Minds on.

Huan is 33 and has been working for the past several years in the manufacturing sector as a Production Associate. In this job, Huan is responsible for operating a variety of production equipment, as well as for assembling and packaging parts. Huan has been a model employee and has taken advantage of leadership and management training opportunities offered by his employer. He recently completed the Manufacturing Management diploma program at a college, working on courses part-time on evenings and weekends. Occasionally, Huan is asked to fill in for supervisors when unforeseen absences arise and a replacement cannot be found.

Huan enjoys an active lifestyle outside of work, volunteering as a member of the executive of the community soccer league in which his son plays; he also participates recreationally in an adult co-ed soccer league, himself. After taking up running, Huan has even become involved in the organization committee for an annual charity walk/run/blade/bike event to help raise funds for local programs for children with severe physical disabilities – a cause that is very dear to him.

Feeling he is now ready to advance in his career, Huan has been actively searching for supervisory, leadership, and managerial opportunities. He knows that his best chance is in the plant where he currently works. After all, he has worked there for 12 years and his annual performance reviews have been impeccable. Huan also knows that when supervisory positions do come up, they are rarely advertised and are typically filled through promotion within the company. Unfortunately, however, such opportunities have been infrequent, and Huan does not foresee any potential openings in the near future.

Huan is determined, so he uses the Internet to search for opportunities on a variety of popular job posting sites, as well as visiting his local Ontario Employment Services Employment Planning Office. They have been helpful to him there as he has set his career goals, planned his education and training, and prepared his resume. Huan has also maintained regular contact with members of his union, as well as people he knows in other plants owned and operated by the company for which he works.

Today, an opportunity has presented itself – Production Team Leader. Huan does not know much about the company but, given the job description, he is confident that he has the qualifications, skills, and experience that will give him a competitive edge. Recognizing that there will be many applying, several of whom will share the same background as himself, Huan knows he has to deliver a determined effort to acquire an interview. It is time for Huan to get focused.

Action.

Learn About It: What is a Resume?

Simply put, a resume is a summary of who you are, what you have done, and what you can do. A resume will include your contact information and may often include sections that provide concise information on the following aspects relating to you.

  • Your Career Goal
  • Belief Statement
  • Education and Training
  • Degrees, Diplomas, Certificates
  • Other Certifications
  • Qualifications
  • Work History
  • Significant Accomplishments and Experiences
  • Volunteer Experiences
  • Community Involvement
  • Skills and Aptitudes
  • Interests
  • References (though most, today, indicate ‘available upon request’ when not specifically requested in a job posting)
This is an image of a young person smiling and proudly holding up and showing their resume.
“Your resume is an advertisement about the most important item that you will ever sell – YOU”.

Learn About It: Types of Resumes

According to Simply Hired, there are three types of resumes: chronological, functional, and hybrid or combination. Click on each type of resume below to learn more.

Think About It: The Best Type of Resume for Me

After having read the above descriptions carefully, including the pros and cons of each type, look at the samples for each type below:

Chronological Resume Sample

Functional Resume Sample

Combination Resume Sample

How would you make a decision on which type is most appropriate for a specific situation? The following brief articles provide some suggestions:

Given what you have learned, which type of resume do you believe is best for you and why? It is important to know this now, as later in this activity you will be creating a resume of your own.

Learn About It: What to Include and What NOT to Include in a Resume

Carefully consider the following quotations from people in the field:

When candidates put things on their resumes that are completely irrelevant to the job position, you have to question their judgment. If you can’t make smart choices or determine what’s appropriate during the job search process, an employer is going to wonder what choices you would make if hired. And as a small business owner, I can’t take the risk on a candidate who doesn’t understand that.

Owner of Perfect Pitch Public Relations, Ty Mays

The problem with these resume entries is that they fail the test of relevance. Your resume should be built around the intersection of your greatest strengths and an employer’s greatest needs. Too often, job seekers fail to take into account the needs of their audience — and that’s when the bizarre and narcissistic creep in.

President of Resume Guru, Robert Dagnall

While you have 30 seconds to make a good first impression in person, resumes can make or break your chances of getting an interview in mere seconds. Take it from a pro: “Don’t include irrelevant, personal information on your resume.

