Career Professionals of Canada News Feed

Résumé tracking is the norm these days. Most mid-sized to large organizations receive hundreds and even thousands of résumés through the internet. Company representatives must deal with these huge volumes and somehow find and select the ideal candidate. As a result, employers and recruiters rely on technology to automate the résumé selection process. Driven primarily by the increasing volume of applicants, the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) was born. Through the ATS, employers are able to sort, rank, store, and manage the considerable number of résumés they receive on a daily…

It may come as no surprise that Canadian employers are wary of applicants who submit résumés with glaring employment gaps. Employers want to hire motivated, productive, and diligent employees. Gaps on résumés cause concern because they might indicate that the applicant is unable to secure work or hold on to work, could not perform the job duties, disobeyed company policies, or did something else that was seriously wrong or illegal. Most Canadians will run into a time during their career where they may not be working. In many cases, there…

The impact of a good résumé is truly immeasurable and can translate into positive outcomes for job seekers, including shortened job searches, higher employment, or increased salaries. In comparison, the impact of a poorly written document containing résumé red flags can create results that are just the opposite: long, frustrating job searches, no interview calls, and a multitude of missed opportunities. As a Master Certified Résumé Strategist at Career Impressions, I see a lot of résumé red flags — or “no-no’s” — that generate poor outcomes for job seekers. To help job seekers…

When it comes to résumé writing, everyone has an opinion. There is no lack of advice offered by career strategists and you may find that contradictions often exist. However, there may be more to the story. True résumé strategy is not about blindly following any rule. Many principles and guidelines make sense. However, the challenge for practitioners is to understand a range of methods and techniques and apply them only when appropriate. Following are some typical résumé contradictions. If you find yourself saying, “I always do it this way,” then…

As a professional résumé strategist, I have clients from around the globe who share their résumés with me. I see résumés that are unproductively sparse and contain nothing that might entice a recruiter. I see equally unproductively dense résumés, containing every little, tiny, itsy-bitsy thing the person ever completed, provided, and maybe even dreamed — and still they have nothing that might appeal to readers. The authors range from students to seasoned professionals, from clerical to health workers, from educators to trades people, from financial whizzes to organizational gurus. It…

As a subcontract writer, I don’t meet with clients face-to-face. My client intake starts when my vendor asks me if I’m available to interview a client over the phone. To prepare for the interview, I ask the client to send me a few job advertisements that represent the position(s) he or she is seeking, and to think about the types of problems solved or challenges faced in former roles. Then, I work directly with the client to create an authentic and marketable résumé. Here are some of my strategies: Generic…