Canadian Resume Format for Immigrants

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Canadian resume layout is characterized by a number of differences when compared to the resume being used to apply for available jobs in other countries. Conforming to the resume format of Canadian labour market will extremely help you to showcase your work experience, skills, qualifications, and other relevant details. Moreover, majority of Canadian employers determines the qualified candidates for a vacant job position on the basis of each applicant’s resume. Having a Canadian style resume format will help you to quickly get employed in Canada. Canadian resume are drafted in various ways.

Additionally, the best Canadian resume format needs to possess certain features and follow some guidelines before they can meet up to standards. In most cases, Human Resource managers and employers lack sufficient time to spend on reading the submitted resume of job applicants. They only glance through some of them in order to find out which of the job applicant’s skill, experience or qualification that interests them.

Types of Canadian-style resume for immigrants

The type of Canadian resume style to be used by an immigrant or temporary worker relies on some criterion. This depends on the type of job you are applying for and its area of specialization. Some Canadian employers or HR managers request immigrants to adopt a particular type of resume, which includes chronological resume and functional resume

Chronological resume

This type of resume is ideal to Canada’s immigrants and temporary workers with vast working experience. It involves the arrangement of previous job experiences by sorting them in the order of time. Thus, this prompts you to state your previous jobs by starting from the most recent ones to the oldest job positions.

Functional resume

Functional resume is suitable for immigrants and temporary workers who just graduated from a tertiary institution. It is also recommended for individuals who are applying for jobs in a different field or career. When using the Canadian-style functional resume, you are expected to state the skills that you acquired in your previous job(s)

How to write a Canadian resume

As an immigrant or temporary worker who wants to write a Canadian resume for a job, here are some guidelines to consider if you want to draft one of the best Canadian resume.

  1. Ensure consistent style and details of your Canadian resume. This is highly important as most employers feel discouraged to read resume that aren’t well organized. Make sure you use the same font style and size in your resume. Besides, rather than emphasizing about yourself on your resume, ensure that your Canadian resume singles out your capabilities and advantages to the business or company without exaggerating. Your resume needs to cover several of your personal information, which includes your full contact information, professional or career summary, working experience, as well as your educational background and qualifications. Common Canadian resume template should have the following as headings;
  • Qualifications
  • Work experience
  • Educational background
  1. As a Canadian immigrant, you are mandated to provide a Canadian residential address and phone number in your resume
  2. Ensure that everything you stated in your resume are in line with the job roles. Avoid listing work experiences that do not relate to the job you are applying for. Avoid including work experiences that you gained about 15 years ago as it may be regarded as an irrelevant information to the employer. You can use the job description as a guide in drafting your resume. More so, immigrants or temporary workers who have previously done a volunteering job are allowed to add the work experience in their resume if it relates to the job
  3. Critically examine the job advert and ensure that all your provided details are clear and brief. The length of your Canadian resume should not exceed two pages. If you are a professional in certain field or you’ve worked in many relevant organizations, you would have gained a large portfolio of work experience to your credentials. Hence, your resume can be limited to 3 pages in this case
  4. As an immigrant, you might need to earn the trust of Canadian employers via your social media website pages. This requires you to provide a link in your resume that directs Canadian employers to your page on social media website. Examples of such social media websites includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc
  5. Ensure appropriate formatting of your resume. Your resume should be well paragraphed and easy to read
  6. Make sure you include similar and relevant keywords to your resume. They must be related to the job advert or to the Canadian labour market
  7. Make sure you proofread your resume before sending it to the HR or employer. Proofread is necessary whenever you are writing or drafting a document to entice its readers or audience. It helps to reduce misspellings, grammatical errors, and other forms of errors that can reduce the capabilities of your Canadian resume.
  8. Ultimately, after drafting your Canadian resume, it is advisable to save it in doc format. Then, you need to save another copy of the resume in PDF format, which you would send to the employer or HR manager.

With the above guide, you don’t need Canadian resume samples to draft a resume for your next job

The following are things you should not use or include in a Canadian resume

As an immigrant or temporary worker, your Canadian resume should;

  • not feature the word “resume” as its header
  • not include your photo
  • not have excess use of bullets
  • not have your signature
  • not feature your hobbies or interests
  • not feature the reasons why you stopped working with your previous employer
  • not feature an email that you cannot access. Moreover, the email that you provide in your resume should not include your nickname, vulgar languages, etc
  • not include some of your biographical details, which includes your marital status, religion, or date of birth
  • not have first-person or second-person pronouns such as I, us, we, our, or you
  • not feature references. Do not provide any information or highlight for references on your resume. If the Canadian employer is interested in employing you, he won’t hesitate to contact you via the provided contact information so as to request for your references

Canada resume samples for immigrants

Typically, resume are supposed to be enticing and eye-catching to the employer or HR manager. Your Canadian resume has the potentials to influence the decision of the employer. It can allow them to include you among the shortlisted candidates for the job. You can also try to get a sample of Canadian resume to guide you all through. However, it is not recommended that you depend on samples in order to create your own resume.

Various ways of getting your Canadian resume done

Aside from drafting your resume by yourself, you can make use of a Canadian resume builder for free. As an immigrant or temporary worker, the best option is to engage the services of a Canadian resume writer. This is quite expensive but it is efficient in making your resume to serve its purpose.

  • Through a Canadian resume writer

You can check online for a Canadian resume writing service provider that is proficient in composing your resume in the best Canadian resume style

  • Through a Canadian resume builder

If you are an immigrant who is seeking for how to make a Canadian resume, you can make use of a free Canadian resume builder as it is an easier and quick way of getting a resume. It serves as a means of creating resume via the internet. It avails you with the choice of selecting a template. It also requires you to fill blank spaces with your information. Canadian resume builder are user-friendly and allows its users to customize their resume

Sample of a Canadian resume format

A Canadian style resume sample should feature the most relevant information and highlights. For example, the Canadian style resume and cover letter for a nursing job should look like this;

SARAH PETERSON

4182 Haven Road, Ontario, Canada

[email protected]

416-408-0000

linkedin.com/in/sarahperterson_jsd

LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSE (LPN)

Licensed nurse with 1+ year of experience at a Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). Intending to utilize painstaking record-keeping and analytical skills to acquire more knowledge as a nurse

Skills

  • Wound care
  • Medication distribution & administration
  • Symptom management
  • Case management
  • Catheterization
  • Crisis intervention
  • Pharmacology
  • Patient assessments
  • Fluency in English and French

Experience:

Registered Nurse

Jan 2019 – Oct 2020     Children’s National Hospital, Washington, DC, USA

  • Health care of infants
  • Enlightening new parents on several aspects of infant care, including breastfeeding
  • Monitoring of patients in the clinical wards
  • Attending to urgent health issues like stroke, firearm accidents, and bleeding

Education:

Aug 2014 – Jul 2018              Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.Sc.N.)

Johns Hopkins University,

Baltimore, Maryland.

Certifications & Licenses

  • Canadian Council for Practical Nurse Regulators (CCPNR)

FAQs about Canadian Resume Format for Immigrants

  1. How long should a Canadian resume be?
  • Your Canada resume layout should not be more than 2 pages. For professional immigrants with vast experience, it is allowable to have your Canadian resume in not more than 3 pages
  1. How to write Canadian phone number in resume?
  • To input your Canadian phone number in your resume, it must include the “three digits area code – three digits central office code/exchange code – four digits station code”