Founder and President of Come Recommended, Heather Huhman

Next, while reading the following brief articles, use the Cornell Note template to help organize your thoughts.

I think the goofiest thing I saw on a resume was a person who listed one of their special skills as Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. They were applying for an accounting position, so it makes absolutely no sense why they would have that on there. The other one was a gentleman who put his marital status as ‘single, but looking’ on the resume! I don’t understand what these folks were thinking…

Sky Opila, BriteTab.com Online Resume Service

Finally, select at least two additional brief articles to read from the following list (or feel free, of course, to locate other pertinent articles of interest):

What Not to Include in a Resume

There is some great advice contained in the above quotations and articles that, potentially, could save your job application from being tossed into the dreaded ‘No’ pile.

In a journal record your thoughts to the following questions.

  • What are these key messages contained in the quotations and articles you read? Highlight one specific quotation that got your attention and include the URL.
  • How will these messages affect how you will construct, or revise, your resume for specific job applications?
  • The quotations and articles touch on many real-life instances of resume blunders. Do you know of any yourself? Remember, as always, not to share personal information that may help to identify someone.
  • Do you have any additional advice to offer in regard to what NOT to include in a resume?

Learn About It: How to Write a Resume

Often, after posting a job opening, employers may have many applications to sift through. Sometimes, this means they have only a short amount of time to scan each one individually before selecting those to investigate more thoroughly.

How can you get yours to stand out from the others? The resume and cover letter guidelines that follow will be very helpful. It is important to consider these carefully, as you will be creating a resume and cover letter of your own.

This is a close up image of a pile of resumes, interwoven, one on top of the other. They all look the same.

How can you get your resume to stand out from all of the others?

Resume Guidelines

Design

The ‘design’ aspect of your resume has to come across in a clean, refreshing, simple way. In other words, have proper alignment, spacing, grammar, same-size fonts, clear fonts (not fancy), full-looking sentences after your bullet points, no abbreviations and good flow of the information presented.

  • If you are submitting an electronic resume use a standard format such as Microsoft Word or PDF to ensure it can be opened easily.
  • Use a conservative, easy-to-read font such as Arial, Calibri, Tahoma, Times New Roman, or Century Gothic.
  • Use 10- to 12-point fonts.
  • Use lots of white space and bullet points to enhance readability.
  • Do not exceed two pages (one page is preferred but, for those with significant qualifications and experience, this may be difficult).

By far the biggest resume mistake is overloading your resume with information. Keep it simple and focus on experience and accomplishments. Don't overload your resume with keywords in hope of passing a keyword search by a potential employer.

  • Include your email address at the top of your resume use a conventional email address such as your name;
  • Consider incorporating graphics modestly, and with a purpose. They can make your resume more visually-pleasing, unique, and noticeable.

Remember the purpose of the resume is to get you the job interview. Don’t load up the resume with everything but the kitchen sink. Instead, put enough detail in the resume to make a hiring manager want to learn more.

Six seconds isn’t enough time to read a life story. If your experience is solid, you shouldn’t need to explain yourself; get right to the point and let your credentials do the talking… You never need more than four bullet points per job title or role, and your entire resume should fit on a single page. When it comes to resume, less is mor

Semantics

  • Use action words such as achieved, managed, delegated, generated, established, increased, etc.
  • Use the common and current language of the target industry.
  • Extract keywords from the job listing and use these in your resume.
  • Avoid misspelled words and grammatical errors.

Content

  • Research the company and its industry and focus your qualifications, employment history, and accomplishments to match their needs. Emphasize your skills that are most pertinent to those being sought for that particular position.
  • State your accomplishments, rather than just your responsibilities. Be specific about your accomplishments and try to quantify them with numbers.
  • Include your extracurricular activities or community service if they reveal personal and transferable skills that will beneficial to the specific position (e.g., as organizational ability, teamwork, leadership potential, creative thinking, etc.).

Great accomplishments that aren’t career-related still deserve a spot on your resume. Case in point: Athletic achievements show that you’re competitive and know how to effectively work in a team; leadership achievements show an ability to support and motivate others toward success; volunteering shows that you know how to work with others toward common goals.

