What to know when submitting a Resume to Government and Private Industry

By JG Côté

Your application, resume and cover letter are often the most important aspect of getting a professional job second only to the interview.  If your resume & cover letter are poor, your potential employer will consider you a poor choice for employment.  In order to exam this properly I will break this topic up into two categories, Government, Public, or Civil Service Positions & Private Industry Positions.  The purpose for this is to show you the difference in hiring styles.  Something to remember is that each job is hired differently and the following is by no means an exact description of how all government and private employers do their hiring.  Some government agencies may use a similar style to hiring as the private industry and vice versa.  Try to find out which style an employer is using before you send in a resume.  Often advertisements or job postings will specify some of the things they want in a resume, cover letter and/or application.  If there are instructions, read them carefully and make sure you include everything they ask.  Sometimes missing even one aspect of what a job advertisement requires can immediately exclude you from the job hiring process.      

Government, Public, or Civil Service Positions:

This is dependent on where you are applying for the job.  Many government agencies base their hiring criteria solely on a point system.  This means that you want to include as many things in your covering letter and resume as possible.  If the agency or department you applying to does not have a limit on the number of pages you are allowed to submit than submit as many as you need to (within reason of course – I would not exceed five pages) in order to cover all your education, experience and qualifications.

When writing your resume and cover letter (always send a covering letter unless the employer specifies not to) ensure you read the job requirements and qualifications very carefully.  Make sure you touch on each and every topic identified in the advertisement and mention why or how you meet the requirements and qualifications of each.  This can sometimes be tricky if your experiences are few or none in a specific area.  This is where you have to get creative and really promote yourself.   In my experience you can almost always find something you have done in your past that some how relates to a requirement or skill needed.  Remember, you are selling yourself along with the qualities and experiences you are able to bring to the job or employment.    

Private Industry Positions:

Most private industry companies want your resumes & cover letters to be brief and to the point (no longer than 2 pages, not including the cover letter).  This is not to say that your resume should be vague, it just means it should be concise and to the point. 

As well, sometimes people leave out a section on their special skills or interests, for example coached girls volleyball for two years.  This kind of stuff is usually a great add on because it can be brief, shows alternate experiences not shown in different categories of your resume, and sometimes strikes a cord with one of the interviewers.  I know of many people who have put down experiences like, played competitive hockey for 7 years and end up talking with the potential “boss” about hockey for 20 minutes.  This makes the person conducting the interview feel like they have a connection with you.  Just a word of caution, I would be careful what I would include in this section, you want to keep to generic common topics that will not likely offend anybody.  The worst thing you could do is include something offensive unnecessarily and end up losing a potential job.  

As in the government and civil services positions, it is important to read the job requirements and qualifications very carefully when apply for a private industry position.  It is perhaps not as crucial as in the government positions to meet every requirement advertised, but it is still important and should be taken seriously.  The thing about private industry is that it is often the impression you give them more than the amount of “points” you get that determines whether you get hired or not.  For example, someone may have an IQ of 180 and scored top in their class throughout college, but their presentation & social skills are extremely lacking.  In the government, this person may score very high only because of their credentials, in the private industry this person may do poorly because they leave a poor impression on those hiring.