5. Instructions
1. Make sure all your documents are attached, and your
name is clearly visible on every page.
2. Pass it to someone next to you.
3. Get out your marking utensils, pretend you’re a recruiter.
4. Grab me if you have any questions.
Every time we move to another
section, pass the documents to your
classmates in a clockwise rotation!
7. Cover letter formatting
• Left aligned (NOT justified)
• No indents on paragraphs
• Bullet points vs. paragraphs
• 2-3 relevant skills
• Consistent font size (minimum size 10)
• Appropriate font
• Margin sizes
• Spacing between paragraphs
• White space
• One page
8. Addressing the cover letter
Date
Contact Name
Title
Company
Address 1
City, Province Postal Code
Re: Position Title (reference # if given)
Dear [first name last name] OR
Dear Hiring Manager/Committee
Spaces
here are
important
If unknown, this can be
omitted. But try and find
the HR person!
Country is
unnecessary,
unless applying
outside of Canada
Avoid “To Whom
It May Concern”
or “Dear
Sir/Madam”
10. Ending the cover letter
Sincerely, / Regards, / Best,
(Written signature if you want)
Your name
BCom Candidate 20XX
Sauder School of Business
Enclosed* or Attached**: Resume
*Enclosed: physical copy
**Attached: electronic copy
Spaces
here are
important
11.
12. Opening: What to include
• How do you like the hook?
• Is there keen, genuine interest, and/or passion for the
position?
• Is there a clear expression of the skills/experience
matching the job posting?
• Is primary or secondary research integrated?
• If name drop is used, was it well-integrated?
• HOOK!
CAN – WANT – FIT
13. Opening: Branding
• Provides strong, insightful research that demonstrates
knowledge and interest in the industry or organization
• Clearly illustrates how the candidate will “fit” into the
industry or organization
14.
15.
16. Body: Skills matching
• Do they reference specific examples that leverage
experiences/qualifications?
• Are the highlighted experiences specific and concise?
• Do they indicate transferrable skills?
• Do the results show strength or success?
• Do they emphasize individual action in team settings?
• STARL format – emphasizes actions and creates links
where possible
• Suggested minimum of 2 skills/attributes matched
• SHOW, DON’T TELL
17.
18.
19. Closing
• Are skills reiterated in a different (not redundant) way?
• Is sincere interest expressed?
• Is there a gracious thank you and call to action?
• Request for a meeting?
• Tie back to hook/intro
21. Resume formatting
• Titles formatted the same
• Spacing is consistent
• Margins are reasonable (≥1.5cm)
• Phrases either ALL end in period or not
• Dates
• Usually right-aligned
• All have month and year, or just year
• All months are abbreviated to same # of
letters
• Uses hyphens (–) OR dashes (-)
• Font:
• Size is 10
• Generally no more than two types of font
• Numbers under 10 spelled out (i.e. two vs. 2)
• Bullets: same size/style, aligned
• One to two pages
22. Resume formatting
Header
• Name is preferred name with (given
name) in brackets
• Phone and address are included
• LinkedIn URL is personalized
General
• No personal pronouns (I, we, he, she)
• Reasonable amount of white space – is
it easy to read?
• Experiences listed in reverse
chronological order by start date
23. Profile
What is it?
• No more than 5 lines for key competencies (4 for profile)
Key questions:
• Does it provide a clear, convincing link to the rest of the resume
(i.e. is there PROOF elsewhere in the document?)
• Does it match your job posting?
What to include?
• Strengths, past experiences, interests, languages, technical skills
24. Education
What is it?
• Summary of your schooling journey
Key questions:
• Is there any ambiguity with respect to the info provided?
• Does it match the job description?
25. • Bachelor of Commerce NOT BCOMM or B.Comm
• Start with the degree
• List expected date of completion (either as “Completion: …” or
“Expected Completion: ...”)
• No laundry lists of courses: only specific, relevant courses
• GPA – score/%/letter grade, indicating the school scale
• Key/relevant projects and awards: write in accomplishment
statement form
26.
27. Key Questions:
• Are experiences achievement based?
• Do numbers clearly quantify achievements where appropriate?
• Do statements have Accomplishment, Proof, Transferrable Skills,
and Scope of Action?
• Are the result verbs varied and strong?
• Does language indicate familiarity with industry/company?
Work experience
28. STAR
RATS
Employers don’t want to read
your story on your resume,
they want to read your
accomplishments.
So flip it!
(results – action – task – situation)
Accomplishment
Statements
29.
30. • Reverse chronological order by start date
• You can include explanation sentences of companies/experiences
if necessary
• Eliminate filler words
• Written in third person
• Keep it to one sentence (2 lines is best)
• The elements of the RATS statement should be apparent (but not
necessarily in RATS order)
33. • Do the interests show personality? Are they specific? Are they
relevant to the job (not always necessary)?
• Do they differentiate the candidate? Are they memorable?
• Be fun! And appropriate
*NOTE for the candidate:
Be able to speak about these interests extensively!
Interests
34. Overall branding
• Personal qualifications are well
tailored to requirements of job
(clear 60-70% match)
• Multiple words from job
description are included in
resume (5+)
• Interest section shows
personality and relevant and
specific interests
• CONSISTENCY between the
cover letter and the resume
• There is strong evidence of
CAN-WANT-FIT match
36. What counts as error?
Spelling &
Grammar
Inconsistency
Incorrect
Order of
Information
Improper
Formatting
Incorrect
Information
Missing
Information
*RUBRIC CHANGE: Each error will be penalized 3%
up until the THIRD error which will result in an
automatic 40% off the entire assignment.
37. How to
crush this
assignment?
1. Ask your friends for
feedback.
2. Sign up for office
hours.
3. Edit your documents
MULTIPLE times. Do
not let a silly typo
cause you to lose
40%!
38. No cover letter or resume is
perfect… but every edit
should propel you forward.
39. TA Feedback
What should I stop, start, continue?
Write it down on a piece of paper
(anonymous feedback, debrief next class)
40. Action Items
1. Sign up for office hours (on COOL)
2. CL & Resume Due: Tuesday, Oct 31st by 1:59PM
on Turnitin AND by 11:59PM on COOL
(instructions on blog)
- Toolkits available on mybcom website
3. Networking Event: Thursday, Nov 2nd from
6-8pm at CPA Hall
* Tutorial next week!*
*PICK UP YOUR DOCUMENTS BEFORE YOU GO*
