Text size: A A A A

Jobs Current Postings The latest job posting for Powell River Facebook Even more postings on our Facebook page Job Banks Links to job banks by industry, region and season. Includes links to government and popular sites Work With Us Work with Career Link Resumes & More Writing and interview tips, resume choices, templates and more Found A Job If you are a Career Link client and have found employment let us know Services Employment Counselling Services for Job Seekers Workshops Career Link Workshop and Event Calendar Wage Subsidy If you have been on EI in the last 3 years you may be eligible BladeRunners Self-Help Use our telephone, fax machine, photocopier, computers, internet for your job search. Disability Support If you have a disability and are looking for work Helpful Links Links to several self-help services including EI, financial, housing and legal Career Planning Education & Training Links to post secondary education and other training websites Newspaper Links Links to Canadian newspapers sorted by location Phone & Addresses Convenient links for phone and address research Your Career Great info and links for researching your career Labour Market Career Sense Career Link Labour Market News for Powell River and Area Labour Market Career Link Labour Market News for Powell River and Area Water Cooler Our latest Water Cooler Survey Blog Water Cooler Index Index of our Water Cooler Survey Blogs

Employer Services Career Link Employer Services FREE Job Postings Fill out our online form and we will post it as soon as we get it Wage Subsidy Is your job eligible for Wage Subsidy Service?

About Us Information about Career Link staff Career Professionals Links to professional career groups Contact Us Career Link’s contact information FAQ Answers to some frequently asked questions Feedback Tell us how we are doing History Find out about Career Link’s roots Vision & Mission Career Link’s mission and vision statements Scent Free Policy Tell us how we are doing

Warning: include(content/slide.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/www/careerlinkbc.com/blog.php on line 15

Warning: include(): Failed opening 'content/slide.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/local/php5.4/lib/php') in /home/www/careerlinkbc.com/blog.php on line 15

I have an up-to-date resume.

How can a resume help me find a job?

By Melany Hallam
Sunday, February 01, 2015

It's been 2015 for a month now and hopefully we've all recovered from overindulging this holiday season. I know it took me a while to get over my turkey-induced stupor. Now that our heads are clear, what next?

If your plan for the new year includes looking for a job or changing your career, one of the first things you'll need is an up-to-date resume. Resume writing has changed a lot since I was fresh out of school and applying for jobs. They're no longer chronological listings of experience and education - they're sales documents. In the new world of short attention spans, if your resume doesn't catch an employer's eye in eight to 10 seconds, it'll go straight into the recycling bin.

So how do you make your resume stand out? Here's a chance for you to get creative and even have some fun. For example, a former co-worker of mine used to glue triangles of brightly-coloured fabric to the top right corner of her resume so that human resources people would notice it immediately as they flipped through the pile. This won't work in the days of electronic job applications, but there are all kinds of new ways that you can make your resume stand out. Here's a quick list of the most popular advice from online job search websites and recent blog posts:

• One size doesn't fit all - always tailor your resume to fit the job posting.
• Design matters - make your resume stand out visually by using such things as pull-out boxes, colour, shading, clearly-defined sections, etc.
• Keep it to one or two pages - no one reads more than that anyway. In fact, some experts say that employers only look at the top third of your resume, so make it count by using a "highlights" section of three or four bullet points at the top of the document.
• It's all about getting things done, so use active words to describe your achievements. Examples: managed (instead of "selected as supervisor"), created a database (instead of "a database was used"), completed project (instead of "the project was completed").
• Generic statements are a waste of space - include information that is unique to YOU.
• Review your resume from the point of view of an employer (or ask a trusted friend to look at it for you) - how easy is it to identify skills relevant to the job you're applying for?
• Email your resume as a PDF; because you never know how badly someone else's Word default settings will mangle your formatting.
• Spell check, spell check, spell check! Because no one will take you seriously if you don't. I can't tell you how many resumes I've tossed out because the applicant didn't pay attention to detail.

Tips for job seekers age 50+:

• Age proof your resume by including only the last 15 years or so.
• Don't include dates but, rather, use a functional resume describing skills and achievements (this is good advice for anyone, but especially so for older job seekers).
• Describe how you've used technology in your work, and what it has helped you accomplish. If you have nothing to say, you have some work to do!

Tip from left field:

• Create a short video introduction of yourself and link to your resume. Here's an example.

Career Link is offering workshops on resume and cover letter writing this month. Check out the schedule here.

Other helpful links:

• A video of some great tips for younger job seekers
• "4 Ways to Pass the 8 second resume glance", recent post on Careerealism blog
• Here's an interesting thread from Reddit asking human resources professionals "What red flags on a resume or cover letter will prevent a candidate from getting a call back?"
• An article on resume and job interview language for older workers (Toronto Star)