Competency Category:
Competency Series:

15.1 – Work with Clients to Develop Résumés

Purpose & Context

Career Development Professionals (CDPs) assist clients in developing and updating résumés to present marketable skills. Clients use their résumé at multiple stages of the career development and work search process.Clients may need different versions of their résumé to market their value proposition effectively to recruiters, employers, and other contacts to meet the needs and preferences of the recipient.

Effective Performance

Competent career development professionals must be able to:

  • P1. Gather documents to inform résumé:
    • Current and previous versions of résumé
    • Documents related to education, e.g. transcripts, degrees, professional certification
    • Documents related to experience, e.g. job descriptions, performance reviews
    • Documents related to desired role, e.g. sample job posting
  • P2. Review collected information to identify information gaps or inconsistencies
  • P3. Itemize résumé information:
    • Knowledge, skills and abilities
    • Employment and volunteer work
    • Education
    • Training and development
    • Accomplishments
    • Extracurricular, community involvement
    • Research, teaching, publications
  • P4. Describe commonly used components of the résumé, e.g. contact information, headline, competencies, experience,
    education, accomplishments
  • P5. Explain how résumés are screened by employers, e.g. Applicant Tracking Systems
  • P6. Offer guidance on writing résumé, for example:
    • Select format suited to opportunity, e.g. chronological, functional, competency-based
    • Represent information truthfully
    • Focus content on target market, e.g. position, company, industry
    • Incorporate components of value proposition:
      • Qualifications, skills, knowledge, and abilities relevant to the target position
      • Specific examples of accomplishments
    • Exclude personal information, e.g. photo, age, marital status, gender, religion, political affiliation
    • Minimize the impact of elements that might be perceived negatively, e.g. employment gaps, short employment
      terms, incomplete education, limited Canadian experience
  • P7. Review final draft for grammar and spelling, accuracy, and layout

Knowledge & Understanding

Competent career development professionals must know and understand:

  • K1. Written comprehension, written expression, and oral proficiency
  • K2. Current knowledge of expectations relevant to job search documentation, e.g. format, social media
  • K3. Legislation, e.g. human rights legislation, employment standards
  • K4. Types of résumés: chronological, functional, competency-based

Contextual Variables

Competent career development professionals must be able to perform this competency in the following range of contexts:

Clients may present with significant barriers and challenges requiring mitigation in the résumé.

Résumé style required varies between sectors, e.g. government, private.

Glossary & Key References

Terms

Industry-specific terms contained in the standard defined here, where applicable.

Value Proposition: is a message that a client can use to consistently communicate his or her promise of value to potential employers. Note this term originated as a marketing strategy to sell products to buyers. In career development, the client is considered “the product” and the employer “the buyer”.

Applicant Tracking System (ATS): software application that recruiters and employers use to manage the recruiting and hiring process. Organizes and analyzes résumés and tracks candidates through the hiring process.

Information Sources and Resources for Consideration

Graham, Sharon. The Canadian Résumé Strategist 2020 Edition: Certified Résumé Strategist Study Guide. 7th edition. Career Professionals of Canada, Milton, Ontario, 2020.

Graham, Sharon. Best Canadian Résumés: 130+ Best Canadian-Format Résumés. 4th edition. Career Professionals of Canada, Milton, Ontario, 2020.

Context Rating Scales

Criticality

Q: What is the consequence of a professional being unable to perform this skill according to the standard?

Minimal risk: SOMEWHAT CRITICAL

Frequency

Q: How frequent and under what conditions is this skill performed?

Routinely, regular course of procedure

Level of Difficulty

Q: Under routine circumstances, how would you rate the level of difficulty in performing this skill?

Moderate difficulty or complexity

Time Required to Gain Proficiency

Q: What is the average length of time or number of repeated events that are minimally necessary for an individual to become proficient in performing the skill to the standard?

A competent career development professional requires a minimum of one year of experience with at least 40 different clients, representing a broad range of individuals.

Autonomy

Practitioners typically perform this competency without supervision, and alone.

Automation

It is somewhat likely that this competency will automate.

Requisite Work Aids, Tools, Equipment or Materials

None