Community Employment Services Fanshawe Page 1

Community Employment Services

Fanshawe

Nelson Plaza

Phone: 519 432 1220

155 Clarke Road

ces@fanshawec.ca

Citi Plaza

Phone: 519 432 1751

114-355 Wellington Street

ces@fanshawec.ca

Resume

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Resume Workshop

F__________

A__________

S__________

T__________

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Formatting 10 Tips for Winning Resumes

http://careers.logicorehsv.com/resources/2012/id_r0412-

10tips.php?&lang=en_us&session-id=b911ab275f4eb457e12aa2d353a35966

by Joanna Boydak, LiveCareer.com

The idea of writing a resume intimidates almost anyone. If you haven't written one

before, it can feel like you are attempting to write in a foreign language. It's difficult to

know where to start, what to include and leave out. Most importantly, how to effectively

market yourself as the best one for the job. Here are the top 10 tips to help you tackle the

task and create your own winning resume.

1. Target the job- If someone was to find your resume on the street, would they be able

to list your areas of expertise and your target job? Make sure that your resume is

customized for every job that you apply for—that includes the industry and company.

2.Use a strategic format- Its rare to have a perfect work history, yet the chronological

resume format is one of the most popular. Do you have job gaps, have held many job in a

short period or are changing careers? A functional or hybrid resume may help you

downplay these factors.

3. Hook the reader- Does your resume start off with a professional summary section that

grabs the reader? Your summary should serve as an elevator pitch that concisely

describes what you have to offer, causing the hiring manager to want to keep reading.

4. Make skills jump off the page- Most resumes go through an electronic keyword

tracking system before contact with an actual human. Make your resume pass this text by

enriching your resume with job-specific keywords. Hint- look in the job description to get

these important keywords.

5. Keep it professional- Using ''I'', ''me'' or ''my'' will make your resume seem like a

personal essay, so avoid using any first person pronouns.

6. Highlight numbers- Whenever possible, quantify your experience to give a more solid

indication of your achievement. Organizations are bottom-line oriented, so help them

understand your value by highlighting the quantified results of your actions. Expert tip:

Use numerals instead of spelling out the number—the numbers will jump off the page for

higher impact.

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7. Stay relevant- Although Hiring managers want to see your entire work history, they

are more concerned with the last ten years. Place most of your efforts on the most recent

position held and highlight the experience and skills you learned and used while working

there.

8. Don’t date yourself- If your degree is over ten years old, list it by degree only and

remove the year of graduation. If your work experience goes back past twenty years or is

completely out of scope for the job that you're applying for, leave it off completely.

Space is valuable on your resume so there's no need to waste it on irrelevant information

that will not promote you for the job.

9. Focus on exceeding objectives- The verbs you choose to start each experience

statement are very important. Avoid sounding like your writing a list of chores with verbs

like "Responsible for", "Did [this]", "Worked on." Use words that emphasize initiative,

action and success like, "Increased", "Managed", "Drove" and "Developed."

10. Have it proofread- It's tragic when the perfect candidate gets passed on because of a

typo or grammatical error in their resume. Avoid having this happen to you by asking a

pair of new eyes to look it over. It will only take a few minutes and can save you from

getting thrown into the reject pile.

