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Resumes come in many forms and styles. Usually, resumes are unique to their countries or region. This section will get your started on your resume and help you target it at Canadian employers.

Step 1. Presentation and Layout

Lets begin at the very start. Take a look at how much information you have and how much space you will be needing. It is best to have a resume on a single page. Most resumes in Canada fit on a single page, if you have alot of work experience or education you may need more, but it is highly recommended to use only 1 page.

Make sure to use a readable dark font on a white background. It is very important to have a consistent format throughout your resume. Some things you can do to make it more readable include stressing headings with bold encapsulation, and underlining job positions.

Small grammar or spelling mistakes will allow the company to determine at what level your English is at. Therefore make sure you proof read all documents you send out and always get another person to double check it. Small errors may not seem like a big thing however, it may be one of the decision factors for reasons why an organization does not consider your application.

Canadian Resumes do not include photos. Please make special note of this.

Step 2. Contents: What should you include in your Resume?

If you need some help organizing the contents of your resume, please refer to our resume samples.

1. Name and Contact Details

Your name and contact details will go on the very top of the resume. Make sure this section is clear and correct so employers can get in touch with the right person at the right number.

2. Objective

All Internship resumes should have an objective on the very top part of the resume. In general, you objective should sound enthusiastic, be to the point, and be representative of the area you want to find a job in. You must be careful not to be too specific with your objective or companies may look you over. For example, write :

"Seeking valuable internship opportunity in the Hotel Industry" instead of
"Looking for a nightly front desk clerk position"

3. Education + Skills

Next, you will want to list your background, information such as education and skills go here.

HR managers or decision makers at your desired company may not be familiar with a) city or country you are from b) your University or College c) Past work experience - your company name and their activities. Your past employer may be one of the top 500 companies in France, but they wouldn't know that unless it is an internationally established company.

You must help your employer understand your value and achievements. By adding the company website address, University website address and the official city or chamber of commerce (board of trade) website address on the resume or part of your cover letter, you can help them understand in full the kind of skills and work experience you have gained.

Writing down your education, courses you took, certificates you have, short term work experience through your University or College, volunteering work, places you have traveled, references, major related projects, events you coordinated and so on.

Bring out as much information possible and decide which ones to keep and not to keep. It may be little things but hiring person is trying to verify a) your general office administration skills b) time management and organization c) Focus and commitment d) Leadership e) team work f) learning curve and so on.

4. Previous Experience

The most important section of any resume is the experience section. You can omit almost all other information, and only include your past experience and still get a job. That is how important work experience is.

In your resume, you must stress this section. If you are applying for professional internship, include all related experience, and provide: your title (Office Assistant), the timeframe of your experience (January 2006 - March 2007), and a brief description of your duties, accomplishments and skills from that experience. Do not write a paragraph. Only point out the important things. Once again, please refer to the sample resumes to get a good idea of how to write this.

5. Activities, Hobbies, References

Finally, you can list sections like "activities and hobbies" and include your references last. Two to four references will be enough, state the person's occupation and email address. This last section completes the contents of your resume!

Step 3. Sending your Resume

How will you be sending your resume out? If you are sending your resume by e-mail, then make sure to send it in a format everyone can read. PDF is a good choice. Also, make sure that you name your file something appropriate, like firstname_lastname_country.pdf. If you are sending a physical copy of your resume, make sure to invest in a nice thick paper. Enclosing your resume in a clear sleeve will also help with presentation. .

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Canadian Resume Tutorial

Samples

Canadian Internship is for: Non-Canadians Canadians	Language: En Fr Gr