staying current with résumé design...

CPC WEBINAR CHAT | Transcript | CareerProCourse.ca | February 1, 2017 Page | 1

Career Pro fess iona ls o f Canada | in fo@careerprocanada .ca | www.ca reerprocanada.ca | 866-896-8768

Staying Current with Résumé Design Trends

Skye Berry-Burke | Skye Is The Limit Resume and Career Solutions

User Message

Sharon Graham Welcome, CPC members to our first Webinar Chat for 2017!

Sharon Graham Staying Current with Resume Design Trends :thumbsup:

Sharon Graham Our webinar presenter and chat facilitator is Skye-Berry Burke.

Sharon Graham You can find Skye’s profile here: http://careerprocourse.ca/profile/skyeberryburke/

Sharon Graham Our chat starts at 1pm Eastern TODAY.

Sharon Graham TIP: Make sure to access and watch the webinar at least 1 hour before our chat. This is important so that you can be ready to participate in our chat.

Sharon Graham The webinar can be found here: http://careerprocourse.ca/webinar-02-2017/

Sharon Graham Please feel free to post anything you like before we officially start. Practice with the emoticons (below right) :smiley:

Sharon Graham When can you see the webinar? You can watch the webinar anytime. These facilitated chats are scheduled, but you will be able to access the webinar and transcripts after the chat and as long as you are a CPC member or student. The online forum is also available at all times. You can post your comments there at your convenience.

Sharon Graham Want to update your picture and chatter profile? Click on the profile menu (dropdown from login/logout) on the black menu above.

Sharon Graham New to online chatting? Everyone is welcome to chat. Don’t worry too much about things like grammar or spelling. Chatting and our chatters are very forgiving.

Sharon Graham Want to network? You can access other chatter’s profile and message them. Network with people on your own schedule. You reach out to them by clicking on their picture. You can chat privately or email them and set up a time to meet.

Sharon Graham Our chat starts soon. Make sure you’ve finished watching the webinar before the chat!

Sharon Graham Hi Diana.

Diana Foster OMG. HI! that's fast. i literally just opened up the chat. I'm still eating! :)

Sharon Graham No problem. I'm just chatting privately with others and saw you pop in. No rush. Feel free to finish up your meal!

Diana Foster Thanks, Sharon

Diana Foster It's feels good to be back!!!! I'm looking forward to the "tribe"

Sharon Graham Yes. I'm looking forward to our Mastermind group as well.

Sharon Graham Or, are you referring to the CPC tribe?

Skye Berry-Burke Hi Sharon and Diana!

Sharon Graham Hi Skye.

Sharon Graham Our chat starts soon. Make sure you’ve finished watching the webinar before the chat!

Sharon Graham Our chat will officially start at 1:00pm EST. Please feel free to post anything you like before we officially start. Practice with the emoticons (below right) :smiley:

Sharon Graham If you don't have time for the webinar, watch it later: http://careerprocourse.ca/webinar-02-2017/

Sharon Graham First time chatting, scroll up to the top for some advice :heart:

Skye Berry-Burke Quiet online so far...

Sharon Graham People are registering and popping in. I think quite a few are just finishing up with the webinar.

http://careerprocourse.ca/profile/skyeberryburke/

http://www.skyeisthelimit.ca/



Skye Berry-Burke Oh true. There is still a few minutes before we begin!

Tzianetas Tzianetas Sorry I have been trying to hear the webinar however its not coming through on my computer for audio

Skye Berry-Burke Hmmm... I am not great at troubleshooting. I didn't experience difficulties when I listened. Sharon, any ideas?

Tzianetas Tzianetas :blush:

Skye Berry-Burke Hi ladies, we are just waiting a few more minutes while people join in.

Sharon Graham Tzianetas, I'm happy to help you out later. We're starting the online chat shortly.

Sharon Graham Today’s chat starts at 1:00pm Eastern.

Sharon Graham Please feel free to post anything you like before we officially start. Practice with the emoticons (below right) :smiley:

Sharon Graham All our participants are welcome to ask questions and answer questions. While you are waiting for your colleagues to join, consider questions you would like to ask.

Sharon Graham Hello Chatters.

Sharon Graham I'm Sharon Graham, Executive Director of Career Professionals of Canada. Thanks so much, Skye for leading today’s Live Chat. I’m looking forward to learning from Skye and everyone else on the chat.

