New Year’s Resolutions to Kick Your Job Search into High Gear

Your resume is crucial to get your foot in the door and help your odds of getting interviews with potential employers. When you work with Lannick, you don’t need a cover letter, since we work directly with the Hiring Managers. Lannick has some excellent resources online, including a resume template to illustrate the tips below and assist in polishing your resume. Here are some additional things to consider when compiling your resume:

• Skills and Qualifications: I always encourage my candidates to insert a section with this title at the top of their first page. Such would list your technical skills, preferably in point-form keywords rather than sentences, to make this section highly scan-able so the reader can quickly get a sense of what you bring to the table (the Professional Experience section is where you would elaborate further on some of this content). List the following:
  • Accounting Frameworks you’ve worked with (i.e. IFRS, ASPE, US GAAP);
  • Regulatory frameworks (i.e. Bill 198, SOX, IIROC, CRTC);
  • A point about people-management (led up to 3 Direct Reports);
  • Software (i.e. MS Office, MS Excel, VBA/Macros, SAP, Oracle, Hyperion, etc.)
  • Other technical skills: Financial Reporting, Budgeting, Forecasting, Financial Modeling, Risk Management, etc.
• Professional Experience: While it is important to highlight your job description by detailing your role and responsibilities, of equal importance is listing several achievements under each role, such as special projects, systems you’ve helped implement, process improvements, awards, or positive performance evaluations. I always encourage my candidates to insert a subheading “Achievements” to bring these points to the reader’s attention. In terms of formatting, I usually encourage my candidates to place the company name above the title(s) they held, as this enables you to list numerous titles you might have held, and the associated dates on the right-margin, efficiently highlighting your progression over the years.
• Maximum 2 pages: As a recruiter, I often see resumes where the candidate has tried to fit everything on one page. The result is often a resume with squeezed margins or small font-sizes. My advice is to keep a simple, standard formatting-style and not to exceed 2 pages. In fact, with the inclusion of a Skills and Qualification section, I would expect a typical resume to exceed 1 page.
• Dates: always place dates on the far-right margin; this helps make sure the dates clearly stand out. I also recommend including months and years.
• Begin each point in Professional Experience with a verb: This demonstrates the actions you’ve taken. You should always conjugate in the past-tense, with the optional exception of your current role, which can also be in the present tense.

Lannick Recruiters are always able and willing to help provide additional tips on the content, and review drafts of your resume.

Resolution #3: Update your online profiles

Online recruitment platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed.ca, and Monster.ca are ubiquitous in the job market and are excellent tools for any job search. Employers often post their open roles and use the online platform as tools to recruit potential candidates. Here are some tips to polish your profile:

• Company names, dates, and titles: These must be consistent with your resume. In LinkedIn, you can search your company when setting up your profile so the company logo appears along with your title.
• Get a professional-looking picture. I recommend business-formal attire and positive, confident posture (no selfies!). You can find professional photographers in the city for as little as $100-200. Otherwise, a good camera and a soft-coloured background can do the trick.
• “Currently Seeking New Opportunities”: LinkedIn has a relatively new function that enables candidates to click on a box with this label, which is only visible to individuals with paid-LinkedIn Recruiter accounts. This serves as a clear indication to recruiters that you are actively searching for new roles, and can increase your odds of being contacted about roles.
• Post your resume: You can upload your resume to LinkedIn, Indeed.ca, and Monster.ca, which can increase your odds of being found if a recruiter is searching for candidates with specific skills, titles, or keywords you have listed on your resume.

Resolution #4: Connect with References

Reference checks are standard in the final stages of any job search. It’s important to have at least two Supervisory references ready to be called-upon, preferably three in case one is not responsive when needed. If you don’t have that many Supervisory references, it’s sometimes sufficient to have a former colleague serve as a reference, too. For obvious reasons, you should typically rely on references from previous employers. Make sure you have their updated contact information, including full names, phone numbers, and email addresses.

Resolution #5: Ask for Help

The old saying rings true, “It’s not about what you know, but who you know.” Tap into your personal and professional network for guidance and assistance with your job search. Company insiders can often be aware of hiring needs that may not yet be posted publicly online or under engagement with external recruiters. If you know someone currently employed in a kind of role that interests you, consider offering to buy them coffee and to discuss their career. People are often happy to talk about themselves, and even more, content to provide advice to people they know who are earnestly interested in their choices.

Of course, a recruitment service provider like Lannick is an excellent means to put your resume directly into the hands of a Hiring Manager. Our Client Service professionals have direct relationships with decision-makers, and when you apply through Lannick, you are submitted amongst a pre-screened short-list typically no longer than 5-6 potential candidates. That far-improves your odds of being selected for an interview over an online application, where you might be up against dozens or even hundreds of competing applicants of widely-varying qualifications. An important thing to bear in mind is that recruiters cannot represent you at companies to which you have applied in the last 12 months (this is a general rule of thumb, and there can often be exceptions), so I often caution my candidates against peppering the market with online applications, and rather engage the service of recruiters early-on in their search.