Professional Business Resumes Topics Covered

PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS RESUMES TOPICS COVERED: → Purpose of the Resume ............................................................................................................................... 2 → Types of Resumes ........................................................................................................................................ 3 → Building a "Business Resume" ................................................................................................................... 4 → Creating a Professional Image ................................................................................................................... 17 → Resume Checklist ........................................................................................................................................ 18 → Sample ‘Scope’ & 'Accomplishment Statements' .................................................................................... 19 → Electronic Resume submissions ................................................................................................................ 22 → References .................................................................................................................................................... 24 → Sample Resumes ......................................................................................................................................... 25 PURPOSE OF THE RESUME Your resume is a one or two page, clear and concise document that highlights relevant experiences and skills that you want to showcase to a firm representative when applying to a specific job. It differs from a cover letter as it itemizes your employment history and provides employers with a detailed list of your work, volunteer, extracurricular, and academic experiences. An effective resume demonstrates your ability to meet an employer’s needs and stimulates their desire to meet you. Compose your resume using information that you generate through the following: → Analysis of each job you have held (identify what you accomplished, what skills you developed, and what kind of tasks you enjoyed most). → Incorporating the key competencies (specific skills, strengths and abilities) recruiters are looking for in each particular posting, such as: initiative, adaptability, team player, analytical ability, leadership, decision making, relationship management, time management and communication skills. Describe how you have developed these skills through your work experience. → Research you’ve conducted to identify the skills that are required for the job you are targeting. Where applicable, note these transferable skills under your work experience or education section. More information about transferable skills can be found in the next few pages in the section ‘Identify Your Transferable Skills’. LENGTH OF RESUMES Business resumes should be either one or two full pages in length – not anywhere in between. Resumes for investment banking applications must be kept to one page. PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS RESUMES | 2 TYPES OF RESUMES There are three standard types of resumes: chronological, functional and combination. Most employers prefer the combination format because it highlights your career progress and your accomplishments. CHRONOLOGICAL This type of resume places your skills within the context of your employment history. Guidelines for composing this type of resume include: → Information or job duties are presented in reverse chronological order (most recent dates first) demonstrating your career progress. → Each work experience is noted including job title, name of employer, dates of employment, and a brief job description. FUNCTIONAL This resume style is useful for highlighting key groups of skills that may not necessarily stand out in your work experience on their own. Guidelines for composing this type of resume include: → Information is grouped according to area of expertise, industry, or skills and is not linked to specific positions. → Dates are not included because skills are presented from a variety of work experience in any given section. → On the second page is a section that summarizes your work experience listing company name, job title and employment dates. Note: employers least prefer this format as they like to see the linkage of your skills within the context of your work history. COMBINATION (MOST PREFERRED) This type of resume combines important elements from both the chronological and functional styles of resumes and is most recommended by career professionals. Work experience is listed in reverse chronological order (like the chronological format) and key skills (like the functional format) along with adding accomplishments are demonstrated in each work experience. Guidelines COMBINATION resumes for composing this type of resume include: highlight relevant accomplishments and skills → Relevant skills are summarized in an introductory section called within each position held. ‘Highlights of Qualifications’ or ‘Profile’ which focuses attention on your qualifications related to the job you are applying for. This style is recommended → While in school, your education is generally noted prior to your work by the CMC and is the experience, as it is an important hiring feature and is what you are most most widely accepted currently working on. format within the business community. → Employers and positions are listed in reverse chronological order following the ‘Education’ section with dates showing for each job held. → Accomplishments are listed as accomplishment statements under each position held which appear in reverse chronological order (most recent experience first). PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS RESUMES | 3 BUILDING A "BUSINESS RESUME" The following is a suggested format for the layout of a resume. Much of this information has been gathered from direct employer feedback. Please note that this information is to be used as a guideline for creating your resume. HEADER (CONTACT INFORMATION) Choose a header that you like and will use on all your career management documents (i.e. resumes, cover letters, reference lists, etc.). This is your form of branding and will serve as your own personal letterhead. While it is becoming more popular to use colour, monograms, etc. as a way to stand out, be careful how you use these. It should still have a very professional look & feel otherwise using these creative methods may make your resume appear less professional and could take emphasis away from your experience and skills. The same contact information and format should appear on any subsequent pages (ie: page two of your resume or your accompanying cover letter). We recommend that you include only one telephone number and one email address on your application documents – why make the recruiter guess which contact information is best to reach you? Make sure the telephone number you provide has a professional voicemail message, and that you check your messages regularly. Your email address must be professional and the account should be checked on a regular basis. If you are going to be unavailable (i.e. on vacation) for a period of time during your job search, it is advised that you use an email notification to inform potential employers of your absence. Do not use your work email address John Doe, P. Eng Tel: 604.123.4567 Email: [email protected] Burnaby, BC LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com/in/johndoe/ Include professional designations after your Include a personalized link to your LinkedIn profile name in smaller font. Including your address on your resume is no longer required, although some job seekers include it to let recruiters know that they are a local applicant. If you wish to omit your address, your header may look like the following: ZHU (JANE) WANG 604.987.6543 [email protected] www.janewangblog.net Some industries prefer to see your You can include links to your personal legal name on your resume. If you blogs, personal website, etc. if appropriate. have a preferred name you’d like to Be sure to shorten links where possible. Do also include, put it in parentheses. not include Facebook or Twitter links. PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS RESUMES | 4 INTRODUCTION Every resume needs to begin with an introduction, which is a section at the top of the resume (after the header) typically titled “Highlights of Qualifications”. One should also never include an objective in their resume. Because the “Highlights of Qualifications” section pulls together common themes throughout your resume, consider working on the rest of the resume first, and come back to this section at the end. This will ensure that you are better able to identify your key strengths and skills that you want to include in your this section. This will ensure a more accurate representation of your experience and qualifications. HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALIFICATIONS This section should be customized for each position you are applying to, as this is where you identify your key qualifications as they relate to the position or industry. It is here that you should differentiate yourself from others by highlighting what is unique about you. There are two areas to consider when drafting this section. First, think about your career interests (the job or industry you are applying to) and the skills that would be most sought after in a candidate. Next, look over your experiences and accomplishments in your past work, academic and community involvement. What are some of the highlights and accomplishments? Match a relevant skill with an accomplishment for each bullet point. Some questions/areas

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