Sharon Graham Skye will be leading the chat today and I’ll be your moderator. My job is to keep the discussion flowing and help us stay on track. I’ll also be respectful of each question asked. I’ll put a pause on discussions from time to time to help us stay on topic. This will ensure that questions and answers don’t get too mixed up and we can all follow the flow of discussion.

Skye Berry-Burke Sharon, thank you for such a warm welcome. Hi everyone! It is an honour to be facilitating CPC’s first Webinar of 2017! It is a pleasure to ‘see’ all of you here.

Sharon Graham Hello Chatters. While we’re waiting, please feel free to introduce yourself. Tell us where you work, if you write resumes or if you provide resume support.

Cathy Milton Hi everyone, I'm Cathy Milton. I operate a home-based résumé writing service and I live in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario. Lots of snow here!

Diana Foster Hi Cathy!

Skye Berry-Burke My name is Skye Berry-Burke, owner of Skye Is The Limit Resume and Career Solutions and partner with Adrienne Tom at CareerPreneur Partners. I will be facilitating today's chat from cooolllddd Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Cathy Milton HI Diana!

Diana Foster I'm Diana Foster, a former recruiter turned personal branding expert,working from my home based office in Toronto

Diana Foster Hi Skye! Thanks for the webinar

Skye Berry-Burke Welcome Diana and Cathy!

Sharon Graham Feel free to introduce yourself. Tell us where you work, if you write resumes or if you provide resume support.

Lori Jazvac Hello Skye and everyone!

Marian Bernard Hello, everyone! I'm Marian Bernard, and I guess I'm the career veteran of the group. This coming June 25, I will celebrate 32 years operating a home-based business. And ... we have lots of snow in Aurora (i.e., 30 minutes north of Toronto). P.S. - I write resumes, craft cover letters, deliver interview coaching, compose LinkedIn profiles, and offer a "Tapping Into the Hidden Job Market" service offering.

Diana Foster Hi Marian! Very impressive credentials, indeed

Marian Bernard Thank you, Diana!

Sharon Graham All welcome to introduce yourselves. No worries about spelling and grammar.



Diana Foster Well, that's a relief!

Skye Berry-Burke It is great to be a part of CPC's first Webinar of 2017!

Sharon Graham A shy group. Let’s start with this question for everyone: Do you use highly designed resumes or ATS resumes?

Diana Foster I use ATS friendly

Marian Bernard ATS resumes but want to learn much, much more about the highly-designed versions.

Lysa Appleton ATS friendly mostly but designed networking briefs.

Lysa Appleton Want to learn more about design!!!

Joanne Savoie Malone Hello, I'm Joanne Savoie-Malone, An Independent recruiter for the past year and a recruiter for 10 years.

Skye Berry-Burke I obviously use design in my resumes. :smiley:

Susan Fleming Highly designed resumes are new to me and I am very excited by this option!

Joanne Savoie Malone I prefer ATS friendly

Lori Jazvac Moderately designed resumes that are ATS-friendly

Lysa Appleton And Skye, you do an awesome job!

Marian Bernard I wholehearteldy agree; Skye does an INCREDIBLE job!

Skye Berry-Burke Thank you Lysa. :blush:

Diana Foster I would like to learn more about design but to be honest, the thought makes me anxious, as it takes long enough to create the content, much less the design.

Lori Jazvac Awesome resumes, Skye!

Skye Berry-Burke Diana, it is truly a learning experience! It does take time... but it is well worth the investment when clients leave happy and confident!

Sharon Graham We are sure to have loads of questions today, so I'll start with one for Skye. Skye (and others) what format do you recommend for clients who just won’t network and only use online boards? Are they this highly designed?

Cathy Milton I do both, but I understand that ATS systems are getting smarter at capturing data from highly designed résumés, too. Not sure I trust that, though! :wink:

Angela S Hi Skye and Sharon!

Diana Foster I don't trust the ATS!

Sharon Graham Hi Angela.

Skye Berry-Burke Sharon, if a client will NOT network, I create an ATS friendly Microsoft Word document.

Diana Foster I like the idea of adding another service to my "offerings"

Marian Bernard @Diana: Me too!

Lysa Appleton Re the ATS - is still essential to always upload a .txt version or can we also use .doc? (may be in the video but I have not finished it yet)

Sharon Graham I really encourage people to network as their first strategy. The ATS is essential for sure, but a designed resume can be right for so many situations.

