Master the Art of Resume Writing: Tips for ATS, Keywords & Job Search Success

In this episode of the Thrive Careers Podcast, host Olajumoke Fatoki sits down with resume expert Chantal Sneath to uncover the secrets to crafting a standout resume that gets noticed. From avoiding common mistakes to mastering customization, they dive into the essentials of leveraging AI tools, using the right keywords, and optimizing formatting for ATS systems. Chantal shares powerful strategies for showcasing achievements, addressing career gaps, and tailoring resumes for the Canadian job market. Plus, they explore the game-changing role of LinkedIn optimization, networking, and treating your resume as a marketing tool. Whether you're re-entering the workforce, switching careers, or aiming for your next big role, this episode is packed with actionable tips to elevate your job search!

Transcript

Welcome everyone to the Thrive Careers podcast, the show that helps professionals land their dream jobs and build thriving career. I am your host, Olajumoke Fatoki. And today we are diving into one of the most critical aspects of job searching, how to craft a winning resume that stands out in today's competitive job market. Our guest today is Chantal Smith.

a resume and career building expert with years of experience helping professionals refine their resumes, optimize their LinkedIn profiles, and position themselves for career success. She has worked with job seekers across industries, helping them secure opportunities and advance their careers. Today, Shanta will share insider tips on the most common resume mistakes.

the key elements of a standout resume and how job seekers, especially newcomers to Canada, can tailor their resumes to meet employer expectations. So if you've been struggling to get interviews, I say to you, this episode is for you, all right? So Chantelle, welcome to the Thrive Careers Podcast.

Chantal Sneath (01:27.48)
Thank you so much, Ola. Thank you for having me.

Olajumoke Fatoki (01:31.159)
All right. Okay. Do want to tell us a little bit more, you know, about what inspired you to start helping newcomers, you know, and to start helping people with their resumes, with their, with their job search, you know, and stuff like that.

Chantal Sneath (01:47.79)
Yeah, that's a great question. And so what inspired me was there's someone in my close circle who lost their job through layoff a couple of years ago. And before this person's experience, I also like was struggling to find a job that I love. And so when this person got this terrible news,

could see her struggle and it just made me think that I had all of this knowledge both as a candidate as a hiring manager because I've hired people before and I just thought that you know I wanted to help her but I also knew there were so many other people who were laid off or they were also or unhappy with their jobs and they're really looking to find something else so that's kind of like my my origin story.

Olajumoke Fatoki (02:43.01)
Amazing amazing the so at the core of it, you know, he's basically helping people and that's that's fantastic Thank you so much. Alright, so we just move into the icebreaker question for today. Are you ready? Alright social tell do you want to tell us if your career journey were to be a movie? What would the title be and why our listeners would love to know?

Chantal Sneath (02:57.452)
I guess.

Chantal Sneath (03:10.894)
I think the name of the movie would be Twists and Turns.

Olajumoke Fatoki (03:19.092)
Okay, can you tell us why?

Chantal Sneath (03:21.986)
Well, think when you, certainly if I reflect back on my career, I've been working for almost 25 years now in my field of marketing communications. When you first start out, you just cannot predict where you're gonna end up.

five years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now. you know, there's, it's ups and downs and it's, it's never a trajectory in a straight line. It's very like this and like this and that's what it's been like for me. So I feel like that title is, yeah, it makes sense.

Olajumoke Fatoki (03:57.72)
Perfect. and turns, know, basically being able to go with the flow during the ups, during the downs, you know, you just keep moving. Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I love that. You know, I love that title that you gave it, twist and turns. All right. So we're getting now into the cork discussion, our core discussion for today. All right.

Chantal Sneath (04:08.974)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Olajumoke Fatoki (04:24.949)
And that's going to take us about 20 to 25 minutes. So please share lots of examples as much as you can. And listeners, you know, cannot wait to draw from your wealth of experience. So the first question, what is the most common mistakes job seekers make with their resumes and how can they fix it?

Chantal Sneath (04:52.094)
say the most common mistake that I've seen is people do not customize their resume for each op-ge that they pitch to or pitch for. I've in my experience as a hiring manager I've seen a lot of generic resumes or almost worse generic cover letters which we can get into if you want but

It just, get the sense, particularly if you're looking at applications that come through LinkedIn, that people are just kind of throwing their resumes at anyone who's hiring that day or that week. And as a hiring manager, can feel that. You feel there's no care that's been taken into the application from the candidates. So I would say that's the most...

