Career Professionals of Canada News Feed
By Cathy Milton. Try conducting some online research about how much time recruiters spend scanning a resume, and you’ll discover lots of evidence suggesting that, on average, that time is only 5 to 7 seconds. Count out 7 seconds – it’s not long, is it? The top third of the first page of your client’s resume is crucial. According to Sharon Graham, executive director of Career Professionals of Canada and author of the Best Canadian Resumes Series, “This section must grab the potential employer’s attention and demonstrate why your client…
By Sharon Graham. Résumé strategists from across Canada discuss the current needs of employers and how to write a résumé that meets those needs. Career Professionals of Canada recently completed another successful Advanced Résumé Development Program. Participants contributed to a discussion about how differing perspectives create a variety of challenges for their clients. Independent recruiters and hiring managers see things differently from job seekers. Although a résumé must be authentic to a candidate, it must also address the specific needs and preferences of the recipients. Somehow, the document must simultaneously…
By Sharon Graham. Canadian job seekers who write their own résumés often list job duties and responsibilities. For the typical employer, the candidate’s contact information followed by a simple compilation of job descriptions is meaningless. To find and select the best candidate, the employer needs to understand the differences between applicants. The best way to help an employer select a candidate is to include meaningful accomplishment statements that feature individual strengths. Use Proven Strategies to Create SMART Accomplishment Statements Résumé strategists often liken the art of writing accomplishment statements to…
By Sharon Graham. Résumé keywords and key phrases are words (or strings of words) used to identify good prospects for a position. Keywords help recruiters and employers search through a batch of résumés to select appropriate candidates. Companies, search firms, and job boards often use Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software to automate this process. In the last decade, the job search has become increasingly competitive. By applying the right keywords, a job seeker can dramatically increase the chances of being selected for an interview. Keywords are Nouns That Reference Core…
Employment consultants typically support clients who are going through career transitions. They strive to provide these clients with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to perform a successful job search. For this to happen, clients need to be able to describe their value clearly and confidently, from the beginning to the end of the job search process. They do this through creating and articulating a Value Proposition. We have heard the term “value proposition” used in the corporate world to describe the differentiated brand and value that an organization offers to…
By Kamee Gilmore. Following the Canada-wide résumé pricing survey Maureen McCann and I conducted last fall, I was interested in taking a behind the scenes look at the résumé development process in order to gain a better understanding of the time that professional writers actually invest in crafting a strategic, value-focused résumé. I compiled the following information after receiving feedback from seven of last year’s survey participants. I noticed a common theme across responses: each writer stated that project timelines could vary significantly due to numerous factors and considerations related to individual…