January 21, 2021
By Radhika Panjwani, Canadian Immigrant
Stop sending out hundreds of resumés that don’t get a response … create one that gets results!
Maclein Pereira, a recent immigrant from India, remembers being surprised when he learned that Canadian employers gave equal, if not more stock to a jobseeker’s soft skills — such as communication, interpersonal and organizational skills — as to their education and experience.
Pereira, a technical support professional with six years of experience, reached out for help to prepare his resumé for his Canadian job search. He learned to create a well-crafted resumé and cover letter, thanks to the Labour Market Access for Newcomers program offered by Mississauga-based Newcomer Centre of Peel (NCP).
“I was aware that in Canada my resumé wouldn’t necessarily pass a human eye first. The Labour Market Access for Newcomers program taught us to optimize our cover letters and resumé for the applicant tracking system (ATS) algorithm, and ensure we highlighted soft skills like customer service, teamwork and critical thinking abilities,” Pereira says. An applicant tracking system is a software application that can screen resumés for certain keywords.