Resumes + Cover Letters

Guide to Resumes

A resume is an essential work application tool and serves as your first impression to employers. The quality and effectiveness of your resume is a major determining factor in securing an interview. A strong resume highlights your:

  • Education, including formal education and work experience required to complete your degree
  • Experience, including paid and unpaid work, professional development, experiential learning, extra-curricular activities, projects and so on
  • Attributes such as skills, values, interests, beliefs, philosophies and personality traits

The most important thing to know is that your resume will make the most impact if it is targeted for each job you apply for. As you apply for each job, think about what you can include in your resume to best demonstrate your suitability for the position.

Components of a Targeted Resume

There are four components to consider when writing a resume:

Content
  • Include only relevant experience, skills and attributes as space is limited.
  • Avoid just listing qualities or responsibilities. Provide specific details and examples to qualify your content, e.g. "Completed 10 to 15 weekly individual advising appointments to assess client needs, provide support and referrals and assist in planning next steps."
  • Use language that is meaningful to your potential employer such as well-known industry terms, but avoid over-using acronyms and jargon.
  • Exclude information that is not required at the application stage (e.g. your full home address, photo, date of birth, social insurance number, etc.).
Format

There are three resume formats for you to choose from by considering the sections you will include and the strategic sequencing of those sections:

1. Chronological Resume 
  • This type of resume emphasizes your past work experience.
  • Your past employment, including your position title and the name of your employer, are listed in reverse chronological order (i.e. starting with your most recent job, then working backwards).
  • Under each job, list the details of what you did and the skills you used.
  • This is the most commonly used format and the best one to use when you have paid or unpaid work experience that is related to the job you are applying for.
2. Combination Resume 
  • Choose this resume if you wish to emphasize your skills, but also include your work history. List your position title, employer and period of employment in reverse chronological order.
  • Typically, place your work history after the skills section.
  • Skills are grouped under specific headings, similar to a functional resume.
  • This format is more time-consuming to prepare. However, it is the best one to use if you don't have much work experience directly related to the job but feel you possess the necessary skills.
3. Functional Resume 
  • Emphasize your skills rather than your work history.
  • Skills are grouped under specific headings. Each heading details how you've used and developed those skills with concrete examples.
  • The headings are arranged in order of their importance, e.g. if the most important skill you need for the job is research, it should be listed first.
  • This format is based on the premise that it does not matter where or when you gained your skills as long as you have them. As a result, you do not include past employers, job titles or dates of employment.
  • Since work history is not included, this is the least popular resume format and is usually replaced by a combination resume.

You do not have to adhere strictly to any of the formats. You can adapt them in such a way that your most relevant experience attributes shine through.

Create sections on your resume, choosing ones that are relevant to the job you are applying for. What you include in each section can also be modified. For example, you may choose to include your co-op experience with your education or you might include it with your other work experience.

Sequence the sections based on the relevance of the experiences to the job. For example, if your volunteer experience is relevant to the field, you might list it near the top of your resume. Your paid experience, if less related, may appear further down.

Common resume section titles include:

  • Highlights: five to six points summarizing your unique experience and attributes
  • Education: post-secondary education
  • Education and Training: post-secondary education and professional development
  • Professional Development: professional associations and membership
  • Relevant Experience: a selection of your paid and unpaid experience
  • Technical Skills: computer skills, software skills, languages, etc.
  • Additional Training: workshops, seminars, certificate programs, etc.
  • Extracurricular Activities: student group involvement, community group involvement, short volunteer positions, athletics, etc.
  • Awards: include if recent, and consider including a very brief description if the reason for the award is not obvious.
Wording
  • Target your resume by using keywords from the job posting.
  • Use action verbs (e.g. designed, lead, coordinated) to start each point, rather than passive statements (e.g. duties included, responsible for).
  • Highlight your accomplishments and quantify your experience when possible (e.g. Increased enrollment by 25 per cent in three months).
Presentation

Although there are no strict rules around how your resume should be presented, you should consider who will be reading your resume and make your design decisions accordingly.

  • Ensure your resume remains easy to read so important information can be found quickly.
  • If you can, find out if the organization you are applying to uses an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). If your resume will initially be read by a computer, this will affect how you lay out your resume. In these instances, defer to very simple design avoiding the use of images, lines, text boxes and so on.
  • Use type fonts and formatting (e.g. bolding, capitalization, size) to create a consistent hierarchy, but keep it simple using no more than two fonts and design elements.
  • Ensure consistency in spacing and text alignments so the reader's eye is not confused. Optimal line lengths are 50 to 70 characters across.
  • Use bulleted points rather than paragraph format.
  • Adjust margins to ensure that there is enough white space around the text. Overcrowded pages are difficult and time-consuming to read.
  • Limit your resume to a maximum of two pages, unless industry standards or specific employers request otherwise.
  • Proofread many times. Check for errors in names, dates and contact information, in addition to spelling, grammatical and formatting errors. If possible, have at least one other person proofread it for you.

Guide to Cover Letters

A cover letter is an opportunity to explain how your experience, education, skills and accomplishments uniquely connect to the position you are applying for. Your letter should communicate your personal narrative, why you will be a great fit for the position and the contributions you can make to the organization.

The Basics

All cover letters should be:

  • Highly targeted to the position for which you are applying
  • Written as a professional business letter
  • Formatted to match your resume, using a font size that is easy to read and plenty of white space
  • Maximum one page in length (academic cover letters are often longer)
  • Thoroughly proofread to check for errors in names, contact information, spelling and grammar
Things to Avoid

Common mistakes in cover writing include:

  • Rehashing or simply summarizing your resume
  • Over-explaining or giving an excessive amount of detail that does not add to the impact of your examples
  • Sharing irrelevant or extremely personal information
  • Summarizing the company or organization's mission statement without connecting it to you
  • Using slang, abbreviations or an overly casual tone
Targeting Your Cover Letter

Your cover letter should have two or three body paragraphs that give examples of how you will benefit the organization and how your experience and attributes align with the position's requirements.

  • For each paragraph, choose one requirement listed in the posting and use specific examples from your school and work experience to demonstrate how you possess these skills. Give enough detail that the employer gets a sense of what you have to offer.
    • Instead of: "I have strong interpersonal and communication skills."
    • Try: "I developed strong interpersonal and communication skills by participating in case competitions. In a limited time frame, I worked with a partner to analyze problems facing an organization. We discussed our individual strategies and collaborated on a shared recommendation. Together, we presented our solution to the judge with the use of visual aids and a PowerPoint presentation."
  • Quantify your experience.
    • e.g. number of team members you worked with, percentage of sales increase, how many people did you supervise, etc.
  • Use words and phrases from the posting when describing your skillset and experience.

Resume + cover letter help

Check out our samples to get a sense of what your resume might look like:

Review our job search guidebook for help on looking for work »