A well-written resume and covering letter are essential to your application for employment. You are a salesperson selling your most important product – yourself.
A Canadian resume is typically only one page in length with a single page covering letter.
How should you format your resume?
Keep it to the one page with justified size 10-12 basic font, something like Times New Roman or Arial. Use plain, everyday language and avoid long elaborate sentences. Short and simple is the best method. Even better is to use bullet points. Spelling is key as well. Misspelled words can be a turnoff to a potential employer as it shows a lack of detail and thoroughness. Avoid highlights, fancy fonts or anything potentially distracting to the employer.
How should your resume start?
Your resume should begin with your name, full mailing address and contact phone numbers, fax number and email addresses.
What does need to be included?
Include all relevant employment background. Most commonly it is only the last 3-4 positions held, or your positions held within the last 3-5 years. If you do not have employment related to the position you are applying for include the last 3-5 employers. These are listed in order of most recent to least recent.
Next, list any education you have such as university or trade skills. This is normally listed as degree name, year earned and a brief summary (1-2 sentences is sufficient).
The end of the resume is used for referrals. Two professional and two personal referrals is sufficient, otherwise a simple ‘referrals supplied upon request’ will do. If you state they are available upon request, make sure you bring this information with you to the interview.
What does not need to be included?
Things like age, gender and marital status. It is against Canadian law to request these things or discriminate against hiring you because of any of these things.
Your covering letter is your personal sales page
Always begin with a formal greeting directed to the HR manager or person in charge of hiring. Most wanted ads include this, otherwise call the employer to find out this information.
The next thing to include is the position you are applying for, your availability date and/or your job objective.
Following that you should include your unique selling position. What makes you the best possible application for this position and why should they hire you as an employee? What are your qualifications for this position? Keep it brief after all they have the resume to refer to for further information.
Close with a confident and semi-personal note such as ‘I look forward to speaking with you further on this matter’, followed by your signature and your typed name.