Angela S Network meaning LinkedIn?

Skye Berry-Burke This document still does utilize some design elements such as coloured font in the name and headlines. But I still encourage a PDF resume that is creatively designed for those email applications and as a leave behind in the interview stage.

Sharon Graham Network includes Linkedin but also in person networking -tapping the hidden market instead of just counting on ATS submissions.

Skye Berry-Burke Lysa, a .doc should work in most cases. A .txt is still useful for some of the older application systems.



Angela S Yes, I see. Sorry.

Joanne Savoie Malone I like the one page design page as a Network tool.

Sharon Graham Nothing to be sorry about . Good question. :smiley:

Patricia Watson Would .docx work as well, or should we always save in the older format?

Skye Berry-Burke That is an honest question Angela! No need to apologize. :smiley:

Diana Foster What's the best way to know if your Word doc is ATS friendly?

Angela S What about using your own picture or the customer's picture on their resume? I had heard that employers have to throw those out because it could be a form of discrimination. Is that true?

Skye Berry-Burke Diana, the best way to know is to save it as a plain text .txt document to see if text is removed or read properly.

Cathy Milton Skye, I guess the exception (to a PDF upload) would be when the company specifies that the file must be .doc or .docx.

Diana Foster Thanks Skye!

Kamee Gilmore I have a question regarding ATS friendly versions - Is ANSI the same as ASCII in the way of ATS compatibility?

Sharon Graham Lets hold some questions until Skye has answered the question of the best way to know if your Word Doc is ATS friendly.

Sharon Graham Skye will answer the other questions in order. I'll try to help.

Skye Berry-Burke Cathy, most companies will specify which versions they accept. However, if you are applying online I still don't recommend a PDF file that has a lot of design in it, even if they say they will accept PDF files. Some of the content may not be read properly by the ATS

Skye Berry-Burke Thank you Sharon.

Sharon Graham You can convert your word document to txt to test if it is ATS friendly.

Diana Foster Thanks Sharon.

Skye Berry-Burke The best way to determine if a document is ATS friendly is to save your word file as a txt file and see what text transfers over or is lost

Sharon Graham Thanks, Skye.

Skye Berry-Burke You know that the lost text will most likely not make it past the ATS.

Skye Berry-Burke Angela...

Sharon Graham What about using your own picture or the customer's picture on their resume? I had heard that employers have to throw those out because it could be a form of discrimination. Is that true?

Sharon Graham Angela's question.

Skye Berry-Burke As for personal pictures, I think it is client and situation dependent. I generally do not recommend a client picture on the resume.

Diana Foster So, when the document is uploaded in to the ATS, does the reader see plain text?

Lysa Appleton Sharon, can I put a question in the que? Does anybody use word cloud engines to find key words?

Sharon Graham Yes.

Skye Berry-Burke There are exceptions to the rule - such as a client who needs to demonstrate a physical transformation or is a model, for example. But these would usually be used in direct networking situations.

Lori Jazvac For a one-page networking resume, I like to incorporate a nice professional photo.

Sharon Graham Diana, the reader converts the Word document to Text in most cases.

Skye Berry-Burke Yes Diana. Usually it is viewed as a plain text until the human reader looks at.



Diana Foster Thanks Sharon and Skye

Skye Berry-Burke I agree Lori!

Skye Berry-Burke Have I missed any other questions?

Lysa Appleton I have a question about word clouds...do you use them for key words?

Sharon Graham There are hundreds and hundreds of ATS some are more sophisticated than others. But we need to be conservative and assume that the .doc will convert to .txt and that's all the recruiter will see.

Cathy Milton Sharon, does the 'reader' (assuming you mean a human) convert to a Text file, or does the ATS automatically do that?

Sharon Graham I'll put your question in the queue.

Patricia Watson My question was you said to save in .doc; would .docx work as well for ATS, or should we always save in the older format?

Skye Berry-Burke Lysa, I myself do not use word clouds. But I know many writers that do.

Sharon Graham Kamee's question.

Sharon Graham I have a question regarding ATS friendly versions - Is ANSI the same as ASCII in the way of ATS compatibility?

Diana Foster What's a "word cloud?"

Skye Berry-Burke Patricia, I usually recommend .doc for an ATS friendly file still. But ATS are advancing everyday.

Sharon Graham Let's hold some questions, please for a few minutes until Skye has a chance to catch up.

