262. CCA Study Notes: Preparing Your Resumé and Professional Portfolio

The Big Picture

Your resumé introduces your experience, education, skills, and qualities to a possible employer. Employers use it to help decide who receives an interview.

A professional portfolio gives an interviewer or potential client more evidence about your background. It holds documents such as certificates, references, awards, and proof of volunteering.

Both documents need accurate information, careful organization, and a professional appearance.

Look for Nova Scotia CCA Notes throughout this page for current provincial guidance.

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Course Notes: Key Ideas You Need to Know

What a Resumé Does

A resumé gives an employer a concise picture of your background. It covers your experience, education, work-related skills, and personal qualities.

Your resumé serves as an introduction to a possible employer. Employers review resumés when choosing applicants for interviews. Spelling mistakes and other small errors might affect that decision.

Remember both length guidelines. Depending on your work experience, a resumé is usually no longer than three pages. The drafting guidance also says the finished resumé should be only one or two pages.

Resumé Versus Curriculum Vitae

A curriculum vitae (CV) is an expanded resumé.

A CV includes descriptions of achievements such as:

• teaching experience
• research
• awards
• publications
• degrees

Some employers request a CV instead of a standard resumé.

Prepare Before the Job Search Starts

Start your resumé well before you begin looking for work. Early preparation gives you more time to revise it without rushing.

Each job has different needs. Adjust your resumé for the employer, position, and work setting.

Keep your resumé current. Add new courses and work experience when your background changes.

Keep Accessible Copies

Store your resumé in more than one location.

Sorrentino’s Canadian Textbook for the Support Worker, 5th Edition recommends locations such as:

• a flash drive or memory stick
• an electronic Dropbox
• iCloud
• your computer hard drive
• an external drive

Many employers expect electronic resumés. Keep an updated copy on your computer so it is ready when needed.

Required Elements of a Resumé

All resumés include experience and education.

Experience

Employers want to know what you have done that prepares you for the position.

Experience does not need to come from paid employment. Relevant experience also comes from:

• volunteer work
• field placements
• special projects
• recreational activities

Focus on your skills and accomplishments instead of listing only duties and responsibilities.

Education

Your resumé should show whether you have the education needed for the position.

Include:

• the exact name of your certificate
• the name of your educational institution
• the year you graduated
• additional training
• awards or honours

Optional Elements of a Resumé

A resumé also has optional sections.

Objective

An objective states your immediate career goal. It also briefly identifies relevant skills, abilities, and personal qualities.

Place it near the top of the first page after your name and address.

Profile

A career profile gives a short summary of your qualifications. It highlights selected skills and experience in one brief paragraph.

Like an objective, it usually appears on the first page after your name and address.

Most people use either an objective or a profile rather than both.

Interests

Career consultants generally advise against using a separate interests section because it takes up space.

Instead, place a sports or hobby accomplishment elsewhere in the resumé when it relates to the job. For example, experience in a team sport might support evidence that you have worked as part of a team.

Start With Your Skills, Qualities, and Experiences

Think of your resumé as a way to present the experiences, skills, and qualities an employer wants.

First, list the skills and qualities an employer seeks in a support worker. Then list your own skills and qualities.

Connect those qualities with experiences that helped you develop them.

If identifying your strengths feels difficult, start with your experiences. Think about what you learned from each one and how each experience influenced you.

The Two Basic Resumé Styles

There are two main resumé styles.

Style	Main Focus
Chronological resumé	Employment history
Functional resumé	Skills and abilities

Chronological Resumé

A chronological resumé emphasizes your employment history.

List your newest employment first. Then work backward through earlier jobs.

This style best suits someone with:

• a steady employment history in the chosen field
• at least 2 years of employment with one employer
• few gaps between jobs

Functional Resumé

A functional resumé emphasizes skills or functions. It gives less emphasis to individual jobs while still listing positions held.

This style best suits someone with:

• little work experience in the chosen field
• long periods outside the workforce
• frequent job changes

A functional resumé should still include employment history and dates. Leaving out this information might make an employer think you are hiding something.

Review Your Resumé Through Several Drafts

Expect to prepare several drafts before finishing your resumé.

Use these questions to check your work.

Does It Match the Job Posting?

Highlight qualifications that appear in the job posting.

Include your qualities and qualifications when they match what the employer wants.

Is the Information Relevant?

Space is limited.

Include experiences that show how well you would perform the job.

Is Everything Honest?

Emphasize your strengths without misrepresenting yourself.

