The Resumé

Career Development Centre2013 -2014

Learning Objectives

• Understand the purpose of, and what makes an effective resumé

• Understand how to target a resumé

• Become aware of the resumé resources and services available through the Career Centre

Your resumé is your marketing

tool!

Remember Your Audience

Your resumé is your advertisement

3 Parts of an Effective Resumé

Part I

Part II

Part III

Appearance 

Appearance:‐ How does it look‐ Do I want to read further‐ Is it Professional

Structure

Organization and Selection: 

‐ Can I find what Ineed quickly

‐ Is the necessaryinformation  included

Content

Wording: Does the information  SOUND relevant and targeted 

Effective Resumé

Primary Goal of Your Resumé

To demonstrate your FIT for the job

Relevant

Experience Education Activities

Skills

Will the employer read your resume?

First Impression5 Seconds

Second Look15 seconds

Content Review

30+ seconds

1. Appearance

2.Organization

3. Content

For How long?

3 steps to screening and

making an impression

Don’t let this happen to you!

Target your resumé!

Use information obtained from the job posting and your research

to target the content of your resumé

Part I: Appearance

Key Appearance Components

Needs to be

attractive and

appealing

Key Appearance Components

Needs to be a FIT

with company/industry

style

Key Appearance Components

Have a prominent

header with clear contact

information

Key Appearance Components

Easy to read, not crowded, and with

consistent font,

size/style

Key Appearance Components

Be sure that your

sub-section titles stand out and are

easy to locate

Key Appearance Components

Be sure it is modern

and professional

Key Appearance Components

Explore layouts!

See what most

suits you & your target

industry

Key Appearance Components

Be error free!

Remember I’m Wilfridnot Wilfred!

Part II: Organization

Part II – Organization

The impact of structure, order and layout impacts the

effectiveness of your resumé.

Targeted Organization

Objective

Profile

Education

Relevant Experience

Additional Experience

Interests

Organize Sections to Target the Resumé

Education Information

Reverse chronology

Degree name in full, i.e., Bachelor of Arts, not BA

Include name of school, city and province

What about high school?

What about listing courses?

What about the GPA?

What about listing awards?

Education

Organizing Experience

Weighing in on Experience

Less Detail

More Detail

Focus on transferable skills and achievements, not specific tasks

Experience descriptions, less or more?

Personal Details?

• Date of birth• Marital/Family Status• Disability information• Country of Origin and/or Citizenship• Ethnic background• Languages spoken• Religion• Gender

Check out the Career Resource Centre for:The Global Resumé and CV Guide and Best Resumés and CVs for International Jobs: Your Passport to the Global Job Market

This varies by country so do your research!

.

Part III: Content

ContentWhat you say and how you say it impacts the message you are sending the potential employer

There are 3 main areas that need targeting:

1. Use your Objective to focus the resumé

2. Use your Profile to provide a big picture or snap-shot

3. How you describe your Experiences (paid and unpaid)

The Objective

Should you add an objective?•There is no agreement•Be sure it is not generic!•Consider using the following formula:

Identify yourself (political science student, HR professional, accounting graduate), seeking role you are applying for

(entry-level junior accountant, international grassroots placements, etc.) in order to select relevant

experience/skills/knowledge and provide results to the company or how you will contribute to the goals

of the position.

Targeted Objective

To obtain a health-related position with a reputable organization

Resourceful and collaborative psychology graduate seeking to secure a position as the Women’s Health Promotion Co-ordinator in order to leverage skills in marketing to strengthen community awareness of health programming.

Generic

Targeted

Is a big picture statement

If you have 15 seconds to tell your employer about yourself, what do you want them to know?

Consider the qualifications of the job as ‘The Question’ and your Profile section as ‘The Answer’

Profile

6 PossibleComponents

1. Experience

2. Knowledge

3. Skills

4. Achievements

5. Qualities

6. Bonus

PROFILE

1.Experience Statement

•Entice your reader to want to view the rest of your resumé

•Be sure to keep Profile bullets at a highlight, big-picture level

•Be sure to ‘back up’ your claim to a skill and discuss it dynamically

Profile - Experience

Experience Statements

• Strong customer service experience

• Progressive customer service experience gained within a consumer packaged goods company

• More than 2 years of experiencedelivering high quality customer experiences within an internationally recognized technology retailer

Generic

Targeted

Targeted

2. Knowledge Statements

• Evaluate relevant knowledge that would be of interest to the employer

• Look at Major Handouts or Course Syllabi for examples of how to explain your knowledge

• Look for opportunities to combine knowledge and skills

Profile - Knowledge

Knowledge Statements

• Strong economic background

• Solid ability to comprehend complex and detailed information, including demographics and economic information for the purpose of developing recommendations and policies

• Strong familiarity with Canadian political systems and international security issues

Generic

Targeted

Targeted

3. Skills Statement

• Select 2-4 relevant skills (check job posting)

• Present these skills in terms of how you will, or how you have used them – sell, don’t tell!