Skye Berry-Burke Kamee, I am not sure to be honest. I don't think I know what ANSI is. I am sorry... maybe someone else knows?

Patricia Watson Thank you, Skye.

Sharon Graham Lysa's question: Does anybody use word cloud engines to find key words?

Diana Foster Please clarify what a word cloud is

Lysa Appleton A search engine to determine key words from job postings

Sharon Graham A word cloud is those words formed into a picture usually of a cloud.

Skye Berry-Burke Diana, a word cloud is an online tool where you can copy and paste a job posting, for example, and it will tell you the ost common words found.

Sharon Graham They usually take words from a paragraph and make a visual.

Diana Foster oh....like jobscan?

Skye Berry-Burke Exactly! Thank you Sharon.

Sharon Graham Yes.

Skye Berry-Burke I personally do not use word clouds, but I do know a few other writers who do and they find them very useful.

Sharon Graham The purpose of using a word cloud is to paste in a job posting then identify the most important words.

Diana Foster I use it, but I don't find it that great. You have to use judgement

Skye Berry-Burke I agree Diana.

Kamee Gilmore Thank you Skye, I will try to find out via online research. So far I have only found that there is coding differences but not certain if that would matter with ATS software. The reason I ask is because that is what my computer saves as (ANSI) when creating a plain text file.

Sharon Graham Then, you can make sure that those words are in the client's resume (always being authentic and truthful about our client)

Skye Berry-Burke Kamee, do your documents save as .txt?

Angela S Oh, so you use the actual job posting, copied into the resume so the resume makes it through the ATS?



Sharon Graham No. No. that would be called a "black hat" technique. Not good.

Skye Berry-Burke No, I think the point with word cloud is to help you determine which keywords are used most frequently... to ensure they appear in the resume

Sharon Graham Paste the job posting into the word cloud to identify keywords.

Sharon Graham Then be truthful about what the client brings to the table in the resume using those keywords.

Skye Berry-Burke The more often a specific word appears in a job posting, the larger that word will appear in the visual word cloud.

Angela S I see, okay. I understand. I usually just read the ads and get a sense of what they are asking for. Never thought of that.

Sharon Graham The purpose is that the ATS will then more likely select that resume.

Angela S Thank you!

Skye Berry-Burke Angela, I myself do the same as you!

Sharon Graham Always be true to the client first. But, find keywords that the employer uses.

Diana Foster How much of the job posting phrasing is considered "safe" to use in the resume assuming it's a match with the candidate's experience?

Sharon Graham You can also paste a website page from a company into a word cloud to use "lingo" that the company uses in the resume.

Skye Berry-Burke Great question Diana! I think overall it is about ensuring skills align with the target more then the exact phrasing.

Skye Berry-Burke Most ATS are getting smart! Certain keywords are a must, but the main goal should be to demonstrate skill alignment.

Sharon Graham In fact, many more recent ATS kick out resumes that match the job posting exactly.

Kamee Gilmore Skye - Yes files do save to *.txt but encoding states ANSI. So confusing.

Sharon Graham Jinx. Skye.

Diana Foster good to know, sharon

Skye Berry-Burke Kamee, then it should be fine!

Skye Berry-Burke Haha, Sharon!

Kamee Gilmore Thank you

Skye Berry-Burke I think I have caught up with questions, correct Sharon?

Diana Foster ideally, how many pages should the full resume be? I keep getting different answers.

Sharon Graham Patricia's question: My question was you said to save in .doc; would .docx work as well for ATS, or should we always save in the older format?

Lori Jazvac Skye do the newer versions of ATS accept text boxes and tables.

Sharon Graham I'll hold Diana and Lori

Skye Berry-Burke I think page length is a tricky one. The ATS doesn't care about length... but the human reader does and they prefer brief and concise.

Sharon Graham ATS more keywords are good. Humans not so much.

Patricia Watson Sharon, Skye indicated that .doc is better and it's best not to save in .docx for ATS.

Skye Berry-Burke To answer Patricia's question, I would save in the older .doc file for now. Trends are changing, but some ATS haven't advanced yet so best to be cautious

Sharon Graham Thanks. The page number question.

Sharon Graham I think the best strategy is to incorporate many keywords into a nice, readable resume.

Joanne Savoie Malone As a Recruiter I don't mind resumes of up to 15 pages. More than that is too much. I mostly work in IT where specific information is required, hence the long resumes.