That's a very common thing that I've seen and that I see.

Olajumoke Fatoki (05:53.492)
Okay, generic resumes not, you know, tailoring their resumes to fit the different jobs that they are applying for. Right.

Chantal Sneath (06:02.094)
Yeah, because it's interesting. If, for example, you're applying for a job as a financial analyst, for example, each company that recruits for that role, they might be looking for different things. They might be using different systems, different softwares. They might be looking for different type of person in terms of personality traits, skills, and abilities.

Olajumoke Fatoki (06:11.255)
Mm-hmm.

Chantal Sneath (06:31.278)
So this is where customization really plays a role because, you know, just because, you know, this one institution is looking for one financial analyst, doesn't necessarily mean the other one is looking for the same kind of financial analyst, if you know what I mean. It's not just about, you know, level of seniority. There's a lot of nuances in terms of what hiring managers want and which I know can be frustrating for candidates, but that's just the way it is.

Olajumoke Fatoki (06:46.816)
Yeah.

Olajumoke Fatoki (06:59.66)
Beautiful. You know, there's a book that I read sometimes back in my career. The title of that book is getting a job is a job.

Chantal Sneath (07:09.614)
It is. It really, really is. Yeah. Yeah.

Olajumoke Fatoki (07:13.331)
Exactly. So gone are the days of generic resumes. You know, you just one, one size fits all. You apply for every job, you know, even though it's the same job title, like you said, you know, but the nuances can be different from organization to organization. So I think that's a really critical point and thank you so much for bringing that out. So the notice of our listeners. All right. So Taylor, your resume is the takeaway, you know, from that question.

to fit the organization or the role that you're applying for. Okay, so take that question a bit further, like a follow-up question. Do you think that there is a common misconception about resume writing that people need to unlearn?

Chantal Sneath (08:00.462)
Hmm, a common misconception about resume writing. Well, I think one common misconception is that you have to be very good at writing in general to produce a good resume. And obviously that skill helps a lot. But.

I think that with the advent of AI and tools like chat GPT, there are tools out there that you can use to make your writing better. I'll give like a very, very granular concrete example. You know, if you write a paragraph about an experience that you have,

and you're not sure it's that great, you can actually throw it into chat GPT and ask it to rewrite it or make it better. And you could be surprised with the results. And I always throw caution, just make sure that you check what it writes for you, make sure it's accurate and that it also is in your voice. But I know some people are intimidated by

Olajumoke Fatoki (08:47.809)
Hmm.

Chantal Sneath (09:11.308)
the act of writing and you know, when you're writing your resume, you are selling yourself, you are marketing yourself and most people are scared to do that and they don't know how to do that and it's intimidating. So there's kind of like this double, it's like a double edged sword, you know, the act of writing but you're also like, you have to pitch yourself, right, in a resume. You have to put yourself forward in the best possible light so that someone wants to interview you.

So.

Olajumoke Fatoki (09:41.58)
Yeah, fantastic. I think, you know, one key thing that you also highlighted there is the ability to leverage technology, you know, so you don't have to know how to write. It's good, but you know, you can also leverage technology and you also provided a balance right there to say, so AI can give you the first draft, but you also have to own it, you know, make it sound like you, you know, polish it to reflect your own persona.

and bring everything that makes you different from the next candidate, you know, into the first draft that AI, you know, can provide for you. So that is really good. I'm also thinking, is there any chance that formatting and layout still makes any difference today, you know, in resume writing?

Chantal Sneath (10:31.532)
They certainly do. If you are submitting your resume to a large organization, I'm talking Google or Meta or any financial institution, for example, they all use what they call ATSs, so it's applicant tracking system. What happens is when you submit your resume to an email address,

It is not human eyeballs that see a resume first. It's this kind of the system, this machine really that scans each resume it receives and it looks for specific keywords and also specific format. So if you.

don't have the keywords that they are looking for that they've identified for that position or if the format of your resume is not clean and simple, your resume probably will be rejected and will never be seen by a human hiring manager or human resources person. So format is really important because even if you are...