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Accomplishments

% $ # time

Increase/decrease, greater than/less than

Example Accomplishment Statements

Produced 20 million dollars in new revenue in 1.5 years in a declining market

Reduced complaint response time from 21 days to 7, saving $250,000 per

quarter in customer service wages

Input 40 orders per day, exceeding the previous input by 60%

Designed purchasing strategy to upgrade communications equipment to digital

system at no cost to company

Performed the work previously required of two full-time employees

Created new “find it fast” system for file checkout; idea has eliminated

frequent two-hour searches for missing files

Initiated proactive telephone campaign to students’ parents to address

concerns about changes from traditional to year-round school schedule

Sourced new customers through electronic research,

generating a 12% increase in active accounts

Implemented direct-mail follow-up program for new

customers; data reflects a 55% increase in repeat customers

Improved customer satisfaction ranking from #10 to 31

among 12 branches

Member of a customer service team that supported a customer-retention rate of

85% - among the highest in the company

Eliminated filing backlog; created new filing systems and procedures that

ensured critical material was easily accessible at all times

Wrote and catalogued standardized word-processing clauses to expedite

document processing and project completion

Managed full-time employment in customer service while carrying 15-18 units

per semester

Proactive patient advocate with in-depth knowledge of Patients’ Rights

Located additional sources of medical and psychosocial services for geriatric

population

*most examples taken from Resume Magic, 3rd

ed., S.B. Whitcomb, 2007

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Accomplishments TRANSFERABLE SKILLS CHECKLIST

Transferable Skills are common to a number of jobs and can be adapted to a particular

employer’s need. Where you judge that you possess a particular skill, check the box.

Advise people Communicate

verbally

Fix or repair things

Analyze data Remember

information

Follow directions

Type Edit Handle complaints

Care for Write reports Inventory

Serve customers Write procedures Monitor progress

Work well with

others

Research Motivate others

Teach Create new ideas Correspond with

others

Interview Assemble

products/parts

Design

Negotiate Investigate Inventive

Sell Keep financial

records

Speak in public

Counsel people Budget Entertain

Raise money Locate answers Explain

Public relations Calculate File

Plan Manage money Work with the

public

Prepare materials Assess situations Observe

Perform routine

work

Audit records Arrange functions

Diplomatic Build things Coordinate activities

Supervise Compare data Make decisions

Organize tasks Compile statistics Insightful

Organize people Conduct meetings Understand

Top 5 Transferable Skills

How to Proofread Your Resume Like a Pro

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Accomplishments Creating Your Profile

It is a summary of your skills and abilities and is a vital tool in your job search. This

statement can not only be used at the top of your resume but can be the answer to the “tell

me about yourself” question in an interview. A profile can also be used while

networking and making cold calls. A strong profile with impact not only enlightens the

employer as to what you have to offer, but becomes your personal brand. To create your

statement, answer the following questions.

How many years of experience do you have in your field of interest? What

specialized training or education do you have (that is relevant to that

employer or job)?

Who do you want to help? Who are some of the people you have helped in

the past? How did you help them?

What words describe you when you are at your best? What are your

strengths?

What problems do you like to solve? What makes you passionate about

solving those problems?

What is unique about you? What makes you stand out among others in your

industry or group? What can you offer that others don’t? How do you

outperform others?

What two or three-word phrase would you use to describe what you do well?

Include a formal job title here if appropriate but jazz it up with an adjective.)

For example: “Award winning teacher” instead of “Teacher”.

Now, to be properly introduced, use your answers to the above question to

complete the following sentences: I am a With

Who helps To

I can By using my

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Spelling & Grammar

Step by step proofreading tips so your resume will be perfect.

By: Leslie Ayres http://work.lifegoesstrong.com/how-proofread-your-resume-pro

You only get one chance to make a first impression, as they say. That's why your resume

must be perfect. It's the first representation of you that hiring managers and recruiters will

see, and it's a reflection of the quality of your work, so if it looks sloppy and has bad

grammar or misspellings, that's a deal-breaker.

Just follow these steps:

1. Take a deep breath, relax and focus.

2. Start by running a spelling and grammar check. Take your time with it, because your program will probably catch words that are not errors,

such as acronyms or specialized terminology. Give yourself a couple of seconds to think it

through before you click "Ignore" or "Change." For an extra level of spelling scrutiny, some

people like to use an online checker like SpellCheck Plus (there is a 250-word limit in their

free version, so you'll need to break your resume into sections).

3. Read through and check for common misspellings. No spell check will catch it if you just chose the wrong word, so very slowly and carefully

look to see if you made one of these common resume misspellings:

- manager/manger

- lead/led

- lose/loose

- complement/compliment

- prospective/perspective

- to/too

Not sure which is right? Look it up at dictionary.com.