Do not:

• lie about qualifications
• change job titles
• change education information
• change employment dates
• exaggerate limited accomplishments

Lying on a resumé is unethical.

A lack of experience does not always prevent employment. Some employers prefer inexperienced workers because they may be more motivated, more flexible, and easier to train.

Is the Writing Clear?

Keep your wording concise.

Avoid long words. Revise your draft until the wording is clear.

Use:

• short, direct sentences
• bullet points instead of paragraphs
• action words at the beginning of sentences

Avoid using the word “I.”

Is the Format Consistent?

Keep the same style throughout the document.

Use headings, bullets, bold text, italics, and underlining consistently.

Keep spelling consistent too. Do not switch between different spellings of the same word, such as “honours” and “honors.”

Use the same grammatical form for similar points.

Have You Accounted for Your Time?

Do not leave unexplained blocks of time in your employment history.

Is Everything Correct?

Read the final version several times.

Do not rely only on spell-check software. A word processor might miss a correctly spelled word that you used incorrectly, such as “their,” “they’re,” or “there.”

Proofread in a Careful Order

Proofreading your own writing is difficult because you might read what you expected to write instead of what appears on the page.

Use this order:

1. Read every word aloud.
2. Listen for wording that does not make sense.
3. Ask someone else to read it aloud when you struggle to judge your own writing objectively.
4. Read the document backward, starting at the end and working through each sentence.
5. Ask at least two reliable people to proofread the finished resumé.

Reading backward helps you notice spelling mistakes and typos.

Employers sometimes use the quality of your resumé as an indication of the type of worker you will be. Errors might suggest that you do not pay close attention to your work.

Formatting Your Resumé

Your resumé should look neat and professional.

Use these formatting guidelines:

• Choose one simple professional font, such as Times New Roman or Arial.
• Use an 11- or 12-point font size.
• Do not use fancy or script-style fonts.
• Do not use more than one font.
• Keep bold and italic text to a minimum.
• Do not crowd too much information onto one page.

Computer programs often include preset resumé designs. Schools and colleges also sometimes offer resumé help through career centres. Professional resumé writers provide another source of formatting help.

Printing a Resumé

For a printed resumé:

• print on one side of each sheet
• staple pages in the top left corner

When submitting a resumé in person or by mail, use good-quality white or ivory bond paper ⓘ measuring 8½ × 11 inches.

Never use designed or patterned paper.

If the resumé has two pages, staple them together. Do not fold the corners together.

Paper clips also hold pages together, though many employers prefer staples.

What Is a Professional Portfolio?

A portfolio is a binder or electronic file containing documents that support your application.

Interviewers or potential clients often appreciate or expect a portfolio during a first interview.

The portfolio gives them an organized way to review information about you.

Arrange items by when you received them. Put the newest item first, followed by the next newest item.

What Belongs in a Portfolio?

A completed portfolio should include:

• a copy of your resumé and cover letter tailored to the specific employer
• a list of references with full contact information
• certificates you earned
• letters of recommendation and awards
• workshops you attended, including attendance dates
• proof of volunteering
• your immunization record
• a police check or vulnerable sector screen ⓘ
• letters of reference from previous employers or clients
• other pertinent information

A reference is a person who speaks to a potential employer about your skills, abilities, and personal qualities.

For each reference, include complete contact information. Also include the person’s title, such as RN or Director of Care, and explain how that person knows you.

Prepare the reference list so you are ready to leave it with the interviewer.

Hardcopy Portfolio

A hardcopy portfolio uses a binder.

Some employers ask applicants to bring copies of portfolio documents to an interview.

Place each item and a photocopy inside a plastic page protector. Organize the binder into categories and use labelled page dividers between sections.

An interviewer or potential client might want to keep photocopies of selected pages.

Electronic Portfolio

Some employers request an electronic portfolio before an interview.

Scan the portfolio items carefully and place them in order.

Make the finished portfolio available as either:

• an electronic file
• a link sent to the employer

Common Mix-Ups

Wrong Idea	Better Idea
A resumé and CV are identical in length and content.	A CV expands a resumé with descriptions of achievements such as research, publications, awards, teaching, and degrees.
A chronological resumé focuses mainly on skills.	A chronological resumé focuses on employment history.
A functional resumé focuses mainly on job order.	A functional resumé highlights skills and abilities.
Functional resumés leave out employment dates.	A functional resumé should still include employment history and dates.
Experience means paid work only.	Experience also includes volunteer work, placements, projects, and recreational activities.
You should use both an objective and a profile.	Most people choose either an objective or a profile.