On the other hand, if you're submitting your resume to, I don't know, someone like me where I don't have an ATS at work because we're too small of an organization to afford that, hiring managers don't have a lot of time. And you have to keep in mind that we're dozens, if not hundreds of resumes for one role. We are scanning resumes very, very quickly to see, hey, this one looks good. This one looks less relevant.

This one looks a bit too complicated to understand because there's graphics and pictures and columns and there's all kinds of things. That can discourage a higher manager pretty quickly from looking at your resume. So thank you, Ben Mom.

Olajumoke Fatoki (12:30.626)
Fantastic. All right. Thank you so much. I think you also mentioned something right there that I want us to dive further into. HCS, know, technology keeps changing our world and there's really nothing we can do about it other than to adapt the applicants tracking system. You know, how do people ensure that they pass the test, the HCS tests, you know, in terms of the keywords, I feel like

You know, that might be big for some people if you can break it down further, you know, what you mean by having relevant keywords on your resume to ensure that your resume passes the ATS test and you even get a chance of getting into the hands of the recruiter.

Chantal Sneath (13:10.104)
Thank

Chantal Sneath (13:13.838)
Yeah, that's a great question. And I know that for lot of candidates, it's a really tough nut to crack because you're not dealing with a human being. You're dealing with a machine and who can control that? I would say like the best tip I could get to give to job seekers is...

actually read the job posting before you apply. Read it carefully. A, to make sure that it's a job you actually are interested in because otherwise you're wasting your time applying for it. But also to see which keywords come up in the job posting. I would look at the skills required section.

the main paragraph where they're talking about kind of like a summary of the role in question and see if any words come up that are repeated.

or seem important for that hiring manager. And I would just highlight those. That's what I was doing when I was last looking for a job. But just highlight or circle and see if A, you have those attributes and those skills and experiences. And if you do, you should take those very same keywords and put them in your resume, specifically in your summary, which we can talk about. And if you have those keywords in your resume, the ATS will pick that

up. And I've seen it happen for myself and others. You you submit, you know, a resume into this nebulous galaxy. You're like, I don't know where it's going to end up, if anywhere. But, you know, using those keywords, my resume really, it helps. I would say that's the best way to go about it. Otherwise, you know, the system will just not

Olajumoke Fatoki (14:52.682)
Right?

Chantal Sneath (15:07.874)
pick up your resume and they'll pick up someone else's who actually has those keywords.

Olajumoke Fatoki (15:12.427)
fantastic. Thank you for helping to break that down. Exactly how people can, you know, get those relevant keywords and highlight them on your resume by actually reading job posting. You a of people don't do that. And it's a good thing that you call the attention to that, that you read the job posting, you read the job description and highlight. I've not looked at it from that angle before, you know, those words that keeps coming over and over, that means they are very important, you know, to the hiring manager. So,

You then pick on all of that and incorporate it into your own resume. And that's exactly what it means to have relevant keywords. So I hope that this helps to demystify the concepts for people who have been asking me. I've gotten that question over and over. What exactly do you guys mean when you say, know, sprinkle relevant keywords on your resume? So there you have it listeners. You now understand what it means to, you

Chantal Sneath (15:54.094)
Okay.

Olajumoke Fatoki (16:10.657)
put relevant keywords in your resume and where to find them. Thank you so much, Chantelle, for sharing that with us.

Chantal Sneath (16:24.002)
No problem.

Olajumoke Fatoki (16:24.885)
Yeah. All right. So, okay. Before we move to the next question, thank you. There's something that you also mentioned. I don't just want to leave any stone unturned, especially because resume is like the fundamental, you know, into building any successful career, into getting into any role. It gives you the first, it's like creating the first impression. So as many things, as many sections that comes to mind.

whether I have them written down because of course this is meant to be a conversation. My questions are just to provide a guide. So you mentioned summary and I wanted us to also build a bit on that. You know, just touch on what it means to have, you know, that summary on the resume and how to have one that is captivating.

Chantal Sneath (17:13.038)
Yeah, that's a great question. I'm glad you brought that up again, because I believe strongly in that. you know, for those who may not know, a summary is a very short paragraph, like four to five lines at most, below, you know, your name and your contact information, the very top of your resume, that summarizes what kind of a professional you are and what you can bring to the table for the company you're applying to. It is...

one of the best places, not the best places in your resume to insert the keywords that we've been talking about. For example, I don't know, we're going back to the financial analyst who's looking for a job. I'm assuming financial analysts have to have a certain set of skills. And so you would put those keywords in your summary. For example, experienced financial analysts, look for an opportunity and...

