Hints on preparing your submission in response to a job advertisement for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources prepared by Chris Davies.

Your application package should contain 3 parts as follows:

 Part 1 – Introductory letter

• Identifying the competition number you are applying for and a paragraph that indicates, in general terms, why you are interested in this specific position (natural progression, part of career plan, first step… whatever you feel is appropriate).
• Put your name, address, email address and fax number if you have one on the first page of your letter
• Telephone number where you can be reached during the day and one for after regular work hours

Part 2 – Statement of qualifications (the most important step)

• Detail the scope and level of how your skills, knowledge and experience related to each of the qualifications stated in the job ad. The qualifications are used as selection criteria by the interview panel.

Hint: type all the qualifications as found on the job ad – then beneath each qualification state (in bullet points) how your skills, knowledge and experience relate to the qualifications. You can also include non-work related experience, e.g. school, volunteer, etc. It is important to illustrate the depth/level and scope of your skills/knowledge.

Example:

1. Sound working knowledge of pertinent legislation, policies, procedures, directives, and guidelines related to Crown land and to resource management and Crown land acquisition and disposition.

•  Describe/list your skills, knowledge and experience as they relate to the above qualification (selection criteria). Remember that you should include all your experience even though they may not be MNR related. Showing that your skills and knowledge have expanded overtime with increasing responsibility is important.

2. Demonstrated technical skills, experience and knowledge of ecological sustainability and resource management principles and practices.

•  Describe/list your skills, knowledge and experience as they relate to the above qualification (selection criteria).
•  You would then continue with the remaining qualifications as listed in the job ad.

Hint – You may find that a particular example you use relates to more than 1 qualification – if this is the best example to illustrate this requirement, feel free to use it but keep in mind that if you use the same example for all of the required qualifications, this may be perceived as a “narrow” experience.

Part 3 – Resume/C.V.

• Here is where you attach the standard resume/CV, which includes personal information, education, work history, hobbies, etc. Make sure your resume/CV is up to date! if you attach a statement of qualification, your resume/CV should highlight and provide additional detail on the key points made in your statement of qualification.

Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain. Give honest and sincere appreciation. Arouse in the other person an eager want. These are fundamental techniques in handling people, specifically how to win friends and influence people.  What does this have to do with finding a job in Peterborough? To some, maybe not much, particularly in shrinking industries where people skills are not very important.  However, for those in the creative economy, those paid to think, those interacting with other people on a daily basis, it is highly important.

If you would like to read a good summary on Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, take a look at the Wikipedia article. And if you can find it, there are some pdf downloads of the book to be found for sure. So, why am I suggesting these things?  Here are my reasons:

1. The job market is not positive.  Anyone who tells you it is easy to find an entry-to-mid-level professional position is lying to you; unless they are engineers or certified accountants.
2. For those in the creative economy, your ability to connect with people and win them over to working with you in a genuine way is paramount.
3. Principles learned within this book are good for business, good for your home life, and beneficial for the way you approach your career search.
4. Peterborough is a city built on a network of relationships. If you don’t know people, it will be much more difficult for you to find work here. If you don’t attend events where you can get to know people, how can you get to know people?  A bit of a catch question there I admit.

Think about how you are approaching your job search in Peterborough, or any city for that matter.  Are you attracting people to yourself in such a way that they would want to do business with you, hire you, take you into their organization?  Here are a list of six ways to make people like you, from Dale Carnegie’s book, and hopefully helpful in your job search in Peterborough:

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interest.
6. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

Ok, so you’re handing out tonnes of resumes. In fact, at this point, you could probably wallpaper a whole room with the number of resumes you’ve sent out into the world… but you’re not getting job interviews. It’s a simple, but often overlooked fact: if you’re not getting called for jobs that you know you could do, chances are, no matter how good you think it is, your resume is to blame and here’s why…
On average, how long do you think an employer takes to look at a resume before deciding whether or not to bring you in for an interview?

a) 1 – 10 Seconds
b) 10 – 15 Seconds
c) About 30 Seconds
d) About a Minute
e) About 5 Minutes

Really think about it for a second. You’re an employer; you’ve placed an ad for a factory worker position on the CERP Job Board, the Service Canada Job Bank and let’s say Kijiji. You receive 40 resumes in 4 days, by the end of a week you have 100 and if you’re crazy enough to post it for two weeks straight you may have between 150-200 resumes to sort through. Now you’re sitting at your desk with a cup of coffee that’s getting colder by the second, you’re behind in your workload because you’re short an employee, and your boss is now getting frustrated with you because he’s paying overtime to cover the empty shift when necessary. How long would you take with each resume? Really?

Whether we’re dealing with 200 resumes or 20, it’s estimated that an employer takes 10 -15 seconds to look at a resume in the initial sorting period and in my experience both having hired and having worked with those who do, this a pretty realistic figure. That’s not to say that an employer won’t go back and give resumes in the ‘yes’ and ‘maybe’ piles a closer look, but the key is to be in the’ yes’ pile at the end of the first sorting.

This is where an employment counsellor can make all the difference. They have training and experience and can look at your resume, your job history and the field you’re applying to and help you to structure your resume in a way that will make it easier for an employer to instantly connect you to their needs at a glance, which is what you need to make it into the ‘yes’ pile.
For more information or help with you resume come into an employment service centre. It’s free. You don’t need an appointment and we have staff on hand to help you with your resume at all times.

By: Jon Hedderwick
Job Developer, Employment Planning and Counselling – Peterborough
138 Simcoe St., Peterborough, ON Phone: 705-748-9110 Email: info@epcjobs.ca
Web: www.epcjobs.ca www.facebook.com/epcjobs twitter.com/#!/EPCPeterborough

When I was applying for the Justin Chiu internship to work in Hong Kong this past summer, they were interested in a student that was both on the Dean’s Honour Role, and lots of extra curricular activities. The following three things helped me get an interview for the internship:

Studying Abroad:
Living in Japan for four months during my third year of University gave me an independence that can’t be gained through staying at home. I was responsible for myself in a country that had very few English speakers, while working to maintain grades that would be transferred to my record back at Trent. My experiences abroad showed that I wouldn’t crack under the pressure of working for a large company on the other side of the world, as well as that I am self-motivated. This was appealing for the interview panel.

Trent Business Students Association:
When I submitted my application I was an elected member of the Trent Business Students Association. At the time I was the Director of Marketing, which was great for me to be able to be on the board while not having it take up too much time. This position allowed me to focus on my grades as well. Being a director is not as overwhelming as being a VP. Since then I was elected as Executive Vice President and I got my share of a heavy workload, and that is another experience that I feel has changed me as a person in a positive way. Being involved in student government shows that you have the ability to both voice ideas and make decisions. You have to have been elected by the student body, which is an automatic green light to the employer.

Relevant work Experience:
When I applied for this internship I was not applying for something that I was not ready to handle. I had worked in an office for three years prior. I recommend that all students aim to get relevant working experience to what they feel is an idea job. I understand that many students may not know what they want to do when they graduate, but working in a related field to ‘business’ can’t hurt if you want to work anywhere from accounting to marketing.

Those three things helped make my resume stand out to the board who chose me to represent Trent internationally. I hope that student get involved as much as possible to benefit themselves and make them more competitive for a great job as soon as they graduate.

Dylan Hunt