Diana Foster My resumes have all of the important stuff on the first page - much like a "career snapshot. The next 1 or 2 pages are just the details. so the entire resume is about 3 pages long for more senior people. It seems to be working for me.

Skye Berry-Burke Page Number: Ideally two to three pages for the human reader! Their time is limited!!! The ATS doesn't care about page length.

Sharon Graham A garbled ATS resume that is too long might get through the ATS, but recruiters need to read the resume.

Skye Berry-Burke I agree Sharon!

Sharon Graham Good to know, Joanne.

Skye Berry-Burke Yes Diana. That sounds similar to my approach.

Sharon Graham That makes complete sense. You need to be cognizant of the job target to decide how long the resume should be.

Skye Berry-Burke Joanne, I am surprised! 15 pages... wow! However, yes technical resumes can definitely be lengthy.

Diana Foster I once had a candidate send me 16 pages which I edited down to 4!

Sharon Graham Longer is not better, I think just in general.

Skye Berry-Burke Very valid point Sharon. Each candidate, each target audience... they all have specific requirements and expectations that we need to factor in as resume writers.

Joanne Savoie Malone With the federal government some consultants have 30 pages long resumes.

Sharon Graham You can nicely jam pack a resume with key words and still make it concise and readable.

Joanne Savoie Malone However, like you said the length of the resume should be of the job target

Skye Berry-Burke Diana, I have done the same thing. Most resume trends of today are looking for short, concise and clear content and branding.

Sharon Graham True government resumes have specific requirements.

Skye Berry-Burke I always say to clients: if you haven't gained buy-in within the first three-quarters of the page, you have already lost them.

Sharon Graham Lori's question: Skye do the newer versions of ATS accept text boxes and tables

Angela S Often the cover letter is the most important part of a government application. They have key words and look for specific examples to screen people in or out.

Skye Berry-Burke To answer Lori's question: some do and some do not. I always ere on the side of caution here and ensure that anything found in a text box or table is also in the written content outside of these design elements. Just to be safe!

Lysa Appleton I avoid text boxes and tables because we cannot be sure which ATS is being used...

Lori Jazvac Thanks Skye!

Skye Berry-Burke There are approximately 193 different ATS systems... it is nearly impossible to create an all encompassing document. The goal is to create something that will get through the majority!

Sharon Graham I recommend the test of converting the document to .txt and seeing if the words stay. and stay in order.

Lori Jazvac thanks Sharon :)

Skye Berry-Burke Yes, as Sharon states, that is what I recommend as well.

Diana Foster How long does it take to create a fancy one page career snapshot resume? That would certainly add to the fees

Lysa Appleton is txt the same as ASCII?

Skye Berry-Burke I also send this .txt version to clients so they can easily copy and paste for specific online applications.

Angie Wisk Thank you for the book title "The Infographic Resume" do you have any other book recommendations that can provide strong design foundations?



Skye Berry-Burke Great question Diana! Easy answer is that it depends on the client and the accomplishments.

Skye Berry-Burke Some take me about two hours and others take me about 10... but this is after I have the comprehensive leadership resume written.

Sharon Graham I add about a couple of hours to the resume for design as well.

Skye Berry-Burke Angie a good book is Sharon Graham's Best Canadian Resume series. that is what got me started!

Angie Wisk Thank you!

Diana Foster Are you using the career snapshot as part of the resume package or an add-one to be purchased seperately?

Skye Berry-Burke Lysa, yes. .txt is the same as ASCII

Patricia Watson I second that - I have the Best Canadian Resume book in front of me, along with the cover letter one!

Sharon Graham We have a new edition of Best Canadian Resumes coming out late this year. It is jam packed with award winning resumes. Skye's resumes are featured along with a whole bunch of great CPC writers' work.

Laura Mitchell Loved the presentation, I try to be creative. I am impressed with the 1 page career snapshot and for sure will try working on a sample resume, today. Thank you.

Skye Berry-Burke Diana, it is client dependent. Some clients do not require the Career Snapshot. If they do, I am currently just adding into services. However, I have been contemplating offering a complete 21st Century Marketing Package at a premium price.

Sharon Graham For those who might want the current edition now, I have a few being printed. Just email me.

Diana Foster I'd be interested in the new resume book

Skye Berry-Burke Thank you Laura. And thank you Sharon!

