Creating Your Personal Resume

Your resume and cover letter are your own personal marketing tools. They should make you stand out from the crowd so that the employer will want to invite you in for an interview. While you may spend hours writing and refining your resume and cover letter, the employer will only take a minute from his or her busy schedule to look at them. With this in mind, ask yourself how you can best get your message across to each potential employer.

Developing Your Resume

Resumes usually contain the following elements:

  • CES Resumecontact information
  • career objective
  • skills and/or accomplishments
  • work experience, education
  • a statement about references

While there are many formats you can use, the functional resume format – which focuses on skills and accomplishments rather than work history – is most appropriate for people with limited work experience.

Even if you don’t have any work experience, you can sell yourself by highlighting some of the skills and attributes you identified in your personal skills profile.

J.P. Roy
68 Pine Street
Cooksville, ON,
P7A 5X3
(919) 555-1234

Performance-oriented high school student, with an excellent reputation as a responsible and hard-working achiever, seeking a retail position in the fashion industry.

Skills and Attributes

  • people-oriented, motivated and honest
  • strong communication and teamwork skills
  • organized, reliable and methodical
  • creative problem-solver

Work/Volunteer Experience
Assistant Coach-Cooksville Soccer Association 99/00
Instructed and supervised junior team
Performed administrative tasks for coach as required

Education

Cooksville Senior High School, Cooksville, ON

Completing grade 11 requirements with 78% average

References Available Upon Request

Providing References

References are your chance to get credit for things you’ve done in the past. A reference can be anyone other than a family member or close friend who knows about your work habits or your personality. An employer may want to call your references to find out more about you.

There’s no need to list references on your resume – you may indicate that they are available on request. If someone is willing to provide you with a written reference, you might want to have a few copies handy.

Remember to always keep your resume short, easy to read and error free. Have a friend, parent or teacher proofread your resume – a well written resume increases your chances of getting an interview dramatically!