Fed up with your phone never buzzing with interview invitations? Blame it on your resume – it might be outdated! But fear not, for the land of maple syrup and hockey has its own resume game, eh? Canadian-style resumes come in more flavours than Tim Hortons donuts, but they all have some quirky standards you should wrap your head around.
ATS – Application tracking system is a software that manages recruiting & hiring processes which includes screening various resumes. Think of ATS as the gatekeepers at a bustling Canadian border crossing, filtering through resumes like customs officers checking passports. Here’s the deal—about 75% of resumes get turned away by these digital gatekeepers before a human even takes a peek! So, it’s important to understand how ATS operates and customise your resume to breeze through this digital checkpoint. Ready to pack your resume with the right credentials to smoothly cross this digital border?
- Keep it simple – Stick to basic fonts and headings like Summary, Experience, Education, and Skills. Keep text aligned left with consistent spacing and margins. Use bullet points, limiting them to 6 per job. Aim for a concise one page resume. Skip images, logos, graphics and fancy formatting like tables or columns that ATS might struggle with.
- ATS friendly font – Choose fonts like Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Georgia, or Times New Roman — most ATS systems recognize these. Don’t go for anything too small, big, fancy, or unusual. Keep the main text between 10 and 12 points, and make headings a bit bigger.
- Nail the keywords – ATS matches resumes with job descriptions using specific keywords and phrases. Research each job and tailor your resume accordingly. Identify key terms like technical skills, certifications, or languages, and weave them into your resume, especially in the summary, skills, and experience sections.
- Quantify your achievements – Whether you increased sales by 20%, reduced project completion times by 30%, or saved the company $1000 through innovative solutions, numbers tell a compelling story. Also, don’t forget to mention any awards or recognition you received for your outstanding performance.