Employment Tips
The information presented in this section is for informational purposes only.
Resumé Tips
A resumé is your first, and lasting, impression to an employer. You need to use it as a marketing tool and sell yourself as the ideal candidate for the job!
Make a Great Impression
Select a document design and structure that is appropriate and appealing.
Put your most recent and relevant experience and accomplishments at the top of the first page.
Carefully proof read your finished resumé to ensure spelling and grammar accuracy.
Keep It Short and Simple
Keep your resumé to two pages or less.
Refrain from using busy design elements that can distract the reader; use a simple layout.
Avoid using industry acronyms or terminology.
Use Simple Formatting
- Use one font like Century Gothic, Arial or Calibri
- Use 11pt font size
- Use vertical white space between sentences and paragraphs and in the margins to promote readability
- Keep special formatting and design to a minimum and use proper spacing
- Ensure you only use multiple font styles, varying font sizes, bold, italic, underline, colour and other design elements for your contact information, resumé headings, and company names
Make Yourself Known
Ensure your full name, city, professional email address and phone number appear in prominent placement at the top of your resumé.
Ensure your name, email and phone number appear on every other page (e.g., in the header).
Include professional social media links (e.g., LinkedIn).
Make It Relevant and Measurable
Include recent work experience that’s relevant to the job posting.
Highlight the benefits of your soft and transferable skills by using numbers to show:
- Your teamwork abilities (e.g., “Collaborated on a team of 4 to do…”)
- Initiative (e.g., “Initiated development of a sign-in/out procedure that shaved 7 minutes per person off the daily staff sign-in/out process”)
Turn Duties into Accomplishments
Stick to four bullet points in each section to showcase your greatest experience and/or achievements.
Impress the resumé reader by offering information that is not common knowledge.
For example, it would be assumed that the duties of an Executive Assistant would include answering phones, managing files and providing customer service; you can paint a better picture of Executive Assistant abilities by describing related accomplishments vs. listing the duties performed
Shine in the crowd by describing not just what you did (a duty) but how well you did it (an accomplishment)
For example, a duty would be “Planned events”; an accomplishment would be “Raised $25,000 by selling out tickets to a 200 person charity event”
Explain how you made something better.
Use Strong Action Verbs
Start each bullet point with creative verbs that catch the eye and bring more compelling meaning to your accomplishment
For example:
- Instead of “Led”, use “Chaired”, “Coordinated” or “Executed”
- Instead of “Developed”, use “Built”, “Designed” or “Introduced”
- Instead of “Answered Customer Questions”, use “Educated”, “Advised” or “Informed”