X institution and then you would kind of go on with just a very brief summary of your skills. And these are things, by the way, this is content that you would not necessarily see in your work experience section or...

you know, your technical skills section that's separate or your education. And I would say that I've seen a shift in the last few years. I if it was triggered by the pandemic or not, but there are more and more companies that are divesting themselves the requirement of cover letters for their job applications, which means that candidates just have to submit a resume, which is great because it's less work for you as a candidate.

The problem with that is that in a cover letter, you can really tell your story and present yourself in a more, kind of in a different format.

Olajumoke Fatoki (19:03.307)
Mm-hmm.

Chantal Sneath (19:03.438)
as if you were talking to someone. But if you don't have to submit a cover letter or you choose not to, the next place where you can really pit yourself is the summary on your resume. So I keep that in mind. And I have just a tangent word of advice. If an institution is asking for a cover letter, you should submit one because...

If they didn't want to read your cover letter, they wouldn't be asking for it. So you should write that cover letter and send it to them.

Olajumoke Fatoki (19:39.335)
Fantastic. A lot of people these days feel like, you know, cover letters are not needed, you know, but like you said, if an organization has requested for it, you know, ensure to, you know, to give it to them. And it's like the best place to express yourself, you know, in a cover letter. And in the absence of a cover letter, that's what she was saying about the summary section is another good place, four to five lines.

Chantal Sneath (19:56.926)
Absolutely.

Olajumoke Fatoki (20:06.699)
you know, to really express yourself, your value proposition and what you bring to the table and a great place to also, you know, use the relevant keywords that we have highlighted in the course of this conversation. All right, so moving on, let's talk a little bit about, you know, the people aspect. Let's bring real life examples. So can you share an example with us of a client you've worked with whose career was transformed after, you know, you worked on their resume?

Chantal Sneath (20:35.694)
Well, I was working with a man a couple of months ago now who came from another country and His he was struggling to find a position in his field in here in Canada and He found out the hard way that the format of his resume

from his country, native country, just wasn't accepted here in Canada. It just wasn't a format that hiring managers here are used to or accept. And so I kind of, I helped him reformat his resume and it wasn't rocket science, but you know, it was just something new that he had to learn and be exposed to. And like my advice to newcomers,

is to make sure that you have the right format. I know in some countries they refer to resumes as curriculum V-ties. Here in Canada, a CV is actually like, that's what academics submit when they're looking for a job, like as a professor or something like that. But in a regular for-profit or non-profit organization, it's called a resume. So just these little details that make a big difference in terms of how you communicate with a hiring manager or company.

can make a big difference.

Olajumoke Fatoki (21:57.058)
Fantastic. All right. As a follow up to that question, you know, for that transformation that the, your clients experienced, there other things that they did beyond resume? Like in terms of networking, LinkedIn optimization, our listeners would like to know. So beyond resume, yeah.

Chantal Sneath (22:15.692)
Yeah. So I think that's the other, I think that's like the other 50 % of the component for, I know what you're trying to get at. It's really important. Networking is huge. And LinkedIn is, I think everyone should be on LinkedIn. I mean, there might be some sectors of the economy where maybe it's less relevant, but certainly for my self-marking communications.

almost any industry. I know teachers who are on LinkedIn. But I would highly recommend if you're not on LinkedIn as a job candidate, you should be. And you should connect with literally everyone that you know. It doesn't necessarily to be just former colleagues or bosses or anything like that. It can actually be your friends. It can be neighbors because the thing with networking is

you never know what the person you know, like who they know, you know? So that's what networking is about. And I think that we could have a whole other episode about LinkedIn optimization, because it really is a bit of a beast, but.

but it's a wonderful way and also it's a great way to find job postings. There are a lot of job postings on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has made it very easy to apply through the easy apply button, which I discourage doing, but there's a lot of jobs on there and it's a big hive of activity, LinkedIn.

