Below are some general tips/good practices to assist you in the application process.
Resources for Job Seekers
Resume Format and Style
- Keep your resume between two to three pages in length
- List your work experience in reverse chronological order – begin with your most recent job
- Showcase your strengths by explaining your accomplishments and achievements, rather than simply listing your duties
- Customize your resume for the job you are applying to and explain how your skills and abilities meet the key qualifications in the job posting
- Summarize your work experience of more than 10 years ago, unless it is directly relevant to the job that you’re applying for
- Do not copy and paste the exact wording from the job posting
- Use one simple font that is easily readable (e.g., Arial size 12)
- Use bolding sparingly and do not use shading
- Avoid using all capitalized letters, italics or underlining because they can be difficult to read
- Do not use acronyms, abbreviations, clichés or jargon
Resume Content
Summary of Qualifications
Immediately following your personal information (do not include confidential information, such as your date of birth, marital status, or your social insurance number on your resume), market your most important and relevant qualifications. Often, this includes a statement about your strengths (or what makes you unique) as they relate to your work experience that makes you a suitable candidate for the job.
Work Experience
The City of Markham welcomes applicants with experience outside of Canada. If you have relevant work experience outside of Canada, please include this information in your application.
- List your work experience in reverse chronological order listing the years worked in each job starting with the most recent job. If you have work experience outside of Canada, includes those experiences and accomplishments if it is relevant to the job you are applying for.
- Explain your experience as it relates to the key qualifications for the position you are applying to by using four to five one-liners to describe your significant accomplishments. Whenever possible, try to quantify your achievements
- A one-liner describes an accomplishment, skill or responsibility in point form, preventing you from using unnecessarily wordy sentences.
- Prioritize your one-liners putting the most significant ones first
How to write a one-liner
- Start each one-liner with an action verb
- For your current job use present tense verbs (for example, ‘prepare’ or ‘develop’)
- For previous jobs use past tense verbs (for example, ‘assisted’ or ‘monitored’)
- State what you did and what you accomplished – quantify and qualify your points to demonstrate your experience fully, as well as the depth and breadth of knowledge, skills and abilities you possess.
- Show the results of your actions and the benefits they had to the company. For example:
- How and how much money you saved
- How and how much you increased productivity
- How you solved a problem
- How you built a relationship
Examples of One-Liners
- Handled all in-bound telephone calls, re-directed them to appropriate staff or took messages as needed.
- Followed-up on requests and ensured client service standards were maintained in a high volume client focused environment
- Rearranged the office filing system based on a personally devised plan, which led to more efficient file retrieval by the staff
- Developed an extensive equipment maintenance program resulting in reduced downtime, lower repair costs and improved service
Education
- List your education at the end of your resume unless you have very little work experience
- Only list your degree, diploma or highest grade achieved and the educational institution
- Do not list courses unless they are directly related to the position
- Put your highest education level or most recently attained degree/diploma first. Do not include high school information if you have post-secondary education
- Academic awards and/or scholarships can be mentioned
Other Resume Sections
Include additional resume sections if they are relevant to the job you are applying for. Additional sections may include:
- Languages (list verbal and written skills)
- Awards
- Publications (list published work)
- Professional affiliations memberships
- Volunteer experience/community involvement (also consider including if you have minimal paid work experience)
Note: Always tell the truth! Do not misrepresent or falsify any information on your resume.
Cover Letter
Use your cover letter as an opportunity to introduce yourself to the reader, demonstrate why you are a suitable candidate, express your interest in the position and create a positive first impression. It also provides an opportunity to share anything special that you think will set you apart from other applicants.
Tip: If you identify a skill or accomplishment in your cover letter, make sure that it is also in your resume.
What you can highlight in a cover letter:
- How you meet the job requirements
- Written communication skills
- Organizational skills
- Social skills
- Personal style
- Management approach
- Focus and priorities
A well written cover letter will:
- Be one to two pages in length
- Express interest in the position
- Catch the interest of the reader
- Highlight how your skills meet the employer’s needs
- Direct the reader’s attention to your strong points
- Set you apart from the competition
- Illustrate why you are a good fit for the position
- Indicate how your strengths meet the key qualifications of the job posting
- Show that you have done your research and familiarized yourself with the important issues in the unit and the division
- Show how your skills and experience can make a contribution to the organization
- Thank the reader for considering your application
- Have been spell-checked and edited for grammar
- Be well organized and concise