Résumé and Cover Letter Tips for International Students

Gaining experience in Canada can be very important for international students, especially if you are considering staying in Canada after graduation. Your résumé and cover letter can help open some doors, but the format and style may be different from your home country (or other places where you have lived). Here we have compiled some common tips about résumés and cover letters, which can help international students who are not familiar with North American standards. 

1. Tip 1

Make sure you represent all your strengths, skills and experiences – including your paid and unpaid work, extracurricular activities, and volunteering experience. Then use action words to articulate all relevant skills with concrete examples of how you developed them. And don’t forget to employ bullets and accomplishment statements to provide evidence of the skills that the employers are looking for.

2. Tip 2

Experience in a family business and personal project can demonstrate a variety of skills, so make sure you can convey them to potential employers. So, do not dismiss your personal experience or projects if they are relevant to the job position that you are applying for. 
  

3. Tip 3

Include your contact information, such as email address and phone number. But don’t include personal information such as age, marital status, nationality, visa status, social insurance number, or photo.
 

4. Tip 4

For your references, prepare a separate sheet with all the relevant information. In addition to the names and contact information of your references, you need to include the company/organization name, a city location and country, if it is not located in Canada. However, please have in mind that potential employers may ask for local references only and you can double check first if international references are acceptable. For more information on this topic, please consult our References tip sheet for more information on this. Don’t include references on your résumé.

5. Tip 5

You may include fluency in languages, but you don’t need to do unnecessary self-disclosure with regards to which language is your mother language. Also, you can indicate if you are Bilingual (eg. English and Chinese) or multilingual (e.g., English, German, Hindu, and basic Spanish). Keep in mind that you do not need to indicate your English competence as fluency is assumed since you are studying at an English language university.
 

6. Tip 6

Include academic information from the last 2-3 years. If you are in your first year, you can include high school and related experiences. As you progress in your degree, it is expected that you are gathering more recent experiences; therefore, high school experiences should be removed from your résumé at this point.
 

7. Tip 7

Only include the submission date on the cover letter, not on the resume or references.
 

8. Tip 8

Use gender-specific business salutations (e.g. Ms., Mr.) with the person’s last name in the cover letter only if you are sure about their gender. If you do not know their gender and know their full name, you can simply use their full name. If you do not know their name either, "Dear Hiring Manager(s) or Dear Member of the Hiring Committee" can be appropriate. When ending the letter, use “Sincerely,” above your name.

9. Tip 9

For all documents, check your grammar and syntax. Avoid flowery language or words that are not usually used in this context; ask us for advice if you are unsure. Also, do not write run-on sentences and always check spelling as well as small details. Finally, remember that this is your first business proposal rather than a personal essay.
 

10. Tip 10

Consult the Resume and Cover Letter Toolkit for tips on writing a good resume and cover letter. We also hold resume and cover letter workshops. Please check the events calendar to see when the next workshop is available.
 

Updated June 2025