Resumés: Writing yourself into a job

Your resumé is the most important tool in your search for a job, but it’s important that it doesn’t get lost in the pool of applications that the employer will inevitably be receiving. However, with proper organization, a well-crafted cover letter and a little creativity, your resumé can stand out from the pile and get you the interview that you’ve been seeking.

The resumé needs to include three major sections aside from your contact information: your skills and qualifications, your educational history and your work experience.

In an ideal world, all of this can fit on one page, but if it can’t, then two pages is the absolute maximum you want to hand in, or else there is a good chance that it will simply not be read. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule, as certain industries will require more extensive qualifications or details, but those organizations will generally provide applicants with a heads up if that’s necessary.

Skills and qualifications

Your skills and qualifications should be at the top of the page, as these will include a customized list of your strengths, one that you will want to customize to the job you are applying for. Be cautious when printing out resumés in bulk; nothing will derail an application to an office job faster than listing job skills for a restaurant position.

Do your best to avoid simply listing clichés (punctual, organized, etc.) in favour of more viable skills, and any specialized courses and designations that you have that will benefit the position that you are attempting to attain.

Educational history

Educational history is rather self-explanatory; you will want to include your post-secondary courses and establishments, the years that you graduated and any other academic achievements that you have accomplished. Be sure to avoid any incomplete post-secondary courses, as they will have no real impact on the outcome of the interview, and not finishing something is certainly not something that will encourage a company’s HR manager to call you in. If you served in any major co-curricular activities while in school, include those as well.

Work experience

Work history can be a little bit more complicated, especially considering how rare it is for somebody to only have one or two jobs to include. When somebody has worked four of five jobs, listing all of them, as well as the positions and responsibilities that they had, can take up far too much space.

When choosing what to include, consider the positions that you have held most recently, as well as the responsibilities that you held at you previous jobs. By including those that have the most relevance to the job being applied for, a hiring manager will be more likely to see you as a viable candidate for the job.

Cover letter

The cover letter is your chance to summarize what you can bring to the company in a few simple with well-crafted paragraphs. Tell the hiring manager why they should choose you; humbly brag about your past school and work accomplishments, and add detail that you can’t fit on the limited pages of the resumé itself.

Always include the name of the organization and position that you are applying to, and if you know it, the individual that will be taking the applications and making the final decisions.

Lastly, make sure that the resumé is not lines of text, or else it will simply be lost in the shuffle of similar-looking, boring resumés. You’d be amazed at what can be done just within Microsoft Word, but if creativity isn’t your forté, there are plenty of websites that can provide you with a few ideas to help you along the way.