Olajumoke Fatoki (23:45.445)
Hehehehehe

Olajumoke Fatoki (23:56.354)
Fantastic. All right, so it's not just going to be resume alone, know, networking, you know, being active on LinkedIn and you know, everything that Chantelle has also alluded to. All right, so thank you very much for sharing that with us. So the job market is crowded, you know, especially today's competitive job markets.

Should professionals still prioritize skills, achievements or experience on their resumes?

Chantal Sneath (24:32.92)
That's a great question. I think that for hiring manager, speaking for myself personally, and I know others would agree, is that I think we're interested in what you've done in your previous positions because we make the connection that, if this person was able to do X in that job, they can do the same in this job that I need to fill, and they might be able to do even better because they have more experience.

So I would suggest, you know, in the work experience section, what I've seen a lot, unfortunately, is people just list the tasks that they've done in their previous job or their current job, depending on the situation.

And I would really strongly recommend candidates focus on listing their achievements for that position. And if they can quantify that, all the better. That's easy to do if you're in marketing or sales or finance, maybe less obvious in other fields. If you cannot quantify with numbers or statistics, make sure to put some feedback.

that you've received because FYI, you should be looking for feedback on your performance at work. If you're not getting it from people directly, you should seek that out to see how you're doing. But I think it's really important to show the hiring manager what you're capable of doing, which is different than the tasks that you were given, you know, so.

I don't know if that makes any sense.

Olajumoke Fatoki (26:10.121)
Yeah, that's still very much important because you know, that was my question. Should they still prioritize such things? And you've been able to, you know, justify that that instead of, know, just a list of responsibilities showcase your achievements. because that's what tells the hiring managers that if you've done it before, then you know, you're able to, to do it, you know, in the current role, as against what most of us are used to.

of just listing our task, the responsibilities on our resume. So as against having that, having our achievements, and also you said something very critical that people should seek for feedback. And I feel like if you could help us touch more a bit on that as well, how can people seek for feedback on their role? Because some people are just used to,

As long as I'm getting my job done, whether that my line manager or my, you know, the people that I work with say anything about it or not, it doesn't matter. As long as I get my paycheck at the end of the day. So why should they really, you know, seek feedback on their job? Why is that important?

Chantal Sneath (27:26.242)
Well, think, I mean, for yourself personally as an employee, I think you want to know where you stand with the organization. You know, people do get fired for poor performance. So if you're not performing well, you need to know so that you can correct that and, you know, keep your job. That's the obvious reason. But I think...

It's important to seek feedback because you want to build on your achievements, right? Like you want to have some momentum in your career, no matter where you are in your career, whether you're starting or you're where I am. With, you know, decades of experience and it's just very motivating to get feedback. And even if you get negative feedback, hopefully constructive feedback.

there's lessons to be gained from those, from those pieces of feedback. And you also have to keep in mind that not everything that we do in our job works out. Sometimes we don't do a great job and that's okay. Not everyone has great days all the time. And I think it's important to analyze the feedback that you get, both negative and positive, and see if there's any patterns.

I'll give a tip like I have this sounds a bit cheesy, but I have a little fan mail sub inbox in my Gmail at work. So whenever I get like people calling me on my work or whatever, I just throw it in there. If you're having a bad day, it's nice to go back that fan mail inbox and you see actually, you know, like you're actually a decent professional. You're doing a good job. But it also gives you a track record of feedback and you can follow up with people.

If they say, that was a good job, you can say, well, what was it about it that I did that you appreciated? know, like drill a little bit deeper into how people are feeling about the work that you've done. And it's really, really helpful to know that. And you know where your strengths are, and you also know where your weaknesses are, and then can work on your weaknesses, which we all have, so.

Olajumoke Fatoki (29:36.296)
Absolutely. You know, very important for you to know where you stand, you know, that's the major reason, you know, for asking for those feedback and tying it back to the, the resume conversation that we, you know, where we started off from. That's another thing, you know, you can also showcase on your resume, you know, if you've had, you know, some of those quality feedback, you know, that you can also showcase as someone who, you know,

is able to deliver on the job and deliver exceptionally well. All right. You want to add something to that?

Chantal Sneath (30:13.932)
No, no, I think you summarized that beautifully.