Angela S I'd like one too!

Patricia Watson I will definitely be picking up the 2017 book when it comes out!

Marian Bernard @Sharon: I'd also be interested in receiving the newest edition.

Sharon Graham The books will be advertised as soon as they are ready. Sorry to get us off track.

Skye Berry-Burke I refer to the Best Canadian series often actually!

Sharon Graham Another question, anyone?

Sharon Graham Hope I didn't miss someone's question.

Skye Berry-Burke If we have missed a question, please ask again! :wink:

Lysa Appleton Skye, do you brand the cover letter to match the design of the resume?

Laura Mitchell I will be interested in the 2017 edition. Thanks.

Skye Berry-Burke Yes Lysa, I absolutely do!

Skye Berry-Burke I try to ensure that all documents created are branded to complement each other. This includes the LinkedIn profile.

Diana Foster Sharon, how are you helping candidates network on their own. Do you coach them at all?

Diana Foster oooopsss....I meant Skye. Sorry!

Skye Berry-Burke You can create a background image for LinkedIn now that can easily incorporate the branding strategy from the documents!

Sharon Graham Great LinkedIn idea, Skye!

Lysa Appleton I think that may be your next video :-)

Sharon Graham I have my profile branded and didn't even think of that for clients.

Angela S I like that!!!

Skye Berry-Burke I coach some who are willing to invest! Others, I recommend that they conduct informational interviews until a job is secured.



Skye Berry-Burke :blush:

Diana Foster How do candidates secure informational interviews?

Skye Berry-Burke Diana, throughout all of my communications with clients I encourage they think outside-of-the-box to generate job leads.

Brenda Collard-Mills I agree and think we should have a video lesson Skye on how you align their branding documents into LinkedIn.

Patricia Watson In terms of the description in the Experience section of LinkedIn, what strategies do you use to align this with the client's personal brand as outlined on their resume?

Cathy Milton Funny you ask that, Diana...I just set one up for my niece by contacting a family friend at the firm she's targeting.

Skye Berry-Burke Usually, I recommend they run a google search on the topic because there are great ideas on how to ask for an informational interview. Then it is up to them to set them up.

Sharon Graham My best tip for clients is not to ask for anything. Give information that will help people who are important to their job search.

Diana Foster personally, I think marketing oneself on Linkedin in is a necessity

Sharon Graham But, LinkedIn is like a resume. It's not fully done until the client has a face to face meeting.

Skye Berry-Burke I agree with Sharon! If you do ask, make sure you have something to return as a favour!

Sharon Graham That's why social networking is so crucial.

Skye Berry-Burke Patricia, I don't know if I have a specific strategy.

Skye Berry-Burke For LinkedIn, I try to bring in the personal career story to the description. The resume is more formal and LinkedIn is less formal.

Sharon Graham Clients need to reach out to people in companies.

Sharon Graham They need to contact peripheral people.

Diana Foster Sharon, are they phoning potential employers to set up informational interviews? That would be a stretch for many

Patricia Watson Great points.

Sharon Graham When a recruiter gets a referral from someone in the company it's almost 100% that they will at least respond to that candidate.

Skye Berry-Burke Another piece of advice I give to clients with a one-page Career Snapshot is to attach that as an image to their LinkedIn summary. We remove the address and include that as an image.

Skye Berry-Burke I agree with Sharon's statistic.

Laura Mitchell Most of my participants found their jobs by volunteering, informational interviews and knocking on employers doors.

Sharon Graham Even if the person is not a good fit, the recruiter will still feel obligated to at least look at the resume and respond since it was a referral.

Skye Berry-Burke Informational interviews are about networking and learning about the industry more than the company directly.

Lysa Appleton Also, after info meeting, try to get another name from the meeting.

Skye Berry-Burke The bonus is that when an opportunity does come up in the company, you are more likely to be thought about because you left a GREAT impression during the informational interview.

Lysa Appleton I love the idea about "challenge meetings" from the CPC conference...Ask what challenges they need solved.

Sharon Graham It is so important for our clients to understand networking. A beautiful resume designed the way Skye designs will work, but with the right strategy.

Skye Berry-Burke Yes, I encourage clients to treat the Career Snapshot more like a business card.

Lysa Appleton Sorry for the incorrect grammar! Yeesh...



Sharon Graham ATS resumes actually have a lower closing rate than a well designed resume and a contact.

