Resume Review Checklist - Haskayne School of Business

Haskayne School of Business
Career Centre
Resume Review Checklist
Before you Begin Yes No N/A Notes
Do your qualifications match the needs of
the position(s) to which you are applying?
(First 2-3 requirements are most important)
Have you researched the company and
industry to identify the key words and tone
to use in your communications?
Have you identified top achievements from
all areas of your life including course
projects, case competitions, club
involvement, part-time work, volunteer
experience and community involvement?
Have you stated measurable outcomes for
your key accomplishments?
Contact Information
Is your name at the top of your resume in
14-18 point bold font?
Are your address, phone number and
e-mail in a smaller (min 10 font), non-bold
popular, common typeface?
(Arial/Helvetica/Calibri)
Is your e-mail address simple and
professional?
Have you updated your voice message
(home and/or cellular) to ensure your
message is professional and appropriate?
Is your resume a maximum of two pages
long (one page for I-Banking)?
Have you included your name and e-mail
address and/or phone number on both
pages of your resume as a header or
footer? (this will ensure the employer can
contact you should your 2 page resume
separate)
1

Haskayne School of Business
Career Centre
Objective and/or Profile Statements (optional – Co-op placement)
Is your objective or profile statement
relevant to the position?
Only include an objective for co-op
placement applications, indicate the
duration of your availability ie 4 or 8
month placement*
Is your statement 2-4 lines in length?
Skills
Have you listed five or less skills and
provided specific evidence for each?
Have you targeted your skills section to the
job posting instead of using generalizations
like “good team player”?
Have you avoided using “opinions” such as
valuable, excellent, superior, and strong?
Have you highlighted your computer skills?
Only include if you have experience
with programs outside of MSOffice
ie Adobe, SAP, Netsuite or if
MSOffice has been specified in the
job description*
Have you indicated a level of written and
spoken proficiency for languages other
than English?
Have you included related course work,
relevant projects, or study abroad in a way
that shows how you can transfer the
knowledge to business?
Education Yes No N/A Notes
Is education listed following the skills
section on your resume (second main
section)? (For alumni, does education
follow work experience?)
e.g. Available for a four or
eight month work-term in
January 2013
2

Haskayne School of Business
Career Centre
Have you listed your university degree in
the format below?
Bachelor of Commerce, Concentration (201?)
Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary
Is the year you are expected to graduate in
brackets after your concentration? (see
previous item)
Have you listed recent scholarships,
honours, or awards?
Is your GPA listed if 3.5/4.0 or higher?
Only include your GPA for co-op
placement resume applications
Have you removed your high school
information?
Experience Yes No N/A Notes
Is your work listed in reverse chronological
order (most recent experience first)?
Have you used a consistent format
throughout your resume for your position
title, company name, and location?
Are your dates spaced away from the text
and bolded to allow recruiters to quickly
scan them?
Have you used accomplishment
statements to describe your transferrable
skills? (Accomplishment Statement =
Action Verb + What You Did + Result)
Have you shown measurable outcomes for
your actions by including numbers and
percentages (remove words like “various”
“several”, “numerous” etc.)?
Have you removed passive phrases such
as “responsible for”, “learned”, “duties
include” and “knowledge of”?
Have you avoided pronouns like "I" or
"me", or the use of third person?
Have you used present tense for current
tasks and past tense for former activities
(avoid “ing” verbs)?
3

Haskayne School of Business
Career Centre
Have you had someone else review your
resume for spelling and grammar?
Do not rely on spell check!
Extracurricular Activities Yes No N/A Notes
Have you included relevant student club
activities or other school involvement?
Have you been specific about team
commitments including your role and high
level competitions?
Volunteer Experience Yes No N/A Notes
Have you included long-term volunteer
commitments in the same format as work
history?
Refrain from including cultural,
religious or political affiliated
experience
Keep experience specific and
relevant
Have you used accomplishment
statements to describe your transferrable
skills? (Accomplishment Statement =
Action Verb + What You Did + Result)
Have you quantified your actions where
possible by including numbers and
percentages?
If you do not have anything for this section,
do not include it on your resume.
Final Review
Will the relevant information stand out
during a 10-second scan?
Are there absolutely no spelling mistakes
or grammatical errors?
Does the resume contain all necessary
information without a cover letter?
Does the resume contain contact
information on both pages of your resume
as a header or footer?
4

Haskayne School of Business
Career Centre
Is your resume a maximum of two pages
long (one page for I-Banking)?
Online Resume Submission
Have you selected the best key words and
arranged them in an appropriate order?
Have you used common headings? (i.e.
Objective, Skills, Education, Experience,
Volunteer Experience, Extracurricular, etc.)
Have you used a popular, common
typeface? (Arial/Helvetica/Calibri)
Have you used bullets for your pdf resume
and dashes for your online resume?
Consider other formats such as rich
text and read only
Have you started every line at the left
margin?
Have you put wide margins around your
text and white space between sections?
5