Creating A Canadian-Style Resume In Order To Find A Job

When moving to Canada to find a job, it is important to great a Canadian-Style Resume in order to facilitate the process of finding a job. While Canadian resumes come in many different formats, there are some standards they share that you should know about.

Keep it Short

Keep the resume short and simple. Most people have a resume that is 2 pages long in Canada. Keep it to 1 page if you do not have a lot of experience.

Change Your Resume for Each Job

It is highly recommended by career experts that you customize your resume for each job, most especially at the beginning of the resume. In today’s labour market, general or generic resumes do not work.

You can change a few sentences for most jobs in order to focus on certain skills and accomplishments. But for others, you may need a completely new resume.

Include Volunteer Work

You should include your volunteer experience in the section on work experience and talk about what you have done. It doesn’t matter if it was a paid or unpaid job.

Use Social Media

Many employers cross-reference your resume with your online presence. LinkedIn is a popular business-related social networking site. When you update your resume, ensure to also update your LinkedIn profile too.

Employers may also look for you on other social media tools, such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs. First impressions are important – if you don’t want a potential employer to see something, don’t make it publicly accessible or put it online at all.

Formatting Hints

Format is critical. Make sure that your resume is well organized, neat, clear, and consistent in formatting (e.g., font and bullets).

If you are applying for a job which requires that you have attention to detail, then this has to be demonstrated in your resume.

It is advisable to use headings to organize the information in your resume. Common resume headings are:

• Highlights of Qualifications
• Professional Experience
• Education

Use formatting tools such as bold and bullets to make important information stand out.

Use Keywords

It is important to use keywords in your resume. Employers do not have the time and patience to read every word on each resume. Keywords describe skills and qualifications. You might see them in the job posting that you are answering and also on related companies’ websites.

Enhance your resume by using as many keywords as you can. But, do not make up experiences just to use keywords.

Look It Over

Look over your résumé before you send it. Make sure your are accurate with the company’s names, job titles and dates.

Print out your resume to see how it looks when printed.

You may wish to save your resume in PDF so that formatting will be consistent and employers will be able to open the document without difficulty.

Sample Resumes

There are 2 common types of resumes:

• Chronological
• Functional

You can find general samples of these types, below. You can use these samples as guides. Do not base your trust on samples or templates in order to create a good resume.

In some fields, employers will expect to see a resume with a specific format, which may be different than these samples.

Chronological Resume

A chronological resume is time-based. It is organized by the positions you held in the past, in order of time. You list your most recent position first. These resumes are best for those that has lots of experience in their field. Chronological resume is also better for people who do not have periods of time when they were not working.

Functional Resume

A functional resume is skills-based. It is organized by skills that you acquired in your previous job. Functional resumes are best if you:

• Are a recent graduate
• Have major time gaps in employment
• Are changing careers

You can get information or advise from many settlement or employment agencies about your résumé as well as how to create one for specific fields.

You can also see the criteria on how to get a job as a physiotherapist in Canada.