SECRETS TO WRITING

A CAPTIVATING
RESUME

CONTENT INSIDE

01

RESUME
ORGANIZATION

02

CONTACT
INFORMATION

03

PROFILE

04

SKILLS
SUMMARY

05

EXPERIENCE
SECTION

06

EDUCATION
SECTION

07

POWER
VERBS

08

QUICK
TIPS

01

RESUME
ORGANIZATION
Your resume must be clearly
organized. Separate your
resume into sections.
A typical resume should have
the following sections:

Contact Details
Profile
Skills Section
Work Experience
Education

USE ADEQUATE WHITESPACE

Make sure that your resume is legible and appropriately spaced.
Resumes with a lot of words jammed together are almost impossible to
read.
A resume with lots of empty space and too few words looks basic and
with not enough detail. Your goal should be to have an adequate mix of
white space and words.
Is your resume catching the attention of recruiters in 6 seconds?

Did you know?

We host Ask A Recruiter session on our City of Edmonton Jobs Facebook page every Wednesday!

02

CONTACT
INFORMATION
You probably already know that your contact informationwhich includes your name,
address, phone number, and email addressshould always appear at the top of your
resume, regardless of the resume format you use.
Your name should stand out, so make it bold and a larger font than the rest of your
contact information.

What to include:
Your Name
Your Address
Your City, Province, Postal Code
Your Phone Number
Your Email Address
**Do not include personal information such as: birth date, SIN or a personal
photo.
Are you relocating to another city? Remove your current address and simply
replace this line with Re-locating to ______ (city). This tells the recruiters that
you are willing to relocate or are already in the process.

Professional
E-mail Address

Contact information is the first element recruiters see.

Make sure your email address is professional.
Examples:
janedoe@email.com jane.doe@email.com jdoe@email.com

03

PROFILE
A POWERFUL
INTRODUCTION

Starting your resume with a profile packs a powerful punch. The first thing the recruiter will
see is all of your greatest achievements and skills that are directly related to the job posting
they need to fill.

JOB POSTING

04

SKILLS
SECTION
A list of 6 bullet points
displaying a range of your
most impressive skills and
how they relate to the job.

Do you have the qualifications for the job? Thats what an employer wants to know. The
sooner the recruiter finds this information on your resume, the better. One way to get your
point across quickly is to write a skills summary section about your qualifications.
Read the job posting carefully to see what the job qualifications and requirements are.

Check out our guide to a successful job application!

Click Here

05

EXPERIENCE
SECTION
You should include the following in this section:

Names of organizations where you were employed.

Positions and/or titles you held.
Employment periods for each job, written as Month/Year.
Showcase your experience highlighting your achievements, not responsibilities.

06

EDUCATION
SECTION
Education is one of the
most easiest to write. Its
simple and straightforward.

The best placement depends on what you are trying to emphasize.

Place education before experience if you are a recent graduate or have fewer than
three years of work experience.
Place education at the bottom of your resume if you have three or more years of
experience.
Simple tips to follow:
List your highest level of education first along with your year of graduation.
If you attended college but did not graduate, list the dates you attended.
Make sure to note this degree/diploma is incomplete.
List any certifications and licenses you may have.

AWARDS?

If youve won any awards, add an additional area after

Education & Credentials to list them.

07

POWER VERBS
Since most resumes tend to start with the same
words like: managed, handled, responsible for, they
dont have the power to catch the readers
attention. Use power verbs to spice it up.

You Led a Project

Chaired, Controlled, Coordinated, Executed,
Headed, Operated, Orchestrated, Organized,
Oversaw, Planned, Produced, Programmed
You Envisioned and Brought to Life a Project
Built, Charted, Created, Designed,
Developed, Devised, Founded, Engineered,
Formalized, Formed, Formulated, Implemented,
Initiated, Introduced, Launched, Spearheaded
You Saved the Company Time or Money
Conserved, Consolidated, Decreased, Deducted,
Lessened, Reconciled, Reduced, Yielded
You Increased Sales or Customer Satisfaction
Accelerated, Amplified, Boosted, Capitalized,
Delivered, Enhanced, Expanded, Expedited, Gained,
Generated, Maximized, Outpaced, Sustained
You Managed a Team
Aligned, Cultivated, Enabled, Facilitated, Fostered,
Guided, Inspired, Mentored, Motivated, Recruited,
Shaped, Taught, Trained
You Wrote or Communicated
Authored, Briefed, Campaigned, Co-authored,
Composed, Corresponded, Critiqued, Documented,
Illustrated, Persuaded, Publicized, Reviewed

08

QUICK
TIPS

READ THE JOB DESCRIPTION

Always read the job description you are applying for.
A resume tailored to the job description is more
likely to be read by a recruiter than one that is
generic. If you havent started to tailor every resume
to the job you are applying for, now is a great time to
start!

PROOFREAD YOUR RESUME

Your resume is too important to risk an overlooked
typo. Ensure its flawless. Ask at least 2 people to read
and review your resume for spelling and grammar.
Dont submit until you proofread.

LINK YOUR ONLINE PROFILE

In todays world you can link your modern resume
to your LinkedIn profile, portfolio, website, blog, etc.
Many employers may encourage it or even ask for it
in the application. You can simply add these links to
the contact area. Check out our presentation on
building a magnetic LinkedIn profile.

CONNECT WITH US
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/coejobs
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/company/city-of-edmonton

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www.edmonton.ca/jobs