4. Next, do a find-and-replace and change all double spaces into a single space. There's no need for a double space anywhere on a document; only one space goes after a

period, and indents should be made with tabs. But extra spaces often remain when doing

revisions on the computer and a global search-and-replace cleans them up fast. Keep finding

and replacing until they're all gone.

5. Now print out a hard copy. It's much easier to proof a document on a piece of paper and to mark all of your changes

before you go back to the computer. Use a colored pencil or a pen to make your notes and

marks so they are easy to see when you make the changes later. If you don't have a printer,

then blow it up on your screen to 125%.

6. Read it aloud slowly, word for word. Saying it out loud helps you know if the words make sense, and if there is a flow like natural

speech. An optional step is to try a free text-to-speech reader like NaturalSoft which has a

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downloadable software that will read your document aloud for you. The technology isn't very

polished on the free version, but you can hear if words are out of place. If you do a lot of your

own proofing, like I do, it may be worth investing in a paid version or you can check out

other free and paid text-to-speech options at Soft Sea.

7. Now read it line by line backwards and from the bottom up. Use a ruler or piece of paper and cover your paper or the screen, so only the bottom line

shows. Proof one line at a time, reading first from right to left and then from left to right.

Move up the ruler up one line at a time. When you see your words out of sequence, typos will

jump out.

8. Inspect the alignment and the balance. Pull your focus away from the words and look at the design. Is everything lined up straight?

(Hint: if you've tried to format indents using spaces instead of paragraph formatting, your

alignment is going to be off.) If you used bullets, are they all indented to the same point? Use

a ruler if you need to. Is there a balance of text and white spaces? Are the margins wide and

consistent?

9. Look at the text formatting for consistency. If you've chosen to capitalize company names and put your job titles in bold, make sure it's

exactly the same for each job listed. Check the section heads to make sure they all look the

same. Check that your dates are in the same place for each job.

10. Scan your punctuation. Make sure your commas are in the right place, and that sentences end in periods. There

should never be a space before a comma or a period, or between parentheses and the words

they enclose. Not sure what's right? Check out GrammarBook.com.

11. Make sure that everything is the same font and size. You can put your name and the section headers in another font, as long as it's legible (and

promise me you won't use fancy script), but unless you are a graphic artist, don't mix fonts

within your resume. Check that the font size is consistent as well.

12. Double-check your verb tenses. Your present job should be written in present tense, and all past jobs should be written in the

past tense, so don't forget to change the tense for your last position when you update your

resume.

13. Then go back to your computer and make the changes in the document. I find it's easier to check off each change on the printed document as I make the correction on

the computer version.

14. Get a fresh pair of eyes to look at it. It's hard to proof your own work, especially when you've been staring at it for hours, or even

days, so when something is as important as your resume, it's important to have another person

or two look at it. Don't be surprised if they find something you missed.

15. Repeat until perfect. You never get a second chance to make that first impression, so invest a little extra proofing

time to make sure you don't get skipped over because of a typo

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Tailored

What is tailored and why does it matter?

How do you fit with the company? Values, Goals, Needs (Knowledge, Skills,

Abilities)?

How can you tailor your resume to Employers so you STAND OUT?

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Chronological Style 114 – 355 Wellington Street

London, Ontario N6A 3N7

(519) 432-1220 cstyle@gmail.com

Objective

To work full time in an office administration / customer service position.

Work Experience

Administrative Assistant 2006-present Creative Businesses International, London, ON

Respond to customer inquiries in a professional manner Prepare customer invoices and expense reports Schedule and coordinate meetings, book catering as needed Organize and file mail, financial records and office forms Able to multi-task in a busy office environment

Tour Driver/Commentator 2005 Fantastic Tours, London, ON

Drove tourists around the city showing them the sights Provided interesting commentary of facts and trivia

Clerk 2004-2005 Cooperative Grocery Store, London, ON

Handled cash transactions quickly and accurately Provided excellent customer service Opened and closed store

Education

Office Administration Diploma 2005 Fanshawe College, London, ON

OSSD Graduate 2003 H.B. Beal Secondary School, London, ON

Interests / Hobbies

Playing guitar

Painting and drawing

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TRULY

FUNCTIONAL

114-355 Wellington Street London, ON N6A 3N7

(519) 432-1220 tfunctional@gmail.com

PROFILE

A highly skilled, motivated and professional administrative assistant with a diverse knowledge of office procedures and customer service. Looking to use these skills in a challenging position as

“your most valuable employee.”

