Written by: Rose Marie Paonessa, Career Peer Educator, U of A Career Centre
The internet is oversaturated with resume and cover letter tips and templates that it becomes difficult to know who to trust. The University of Alberta Career Centre conducts an Employment Survey from University of Alberta Alumni and companies in order to determine what Employers are looking for. Below you will find some general tips about the differences between a resume and cover letter!
What information should you include in your resume?
1. Include only relevant work experience - You don’t have to put everything on your resume. Include the experience that is most related to the position you are applying to or longer commitments that you have held for more than 6 months are more beneficial than short term commitments
2. Don’t just list qualities - Be specific! Please don’t say for example, that you have strong communication skills. That tells the employer absolutely nothing about what communication skills you have and how they are used.
Make sure you are as specific as possible and give examples on how exactly you demonstrated that skill.
1. Limit your resume to a maximum of two pages unless specified - Unless told differently, your resume should be a maximum of two pages in order to provide enough room to talk about each experience properly. With this being said, if it is only one page and a half that is also acceptable. The goal is to not go over two pages as it becomes disengaging to the employer. This is why including only relevant work experience is so important!
2. Use bullet points as opposed to paragraphs - Using bullet points allows you to distinguish your qualifications and skills most effectively. Employers are only looking at the resume for 6 seconds at first glance, therefore, having bullet points allows you to list your most relevant accomplishments without overwhelming the employer.
3. Consistency is key! Spacing and text alignments should be consistent. We recommend 50-70 characters across to ensure you are not overcrowding your information. The font sizes, type, and bullet styles should also be consistent. If you are wanting to distinguish your headings, you can bold them, or even make them a size 14 font. Please remember whatever you do to keep it consistent all the way through!
4. Stick to a black and white resume - Many people think that adding color to their resume by either changing font colors or adding colorful emoticons and symbols will make their resume stand out. We strongly advise you not to do this! Why? Employers may print your resume out in black and white ink and certain colors may not show up properly. Also, if an employer has a visual impairment it may make things difficult for them to read. Overall if color impacts the visibility of your resume this may affect your chances of making it through to the next round.
1. Target your Cover Letter - Employers can tell when you have written one standard cover letter and used it to apply to many jobs. Make sure that you are writing a new and specific cover letter for each position you are applying for. Therefore, the company information and your specific skills and experience should directly match with the job and its description.
2. Explain your qualifications using only a few specific experiences or skills - Your cover letter should not be a reiteration of your resume as most jobs ask you to submit both your resume and cover letter. Therefore your cover letter is your chance to go into depth about one or two relevant experiences and the skills you learned in that role.
3. Avoid Slang and Abbreviations - Rule of thumb is that the cover letter should be a formal business letter. Avoid using closing or opening statements that are very informal such as I’ll talk to you later. Also avoid any abbreviations with companies or organizations you have work experience in. For Example: CoE for City of Edmonton.
1. Write a professional business letter - This means use full sentences! A professional business letter means that the top of the cover letter you should include your contact information, and the top left hand corner you should include the date, followed by the name and address of the organization you are applying for. If the address of the organization is not provided in the job posting, google it! Include a professional salutation at the beginning, e.g. For Dear hiring team/manager. Avoid using the statement to whom it may concern, as this is very vague.
2. It should be a maximum of one page in length - Your cover letter should be one page in length and make sure it is free of any spelling errors. Spelling errors can make your documents look unprofessional, so make sure you get someone to proofread it. Too long? Get to the point! Avoid introductory sentences you often include in your essays to fill out word counts, and run on sentences.
3. It should contain 3-4 paragraphs - Your introduction paragraph should include the name of the position you are interested in applying to as well as how you found out about the job. Your middle paragraph(s) is where you can focus on discussing one or two of your experiences and/or skill sets that prove you are a good candidate for this position. Provide specific examples and draw on the job posting to make sure you are highlighting the skills they are looking for in the job. Your final paragraph should reconfirm your interest in the position, thank them for reviewing your application and it should also include how you can be contacted. Remember to include your phone number and ualberta email that was put in your resume in our final paragraph. By doing this, you make your contact information easily accessible for an employer to contact you.
