Tips From Tundra – Optimize Your Resume For ‘The New Normal’

The landscape of employment for job-seekers has changed dramatically since the beginning of the pandemic in Alberta. As of May 2020, the Alberta Government reports an unemployment rate of 15.5%. Combine that with experienced employees furloughed from various sectors, new graduates and those seeking a new career direction may have a steeper hill to climb than before. We continue to discover what is the new normal for Alberta post-pandemic, we revisit the topic of how to put your best foot forward when optimizing your resume for your job hunt.

Tundra Technical Solutions is a global recruitment agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Since 2004, Tundra has grown quickly, today operating offices across North America, Europe and Asia. They work with top global partners actively seeking the best talent in multiple sectors such as finance, insurance, healthcare, technology, retail, energy, utilities, construction, mining, telecommunications, transportation and government to name a few.

Ever considered utilizing the skills a recruitment agency may have to offer? It may be the right time considering the volume of applicants in the hundreds on certain job postings, as shown in the image below. We spoke with Christina Esposito, Marketing and Communications Lead and Internal Recruiter for Tundra Technical Solutions on ways to optimize your resume for recruiters in the new normal.

(Source: LinkedIn Job Search)

Should your resume be written chronologically or functionally?

The key difference here is whether or not your work experience should be written as a timeline of your previous positions or should it be laid out in the form of what experience you feel is best suited for the position you are applying for. From a recruiters perspective, Christina mentions:

“We like to see a reverse chronological order of previous work experience. We recommend placing all of your technical skills right at the top of your resume, and then go into your most recent experience.”

Should you tailor your resume for the specific job you are applying for?

Say you are actively applying to open positions, tailoring your resume can be a time consuming task if your objective is to apply to the first 10-20 open positions you find. To that point, applying to everything you see can be detrimental to your efforts when utilizing a recruiter. Keep in mind, there is a human processing your candidate profile, and their efforts are to find the best talent for their employers. Christina offers a recommendation that can mitigate time for both the job seeker and recruiter:

“ we absolutely want to see someone tailoring their resume that matches the job description. A good tip for someone who might not want to go through a whole overhaul, is to first make sure that the job you’re applying to is relevant to your experience, recruiters can see if you’re applying to the first jobs that pop up for example. It becomes clear they haven’t really looked into the position they’re applying for. So, a lot of care and detail should go into those applications if you want to have the greatest success. Ultimately you want to make sure that the job description lines up with your skills…”

What is the best resume format that can be read autonomously through recruitment software?

As mentioned above, some positions can receive hundreds of applications. If you haven’t been made aware by now, recruiters utilise software called an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or what is referred to as resume parsing, which allows the hundreds of resumes to be read and processed, thus creating a candidate profile highlighting the most relevant information to send to an employer. Say you spent endless hours on the most aesthetically pleasing resume to give that ‘wow’ factor, that may have been a solid practice in the past, but ATS systems have difficulty processing these resume formats, thus your candidate profiles could be lacking important information.

“I would recommend against a PDF format. The reason being is that Microsoft Word documents are the most legible and easiest to parse with. The way the ATS works is, someone sends in the application, the ATS picks those keywords from their resume and matches them to the actual job description. Inserting images or a lot of text can make it difficult for recruiters to look up your profile in the future.”

What should NOT be included on your resume?

Some of these you may already know, but let’s be clear, having a resume with only relevant information is your best chance of success. Working as a retail store manager I had received countless resumes from individuals seeking employment. During that time, I had encountered some of the most outrageous and creative resumes from all walks of life. By no means am I a recruitment specialist, but sticking to the basics was a winner for my new hires during that time. Christina offers the perspective of a recruiter for what not to put on your resume:

“Jumping right into things like objectives or hobbies is fine, but we would recommend against it because the longer you make your resume, you can decrease the chances of someone reading the full document. Best practice is to always keep your resume one to two pages with only relevant information. For industry veterans that have lengthy work history, you should only list the most recent and relevant experience.”

Should you include links to your social media?

Social media plays a significant role in the recruitment process for both agencies and hiring managers. LinkedIn has become a major part of what we call this ‘new normal’, with more than 20 million companies listed on the site and 14 million open jobs, it’s no surprise that over 75% of people who recently changed jobs used LinkedIn to inform their career decision. When it comes to social media, Christina offers her recommendations:

“90% of the time, recruiters are looking at your LinkedIn or Twitter. We want to make sure we get a holistic view of the applicant. 40% of our hires last year were candidates we sourced directly from LinkedIn. We have situations where we have candidates that look great on paper, but after we do some investigating. He/she doesn’t actually prove to be the person he/she was saying on paper. It’s a point of validation and puts a face to a name. My recommendation would be to keep your social media profiles clean, descriptive and showcase your accomplishments, especially if you have a public profile.”

