Resume and cover letter?

If there is an expert resume writer and cover letter writer on here, could I get your help?

• I need to write a good resume and cover letter. I have been a stay at home mom for one and a half years now. My son is 17 months old. The first year I was on maternity leave, but I did not get my job back. How could I let that be known in a resume when they see that gap. Should I mention in a resume that I am a mother. What should I do. I live in Ontario. Is there anyone else on this site in the Mississauga, Ontario or Toronto, Ontario area? Thank you. Any tips on job hunting, resume writing and cover letter writing would be very helpful indeed.

• Answer:

  Got to the Workopolis site, Tanya; there are lots and lots of tips and suggestions there. What you want to keep out of your resume are the things that may disqualify you for work. Don't put your address, age, number of children, marital status or hobbies. Any volunteer work you might be involved in is a good thing to list. I put my name and phone number ONLY at the top of the resume, you might want to sent up a web based e-mail account JUST for job search purposes. In the first section I list my skills and strengths in bullet form and underneath in the next section I list the company I most recently worked for, how long I worked there, position held when left; I also list what my responsibilities were and what difference I made to the organization. After that I have a section on training and education (no graduation dates or completion dates) and then I end with 'References Available upon Request". Get out a note pad and start making notes, this whole process will probably take you an entire day or even a couple of days, if you have a 17month old running around that you are looking after. You might want to start with a temp. agency like Ideal Personnel. They have been in business in Mississauga for years and years and have great staff. They will test you to see what your strengths and proficiencies are and then ask you what kind of work you prefer to do and how much you will get out of bed to go to work for. Go to Wowjobs.ca and start some searches going, girl. Besides putting out 40 resumes since the beginning of November, I have had 4 different temp jobs (some lasting a day, some lasting a couple of days) I have had 5 interviews, 2 job offers, accepted one, quit after 2.5 days and am back at it, sending out resumes. In the meantime, Jacqui at Ideal Personnel will be getting a call from me later today that I am again available for temp work. And so it goes. This is a VERY interesting job market, with many employers thinking that because of the supposed STRESS in the economy, they can treat their staff like *rude word*. Don't apply for ANY jobs that don't give a company name and ALWAYS look the company up on the web to see if they are legit. Happy Hunting!! Email me if you like.