1. Be sure your resume indicates a clear career progression. Even if you use a functional resume format that de-emphasizes dates, you can include a bare-bones work history that shows how your career has progressed.
2. Include keywords that relate to the specific job you’re applying for.
3. Generally speaking, unless you’re in a very creative field, stay away from brightly colored resume papers and highly unusual presentations. The HR person can more easily glean key information if your resume is in a more conventional format.
4. An HR manager who hires for entry-level office services and all levels of administrative assistants notes that key areas for employer scrutiny are years of experience in a related field and software or equipment proficiencies.
5. An HR manager who receives 50-150 e-mailed resumes daily is annoyed by the scattershot approach of jobseekers who answer ads for jobs they’re not remotely qualified for. Don’t irritate employers by sending out your resume willy-nilly hoping the blanket coverage will result in interviews. Instead, target carefully, and apply only for jobs for which you’re truly qualified and interested in.
6. Focus on accomplishments, not responsibilities. Employers know the responsibilities of the jobs they hire for; they want to know what you’ve done above and beyond those duties.

Creelman concludes that “We [recruiters] all seem to face the same problem of overload. We need to get relevant information quickly. Job candidates do themselves a favor by tailoring the resume and cover letter and making sure the key points are easy to see.”

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“Read your own résumé in a hurry — do the most important points jump out? Is it easy to see the numbers? We all have one or two friends who are in HR or marketing. Ask them to read and advise. Ask a few recruiters for advice. Some will take the time. Make small refinements on a regular basis. Don’t wait too long and try a hurried overhaul.”

“Today’s résumé must also relate how you can translate your experience into increasing productivity and or revenue for the new/potential employer!”

“The key to getting from the bottom to the top of the pile of résumés is really a byproduct of today’s technology. It is no longer the appearance and layout of a résumé that catches a recruiter’s eye. Keywords that are searchable and relevant to the position are what brings your résumé to the forefront. Once there, content and organized flow of information is important, as it reflects your work style. In the content, be sure to be brief and identify KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and CSFs (Critical Success Factors). Do not write a job description; instead identify pertinent relative successes. Sometimes I like to compare it to television channel surfing, or scanning a new menu. Now does your résumé catch your eye?”

“Well-written résumés should be an easy read. At a bare minimum, make sure that it is grammatically accurate and free of typos and spelling errors.

Then, be sure that it can be easily understood and interpreted. Make sure that your résumé isn’t filled with acronyms or terminology that is specific to one company.

Finally, your résumé is like your highlight reel, not a job description. Make sure that you are focusing on your results and impact on the business, not just covering what you were hired to do.”

“One word = Performance. Job and position history with responsibilities are okay, but what have you actually produced from your hard work? Specific ROI, dollar amounts, efficiency improvements, etc. — that is what will set you apart from someone who has simply ‘shown up’ for work.”

“[Most job-seekers] fail because they are unable to CLEARLY state HOW they are different from others who have held the same-sounding position or have done similar work. Asking a recruiter to identify what makes you special is asking to be quickly rejected.

In my judgment, 99 percent of applicants do a poor job of [providing] clarity on:

• Who you are
• Why you are best for the work that needs doing
• How you have done this work or similar work before
• What you are seeking and why
• Why you are interested

Jargon, consulting vocabulary, good-sounding-words (visionary, people-focused, executive, leader) make the author feel significant but tell the reader absolutely nothing about the ‘person’ the author is. And only ‘a person’ gets hired!”

“Quantify your experience wherever possible. Cite numerical figures, such as monetary budgets/funds saved, time periods/efficiency improved, lines of code written/debugged, numbers of machines administered/fixed, etc., that demonstrate progress or accomplishments [resulting] directly [from] your work. Tweak your résumé so that it addresses the specific skills the manager is looking for. Use titles or headings that match the job you want. Analyze job descriptions and identify the keywords. Use these keywords in your résumé.

List your technical knowledge first. Be clear and concise — don’t be wordy.

Résumé mistakes to avoid:

• Not having a clear focus
• Dutifully dull — you are marketing yourself
• Organized poorly
• Too much emphasis on old jobs
• Burying important skills
• Drab looking
• Using a nonstandard format
• Too personal
• Typos — no excuse for poor grammar and/or spelling
• Stretching the truth
• Listing responsibilities not accomplishments”

“Of course, one needs to state what they’ve done, not just what they were responsible for. However, in order for the résumé to stand out, the candidate needs to present this data in a neat, succinct fashion.

• Use bullets for key concepts and accomplishments.
• Avoid large paragraphs that read like a novel.
• Bold each employer to provide separation between jobs.
• Provide a good chronology of employment. Trying to hide gaps in employment only brings attention to them. Instead, accept reality and have a good explanation. Your honesty and forthrightness will be appreciated.
• Avoid the use of ‘I’ in the résumé; it doesn’t indicate a strong team player.”

• Resume is too wacky or unprofessional.
• Screening software excludes resumes without relevant experience or pertinent keywords.
• Extensive and unexplained work gaps indicating a possible lack of updated skills.
• Lack of mobility or inability to travel or relocate.
• Job-seeker too focused on kind of company they want to work for, rather than what they can do for the company.
• Resumes not formatted optimally with visible attention-catching information.
• Too many typos or poor grammar.
• Resume appears mass mailed and not specific to the job.
• Candidate over qualified, too set in their ways of doing a job the same way for years.
• Resume appears overly embellished with experience and achievements.

“Always get detailed information about the employer you are applying to (from the Internet or any employee), then analyze how will you fit in this type of organization. Update your résumé accordingly. Emphasizing your skills regarding to that specific job that you are applying for. Maybe you have to eliminate some data in your résumé that is not related to this job.”

“Most résumés contain a statement to the effect of, ‘I want a challenging, rewarding job with advancement possibilities that compliment my education and experience.’ NEVER put your objective! Instead replace what YOU want with what THEY are looking for in the position you are applying. If you turn this around, you will now be addressing their needs versus your own.

“Start with more of a thesis statement: ‘Through (x) years of executive experience and advanced education, I bring expertise that will compliment your company in the areas of…’ (specify specific to the job description).

“Never embellish your résumé beyond your the true scope of your abilities. ALWAYS include a cover letter.”