COMM 202 Resume Tutorial #4

1. Career Fundamentals
T21 & T31 – Ingrid Bakke
Tutorial 4: Resume Peer Review

2. AGENDA
1. Course Timeline
2. Resumes and Branding
3. Resume Peer Review
4. TA Feedback
5. Action Items

3. Tutorial:
Resume Review
Due: Submit Resume
Draft to Turnitin before
tutorial
Tutorial:
Cover Letter and
Networking
Due: Submit Cover
Letter Draft to Turnitin
before tutorial
Tutorial: Info
Interviews
Due:
1. Resume & Cover
Letter Assignment
due on March 12th
at 11:59 on
Turnitin AND COOL
2. Networking Event
on March 13th 6-
8pm in CPA Hall
WEEK 8 WEEK 9 WEEK 10

4. RESUMES
&
BRANDING

5. Accomplishment Statements
[RATS format]
Employers don’t want to read your story on your resume,
they want to read your accomplishments
So flip it: STAR  RATS

6. FLIP IT: STAR to RATS

7. Results
(Skill Verbs)
ATTAINED
EXCEEDED
ELIMINATED
INCREASED
DECREASE
MAXIMIZED
MINIMIZED
REDUCED
SAVED
SURPASSED
IMPROVED
CREATED
GENERATED
ENHANCED
OPTIMIZED
ESTABLISHED

8. Resume Peer Review

9. 1. Write your name on ALL
documents – make sure your
documents are attached
2. Trade to the person on your left
when a new section starts
3. Get out your marking utensils!
INSTRUCTIONS

10. be consistent
font size, font style,
spacing, bullet points,
alignment, punctuation,
date & abbreviation
format, hyphens vs
dashes
first impression
pick a colour scheme
(if you don’t want black-
and-white, which is also
fine) and use white space
wisely; be concise with
your resume page count
third person
always speak in third
person and maintain a
professional tone; no
slang or personal
pronouns (he, she, we, I)
proofread
no grammar mistakes,
typos, spelling errors -
proofread then
proofread again
Formatting

11. Are the Resume and CL consistent?
Header? Margins? Font?

12. Resumes
Trade Documents!

13. 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 page (if second page, must be relevant)

14. Header and General
• Name is preferred name with (given name)
in brackets
• Phone and address are included
• LinkedIn URL is personalized
• 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

15. Profile
• No more than 5 lines for key competencies (4 for profile)
• Can include languages
• Does it clearly and convincingly summarize strengths/experiences/skills?
• Does it match the job posting (multiple references)?
• Does it provide a clear, convincing link to the rest of the resume (i.e. is there
PROOF elsewhere in the document?)

16. Education
• 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

17. Work Experience
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? Does it match the
job description?

18. Work Experience
• 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)

19. Interests
• 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!

20. Header
-Name
-Phone
-Email
-LinkedIn URL
Profile
-5 lines of key
competencies
-Summarize
strengths/
experiences/
skills
-Match job
posting
Education
-Reverse
Chronological
Order
-Start with
degree
-Include
Grades/
Awards
Experience
-Reverse
Chronological
Order
-RATS
formation
-Achievement
Based
Statements
Resume Checklist **Check the blog for the Resume Checklist!
Interests
-Specific
-Differentiate
yourself
-Reflect your
personality

21. What Counts As An Error?
Spelling &
Grammar
InconsistencyIncorrect order of
Information
Improper
Formatting
Incorrect
Information
Missing
Information
** Not including a Job Posting is 2 errors
** Please note errors are not limited to this

22. Please give me some
feedback!
What should I STOP/
CONTINUE/ START?

23. Action Items
• Sign up for office hours
• Networking event: March 13th 6-
8PM in CPA Hall
• Resume & CL due March 12th @
11:59PM on Turnitin and COOL
• Resume & Cover Letter Toolkit
on MyBCOM site
* TUTORIAL next week

24. Questions?