Olajumoke Fatoki (30:14.887)
Okay. Fantastic. All right. So now let's talk about new comers in Canada. You know, many newcomers struggle with resume formatting, Canadian employer expectations, you know, how to frame their international experience in a way that resonates with the Canadian employers. So what advice would you give to newcomers in Canada to adapt their resumes, you know, to fit the Canadian job market?

Chantal Sneath (30:43.854)
That's a great question. I would say to newcomers that the first thing they should do is go to employment.

agency. I can't remember what the name of the entity here is for the federal government in Canada, but they have resources for job seekers and they're well aware of, you know, the challenges that lie ahead for newcomers that come to this country. And you can also speak to someone like me or other career or resume specialists and very, very quickly you're going to be, you know, steered in the right direction in terms of the format and anything.

else that needs to be tweaked so that you present yourself in the best possible light to hiring managers. So I would just seek some advice about that. And there are lots of people out there that can help you.

Olajumoke Fatoki (31:35.01)
Fantastic. You know, that was my next question, but you already covered it. Like, do they need to use recruiters or, you know, should networking also be part of their job search strategy? You know, should they seek career coaches who can guide them? And I think that pretty much explains it. So there you have it. Dear newcomers in Canada, you know, look for the people who have the experience, you know, and how resumes in this claim work so you can...

they can help you to adapt your resume to fit within the Canadian context. Thank you. All right, so this particular question is very dear to my heart because I found myself along this line some years ago. And I'd really like to hear what your own perspective is. If someone is revisiting their resume after a long gap, what should they focus on first?

How do they address the career gaps? Because it can really be a challenge. What strategies can they employ? How do they highlight their strengths despite a career break?

Chantal Sneath (32:46.828)
That's a great question. I can relate to that personally. I took a five year maternity leave to have and raise my children who are now older teenagers. So I actually have been through this myself personally and it can be challenging. Couple things. think first you have to decide if you want to reinsert yourself back into the kind of career you had before your break. If you do, then you just have to kind of

kind of revisit your resume, kind of take the dust off and refresh it. Maybe you didn't update it after you left for your break. If you did not, then you obviously should. As for addressing the gap, I would just be honest with hiring managers about that. They know that some women take some time off to be with their children.

That can be easily explained. It's nothing to be ashamed of. You can just say it. It doesn't make you less of a competent professional. What I would say to people who have a gap and who want to stay in their career is make sure you keep up with the trends in your career and your particular market because things move at a really fast pace.

I don't know if we were talking about AI five years ago. I don't remember if we did, but it feels really new to me and now it's all over the place. So it's just things like that. The second bit is if you took a break and you decide you want to pivot your career coming out of the break and you want to do something different.

Olajumoke Fatoki (34:17.751)
Hmm.

Chantal Sneath (34:35.788)
would say look at the experience that you acquired before your break and see if there's any transferable skills, what I call soft skills, things like communication, organizational skills, et cetera, et cetera, that you can apply to the career that you want. Now, it really depends on what kind of new career you want. You may have to go back to school. If you do, then you need those new credentials, right? You need that diploma or that certificate.

to put on your resume. So you gotta take the time to acquire that. It really depends on the situation. I would say first, try to see what experience you've acquired and see how you can transfer some, if not all, of skills into your new career. I know a lot of people out of their break, decide to become entrepreneurs and start their own businesses. That's a whole other thing. As you're working for yourself.

But that would be my advice.

Olajumoke Fatoki (35:38.945)
Fantastic. All right. So I have a follow-up question to that as well. You know, how can they leverage things like volunteering, freelancing, or certifications to bridge some of those gaps?

Chantal Sneath (35:53.708)
Sorry, what? How would?

Olajumoke Fatoki (35:54.988)
How can they leverage volunteering, freelancing, or acquiring certifications to fill some of those gaps?

Chantal Sneath (35:57.87)
Mm.

Chantal Sneath (36:03.692)
Yep, well that's a great question. I would include those things in your resume if they're relevant for the job that you're applying for. Volunteer work is very valuable. Not just for the organization that you're serving, but it's also valuable to you because...

you probably will acquire skills in that volunteer position that you wouldn't have acquired otherwise in a paid position, right? And that's been my experience anyway. So you should put those down in a resume. And if there's some skills you acquired in those other activities, you can put those in your summary, for example. I would suggest you have a separate section for volunteer work.

but for example, but I would not discount those experiences if you feel they're relevant for the job that you're posting.

