Career Blog
So you want to get a job but don’t know where to start? Well, the first step is simple. You just have to make a résumé! Now, tossing all of your skills and experience onto a document is easy, but nicely formatting everything is the real challenge. Here are some general tips to make the process easier.
- Keep it short and succinct. If you have less than 5 years of experience, your résumé could very well fit on one page. Write in bullet points with size 11 or 12 font in Arial or Times New Roman. The margins should be set to a minimum of 0.5 inches.
- Keep it formal. Do not use personal pronouns. When discussing previous positions, use the past tense. When describing your current position, use the present tense. Use bold, italics, and underlining formatting to nicely organize everything.
- Keep the content relevant. Refrain from using jargon and obscure acronyms. Hiring managers should understand what you are referring to. Focus on your skills and past experiences that are most relevant with regard to the posting. Don’t hesitate to elaborate on your accomplishments!
- PROOFREAD YOURSELF AND GET SOME PEERS TO EDIT YOU. No matter how well you did in your English class or how much time you spent working on your résumé, make sure to proofread it! Get a friend to peer edit it as well because they might see something that you missed. There is no shame in asking for help. It is better to be safe than sorry!
Are you wondering how I know so much about formatting résumés?
I simply researched during my spare time and I attended Telfer’s Rock Your Résumés event! If you were not able to attend, don’t fret!
Here is, in essence, what the experts I have met had to say.
- Create your own personal “letterhead” and use this for your cover letter as well. Include your name, phone number, and email address. Make sure your email address and voicemail message are professional. If you are still using something like chocolatepanda(...)@hotmail.com as your email address, make a new one that includes your first and last name.
- If you have a high GPA (over 7.0), feel free to list it. You may also list any awards and scholarships you have received in the past.
- Avoid acronyms. Human resources managers will not know what everything stands for, so make their job easier and write it all out. Avoid clichés and generic statements. Try to set yourself apart from others by making your resumé unique to yourself.
Many recruiters glance at a resumé for around 6 seconds. Only if it is eye-catching will they decide to read through it. Therefore, I suggest putting your best effort forward.
Always remember, first impressions matter!
Be sure to check out Career Launch for more events that will help you achieve your dream job!
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Many think that keeping all the information to showcase all their experience on their resumé is a good strategy to impress recruiters. In fact, it only makes it harder for hiring managers to find exactly what they need. While it is important to provide a good amount of relevant information about yourself, it is equally important to stand out quickly in a tall stack of resumés. Here is a little tip: hiring managers much prefer a resumé that is easy to read. Here are a few tips on how to declutter your resumé.
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Take out any irrelevant or short jobs
If your temporary jobs showcase the necessary skills required for your target job, then keep them on your resumé. You don’t want to seem like a job hopper or like you are not able to commit to a position for too long. If a position you had is completely irrelevant to what you are applying for, it’s taking up unnecessary space on your resumé and it should be taken out.
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You don’t always need an objective
In the past, objectives were a staple part of resumés, and it was one of the first things hiring managers would look at. Today, it can be seen as unnecessary, because your objective is made explicit in your cover letter. Instead, you can choose to replace the objective with a summary of your qualifications. If you decide to put a professional objective, however, make sure it is concise, yet detailed, and tailored to the posting.
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Don’t get too personal
Your resumé shouldn’t include details about your personal life such as your full address (city and province should be enough), your previous salary, new salary expectations, why you were terminated or laid off from a previous position, and don’t include photos either. It’s unnecessary, and if your resumé happens to get into the wrong hands, it could create further issues for you down the line.
Getting just the right amount of information on your resumé to find a job can be tricky. Hopefully, these tips will help you save space on your resumé, so you will have room for what’s necessary. When in doubt, don’t hesitate to book an appointment for a resumé critique with the Professional Development Coordinator through Career Launch.
In today’s rapidly changing job market, having a good degree coupled with tangible and transferable skills has become a necessity. But the question to be asked is, which is more important: skills or a degree?
A degree is extremely important and something most of us spend 4-5 years to complete. It acts as a lifelong certification of your professional knowledge and shows employers that you are competent in your field of study. But in today’s world, where technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics are rapidly evolving, the material you learn in university will almost become irrelevant and inapplicable in 5 to 10 years. Companies are starting to realize that a college/university degree does not necessarily prepare students for the reality of a future fueled by technology. Employees need to learn to adapt their skills and knowledge to the changing markets. That’s why acquiring relevant skills is actually more important than a degree. Whether they are hard or soft skills, they are transferable and applicable to any industry, any job, and any situation. Skills such as communication, critical thinking, and problem solving never go out of date and people who have these skills are always sought after. Gaining hands-on and tangible experiences in your field of study will better prepare you for what you will likely see when you enter the workforce.
That being said, university is a great place to acquire these skills! Through getting involved in clubs and organizations within your school, it helps you apply what you learn in the classroom to a more realistic and practical situation. It also helps you meet new people and work in teams, helping you develop your communication, teamwork and leadership skills. All in all, the skills you obtain through university, both inside and outside the classroom, are transferable and can help you excel in your future endeavours.
Here are three little tips to help you stand out in your interview.
