How to Land a Job You’ll Love: Tips from certified Resume Strategist Greg Langstaff!

Regan Sheppard | May 15th, 2023

On April 5th, 2023, the Guelph S2BN Chapter hosted a virtual event to discuss all things jobs! Our special guest, Greg Langstaff (Certified Resume Strategist) shared cover letter and resume writing advice, as well as tips for upgrading your LinkedIn and nailing job interviews!

Students and early career professionals gathered to ask Greg questions about the job hunt process and how to make yourself and your application stand out. A live resume critique was also performed by Greg for one of our attendees!

Greg’s Tips for Resume Writing

It’s important to make your resume look attractive since it is a representation of yourself!
Branding, branding, branding!! Create a brand for yourself that is consistent across documents.
“Badass Bullet Points”: For each bullet point include an action, specific/quantifiable detail and results.
Sections
- Personal Summary – What do you want to do? An elevator pitch of yourself! Include at least 1 interpersonal skill.
- Areas of Expertise - Skills the job posting is looking for that you have
- Career Highlights – BIG 3! Your top 3 skills you want to elaborate on pulled from your specific experiences.
- Other Sections - education, technical proficiencies, volunteer experience, training/certifications, publications, awards, unpaid experience, volunteer/extra curriculars, student employment, course work, major projects, etc.
Use Keywords (to get past those ATS scanners)
- Words directly from posting
- Industry terminology
- Nice, simple formatting (visit: https://greglangstaff.com/resume-templates for pre-made, proven successful templates!)

Greg’s Cover Letter Tips

Introduction: Mention your key qualifications and why you’re interested in the position
Key Skills (in a table!!): key skills on left, examples of how you have these skills on the right (what are your 3-5 best skills that are most relevant to the job you’re applying to?)
Closing paragraph: Thank the hiring manager, provide closing statement regarding qualifications.

Greg’s Tips for Optimizing Your LinkedIn

Photo: Professional attire, eye contact, simple background, shoulders up, no awkward crops (don’t take it from a group photo!)
Banner Image: Make one on Canva – plenty of templates available. Eye catching and professional, adds to your personal branding.

About Section: What you currently do, what you like about what you do, and what else you do (hobbies, interests, give your personality some depth).

Other Sections: Keep up to date with your most current resume!

Greg’s Tips for Job Interviews

Be Yourself: BUT be your most energetic self.
Be Prepared: predict questions, prepare answers, and practice your answers.
Presentations: If giving a presentation as part of the interview process, don’t prepare only for the presentation, prepare for the Q&A too!

Q&A Session

Q: Should you talk directly about soft skills in the resume?

A: No, show these skills through your bullet points! The hiring manager should be able to infer this from examples given in your resume.

Q: What if you don't have specific experience with a skill from the job posting? How can you pull from related experiences to still make yourself sound qualified?

A: Have you been in a room with people talking about that thing? Talk about what you’ve learned from others! Or pull from other experiences (not necessarily academic or professional) where that skill was demonstrated.

Q: How soon before my graduation is it appropriate to start the job search?

A: Now! Just gage your availability! Let them decide – don’t be the one to rule yourself out.

Q: Is it worthwhile to have a separate volunteer section?

A: It depends, but you might need to call it something else (e.g., relevant experience). If it is still valuable to the position you’re applying for (i.e., you can demonstrate desired skills from it) then sure!

Q: How long should a resume be?

A: 2 pages MAX! But 1 is okay, and so is 1.5! Just include concise, relevant details.

Q: Tips on how to negotiate salary/benefits?

A: Do it the moment after the job is offered, but before you accept. Be polite and modest! I’ve never heard of someone getting their offer revoked because someone asked too much (they’re probably expecting you to try to negotiate a bit).

Check Greg out on social media for more tips!