  • Leave out irrelevant personal information (e.g., age, ethnicity, height/weight, etc.) and de-emphasize, or leave out, those items that do not apply to the position.
  • Other things to leave out:
    • Links to personal pages on YouTube or Facebook… A more professional tool is to have a link to an online portfolio that focuses on, in an organized and visual manner, your career goal and path qualifications, employment history, accomplishments, skills, etc.
    • Your home address, unless it has been requested.

An important aspect of an attention-getting resume is one that is highly targeted and focused for the position… Extra information about skills in another area takes away precious resume real estate and can also dilute a job seeker’s career brand.

MOST IMPORTANTLY -
REVIEW YOUR RESUME MULTIPLE TIMES
AND HAVE OTHERS REVIEW IT FOR YOU AS WELL

One typo can land your resume in the garbage. Proofread and show your resume to several friends to have them proofread it as well. This document is a reflection of you and should be perfect.

Tips for Those Over 40

  • Set a time limit on work history (e.g., 10 years).
  • Omit dates from your resume’s education section.
  • Emphasize accomplishments, not years of experience.
  • Flaunt your technical aptitude.
This is an image of a person’s resume. It is very well organized and, while it is unique and colorful in its design, it maintains a professional appearance. It is succinct in its content, has plenty of white space, and contains a very easily read font.

Many of the guidelines and tips shared above can be recognized in this resume? Can you determine what they are?

Work With It: My Job Posting and Resume

Consider your resume an example of the quality of work you will produce on a company’s behalf… Take the time to make sure that your resume is perfect in all the details that make a difference to those who read it.

Many people maintain a complete resume and update it regularly with new items and details on their education, qualifications, employment history, skills, accomplishments, and other items. As they prepare application for a particular job, they will adapt their resume, catering it to the specific posting, position, company, and industry, and follow the guidelines we learned about above.

For this task, however, you will create a resume as part of an application for an actual position. So, that means that it is time to find a posting.

Ideally, it would be best if you could locate an advertised position, or ‘hidden job market’ position, for which you are actually considering applying. If that is not possible, you will need to locate a job opening/posting that aligns, in some manner, with your career aspirations.

So, where should you look? First, consider tapping into your own personal network to locate any potential non-advertised ‘hidden job market’ opportunities. Secondly, take advantage of the variety of sources for advertised job postings, including local newspapers, job posting boards, websites, social media sites (such as LinkedIn), and community service centres. The following are some examples of popular websites (listed alphabetically) but do not limit yourself to these as there may be better options for your local area:

Save these files in your Portfolio.

This is an image of a magnifying glass focusing in on the Jobs section of a newspaper.

Traditionally, people often turned to the classified section of the newspaper when seeking work. While this can still be a good source, there are far more to consider.

There are also many community agencies that exist to help you with your job search, as well as constructing your resume and cover letter - free of charge. Find out what agencies are available in your area and consider taking advantage of their free services for the purposes of this task as well as future endeavors. Remember, these agencies and their employees exist to help you. You will likely discover that they can be an instrumental part of your network. Take a moment to visit their website, make a quick call, or to drop by: this may turn out to be one of the simplest and most gainful actions you have taken.

Now, back to the task...

Once you have located a job opening/posting, construct a document, naming it “Job Application - Posting - [Name of Position].” In the document, outline all of the details of the position, as well as information on how/where it was discovered.

Next, using what you have learned about constructing resumes, edit your existing resume, or begin a new resume, catering it specifically to this position.  Name the document “Job Application – Resume – [Name of Position].”

To assist, there are available templates that will make formatting your resume very simple. Remember, however, that you want your resume to stand out in the pile, while still being conservative and professional in its appearance and design. So, if you choose to use a template, introduce a degree of cautious creativity try to avoid the trap of your resume ‘looking like all the rest.’ Here is where you can find templates:

Now, on to the cover letter…

Learn About It: What Is a Cover Letter and Why Do I Need One?

What is a cover letter? A cover letter is a brief, professional-looking business letter, written with a personal touch that accompanies your resume.

Cover letters can improve your chances of getting contacted for an interview. They show how eager you are to work for the specific employer you’re applying to. And you can let a bit of your personality come through in ways your resume doesn’t allow for.