Profile - Skills

Skills Statements

• Excellent interpersonal skills

• Proven ability to establish co-operative, professional relationships with customers, staff and administration through effective communication and interpersonal competence

Distinguish yourself with unique statements!

Targeted

Generic

Skills Statement

• Effective analytical skills

• Proven ability to analyze large volumes of information and creatively identify solutions

• Showcased analytical skills while identifying barriers to service delivery in a technical sales role

Generic

Targeted

Targeted

4. Achievement Statement

• Show your successes

• Demonstrate a relevant or interesting success

• Quantify when possible:

‘Organized a charity event raising $2,000 for a local not-for-profit organization’

Profile - Achievements

Achievement Statement

• An achievement should demonstrate the benefit of a relevant skill or experience

• Created and implemented a new youth mentoring program resulting in 75% participation of local university students by assessing the needs of youth in the community through interviews and focus groups

5. Quality Statement

• Do not exceed more than one quality statement

• Provide insight into your qualities and values

• Possibly add a supervisor testimonial instead

• Attempt to make the qualities align with the nature of the job and organizational culture

Profile - Qualities

6. Bonus Statement

Add a line about special or interesting skills or experiences such as:• Travel or community work• Languages• Technology • Athletic involvement• Music, drama, art skills

You may want to indicate a certificate or credential that is completed or in-progress:•Suicide intervention•CSC or CFA courses

Profile - Bonus

Critical Tips For

The Resumé

Re-focus job descriptions to better target your job objective

Draw greater attention to the relevant aspects of your jobs

If no relevance, stress transferable skills

Be sure to use result-oriented statements

Targeting Within Job Descriptions

Targeting Job Descriptions

Job Goal:Camp 

Counsellor

Previous job as a Camp 

Counsellor

Camp Counsellor2011,2012 (seasonal)

Kid’s Summer Camp Experience, Kitchener, ON• Supervised children ages 8 – 16 at a summer

camp• Developed and lead activities including arts and

crafts, nature exploration, swimming, water safety and canoeing

• Ensured inclusive summer experience for children with disabilities (seasonal)

Targeting Job Descriptions

Past job not directly relevant?

Job Goal:Junior 

Marketer

Camp Counsellor 2011, 2012 (seasonal)Kid’s Summer Camp Experience, Kitchener, ON

• Co-ordinated and organized activities which involved preparing materials, creating schedules and managing multiple participants

• Liaised with the public to ensure exchange of information including negotiating special requests and answering concerns

• Collaborated with colleagues to plan and assign tasks and provided training and orientation to new employees

Make the job details transferable to the job

Interests…......are they really interesting?

• A collection of over 1000 photographs of heritage structures, urban and outdoor natural locations

• Enthusiastic about outdoor adventure sports including trekking, hiking, rappelling and mountaineering

• Competitive salsa dancer and recipient of several international awards

Beyond just a word, explain the extent of your involvement with a particular

interest in a way that distinguishes you from other candidates.

Additional Training and Professional Development

• Focus on relevant training and professional development i.e., Certified Human Resource Professional · Career Development Certificate

• Include seminars/lectures you attended which were not part of course work

• May include presentations or publications (if several, create a separate section)

This section can be listed either in a separate section or in the Education section

A Word About References

• Prepare on a separate page• Only submit upon request• Should have seen you within a related

professional environment

Professors DeanSupervisors ColleaguesDirectors Other staff

Key members of your job search team!Keep them informed of your progress.

Final Checklist

Ensure that your documents are:• Error free• Use the vocabulary of your chosen field• Amplify relevant aspects of your jobs and if not relevant,

focus on transferable skills• Attractive and professional format that is complementary

of your target field• Formatted (PDF)• Appropriately named!

ALWAYS send a targeted cover letter with your resumé!

Connect With Us!

519.884.0710 x4495careercentre@wlu.cawlu.ca/career

facebook.com/lauriercareercentrelauriercareercentre.wordpress.comlinkedin.com (Laurier Career Centre group)