Your choice of resume content will be influenced largely by your job target, your background, your strengths and weaknesses. It should also take into account human rights legislation and what you needn't include -- such as age, race, religion, marital status. There are no strict rules. Choose what will most effectively sell you to an employer.

Remember: your purpose is to get screened into an interview. Here are some do's and don'ts:

1. Don't supply information that might be used to screen you out. Don't draw attention to your weaknesses. You only invite rejection doing so.

2. Do include your name, address (with postal code), and phone numbers (both home and office). For purposes of confidentiality, you may prefer not to be contacted at your current job. If so, give a day phone number where messages can be left for you. Interviews in Canada are normally set up by phone during office hours.

3. Following name, address and phone number, a chronological resume would go on to list education and employment background, not necessarily in that order. The area in which you are strongest or which might be more appealing to the employer should come first.

Caution: if the employer has indicated a preference for a degree or a credential which you don't have, you would not want to start with your education. Job-seekers who want to show off a hard-earned but possibly unrelated academic credential have cut themselves off from jobs they wanted by using this approach.

4. Analyze the job ad and consider what the employer is looking for. If you have the required skills and knowledge but lack the specific academic credential asked for, don't be deterred from applying. If you effectively present what you do have, lack of a specific credential may not be a barrier.

5. Be honest. Be truthful in what you include and use judgment about what you should withhold. For example, if you only have Grade 10 and the employer is asking for high school, don't mention your education. Or, near the end of your resume, list: Education: High School, Rimbey, 1981

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Some special circumstances may be perceived as barriers to getting the job you want. Here are some strategies for overcoming them:

Limited Education

As employers seek more and more academic qualifications, lack of a high school diploma is a barrier to overcome. If you have an extensive employment background and have demonstrated a range of skills, list your employment experience first. Place education later in the resume or not at all. If you have a post secondary credential of any kind, it is not necessary to reveal the last year of high school you completed. There is no point in drawing attention to a weakness.

You may choose to use a heading called "Education and Development" where you list workshops and seminars you've taken followed simply by "high school."

Uncompleted Post-Secondary Education

You may lose an opportunity by describing post-secondary education simply as a course, e.g. "Marketing -- N.A.I.T. -- 1992." Marketing is a credit course in the N.A.I.T. Business Administration diploma program, so list it that way: "N.A.I.T. -- Business Administration Diploma Program -- 1992." This signals that you're in the process of getting a post-secondary credential.

Unrelated Education or Experience

If you don't have the specific degree, diploma, or experience asked for, state what you do have, emphasizing the similarity. If you have out-of-province or out-of-country credentials, show how they resemble the Alberta or Canadian equivalent. Don't list all your post-secondary credentials if doing so might eliminate you from competition for an entry-level position because you are overqualified.

Post-secondary education is a rapidly growing business, and there is a proliferation of certificates, diplomas and degrees. The ones that are most familiar because of their longevity are not necessarily the best. The onus is on you to sell the employer on the suitability or advantages of your credentials.

Unrelated Work Experience

Professional Background

Fundraising

Out of the Workforce for Extended Periods

Even if you have been out of the work force, you may have volunteer or other life experience that 1 relevant. Instead of "Employment Background" a heading, use "Professional Background" and describe your volunteer responsibilities with agency names and dates.

Most Relevant Experience is Not Current

A systems analyst who has been managing project teams may want to return to hands-on consultative and design work. Or an office worker may want to return to customer service after several years away from that aspect of business. A way to bring related experience from the past to the foreground would be to include a Summary or Profile Overview, Professional Highlights section at the top of the resume listing several bullets of transferable and relevant skills to lead the reader immediately to some identifiable transferable skills and past experiences.

Some examples for the bullets in this section might be:

Another approach would be to list "Most Relevant Professional Background" first and then "Other Professional Background." If you let the reader know right up front that you have what they're looking for, they'll seek and find further evidence as they read your resume.

Terminated From Your Last Job

There are a few ways you can handle this.

You are likely to be more desirable if you're employed. By showing in August that your most recent job started in April and ended in July, you draw attention to the fact you're unemployed, which begs the question: why?

In this economy, there are many possibilities: merger, temporary position, project employment, reorganization, downsizing, business failure, etc. If you are providing the dates, include a one line explanation in your resume in brackets or in the covering letter of the "temporary project".

The tough one is "termination due to performance." Announcing this would surely result in rejection. Leave your explanation for the interview .

Extended Sick Leave

This does not require commentary in the resume. But you should be prepared to address it in the interview.

Personal Data

Human rights legislation protects you from having to reveal your age, gender, marital status, number of dependants, religion, nationality or ethnic background. Don't supply this information unless you feel it will enhance your competitiveness.

Possible Gender Discrimination

If you are applying for positions typically performed by members of the opposite sex, drawing attention to your gender by providing your full name may work against you. A male applicant for clerical positions is well advised to supply only first initials and surname. The same holds for a female applicant in a traditionally male-dominated field. Some progressive organizations are looking for qualified female applicants to enhance their management, professional and technical teams. Some employers have targets for increasing the representation of females, natives, members of other cultures and disabled on their staff. In approaching such an employer, if you are a member of one or more of these target groups it would be wise to let them know. This is best done subtly in your covering letter. For example:

Possible Age Discrimination

Don't reveal your age unless you feel it will be an advantage. If your high school or university graduation year reveals your age, eliminate the dates from your formal education. Similarly, don't go all the way back to your first years of employment.

Visible Minority

It is difficult to give general tips here. Get advice from a person you respect who understands Canadian employer expectations. For example, a newer Canadian might, because of language differences, reveal spelling or grammar deficiencies in the resume or covering letter. You can correct these by getting feedback from an expert.

When listing a foreign credential, get an authority such as the educational coordinating council at a university to evaluate your transcripts and provide a written summary of equivalency showing what the Canadian or provincial equivalent would be. Include this with your resume or tell the employer you'll supply it at the interview.

Overqualified

Unfortunately, many employers have a great fear of hiring people who are overqualified. The myth persists that if you have more education or employment background than required: