Canadian Career Guide

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YOUR RESUME IS THE REAL first
impression with a potential employer.
The top of your resume can make or
break your chance to get an interview.
There’s much debate about how to
begin a resume. One component that’s
not debatable is your contact informa-
tion—the obvious place to start. Who
can mess this up, right? Well, there are a
few caveats that may inhibit your ability
to become a top candidate.
Start with a simple, straight-forward
full name, email, and phone number.
Address is becoming optional! Let’s look
at the ‘address’ section a little more
in-depth as there are a few options.
Since most employer communication
is electronic, you have the option to
omit a specific mailing address altogether
(this is helpful if you are in transition or
looking to relocate, or for safety/privacy
reasons). You may also simplify your
address to show just your city/province.
Some employers will look for local
candidates, so keep this in mind when
deciding the specificity of your address
on a resume. It can be beneficial if you’re
in the area, or questionable if you’re not
local; it all depends on your location and
the preferences of the employer. The
other option for students is including
both a university and permanent address.
Your email address should be
professional (nothing like teenage-
dreamZZ@ or stupidgoose20@). If your
email address is through your university,
make sure you’ll have continued access
to the account post-graduation.
You may also include links to your
social media profiles (especially LinkedIn),
your personal website, blog, or online
portfolio.
When you’re applying online do NOT
put your contact information in headers
or tables. Data in this format may be
accidentally omitted when information
is transferred electronically. Either the
computer system doesn’t read the table/
header data, or you copy/paste your
resume without the all-important contact
details—oops! Imagine all the hard
work you’ve put into your resume; the
employer gets your education, skills and
work experience and then wonders who
is the exceptionally qualified candidate?
Where’s their contact information? AG
by Bonnie Johnson, Marketing Specialist
TOP OF MIND, TOP OF RESUME
by Kristine Penning, Creative Marketing Specialist
I REMEMBER FEELING very
apprehensive about the job search
process my final year of university. While
I had a few summer work experiences
under my belt, looking for a full-time,
salaried job felt like a different ball game.
Here are a few things I’ve learned as an
employee about first-time
job seeking.
Creating a Generic Resume: While it’s
okay to have a resume template ready
to go, be sure to customize it to each
role you apply to. Adjust your work
experience to include only relevant roles
with transferable skills and duties listed.
Add in keywords from the job description
to your resume where possible for each
customization you create.
Not Preparing for the Interview:
There are a lot of ways to prepare for
the interview, but be sure that you do
at least something to prepare. Research
the company, practice example interview
questions (they are in endless supply
on the internet), and prepare some
questions to ask your interviewer
about the role or company.
Oversharing: Don’t sabotage yourself
by talking too much or sharing
information better left unsaid. Try
to keep political views out of the
interview—you don’t want to clash. And
you don’t have to let them know you
received disciplinary action at your last
job—trust me, this won’t help.
Inappropriate Dress: Because we
live in an increasingly informal world,
interview dress has followed suit (no
pun intended). If you show up in a sweater
and khaki pants against a fellow candidate
in a suit, who do you think will make a
better impression on the interviewer?
Entitlement: This
advice is coming from
a Millennial: you aren’t
owed anything. You
are not owed a job,
and you are not
owed a CEO-level
salary as a new
graduate. Humility
will make you
stand out while
entitlement will
make employers
think twice about
hiring you. AG
first-time job seeker to avoid MISTAKES
24 Ag & F ood CAreer guide QUICK READS