Employment Search | Start your job search with Employment News: Resume Do's and Not to Do's

To Do or Not to Do: A Resumé Question

By Jowita Bydlowska

We really want you to be the master of your own resumé and an expert in resumé writing, so here's one more checklist to go over before you send off your masterpiece.

Do

1. Tailor your resumé to specific job postings, choosing words that reflect the vocabulary used in the posting. (Don't forget to keep a copy of the posting so you know what job you applied for when Acme Co. calls.)

2. Include specific goal objectives:

What do you want to do?
For whom?
Where?
At what level of responsibility?

3. Highlight the following:

Number of years of relevant work experience
Related special knowledge, training or certification
Top job-specific skills
Related soft skills and transferable skills

4. Include accomplishments, employment-related actions you took or situations you participated in that resulted in a positive outcome. (It is especially impressive if these results can be quantified.)

5. Include your educational background (but skip the high school info unless you’re still a student). Be sure to indicate ongoing education.

6. Put down related volunteer or community involvement experience.

7. Use a consistent format and font as well as standard margins.

8. Include valid contact information. (Make sure you include a telephone number/email address you can be reached at if you will be going on vacation soon.)

9. Be sure to include a cover letter.

10. Proofread it. Then give it to someone else to proofread.

Don't

1. Lie.

2. Include your hobbies unless they are relevant to the job.

3. Use the same resumé for every job you apply to.

4. Be too wordy, trying to cram everything in your resumé. (You don't want it to be much more than two pages.)

5. Use job descriptions in place of actual accomplishments.

6. Make it all pretty by including your picture and seven different fonts, colours and sizes of text.

7. Use "I" or any other pronouns.

8. Include irrelevant information such as your age, height, marital status, social insurance number or immigration status.

9. Use work experience from more than 15 years ago.

10. Include your references.

Jowita Bydlowska is a Staff Writer with Possibilities. Reprinted with permission from Possibilities :Toronto's Online Employment Resource Centre. This Employment Ontario project is funded in part by the Government of Canada. For more information visit www.poss.ca

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