Your cover letter, if written properly, provides a narrative opportunity to emphasize your grasp of the job’s requirements and how your particular skills and accomplishments map to the job. Managers are looking for you to show that you understand their business and that you care about what they need. The cover letter is the only way of showing this, and that’s why you need to write a strong, customized letter that directly addresses the company’s needs.

Do you need to provide a cover letter?

You bet! Just as you would never show up unannounced at a prospective employer’s door, your resume should never just appear solo on a decision-maker’s desk.

Bottom line: no manager will rule out your application because you sent a cover letter. But some managers will rule out your application because you didn’t. Depending on which type of manager is hiring, it might never be read. But it also might be the clincher that gets you the interview.

Cover Letter Guidelines

Don’t just regurgitate your CV content in your cover letter. Instead, figure out what business problems your reader is likely kvetching about, and then tell them — right here in your cover letter — how you would go about addressing them.

CV stands for Curriculum Vitae, or another way some employers refer to a resume

  • If you are submitting an electronic cover letter, use a standard format such as Microsoft Word or PDF to ensure it can be opened easily.

  • Use a conservative, easy-to-read font such as Arial, Calibri, Tahoma, Times New Roman or Century Gothic.

  • Use 10- to 12-point size fonts.

  • Make your cover letter no longer than one page. Use three or four concise, but convincing, paragraphs that are easy to read. Be clear and to the point.

  • Consider the culture of the organization to which you’re applying and write with that voice in mind.

  • Inject some personality into your cover letter, but don’t get too carried away… Remember to keep it professional.

  • Do not address your letter to “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Employer”… Address it to a specific individual if possible.

  • Indicate for which position you are applying.

  • State the reason for your interest in the company.

  • Show that you have done some research on the company by mentioning some specifics.

  • Customize your letter to the precise position. Highlight your qualifications, experience, and skills that are relevant to the specific job and company’s needs. Provide concrete examples of how you can benefit the company.

  • State that you are available for an interview and provide your home, work, email and/or cell phone numbers where you can be reached.

  • Note that you will follow up by phone to provide any additional information required (e.g., ‘I will contact you next week should you require any additional information. Please feel free, however, to contact me sooner at (555) 555-5555’).

  • Remember to express gratitude for their time and interest.

  • Avoid careless typos and spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors.

AND, AGAIN… MOST IMPORTANTLY…
REVIEW YOUR COVER LETTER MULTIPLE TIMES
AND HAVE OTHERS REVIEW IT FOR YOU AS WELL

Now, let’s see the above guidelines in action. Take a few moments to check out the following infographic for an example of a ‘before and after,’ as well as some important tips. Click on the graphic to see a larger version.

This is a screen capture of the infographic.

Finally, check out the following sample template and format for cover letters, as well as examples of cover letters from Monster. These will be extremely helpful to you as you begin the next task, and create your own cover letter.

Work With It: My Cover Letter

Using what you have learned about constructing cover letters, edit a cover letter you currently have, or construct a new cover letter, catering it specifically to the position selected in the previous task.  Name the document “Job Application – Cover Letter – [Name of Position].” To assist, there are templates available that will make formatting your cover letter very simple:

Work With It: Portfolio – My Job Posting, Resume, and Cover Letter

Take a moment to review the work from the three files created in this activity.  The three files should be:

  • Job Application – Posting – [Name of Position]
  • Job Application – Resume – [Name of Position]
  • Job Application – Cover Letter – [Name of Position]

Consolidation

When applying for a job, particularly in instances in which there are a multitude of applicants, simply printing and submitting your regular resume and cover letter is not usually enough. In this activity, you have learned how to properly apply for a job by investing time in going beyond the simple submission of your resume and cover letter. These strategies will help you to gain a competitive edge, set you apart from others, and should lead to an interview. What comes next though?

Think About It: Getting the Job

You get that phone call and your interview is next week. Your foot is in the door. How do you close the deal? How can you be sure to showcase your strengths? What are you going to do to give yourself the best chance of being named the successful candidate?

In the next activity, you will learn how to cope with that very important interview, but you may begin now by brainstorming a list of possible questions and the answers that you may provide.

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