BCjobs Blog

If you are applying for an advertised job, what important qualifications are they looking for? If you meet those requirements, those will be your key selling features. However, if you are targeting employers that haven’t advertised any positions, then you have to decide what you think will be most important to them.

I’ve been following a recent discussion on an email list about the need for cover letters, and it’s caused me to think about the evolution of cover letters and resumes. Here is what I see. Most resumes are at least 2 pages long (although I believe 95% of them should be shorter than they are), and so we are accustomed to seeing a summary section in the top half of the first page. This profile usually highlights the candidate’s key qualifications for the job they are targeting.

Helen Perruzza, receives tons of resumes from hopeful job applicants everyday. She is a senior personnel consultant with First Choice Personnel, an employment agency in Toronto. Early in spring 2000, a young woman sublimated a resume for a Customer Service position with one of First Choice’s clients. Her resume was outstanding and paralleled the job position. Perruzza invited her in for an interview. Her performance in the interview was very satisfactory and she was introduced to the client, who was also impressed by her. A background check was performed and alas, the diploma she claimed she had received from college never existed. So no job offer!

Grandma knew the importance of brand management. In Grandma’s days, children were not allowed out of the house with holes in their underwear for fear of the proverbial ambulance ride. Housewives cleaned thoroughly under their beds and chesterfields lest dust bunnies be discovered and whispered about.