You aspire to work in the lucrative financial industry, but have only worked as a supermarket cashier? Scared that you will fail to answer technical questions during your interview? Keep on reading to discover three thing that you can do to stand out amongst a pool of qualified candidates.
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Learn a new skill or get a professional certification
Oftentimes, having a certification or expertise in a certain skill can help you distinguish yourself in an interview. Below are some ways to you can stand out, specific to your specialization, without needing years of education or any experience.
- If you are a Marketing student, you should look into the new Digital Marketing Certificate Telfer now offers to its students. With the advent of social media and data‑driven marketing, this course will teach you how to use social platforms to their full potential to reach your target market.
- If you are in MISA, arm yourself with the power of analytics by completing the beginner Google Analytics Certification course. It’s completely free! You can also look into learning a new programming language such as Python, C or Java.
- If you are a Finance student looking to build a career around investments, talk to the finance lab manager on DMS second floor about how you can pursue the Canadian Securities Course and the Bloomberg Market Concepts certification. Although the CSC can be quite expensive and time consuming, it serves as a good foundation for learning the materials covered in the CFA exam. Also, most firms will reimburse you for the expense after you get hired anyways so you can consider it a win-win!
- Interested in Accounting? Why not become proficient in softwares such as Quickbooks, Sage or SAP, just through YouTube? Those are used in most small businesses and government organizations. I once got passed over for an accounting job because the employers were looking for a student who knew how to use QuickBooks.
- If you are studying International Business, use your free time to learn the basics of a new language. You can also spend your mornings reading the news on global markets or listen to podcasts on your way to class. You won’t believe how impressed the recruiters will be during the interview.
These are just a few examples of what you can do to get an edge over other candidates in your specialization. Although they do require quite of bit of self‑learning and discipline, the value you will get from them is priceless.
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Read specialized books and bring them up in your interview
Reading specialized books highlights the fact that you are a dedicated learner even outside of your required classroom learning. Also, it is a great way to show recruiters that you possess the knowledge of a particular industry, without having any prior work experience in that sector.
Wait! There’s more!
Reading regularly will enrich your vocabulary, which in turn will improve your communication skills. This will give you an edge over other candidates, as you will be able to express yourself with extra confidence and sophistication during your interview.
Some classics that should be on every business student’s reading list are: The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, Good to Great by Jim Collins, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies by McKinsey & Company.
I am positive that after giving these books a read, you will be able to finesse your way through technical interview questions without any work experience.
Naturally, you don’t have to limit yourself to books. I remember tying back one of my interview answers to an episode of the TV show Suits.
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Follow-up after your interview
Have you heard of the serial position bias? Hiring managers typically interview candidates individually in sequence and then make decisions after all candidates have been considered. Studies show that the human brain is more likely to remember the first (primacy effect) and the last (recency effect) interactions and are more likely to forget those in the middle. As a result, your chances of moving on to the next stage depend not only on your merits but also on how well recruiter remembers your evaluation.
That is why a crucial part of your job hunt is to follow up with your interviewers. It could be as simple as sending them a thank you note for their time. This will help refresh their memory, and, due to the recency effect, they will subconsciously be more likely to keep your name in mind.
You will learn more about this topic in your Organizational Behaviour course in second-year.
At the end of the day, remember that employers know you are just starting out, which means that they will be much more impressed with your interpretation of “experience” and with the way you relate it to their questions. My advice to you is this: be yourself, keep it honest, and use the strategies above to make one killer of an impression! Good luck!
Are you applying for jobs and having a hard time writing your cover letter? You are not alone. Many students, myself included, find that cover letters can be very tricky to write.
While resumés help present your skills and qualifications, cover letters let you introduce yourself and your intentions when you apply to the company. Even though many students think that their resumés are more important and do not pay enough attention to their cover letters, only a good cover letter can let you stand out from the crowd. Therefore, it is important to start paying more attention to your cover letter now. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
Personalize
Your cover letter should be tailored to the position you’re applying for. Most employers want to see why you want to work for their companies and why you are a good fit. They can easily recognize when you use the same template for all of your cover letters.
It is also important that you find out the actual name of the hiring manager to address properly in the cover letter. (Hint: usually listed within the job posting, on the company’s website or LinkedIn) In the case where you could not find a specific person to address to, use a generic salutation.
Do not repeat your resumé
Your cover letter should not repeat your resumé word for word. Since you can write in full sentences, expand on the points that you’ve mentioned briefly in your resumé. Show employers what you have done in the past, and what you can bring to the position. (Show, don’t tell)
Make it ‘short and sweet’
Anything that you’ve mentioned in your cover letter should be relevant to the job posting. Keep your writing concise and interesting. A good length would be three quarters to a page long. Remember: less is more.
Proofraed
Are you thinking that the word ‘proofread’ is misspelled? Yes, yes it is. So make sure you proofread your cover letter for any spelling or grammar mistakes. A simple misspelling, formatting issue or typo can make a bad impression on the person reading your letter.
Are you still unsure about your cover letter before submitting? Book an appointment for a cover letter critique with an advisor at the Career Centre (DMS 1100).