Skye Berry-Burke No worries Lysa. Mine isn't much better today!

Diana Foster I love the whole networking / informational meeting idea but would love to learn more about how to help my clients do this.

Skye Berry-Burke ATS resumes only account for 20% of jobs secured. 80% of jobs are found from networking and the hidden job market.

Sharon Graham Diana, I'm just completing the curriculum for CDP-04 our Career Transition course. It heavily emphases helping clients to network. Lots of tips for practitioners.

Skye Berry-Burke Diana, it is about getting your name known in a professional manner. Putting yourself out there on Facebook and LinkedIn, or Twitter, demonstrating that you are a thought-leader in your industry and generating leads for your target.

Diana Foster That's what I thought, Skye. it's not unlike marketing anything...in this case, it's a person.

Sharon Graham Turning those online media contacts into meetings. When someone responds, ask for a meeting.

Skye Berry-Burke Setting up coffee dates or lunch dates with a friend who works in the same industry - letting them know you are looking for other opportuntities.

Sharon Graham Any questions to tap Skye's expertise in design?

Skye Berry-Burke Yes Diana. That is EXACTLY it!

Lysa Appleton Skye, did you take a MS Work course or just learn by doing?

Lysa Appleton Word

Skye Berry-Burke The resume and career snapshot are your marketing brochure. The interview and networking opportunities are your sales pitch. You are a company that you are trying to sell.

Skye Berry-Burke Lysa, I learned by doing. No formal training... just time and patience.

Skye Berry-Burke I am still learning something new everyday!

Diana Foster Do you know of any good Word design courses online?

Brenda Collard-Mills I'd like to know Skye how you create their LinkedIn background image based on the Word files you've created.

Lysa Appleton lynda.com

Diana Foster Thanks Lysa!

Sharon Graham CPC offers an Advanced Resume Development Program CDP-05 that incorporates resume design as well as ATS.

Skye Berry-Burke I believe Microsoft Word itself offers courses. Plus, YouTube is a great place to start! That is how I learned about MS Excel.

Diana Foster Thanks Sharon. I'll check out the CPC courses

Sharon Graham I will be developing an advanced resume design in Microsoft Word course in the fall.

Lysa Appleton Yes Sharon, I have been told it is an excellent course! Looking forward to taking it :smiley:

Cathy Milton I completed CDP-05 and it was fantastic!

Skye Berry-Burke Brenda, that is tricky. I am sure there is an easier way then what I do, but I copy it into "Paint" and save that as an image that is sized for LinkedIn background images.

Lori Jazvac The Advanced Resume course is excellent- highly recommended :)

Sharon Graham Wayne Pagani teaches that course. He really knows his stuff (almost as much as Skye LOL)

Diana Foster I guess I have to take the Advanced Resume course! :)

Skye Berry-Burke Probably more than Skye!!! I have seen his work!

Lori Jazvac Skye, do you have any insights on new design strategies or use of colour that is trending?

Lysa Appleton Skye- do you ever have the summary on the resume in 1st person?



Skye Berry-Burke Lori, I think the new trend is to use two bold colours sparingly....

Skye Berry-Burke It use to be that only one colour was used throughout... but now you are seeing green and blue together. Or blue and orange... and they really POP

Diana Foster I personally like using the 1st person but have avoided it on the resume.

Skye Berry-Burke Yes, Lysa. I definitely do! Almost always lately. I find it demonstrates confidence!

Cathy Milton How about colours similar to the brand colours of the company being targeted? Subliminal suggestion... :wink:

Sharon Graham You can use PowerPoint to paste a picture from LinkedIn (just for sizing) and then create the whole client design in Powerpoint.

Lori Jazvac thanks, Skye.:)

Skye Berry-Burke Absolutely Cathy! I just wrote one this morning using that technique!

Lori Jazvac great idea, Cathy :)

Patricia Watson I definitely see videos on formating on YouTube. You could also check out gcflearnfree.com for Microsoft Word tutorials

Skye Berry-Burke Great idea Patricia. Thank you!

Sharon Graham I think the question of 1st and 3rd person are strategic. It depends on the client, the target, and the situation.

Skye Berry-Burke PowerPoint. I haven't tried that yet Sharon. Something for me to fiddle with!!!!

Sharon Graham Not complaining about anyone in particular, but I find that if anyone ever says "I always do it this way" they are not serving their client best by being strategic.