This information should offer you some insight into how the employment landscape is changing and what best practices to implement for your job hunt. Who wouldn’t want to save time and effort on what can be an arduous task?

If you would like to learn more about Tundra Technical Solutions, speak to one of their experienced recruiters or to view their available positions in Alberta, check out their website here or message them on their Facebook below.

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Scott McGinn

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Argentina’s Javier Milei gives Elon Musk chainsaw

Published on February 21, 2025

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MxM News

Quick Hit:

Elon Musk made a dramatic appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday, wielding a chromed-out chainsaw gifted by Argentina’s President Javier Milei. The prop symbolized Musk’s commitment to slashing bureaucratic red tape through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Key Details:

Musk received the chainsaw from Milei before his sit-down interview at CPAC in Maryland.
The chainsaw was engraved with Milei’s catchphrase, “Viva la libertad carajo!” which translates to “Long live freedom, Goddammit!”
Musk brandished the chainsaw on stage, declaring it the “chainsaw for bureaucracy” to a cheering conservative crowd.

Diving Deeper:

Argentina’s President Javier Milei presented the symbolic chainsaw to Elon Musk ahead of his interview at CPAC, reinforcing their shared vision of reducing governmental influence. The chainsaw, emblazoned with Milei’s signature slogan, was meant to represent Musk’s mission with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut waste, fraud, and abuse within federal agencies.

Musk enthusiastically accepted the gift and held it aloft, declaring it the “chainsaw for bureaucracy.” The bold gesture was well-received by the conservative audience, with Musk adding a simple yet effective rallying cry: “Chainsaw!” The theatrics were in line with his commitment to DOGE’s mission of downsizing federal bureaucracy, drawing inspiration from Milei’s aggressive government-cutting measures in Argentina.

Milei’s fiscal conservatism has gained international attention, influencing Musk’s approach to DOGE. The Argentine president’s radical budget cuts and advocacy for limited government resonate with Musk’s goals for the United States. By symbolically passing the chainsaw to Musk, Milei reinforced a partnership rooted in economic freedom and governmental reform.

Musk later posted a photo of himself with the chainsaw on his social media platform, X, captioning it, “This is a real picture,” underscoring his commitment to his bureaucratic overhaul agenda. The image quickly went viral, amplifying the message of aggressive government reform.

The bold display at CPAC not only solidified Musk’s role as a disruptor within the political landscape but also strengthened the ideological bond between Musk and Milei, signaling an international alliance against government inefficiency.

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Federal Heritage Minister recommends nearly doubling CBC funding and reducing accountability

Published on February 21, 2025

Todayville

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling for the CBC to be completely defunded in the wake of the federal Liberal government’s recommendation to nearly double the state broadcaster’s cost to taxpayers and hide its budget reporting.

“It is outrageous for the government to try to hide the cost of the CBC from the taxpayers who are paying its bills,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “This government is totally out touch if it thinks it can nearly double CBC’s cost to taxpayers and try to hide its costs.”

Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said the government should nearly double the amount of money the CBC takes from taxpayers every year.

The CBC will cost taxpayers about $1.4 billion this year.

“The average funding for public broadcasters in G7 countries is $62 per person, per year,” St-Onge said. “We need to aim closer to the middle ground, which is $62 per year per person.”

Canada’s population is about 41.5 million people. If the government funded the CBC the way the minister is recommending, the CBC would cost taxpayers about $2.5 billion per year.

That amount would cover the annual grocery bill of about 152,854 Canadian families.

St-Onge also recommended the annual taxpayer funding for the CBC be removed from the government budget report and instead be entrenched in government statutory appropriations.

“I propose that it be financed directly in the legislation instead of in the budget through statutory appropriation,” St-Onge said.

“Canadians have told this government that the CBC costs them too much money, that it is not accountable to taxpayers and they don’t watch it, and now the government wants to double down on all those problems,” said Kris Sims, CTF Alberta Director. “The CBC is an enormous waste of money and journalists should not be paid by the government.

“The CBC must be defunded.”