COMM 202

TUTORIAL 5: RESUME + COVER

LETTER PEER REVIEW

T22 & T29

Agenda

1. Attendance + hand-in2. TA feedback

3. Resume & CL peer review4. Action items

Course timeline

Week 7 Week 8 Week 9

• Tutorial: resume and cover letter peer review

• Due: Resume and CL draft due

• Reading week!• But you should

work on your resume and CL

• LECTURE: LinkedIn and networking

• Plus refer to Action Items slide!

FEEDBACK

Resume & CL Peer Review

Instructions

1. Groups of FOUR2. Make sure your documents are attached3. Put all documents in a pile in the middle of the table4. Trade5. Get out your marking utensils!

Formatting & Consistency

CL formatting

• Left aligned (NOT justified)• No indents on paragraphs • Bullet points vs. paragraphs • 2-3 relevant skills• Consistent font size (minimum size 10)• Appropriate font• Margin sizes• Spacing between paragraphs• White space• One page

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:• Minimum 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

Are the Resume and CL consistent?

Header? Margins? Font?

Addressing the cover letter

Date

Contact Name Title Company Address 1 City, Province Postal Code

Re: Position Title (reference number if given)

Dear [First name Last name], or Dear Hiring Manager/Committee,

Addressing examples

Unknown person Specific personUse gender and marital status only if known (otherwise stick to “First Name + Last Name”)

Ending formatting

Sincerely, / Regards, / Best,

(Written signature if you want)

Your nameBCom Candidate 20XXSauder School of Business

Enclosed or Attached*: Resume

* Enclosed: physical copy* Attached: electronic copy

CL Opening

Trade documents!

CL Opening

• Expresses very keen genuine interest and/or passion for position

• Makes a clear expression of the skills/experience matching the job description

• Integrates genuine and unique primary or secondary research indicating interest in firm

• Name drop (when applicable)• HOOK

Opening - BRANDING

• Provides strong, insightful research that demonstrates knowledge and interest in the industry or organization

• Clearly illustrates how the candidate will “fit” into the industry or organization

I want to belong to Devon Canada because its mantra “be a good neighbor” aligns with my goal of building relationships to enrich the area where I work and live. This desire, along with the skills I have gained from my previous work experiences in the Calgary energy industry, will allow me to make valuable contributions to Devon Canada’s initiatives.

Skills Matching

Trade documents!

Skills Matching

• Describes specific skills that are clearly matched to the job description, referencing specific examples that leverage experiences and qualifications

• Experiences highlighted are specific and concise linking past experiences through transferable skills

• Results show success or strength in past experiences• STARL format – emphasizes actions and creating links where applicable• Emphasizing individual action in team experiences

* SHOW me, don’t TELL me * What’s the LINK?

Skills Matching - LINK

I spent this past summer at Total E&P Canada, where I compiled and calculated information for

numerous government payment and application documents. I had to prioritize my tasks and

organize my progress as I updated versions of multiple documents, and was constantly in

correspondence with external auditors and other departments. At Devon Canada, the

accounting department faces numerous deadlines and supports a variety of different parties.

My ability to efficiently manage multiple projects will be vital to my success.

Closing

Trade documents!

Closing

• Very clear reference to specific skills• Interest and request for meeting aka “call to action”• Graciously thanks the employer for their consideration• Ties back to hook/intro• Demonstrates branding

Resumes

Return Cover Letters + Exchange Resumes

Header and general

• Refer to tutorial 4 slides for header requirements

• 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 end date

Profile

• No more then 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?)

Profile examples

Education

• Does it clearly summarize education experiences (i.e. including academic projects / relevant courses / grades / awards)?

• Is there any ambiguity with respect to the info provided?• Does it match the job description?

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

Accomplishment Statements [RATS format]

Trade documents!

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?

Examples…

Removed ambiguity from taxation budget by correctly coding over 250 invoices, through the research of taxation legislation and analysis of archived invoices for the cost control department’s budget report

Qualitative:

Reduced stress among new BCom students by providing academic support and mentorship, through the creation of individualized exam preparation schedules during one-on-one coaching sessions.

Quantitative:

Doubled previous year’s number of appointments with new BCom students by creating individualized exam preparation schedules and building authentic, trust-based relationships during one-on-one coaching sessions

Work experience

• Reverse chronological order by end 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)

Interests

Trade documents!

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!

Overall Branding

• Personal qualifications are well tailored to requirements of job (clear 60-70% match)

• Multiple words from job description are included in resume (5+)

• Interests section show personality and relevant specific interests

• There is strong evidence of CAN-WANT-FIT match made

Marking

• Critical errors will cause 2 marks to be deducted• Minor errors will cause 1 mark to be deducted• For a total of -20% worth of deductions per document.

• ***For example (this is just an example), if the resume were out of 20, the maximum deduction a student could get is 4 marks of those 20. If the student then proceeded to make the equivalent of 2 critical errors and/or 4 minor errors, or anything more on their cover letter, they would get 4 marks deducted of the 20 value of the cover letter. If the student did everything else perfectly, their final assignment mark would be 32/40.

• Still determining how much the assignment will be out of, but max deduction is 20% per document

What counts as an error?

NON-EXHAUSTIVE List of Errors

Spelling mistake

Grammar mistake

Inconsistency

Having positions in wrong order

Improper formatting (CL)

Spelling name of addressee incorrectly

*We may deduct for errors that are not listed on here. This list is an example and is non-exhaustive*

How to get an A

1. Ask friends for feedback

2. Sign up for office hours on COOL

3. Work through it 20 minutes every day

Action Items

RESUME & COVER LETTER• COOL: Sign up for office hours on COOL• READING BREAK: Work on your resume & CL over reading break • ADDITIONAL HELP: Career Peer Advising and BCC Coaching appointments on COOL (also over reading week)• DUE March 7th at 2pm on Turnitin: Resume, Cover Letter + Job Posting in ONE document • DUE March 7th at 2pm on COOL: Resume + Cover Letter (no Job Posting necessary) – submit your work to the

Comm 202 job application/posting• *Please refer to my Tutorial 4 & 5 slides as well as the criteria and rubric on the course blog*

GENERAL COMM 202 STUFF• Networking Event (Mandatory): Thursday, March 9th from 6-8pm in CPA Hall • Week of Feb 27TH-Mar 3RD: LinkedIn profile due (refer to instructions and criteria on course blog + “hand in”

by connecting with your TA on LinkedIn) – I will communicate due date via email• Week of Feb 27TH-Mar 3RD: LECTURE (NOT TUTORIAL) after reading break

LinkedIn Assignment Requirements

• Include:

– a professional headshot

– a personalized URL

– an outline of your education, work and extra curriculars

– “hand it in” to me by connecting with me on LinkedIn (please make sure you find the correct profile!)

– Send a personalized invite to five other contacts (you should have at least six

connections when I check!)

– LOOK AT COURSE BLOG FOR COMPLETE REQUIREMENTS