Résumé and Cover Letter Showcase

We love to feature résumés and cover letters that our members have created for their Canadian clients!

This showcase includes some of the very best work produced by members of Career Professionals of Canada. All the samples here are directly transferable to the Canadian employment market. These documents will provide you with inspiration to stimulate your thinking and creativity. Click on the links to the right to find and download the samples you would like to study. Then, click on the author link to see all their work and to reach out to them directly.

You are invited to submit résumé and cover letter samples!

We would love to showcase your best work.

Submit as many sample résumés and cover letters for consideration as you like. You may invent interesting documents using imaginary clients, or repurpose anything you’ve previously submitted for an award, course, certification application, or a previous Best Canadian Résumés or Best Canadian Cover Letters publication. You may also submit sample networking, marketing, thank-you, confirmation, follow-up, and other job search letters. There is no limit to the number of submissions you can provide.

Your samples must be fictionalized and thoroughly edited to meet our publication requirements and high standards. If you need additional assistance with your documents, refer to your copy of the latest Certified Résumé Strategist (CRS) eGuide.

We’ll review and select documents to be featured here.

General Editing Guidelines

Submit Diverse Documents

We want unique and interesting documents. For example, if a document looks like a very typical template, change it up with a design element to make it a bit more interesting. Be consistent and don’t go “over the top” with design unless there is a good reason to do so. If you use an image, make sure that you have the rights to use the image in a publication.

We want a wide range of examples so that we can show different ways résumé strategists might design and write a document. The more diverse the examples, the better, however we do require consistency within a document. For example, a submitted résumé can have present tense for all the accomplishments in a current position, while another submitted résumé can use past tense for all the accomplishments in a current position.

Ideas for Submissions

The global pandemic has changed our labour market. Many people are now working from home. Certain positions, such as essential worker roles, are prominent. Systemic discrimination, climate change, and the environment, along with the pandemic, are all issues that have impacted the Canadian economy. And, as career development practitioners, we cannot ignore the effects of these issues on the clients we serve.

We need résumés and cover letters for:

Blue Collar Workers
Career Changers
Customer Service Providers
Entry Level Positions
Ecological and Conservation Professionals
Ex-offenders
Gig Workers/Portfolio Careerists
Healthcare Workers
Indigenous Peoples
Mid-level Positions
Military
New Immigrants
People of Colour
People with Disabilities
Recent Graduates
Re-entering the Workforce (after retirement/ sabbatical/layoff)
Technology & Telecommunications Professionals
Work-from-Home Employees
Self-employed (consultants/subcontractors)
Emerging Professions

Fictionalize and “Canadianize” your Content

All submissions must be fictionalized and not previously published (either online or in hardcopy) outside of previous BCC and BCR editions. Change all names, addresses, contact information, company names, and any other information that might identify the individual.

For your protection, it is recommended that you receive written approval for publication directly from your client before submitting their fictionalized documents.

Document Design

Ensure that the design is current and appropriate for the target job. The sample may be black and white, grayscale, or colour. Make certain the design is consistent throughout. Embed all fonts that are used in the document.

Name

Use a name that sounds realistic and credible based on your client’s background. Do not use your client’s actual name. To create a realistic variety of fictionalized names, use ethnic names where possible.

Address

You may choose to use a street address or not. If you use a street address, use a run of numbers with a non-identifying street name (e.g., 123 Any Street).

If you choose not to add a street address, just include the City, Province, and Canada (Canada is optional). You may leave the address out completely, if appropriate.

Write the postal code in format M1M 1M1 (and the letter used should match the first letter in a postal code that is valid for the city).

Email Address

Employ a standard artificial extension like [email protected] or [email protected] (where xx represents the person’s initials, first name, last name, or full name depending on space available, and on whether the long or short version looks better).

Website

If you include a website or LinkedIn address, format them as follows: www.infoxx.ca (where xx represents the person’s initials, first name, last name, or full name), and for LinkedIn, linkedin.com/in/infoxx (where xx represents the person’s initials, first name, last name, or full name).

Phone Numbers

Use an actual area code matching the city followed by 555 and a run of numbers (e.g., 905.555.1234). (XXX-555-1234 where XXX represents an area code that is valid for the city).

Dates

If needed, change the dates to be appropriate and current on cover letters and résumés. If dates are changed for the most recent job on a résumé, add the same number of years to the job dates and education dates that follow, throughout the entire document.

Always consider the pandemic in the document. For example, if a résumé indicates that someone is seeing customers in an office, this was not likely to be happening in 2020. You could change the date to 2019 or edit the statement to something like “in a home office via Zoom”.

Company Names

When you need to fictionalize a company name, use XYZ Organization, Canadian Company, A1 Canada Company, or sub in the name of a province, for example, Manitoba Company, Quebec Corporation, British Columbia Enterprise. Don’t use ABC Company too often. We’re looking for a good variety.

The goal is to ensure anonymity of the job seekers. However, not ALL company names need to be fictionalized. It is okay to include common Canadian company names if the positions involved are junior and there are many people who might hold those jobs. For more senior positions, it might be more of an issue because there may be only ONE person in the specific role (for example, a Chief Financial Officer) and there could be some potential liability involved.

Use nationally known corporate names like Tim Hortons, Bell Canada, Royal Bank, etc. You can also use defunct organizations such as Blackberry for an older position. Make sure that the company name you use is in existence during the dates provided.

Carefully Proofread Your Content

Write in Canadian English. All spelling and grammar must be flawless. Carefully review your submission and insert hyphens between compound adjectives. Proofread, proofread, and then proofread again. We cannot accept any punctuation errors, irregularities, or inconsistencies.

Check that the document is set to Canadian English in Word (under the “Tools” tab, select “Language”).
Check that spelling is accurate, including names of technical software applications that the client lists on the résumé.
Check that the names of software or technology that appear in résumés and cover letters is still current (i.e., not obsolete).
Where the word “résumé” is used (it appears on most cover letters), ensure it includes accent aigu.
Check grammar and ensure there are no errors in parallelism.
Use “future-focused” language, where appropriate.
Check that headers and footers are not used. If they are, remove them, and ensure that the text that was in the header/footer still appears in the correct position on the document.
Remove hyperlinks to e-mail addresses, LinkedIn profiles, websites, etc.
Include references to the pandemic/COVID from time to time. For example, “fully set up to work from a home office” or “fully vaccinated.”

Refer to the CRS eGuide.

File Naming Convention for Saving Documents

Once the edits have been completed, save the file as:

Resume-WRITERLASTNAME-Clientlastname-#ofpages-SeniorityLevel (E, M, or S).docx

The naming convention is structured as follows:

the type of document is named (either a résumé or a cover letter)
the surname of the writer (in CAPS)
the client’s surname
the number of pages
lastly, E or M or S to represent an entry-level, mid-level, or senior-level position

When you are finished, the file name should look something like this:

Résumé-MILLER-Brown-2-M.docx
Cover-CLARK-Graham-1-S.docx

Email Us Your Documents for Consideration

All submissions must be sent to [email protected] via email in Microsoft Word (.docx) format.

The subject line should indicate the file name. Example: Subject: Résumé-MILLER-Brown-2-M.docx
In the body of your email, please list all attachments and briefly explain:
- Any obstacles, barriers, or challenges addressed (i.e., disability, career change, etc.)
- A 2-sentence strategy statement (featuring something interesting about the document)
- The main Index Title (job title which is most reflective of the document being submitted)
- Index Tags (other job titles that could be associated with the document, for example: “cashier,” “clerk,” etc.)