The Career Center offers different resume and cover letter appointments where they can help you tailor your documents to a specific job posting. For more information on resumes & cover letters visit the HUB Career Center (8917A HUB Mall).
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3. Avoid using Personal Information - Your resume should not include photos, your birth date, ID or Social Insurance number, or even your address. Especially if you are applying online using search engines like Indeed, Monster. This is because you don’t have control over where exactly your personal information is going on these websites. So what do you do with my address? The city and province are perfectly fine and recommended. For Example: Edmonton, Alberta.
3. Avoid using Personal Information - Your resume should not include photos, your birth date, ID or Social Insurance number, or even your address. Especially if you are applying online using search engines like Indeed, Monster. This is because you don’t have control over where exactly your personal information is going on these websites. So what do you do with my address? The city and province are perfectly fine and recommended. For Example: Edmonton, Alberta.
What should your resume look like?
2. Use bullet points as opposed to paragraphs - Using bullet points allows you to distinguish your qualifications and skills most effectively. Employers are only looking at the resume for 6 seconds at first glance, therefore, having bullet points allows you to list your most relevant accomplishments without overwhelming the employer.
3. Consistency is key! Spacing and text alignments should be consistent. We recommend 50-70 characters across to ensure you are not overcrowding your information. The font sizes, type, and bullet styles should also be consistent. If you are wanting to distinguish your headings, you can bold them, or even make them a size 14 font. Please remember whatever you do to keep it consistent all the way through!
4. Stick to a black and white resume - Many people think that adding color to their resume by either changing font colors or adding colorful emoticons and symbols will make their resume stand out. We strongly advise you not to do this! Why? Employers may print your resume out in black and white ink and certain colors may not show up properly. Also, if an employer has a visual impairment it may make things difficult for them to read. Overall if color impacts the visibility of your resume this may affect your chances of making it through to the next round.
What information should you include in your cover letter?
3. Avoid Slang and Abbreviations - Rule of thumb is that the cover letter should be a formal business letter. Avoid using closing or opening statements that are very informal such as I’ll talk to you later. Also avoid any abbreviations with companies or organizations you have work experience in. For Example: CoE for City of Edmonton.
What should your cover letter look like?
1. Write a professional business letter - This means use full sentences! A professional business letter means that the top of the cover letter you should include your contact information, and the top left hand corner you should include the date, followed by the name and address of the organization you are applying for. If the address of the organization is not provided in the job posting, google it! Include a professional salutation at the beginning, e.g. For Dear hiring team/manager. Avoid using the statement to whom it may concern, as this is very vague. 2. It should be a maximum of one page in length - Your cover letter should be one page in length and make sure it is free of any spelling errors. Spelling errors can make your documents look unprofessional, so make sure you get someone to proofread it. Too long? Get to the point! Avoid introductory sentences you often include in your essays to fill out word counts, and run on sentences.
3. It should contain 3-4 paragraphs - Your introduction paragraph should include the name of the position you are interested in applying to as well as how you found out about the job. Your middle paragraph(s) is where you can focus on discussing one or two of your experiences and/or skill sets that prove you are a good candidate for this position. Provide specific examples and draw on the job posting to make sure you are highlighting the skills they are looking for in the job. Your final paragraph should reconfirm your interest in the position, thank them for reviewing your application and it should also include how you can be contacted. Remember to include your phone number and ualberta email that was put in your resume in our final paragraph. By doing this, you make your contact information easily accessible for an employer to contact you.
The Career Center offers different resume and cover letter appointments where they can help you tailor your documents to a specific job posting. For more information on resumes & cover letters visit the HUB Career Center (8917A HUB Mall).