Olajumoke Fatoki (37:04.809)
Okay, so I wanted us to sort of tie it into the people who are addressing career gaps. That's like, so that question is like an offshoot that if you know, one of the things that they can do to also stay ahead, whilst they are taking the career break is to also leverage like volunteering, you know, like freelancing, you know, that's like the yeah.

Chantal Sneath (37:26.69)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel like those experiences are a great bridge between two kind of, you know, paid positions. They keep you busy. One, they also keep you kind of current and relevant in the job marketplace. And

And organizations are appreciative of that. mean, volunteers all have a great reputation. So it's not a bad thing to have on your resume, but they are great bridge makers, I feel, between two positions. And they keep you in touch with society and what's going on in society. There's only so much that you can glean from what you see online or in the news. You really have to get out and muck about.

know, with organizations who need help. And that's a great way to do it.

Olajumoke Fatoki (38:20.747)
Fantastic. Thank you so much, Chantelle. We've come to the end of our five core questions for today. But before we wrap up, know, let's have some fun with a quick round of rapid fire questions. Just say the first thing that comes to mind. Don't overanalyze it. You know, let's just have some fun. Of course, if you want to explain a bit, it's fine, you know, but just, you know, keep it simple. So.

Chantal Sneath (38:39.918)
Alright.

Olajumoke Fatoki (38:48.733)
One resume mistake that instantly turns off employers. What would that be?

Chantal Sneath (38:55.714)
me it's spelling mistakes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It means someone didn't proofread their resume. Yeah. Yes.

Olajumoke Fatoki (38:58.36)
spelling mistakes.

Right and that's a huge turn off for you. All right Listeners, I hope you can hear it no spelling mistakes because I mean in today's world there are no excuses. There are tons of you know platforms that you can use to proofread your resume and ensure that there are no errors so Yeah, second question. What's a must-have resume section that job seekers often overlook?

Chantal Sneath (39:21.006)
exactly.

Chantal Sneath (39:32.557)
I would say the summary. It's either overlooked or it's too long or it's not compelling enough. I feel like it's often the Achilles heel in the resumes that I've seen.

Olajumoke Fatoki (39:48.944)
Alright, let's move to the third one. So if you weren't in your current field, what career would you have pursued?

Chantal Sneath (39:59.097)
my goodness.

I'm not sure, but I think I'd be really happy owning a bookstore.

Olajumoke Fatoki (40:11.115)
Thanks for watching!

Olajumoke Fatoki (40:15.499)
Hello? No, no, no, can you take that again?

Chantal Sneath (40:16.684)
Yes, did you hear me?

Yeah, I said that I think I would be happy owning a bookstore. I think that, yeah. Yeah.

Olajumoke Fatoki (40:23.923)
A book store! Amazing! wow! That means you have a large collection of books. You're a book lover.

Chantal Sneath (40:31.188)
It's not large enough.

Olajumoke Fatoki (40:32.44)
All right, we get it it means you really love books and you're still acquiring more. Okay one day I hope I get to visit your library All right, thank you so much Chantelle this has been an amazing conversation You've given you've given our listeners so much clarity, you know on crafting a strong resume and what it takes to stand out in today's competitive job market

Chantal Sneath (40:39.65)
Yes.

Chantal Sneath (40:49.506)
Thank you.

Olajumoke Fatoki (41:01.099)
But before we finally let you go, where can our listeners connect with you and how can they learn more about your work and what you do?

Chantal Sneath (41:10.21)
Well, thanks for asking. I'm on LinkedIn, obviously, so you should look for me, Chantal Snaith on LinkedIn. You can follow me. I've got a free resource, which is a checklist, a resume checklist. You just run down the list, make sure you have all those things on your resume so you can start with that. And I post every day with some tips and tricks for making your job seeking a little bit easier. But yeah, LinkedIn is where people can find me.

Olajumoke Fatoki (41:38.081)
Fantastic. All right. So what are your final words for our listeners, know, to job seekers, corporate professionals, you know, the different audience that we serve, what would be your final words to them on this episode?

