Toronto - looking for help with resume and cover letter

November 13, 2006 6:36 PM

Can anyone recommend someone in Toronto who can help with resume/cover letter stuff? I don't mean formatting and such...

I've been self employed for 12 years and I'm sick to death of it. About 4 years ago I took an office job for 1 year (but kept my biz running on the side)... to get that job, I met with someone who interviewed me and looked at the job posting I was applying for and then 24 hours later had written me a cover letter and resume geared to that particular posting. It got me the interview and I nailed that.

I quit that job in 2003 and went back to fulltime for myself but I'm at the end of my rope. I hate my job and am sick of working just for cash. I have to find something more meaningful. In the past 4 months or so I've applied for about 10 jobs, all of which I'm qualified for (and a few which I'm severely overqualified for but that doesn't bother me), but I haven't gotten a single interview. It's driving me nuts.

I've never interviewed for a job that I didn't get an offer on but I'm having a hell of a time getting an interview now that I've been self employed so long and am pushing 40.

I can't find the person who did this thing for me before with the cover letter and resume and would like to do it again but I'm sure there are lots of people out there who suck at the job. Any personal recommendations for such a service?

(And, the person who did it before lived right on Gerrard near Regent Park--I think her name was Kelly and she worked from home. She used to advertise in NOW. If anyone knows this person, please let me know.)

posted by dobbs to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Okay, so just so you know: 10 job applications without an interview is NOT a lot. Many many successful qualified people put out upward of 30 or 40 resumes before they hear a peep. So don't be too discouraged by that.

I don't know of a specific person, but I've been told that the people who work in the Human Resources Development offices are actually very helpful with this type of thing. I'd always assumed that their resume/cover letter type services would be geared more towards students or blue collar jobs, but apparently not!
posted by Kololo at 7:02 PM on November 13, 2006

A few years ago I went to resume.com and was incredibly pleased and happily surprised. For $150 I got an excellent resume, and a writer who was committed to my satisfaction. Additionally, I actually got compliments on the actual resume from 2 HR VPs.

I am sure that the degree of quality depends uoon the person who is chosen to work with you, but I would suggest you think about looking into them. I think they were also the subject of a business week news story that was pretty positive. (I have absolutely no relationship with them.)

Best of luck!
posted by davidinmanhattan at 7:24 PM on November 13, 2006

resume.com says: Please note that we are only able to accept payment from U.S. based credit cards
posted by winston at 7:40 PM on November 13, 2006

Different industries have different expectations for what they want to see in a resume, so if you do retain someone to do the resume, make sure they have an understanding of the industry you're looking for a job in.

Also, have you thought of talking to a headhunter, who would likely give you free resume advice in return for the chance to place you and collect a fee from the employer?

If the industry you want a job in is a hard one to crack, you'll either need someone to give you the inside track, and a heads up on who's hiring when, or worm your way in by accepting any position, or an internship, to get yourself on the radar.

There's some resume help available on monster.ca - check out http://resume.monster.ca/.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:55 AM on November 14, 2006

Do you remember anything more about the location or what the building looked like? Would she have a sign? I could walk over there and look around.
posted by winston at 6:18 PM on November 14, 2006