Résumé Writing Guide for Internationally Trained Professionalscareerpaths.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Career_Paths_Resume_Writing... · Basic Sections of a Canadian Resume Career

Résumé Writing Guide for

Internationally Trained Professionals

Basic Sections of a

Canadian Resume

Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants

Back in Motion Rehab Inc.

Skills Connect for Immigrants Program


Facts:

The average time spent by recruitment managers

for analyzing a resume is < 30 seconds

Adding a picture to a resume gives a job

candidate an 88 % chance of getting their

application thrown out

Resumes serve 2 purposes: marketing tool for job

seekers and screening tool for recruiters

Career Paths for Immigrants


Workshop Objectives

Basic Components of a Resume

Purpose of a Targeted Résumé

Buying Motivators, the SMART approach

Impact Statements

Elimination Factors


Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.

1. Contact Information

“You’ve reached Izzy Motivated at 604 333 3333. Sorry,

I am not available to take your call but please leave

your name and a short message and I will call you back

as soon as possible. Thank you”



Contact Section Example

First Name Last Name

Your Address

Your City, State, Zip Code

Your Phone Number

Your Email Address

LinkedIn or Personal Website URL (if you have one)



2. Objective

A short statement telling the hiring manager what

skills, knowledge, and abilities you have to help the

company achieve its goals.

A short statement telling the hiring manager

what you want from the company, and how it

will help your career

√



Targeted Job Title

Sales Manager – Business Software

Technical Writer – IT | Finance

Administrative Assistant – HR, Marketing & Sales

Quality Assurance | Project Manager | Software Engineer



Summary of Qualifications

• How many years of relevant experience, paid or

volunteer do you have?

• What is your relevant education, training and

have you won any awards?

• What skills and qualifications are required by

the job posting?

• If I were able to illustrate 3-5 of my relevant

qualifications, which ones would I choose?

• Of my experiences, which would the employer

see as most important (think relevant!)



Summary of Qualifications

Example



3. Value proposition

Why should we hire YOU instead of others?

Employer

Candidate

Buying Motivators

Supporting Qualifications

Added Value



Buying Motivators

Generate revenue (increase sales, augment profit)

Save money (enhance efficiency, improve cash flow)

Solve a problem (reduce errors, eliminate downtime)

Bring in new customers, clients etc.

Example:

“Ability to implement current technology, enhance

service to users, and advance company goals”



Supporting Qualifications

Areas of expertise (skills, levels, abilities, stature)

Relevant background (education, experience,

credentials, accomplishments, volunteer work)

Your Added Value – your unique image or snapshot of

your

Special talents and contributions

Unique international experience

Unique personality and style



Value Proposition -Example

Excellent Customer Service Support with outstanding accounting, communication and sales experience

Over 10 years of international work experience in China and New Zealand; recognized as passionate about numbers and an excellent team member

Advanced Excel skills, including VLookup and match that helped me create a spreadsheet to analyze the data and noticed discrepancies costing company thousands of dollars

While at Shell, a new automated system highlighted an error in the accounts that auditors could not identify the cause. I created a spreadsheet to analyze the data and noticed the automated and accounting systems were applying different round-off methods. This analysis enabled auditors to align systems and complete the audit within pre-established time frames.



4. Work Experience

Work Experience can include:

Full-time Work

Part-time Work

Temp Work

Internships

Work Study

Freelance or Self Employment

Independent Projects

WOW Statements



WOW! Statements

An impact statement should grab the reader’s attention and clearly explain what your responsibility was in your previous position

Questions to consider:

Did I make specific contributions that affected the companies objectives and goals? (e.g. profits, production, new accounts, etc.)

What is your greatest contribution to the company?

What kinds of problems did I inherit and solutions I implemented?

What were the challenges I encountered and how did I overcome these challenges?