Chantal Sneath (41:52.974)
Well, I think my final piece of advice, and this is coming from, I'm wearing my marketing hat right now, is that resumes are actually a marketing piece. It is, you know, it's really up to you to use it, you know, wisely. But people should treat their resume as such. It is literally something that represents them and sells them, good or bad. And so...

I feel people need to...

think of it in that way. And I think like that shift in mentality really can help to conquer a hiring manager's heart. And if I may a second piece of advice, I would really strongly encourage people, job seekers to network. I have a saying I did not make, I did not invent this, but you know, it's not what you know, it's who you know. And sometimes if you're connected with the right person,

that right person can open a door for you and you're in a different place in your career and your life. so I really encourage people to network and get to know as many people as you can.

Olajumoke Fatoki (43:05.931)
Fantastic. It is not who you know. It is not what you know, but who you know. What a way to bring this to an end. Thank you so much, Chantelle. Thank you once again, you know, for being on the Thrive Careers podcast. And to all our listeners, if you found today's episode valuable, do not forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and be sure to share this with someone who needs it.

Chantal Sneath (43:13.283)
Yeah.

Chantal Sneath (43:18.338)
you.

Olajumoke Fatoki (43:34.584)
Until we come at your way again next time until I come your way again next time keep thriving in your career Thank you All right, that brings us to the end of this episode Thank you so much until so I'm going to cut it off from you know, the last thank you. This is just The wrap-up between you and I

Chantal Sneath (43:45.666)
Thank you.

Olajumoke Fatoki (44:03.083)
Thank you for another fantastic session. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So, I'm just after now I'm going to, you know, upload it and see what the recording, you know, looks like. And just like the last time I'm definitely going to carry you along, you know, in the, in the, yeah. Yeah.

Chantal Sneath (44:06.69)
Thank you. Hopefully that came out loud and clear. Yeah.

Chantal Sneath (44:24.374)
Mm, yeah, just like you did earlier this month, yeah, which was great. I really appreciated that. Yeah. Yeah.

Olajumoke Fatoki (44:29.011)
Yeah, thank you so much. I appreciate you and I really want to be in your network. I want to you know, be part of what you also do if there's in any capacity that you think I can come on board, you know and help you, know achieve one or two things. would very much love to do that with you. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. All right. So

Chantal Sneath (44:47.982)
Well, that's great. I saw you accepted my LinkedIn request a few days ago. Yeah, thank you.

Olajumoke Fatoki (44:57.976)
I don't know if you have any questions, you know, or if it's okay for you from here.

Chantal Sneath (45:02.368)
no, no, I'm really, I'm very grateful that you gave me the second chance. I really appreciate that. I know it's extra work for you so.

Olajumoke Fatoki (45:07.128)
Yeah i'm glad that we could you know, we could do this and the fact that we We recognize the need of our listeners, you know And that was that was a great call out for me because I didn't want to inconvenience you So I thought you know, maybe we could run it but the moments you call that out i'm like You know, this is this is commitment and I really appreciate it. So thank you so much All right Yeah All right. Enjoy the rest of your day and i'll be in touch with you via email and

Chantal Sneath (45:14.936)
Yeah, me too.

Chantal Sneath (45:30.794)
Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for your opportunity.

Olajumoke Fatoki (45:40.353)
can take the conversation from that.

Chantal Sneath (45:42.57)
Okay, thank you so much, Ola. Have a great weekend. Bye-bye.

Olajumoke Fatoki (45:44.851)
You too have a wonderful one. Bye. Yeah.

Olajumoke Fatoki (46:17.469)
Welcome everyone to this week's episode of the Thrive Careers podcast, the show where we help professionals land their dream jobs and build thriving careers. My name is Olaj Moke Fatuki and today we are diving into one of the most critical aspects of job searching, how to craft a winning resume and stand out in today's competitive job markets. Our guest today is Chantal Sniff.

a and career branding expert with years of expertise helping professionals refine their resumes, optimize their LinkedIn profiles, and position themselves for career success. She has worked with job seekers across industries, helping them secure opportunities and advance their careers. Today, today, Shantor will share insider tips on the most common resume mistakes

the key elements of a standard resume and how job seekers, especially newcomers to Canada, can tailor their resumes to meet employer expectations. So if you've been struggling to get interviews, this episode is packed with actionable advice just for you. Chantelle, welcome to the Thrive Careers podcast.