Lysa Appleton Sharon - Ideas of when to absolutley NOT use 1st person? Any rule of thumb?

Skye Berry-Burke I agree with Sharon. You have to write the resume with the target audience in mind. If the organization you are targeting seems more "tight" or traditional, it is best to stick with third person.

Patricia Watson Sorry - it's gcflearnfree.org (not .com)

Sharon Graham I make every single picture you see on the CPC site and on the Course site using PowerPoint! My little secret.

Skye Berry-Burke I use MS Word and Paint. HAHA... That is my little secret!

Cathy Milton I like first person narrative for a graduate / entry level résumé. As Skye says, it demonstrates confidence and self-awareness. Plus, I find the traditional method a bit formal for younger job seekers.

Skye Berry-Burke Sharon, you should teach us PowerPoint! I would love to learn how you create the videos and stuff that you do!

Lysa Appleton I second Skye!

Sharon Graham There is never one rule, but I might use 3rd person for a senior executive and 1st person for someone targeting a customer service position for example.

Marian Bernard I "third" Skye!

Lysa Appleton Skye- do you have a rule of how much design is too much?

Diana Foster overdesign = overkill

Skye Berry-Burke For 1st or 3rd person -if it is Sales or Marketing or a role that requires great in person networking skills, I use first person!!!

Sharon Graham The video webinar that Skye presented was done entirely on PowerPoint and posted on YouTube. No cost at all if you have Office.

Skye Berry-Burke Lysa, I just use an eye-for-design. Some resumes tend to take on a life of their own once I start the process.

Lysa Appleton Thanks. I also really like your guideline of 1st person for cusomer interfacing roles!



Skye Berry-Burke I basically work with the document until I have something that looks crisp and clean. Fresh and bold... but still professional. Not over-powering. Some design elements can start to make a document look cheap, I want it to look professional and polished.

Sharon Graham Many people feel that they don't have an "eye for design" though. I always recommend that less is more. One good design element is all that is needed. Otherwise it could easily go over the top if you are not visual like what Skye is good at.

Diana Foster I think the 1st person is great for sales people too, as it's relationship building

Sharon Graham My, my! Look at the time!

Diana Foster Already?

Sharon Graham Any last minute burning question?

Skye Berry-Burke I agree with Sharon. When in doubt, be conservative. One or two colours that complement each other and no more than one logo or image for branding at the top of the page

Diana Foster What's the meaning of life?

Marian Bernard @Diana: BIG laugh!

Skye Berry-Burke Diana you are funny!!!

Sharon Graham LOL!

Skye Berry-Burke Wow, time flew by!

Lysa Appleton Thank you so much Skye and Sharon. Great session!

Sharon Graham Thanks so much, Skye for leading today’s live chat! Thanks everyone for participating so actively today. I’m in the office from 8:00am to 4:00pm Eastern (Ontario time) every weekday. My email is [email protected] Feel free to connect anytime.

Lori Jazvac Thanks so much, Skye, Sharon and everyone! Great chat :)

Skye Berry-Burke A tremendous thank you goes out to Sharon for sharing with the CPC community, and providing yet another great avenue for networking and professional development. A friendly reminder that we can continue the discussion on our online forum.

Diana Foster Thanks for the great chat. I already have some ideas.

Sharon Graham Please reach out to Skye by clicking on her profile on the left.

Marian Bernard Wonderful session; thank you, guys!

Laura Mitchell Thank you, Sharon and Skye.

Skye Berry-Burke Thank you everyone for a great chat!

Sharon Graham Did you know about our new CPC Member Referral program? You can earn free membership. Learn more here: http://careerprocanada.ca/community/cpc-member-referral-program/

Joanne Savoie Malone Great session, thank you Skye and Sharon!!

Sharon Graham Join us at our next webinar. You can see all of CPC Events here: http://careerprocanada.org/events

Skye Berry-Burke Any questions, please feel free to reach out!

Cathy Milton Great to see so many participants! Lots of information to take away. Thanks Skye, Sharon, and everyone!

Sharon Graham Thanks everyone for attending. The transcript of this chat will be up soon.

Skye Berry-Burke Have a great day everyone!

Skye Berry-Burke Thank you Sharon!

Sharon Graham :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Love ya, Skye :heart:

Skye Berry-Burke Love ya too Sharon! Great job today. Thank you for your help!!! :heart:

Patricia Watson Thank you!

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