Natiqa Babar Term 2

1. COMM 202:
Career Fundamentals
T36 & T37 with Natiqa Babar
Tutorial 4: Resume Peer-Review

2. OUR AGENDA FOR TODAY
1. Course Timeline
2. Resumes and Branding
3. Cover Letter & Resume Peer Review
4. TA Feedback
5. Action Items

3. WEEK 8 WEEK 9 WEEK 7
• Tutorial: Resume
Review
• What’s due:
Submit Resume
Draft to Turnitin
before tutorial
• Tutorial: Cover
Letter Review &
Networking
• What’s Due:
Submit Cover
Letter Draft to
Turnitin before
tutorial
• Tutorial:
Informational
Interviews
• What’s Due:
Resume & Cover
Letter Assignment
on Mar 12th
at
11:59pm on
Turnitin and
COOL
• Networking Event
on Mar 13th
6-8pm
in CPA Hall

4. Disclaimer

5. Resumes and Branding

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

7. From STAR to RATS

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

9. Mock Resume

10. Peer Review

11. INSTRUCTIONS
1. Make groups of 5
2. Write your name on ALL
documents – make sure your
documents are attached
3. Put all documents in a pile in the
middle of the table
4. Trade to the person on your left
when a new section starts
5. Get out your marking utensils!

12. Let’s Go!

13. 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
Resume Formatting

14. 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

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

16. Header & Profile
Trade Documents!

17. Header and Profile
• 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

18. Profile (OPTIONAL)
• 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?)

19. Education
Trade Documents!

20. 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

21. Work Experience
Trade Documents!

22. 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?

23. 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)

24. Interests
Trade Documents!

25. 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!

26. 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
Interests
-Specific
-Differentiate
yourself
-Reflect your
personality
*Check the Connect for a Consolidated Check-List

27. What counts as an error?
Spelling &
Grammar
InconsistencyIncorrect order
of Information
Improper
Formatting
Incorrect
Information
Missing
Information
**Not including a Job Posting = 2 errors
**Please note errors are not limited to this

28. TA FeedBack

29. ● TUTORIAL next week
● Sign up for office hours
● Networking Event : March 13th
6-8pm in CPA
Hall
● Cover Letter Draft due March 9th
before tutorial
on Turnitin (Bring a hard copy to class also)
● Resume and Cover Letter due March 12th
@
11:59pm on Turnitin and COOL
● Cover Letter & Resume Toolkit on MyBcom
site
Action Items for next week

30. Any Questions?

31. Have a
great
weekend!