Prepared Reports - Example

1. Did you improve anything?

1. Time

2. Accuracy

3. Costs

“Decreased cost of preparing reports by an average of

$1,000 per month by eliminating unnecessary paper

copies. This freed up funds that were used to hire a part

time marketing assistant to respond 2x faster to all on

line inquiries, that led to 22% increase in new customers”



Wow Statements – More examples

BEFORE

“Effective team player”

AFTER

“Successfully collaborated with over 10 staff members to increase efficiency of workflow and client services”

BEFORE

“Increased company profits and acquired new client businesses”

AFTER

“Secured in excess of $1 billion in new business over 5 years with the company; led entry into more lucrative markets”



SMART Approach

Specific

Measurable

Action-oriented

Results-oriented

Time-based (Days/Weeks/Months/Year)

Weak Statement:

“Developed employee assessment system”

SMART Impact Statement:

“Developed an employee assessment system that lead to improved productivity by 3% in one year”



Situation Action Result

SHOW DON’T TELL

- SITUATION

- ACTION

- RESULTS

The office expanded which created a

higher need for resources while the

budget remained the same

By renegotiating contracts with suppliers and

implementing new office procedures

managed to cover all office needs

and saved over $1,000/quarter

“saved money”

TRANSFERRABLE SKILLS



Transferrable Skills

Core set of skills and abilities which can be

applied to a wide range of different jobs

and industries

Picked over time, in different settings and

gained from various previous positions,

voluntary work, hobbies, or at home



Transferrable Skills

Leadership

Time Management

Negotiating

Delegation

Listening

Communication

Analyzing

Targeted Resumes



Targeted Résumé

The targeted résumé is

written to highlight skills

and experience relevant

to a particular position



Why Targeted Résumé?

1. Improves Your Connection with Recruiters

2. Increases Your Interview Odds

3. Forces you to research the Industry/Company

4. Improves newcomer’s knowledge on job titles



Tactical Approach

1. Draw out a great number of WOW Statements,

incorporating duties, skills, and accomplishments.

Once done, the list can then be ordered and only

the most relevant statements will make it on the

document.



Tactical Approach

2. Create instant rapport with the employer by reflecting

their language in the résumé. Impress the employer with

the knowledge of the industry jargon and they will forget

you are new to the country. Your expertise will be valued

and you will be invited to an interview!



Elimination Factors

Irrelevant & too general talks/ skills description

Spelling errors and typos

Acronyms & Abbreviations

Wordiness & Multiple Pages

Multiple Fonts, Bold, Italics and Underlined used

at once and too many times

Sloppy & Disorganized Presentation

Employment Gaps or Missing Dates

Formatting Tips



Formatting Tips

1. Ensure your document has enough white space.

2. General rule: no more than 2 pages (*exceptions)

3. Avoid templates, graphics, graphs, columns,

grids or tables!

4. Display your name with a font anywhere

between 18 and 24 in size

5. Resume body font should be no smaller than 10,

no larger than 12 points



Formatting Tips

Choose only from Calibri, Times New Roman or Arial fonts and don’t use more than 2 styles per resume (one for headings, one for the body)

Be conservative when using lines – they make the page look busy

Never apply Underline, Bold and Italics features to one word! Chose 1 feature and be consistent throughout the resume

Be consistent with the way you enter numbers and currency. Stick to 1 format only!



Conclusion:

“No one creates a perfect résumé on their first try.

Writing a perfect résumé is a messy process, but

the easiest way to start is by simply getting in the

right mindset and putting pen to paper.” Matthew T. Cross, The résumé Design Book


Back in Motion Rehab Inc

Questions and Answers?

Please forward all exercises and the signed

attendance sheet to your counsellor

Make sure you discuss any questions or concerns

you might have with your counsellor at the next

meeting!

Contact: [email protected] or 604.575.3800

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Résumé Writing Guide for Internationally Trained Professionalscareerpaths.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Career_Paths_Resume_Writing... · Basic Sections of a Canadian Resume Career