ADMINISTRATIVE

Managed multi-line phone system ensuring all calls were handled appropriately and in a friendly manner

Consistently performed typing and data entry with accuracy and attention to detail

Surveyed customers and entered responses into database with precision

Promptly processed cash and credit card transactions

ORGANIZATION

Efficiently scheduled appointments

Restored organization to company files and accelerated data input, processing and retrieval times

Established a new filing system allowing customer information to be easily recorded and retrieved

COMMUNICATION

Increased customer satisfaction by clearly and accurately responding to customer inquiries by phone, e-mail, and in-person

Composed written correspondence for a variety of purposes

Created text and designs for promotional materials and distributed them to promote the arts and several festivals

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Educated customers about products and services and appropriately responded to inquiries, resulting in customer satisfaction

Calmed upset/angry customers, researched and rapidly solved problems to rebuild customer trust and prevent loss of business

Investigated and resolved customer complaints with efficiency, receiving verbal and written commendations from customers

TECHNICAL

Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook)

Data Entry 65 WPM

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TRULY

FUNCTIONAL

Page 2

EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE Survey & Data Entry Clerk Canadian Facts, London, ON Dec 09-Mar 10 Customer Service Clerk Peter’s Dry Cleaners, London, ON Dec 09-Feb 10 Counter Personnel Video Superstore, See Lots, ON Dec 08-Apr 09 File Clerk Imaging Solutions, London, ON Aug 08-Dec 08 Painter Student Works, London, ON Jun 08-Aug 08 Cashier / Stock Person Kmart, London, ON Mar 07-Sept 07 Shop Assistant Various Clothing Stores, London, ON 2001-2006

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE CREAM (Creative Collective to Release Electronic Arts, Multi-Media, Music) 2008-Present Fringe Festival 2007-2009 St. Michael’s Hospital 2006

EDUCATION Ontario Secondary School Diploma

London Collegiate High School London, ON

2005

REFERENCES Available upon request

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Combination Resume 21 Bow Street London, Ontario. N5V 4N7 (519) 236-2222

HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALIFICATIONS

Experience driving a cube van and Hino for delivery at construction sites Extensive knowledge of driving routes in South Western Ontario Valid drivers’ license and clean driver’s abstract First Aid/CPR training and WHIMS certification Physically capable of handling 50lbs

PEOPLE SKILLS

Communicate internally and externally with clients/suppliers to help coordinate delivery of supplies

Courteous when answering telephones with a strong empathy toward client needs Patient and understanding

ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS

Coordinate the delivery schedule for truck runs and receipt of incoming supplies Order supplies Able to multi-task and oversee different departments run smoothly

EXPEREINCE CEVA LOGISTICS 2011 – 2012

Material Handler – Kitting Department, London, ON

Packaged kits with all required parts for shipment Forklift license (CEVA certified) Manlift license (CEVA certified)

WOOLLATT BUILDING SUPPLY 2002-2010 Inside Sales, London, ON Inside sales order desk for all construction supplies Maintained store inventory and performed inventory control Processed all tool repairs, tool servicing, steel orders and ceiling tile orders Supervised and coordinated stucco division Entrusted with 24/7 security clearance access Colourist

CEVA LOGISTICS 2011 – 2012

Material Handler – Kitting Department, London, ON

Packaged kits with all required parts for shipment Forklift license (CEVA certified) Manlift license (CEVA certified

EDUCATION

OSSD GRADUATE 1998 Kitchener Collegiate Institute, Kitchener, ON Co-op taught guitar Computers at the general level