptive details that are grouped under relevant headings of expertise
Focuses on selected areas of accomplishments and experiences
Immediately highlights strengths even if a steady job has not been held

Combination Resume

Use Highlights, Qualifications, Summary of Qualifications, etc, this will draw attention
Make your resume stand out from the crowd
Highlight skills you have acquired and how well you do them
Under skills - ideally have 3-5 bullets with an action verb
Add then add related work history – include job title, company name and dates, then add 2-3 bullets

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6. Employment History

What to include:

Make a list of past jobs held

List most recent job first, include dates with months, job titles and company names

Include all non-paid work to fill the gap or to show the skills needed to do the job

If work is through a third party employment agency, list the agency as the employer

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7. Professional Development

Sometimes this section is called Education/training
List all training and workshops completed if it relates to the job objective and note any certificates
If new to the field, list every course taken related to job objective even if incomplete
If you belong to a professional organization related to your job objective, add another heading called “Professional Affiliations” and place it below Professional Development
List work history in chronological order (most recent first)
Volunteer Experience and Interests
List all present and recent past volunteer experiences
Employers may be interested in those who contribute to the community
Interests are optional; this can be an indicator of your personality

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8. References

In general, do not include names and addresses of references on resume
Stating that references are available upon request is enough
Choose professional references over character references
Always ask permission before you include any information on your reference sheet
On the reference sheet include:

Name and title of reference

Phone number of reference

Relation to you

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9. Highlight of Qualifications

Employers’ eyes go directly to this section in the first few seconds
Summarize your key strengths in 4 to 6 lines that show you are qualified to do the job
Include number of years of experience
Education; degrees
Key skills, talents or special knowledge related to this job
State 3 attributes that describe your personal work style or attitude

Examples: Highlights of Qualifications:

13 years experience as an Administrative Assistant

Masters in Development Practice from University of Winnipeg

Proficient in a variety of computer applications including MS Office

Highly motivated; trained and supervised 5 staff

Established daily priorities in order to meet deadlines

Built strong working relationships with customers and co-workers

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10. Personal Skills Statement

Small accomplishments can be meaningful to employers
Start with strong action verbs that tells what you did and what results you got from your actions (PAR)

Problem Action Results

Careful not to mention activities you never want to do again or you could be asked to do them!

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General Guidelines

Make your resume specific to the position you are applying for
Find the right words; many people, including the most confident and articulate have difficulty expressing themselves, use words from the job posting but don’t ever cut and paste!
Expand your one-liners and use action words. Avoid….”I”, “my”
Proof read your resume; spelling, grammar. Spell check won’t differentiate if the wrong word is used
Avoid fonts smaller than 10 point and larger than 12 point (name can be larger), use font such as Arial, Times New Roman, Cambria or Calibri
Avoid abbreviations
Looks are important! Type resume with plenty of white space and wide margins to create a clean professional impression
Use point form, not paragraphs. It is easier to read
Your name and page number on consecutive pages
Don’t exaggerate, be truthful
Edit, edit and then go back and edit!!

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