Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Facts:
The average time spent by recruitment managers
for analyzing a resume is < 30 seconds
Adding a picture to a resume gives a job
candidate an 88 % chance of getting their
application thrown out
Resumes serve 2 purposes: marketing tool for job
seekers and screening tool for recruiters
Career Paths for Immigrants
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Workshop Objectives
Basic Components of a Resume
Purpose of a Targeted Résumé
Buying Motivators, the SMART approach
Impact Statements
Elimination Factors
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
1. Contact Information
“You’ve reached Izzy Motivated at 604 333 3333. Sorry,
I am not available to take your call but please leave
your name and a short message and I will call you back
as soon as possible. Thank you”
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Contact Section Example
First Name Last Name
Your Address
Your City, State, Zip Code
Your Phone Number
Your Email Address
LinkedIn or Personal Website URL (if you have one)
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
2. Objective
A short statement telling the hiring manager what
skills, knowledge, and abilities you have to help the
company achieve its goals.
A short statement telling the hiring manager
what you want from the company, and how it
will help your career
√
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Targeted Job Title
Sales Manager – Business Software
Technical Writer – IT | Finance
Administrative Assistant – HR, Marketing & Sales
Quality Assurance | Project Manager | Software Engineer
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Summary of Qualifications
• How many years of relevant experience, paid or
volunteer do you have?
• What is your relevant education, training and
have you won any awards?
• What skills and qualifications are required by
the job posting?
• If I were able to illustrate 3-5 of my relevant
qualifications, which ones would I choose?
• Of my experiences, which would the employer
see as most important (think relevant!)
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Summary of Qualifications
Example
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
3. Value proposition
Why should we hire YOU instead of others?
Employer
Candidate
Buying Motivators
Supporting Qualifications
Added Value
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Buying Motivators
Generate revenue (increase sales, augment profit)
Save money (enhance efficiency, improve cash flow)
Solve a problem (reduce errors, eliminate downtime)
Bring in new customers, clients etc.
Example:
“Ability to implement current technology, enhance
service to users, and advance company goals”
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Supporting Qualifications
Areas of expertise (skills, levels, abilities, stature)
Relevant background (education, experience,
credentials, accomplishments, volunteer work)
Your Added Value – your unique image or snapshot of
your
Special talents and contributions
Unique international experience
Unique personality and style
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Value Proposition -Example
Excellent Customer Service Support with outstanding accounting, communication and sales experience
Over 10 years of international work experience in China and New Zealand; recognized as passionate about numbers and an excellent team member
Advanced Excel skills, including VLookup and match that helped me create a spreadsheet to analyze the data and noticed discrepancies costing company thousands of dollars
While at Shell, a new automated system highlighted an error in the accounts that auditors could not identify the cause. I created a spreadsheet to analyze the data and noticed the automated and accounting systems were applying different round-off methods. This analysis enabled auditors to align systems and complete the audit within pre-established time frames.
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
4. Work Experience
Work Experience can include:
Full-time Work
Part-time Work
Temp Work
Internships
Work Study
Freelance or Self Employment
Independent Projects
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
WOW! Statements
An impact statement should grab the reader’s attention and clearly explain what your responsibility was in your previous position
Questions to consider:
Did I make specific contributions that affected the companies objectives and goals? (e.g. profits, production, new accounts, etc.)
What is your greatest contribution to the company?
What kinds of problems did I inherit and solutions I implemented?
What were the challenges I encountered and how did I overcome these challenges?
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Prepared Reports - Example
1. Did you improve anything?
1. Time
2. Accuracy
3. Costs
“Decreased cost of preparing reports by an average of
$1,000 per month by eliminating unnecessary paper
copies. This freed up funds that were used to hire a part
time marketing assistant to respond 2x faster to all on
line inquiries, that led to 22% increase in new customers”
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Program Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Wow Statements – More examples
BEFORE
“Effective team player”
AFTER
“Successfully collaborated with over 10 staff members to increase efficiency of workflow and client services”
BEFORE
“Increased company profits and acquired new client businesses”
AFTER
“Secured in excess of $1 billion in new business over 5 years with the company; led entry into more lucrative markets”
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
SMART Approach
Specific
Measurable
Action-oriented
Results-oriented
Time-based (Days/Weeks/Months/Year)
Weak Statement:
“Developed employee assessment system”
SMART Impact Statement:
“Developed an employee assessment system that lead to improved productivity by 3% in one year”
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Situation Action Result
SHOW DON’T TELL
- SITUATION
- ACTION
- RESULTS
The office expanded which created a
higher need for resources while the
budget remained the same
By renegotiating contracts with suppliers and
implementing new office procedures
managed to cover all office needs
and saved over $1,000/quarter
“saved money”
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Transferrable Skills
Core set of skills and abilities which can be
applied to a wide range of different jobs
and industries
Picked over time, in different settings and
gained from various previous positions,
voluntary work, hobbies, or at home
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Transferrable Skills
Leadership
Time Management
Negotiating
Delegation
Listening
Communication
Analyzing
Career Paths for Immigrants
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Targeted Résumé
The targeted résumé is
written to highlight skills
and experience relevant
to a particular position
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Why Targeted Résumé?
1. Improves Your Connection with Recruiters
2. Increases Your Interview Odds
3. Forces you to research the Industry/Company
4. Improves newcomer’s knowledge on job titles
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Tactical Approach
1. Draw out a great number of WOW Statements,
incorporating duties, skills, and accomplishments.
Once done, the list can then be ordered and only
the most relevant statements will make it on the
document.
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Tactical Approach
2. Create instant rapport with the employer by reflecting
their language in the résumé. Impress the employer with
the knowledge of the industry jargon and they will forget
you are new to the country. Your expertise will be valued
and you will be invited to an interview!
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Elimination Factors
Irrelevant & too general talks/ skills description
Spelling errors and typos
Acronyms & Abbreviations
Wordiness & Multiple Pages
Multiple Fonts, Bold, Italics and Underlined used
at once and too many times
Sloppy & Disorganized Presentation
Employment Gaps or Missing Dates
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Formatting Tips
1. Ensure your document has enough white space.
2. General rule: no more than 2 pages (*exceptions)
3. Avoid templates, graphics, graphs, columns,
grids or tables!
4. Display your name with a font anywhere
between 18 and 24 in size
5. Resume body font should be no smaller than 10,
no larger than 12 points
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Formatting Tips
Choose only from Calibri, Times New Roman or Arial fonts and don’t use more than 2 styles per resume (one for headings, one for the body)
Be conservative when using lines – they make the page look busy
Never apply Underline, Bold and Italics features to one word! Chose 1 feature and be consistent throughout the resume
Be consistent with the way you enter numbers and currency. Stick to 1 format only!
Skills Connect for Immigrants Program
Back in Motion Rehab Inc.
Conclusion:
“No one creates a perfect résumé on their first try.
Writing a perfect résumé is a messy process, but
the easiest way to start is by simply getting in the
right mindset and putting pen to paper.” Matthew T. Cross, The résumé Design Book
Career Paths for Immigrants
Back in Motion Rehab Inc
Questions and Answers?
Please forward all exercises and the signed
attendance sheet to your counsellor
Make sure you discuss any questions or concerns
you might have with your counsellor at the next
meeting!
Contact: [email protected] or 604.575.3800
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