A resume is an advertisement that you hope will convince the persons reading it when you are not present to invite you for an interview. A good resume focuses the reader's attention on those aspects of your background which are most relevant to your current career goals; and distinguishes you from hundreds of other candidates, so you are invited for an interview and they are not. A resume does not get you a job, only a chance to come to the interview. If you screw up the interview, the resume won't help. If you don't describe your qualifications on the resume, hoping to tell about them during the interview, you probably won't get an interview.

Notice what's important here: the interview. Your resume will generally be in a stack with dozens (and perhaps hundreds) of others. Some overworked, uninterested human resources staffer will look for reasons to exclude your resume from those of people invited to an interview. This is why some writers, Nick Corcodilos probably foremost among them, suggest that job-hunting via resumes is almost a waste of your time.

The Internet has not really helped with this. It is a faster way to put your resume in the stack with everyone else's. Corcodilos outlines an alternative strategy, which calls for extensive research in a particular company or industry, followed by your answering these four questions:

1. Do you understand the work?
2. Can you demonstrate your ability to do the work?
3. Can you do it the way (the company) wants it done?
4. Can you do it profitably?

His argument is that if you can demonstrate to a person with hiring authority the ability to make an impact on the bottom line, your chances of being hired are good. But here we make the assumption that you're forced by the system to introduce yourself to a company by means of your resume. In that case, your resume should answer (to the extent possible) the same four questions, just as you would given the opportunity.

Quick Summary of Resume Features

• Make sure your resume doesn't say "please tell me how I fit in your company." A static resume, not adapted for a particular position, says this out loud. The overworked HR staffer will stick such resumes in the round file early and often. You must know in advance how you fit.
• When listing skills, first list those most relevant to the job you're applying for. In general, the resume should be focused on the type of position sought. The specific needed skills must be up front.
• Make your resume as readable as possible. Make it scannable too. Avoid unusual fonts, unusual type weights, unusual layouts, graphics, hyperlinks (unless you're posting it on your own Web site). Plain text works very well for resumes sent via e-mail.
• Avoid the use of vague terms. The employer is the one who defines those in this context anyway. Examples include "self-starter," "high-energy," "customer-focused," etc.
• Focus on the numbers. How much money saved (or earned). How much quality has improved, in number or percentage of completed products shipped. Use numbers likely to matter to an employer. ("Number of papers published" is not one of those, unless you're trying for an academic or research job.)
• "References available upon request." There are several reasons not to list reference contact information on your resume, but the most critical reason is that you want to have some control over who's going to contact your references. If you put that information on a resume, be sure you know who's going to receive it.
• "Salary history and requirements." I am still not sure what to do here. (Suggestions welcome.) The unspoken message is that your resume will be thrown out if you don't list that information; it also suggests that if they don't want to pay you what you list, they'll throw it out anyway. You may even accidentally undervalue yourself because of this. This is one of the chief problems with marketing yourself primarily by your resume.
• Make contact information stand out to the extent possible. (In plain text, this is not always possible.)
• Professional licenses, if any and if relevant, should be included in your summary of qualifications -- unless those licenses are *many* and *highly relevant*.
• An experienced employee should put experience ahead of education. If the education contains *any relevant information* other than degree, institution, and date, that must be included also.
• Community service will not usually place the experienced employee ahead of the competition.
• Like everything else, the resume should pass more than one pair of eyes. Spellcheckers can't catch misused tense or person, or any other correctly-spelled but misused word.

Here is a resume edited by my 2000 students under the above guidelines (which guidelines they defined). The experience is real; the job-hunter's name and personal info have been changed.

CAREER OBJECTIVE

A sales / marketing position with a leading healthcare company that will allow me to combine my sales and management skills with my extensive knowledge and experience in the healthcare and business fields.

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Seventeen years experience in the health care field coupled with seven years experience in the business and management fields. Exceptional presentation and communication skills. Personable and articulate; skilled in handling people with professionalism and courtesy. Well organized, time managed, detail oriented and resourceful. Equally effective working on self managed projects or as a member of a team. A motivated, ambitious self starter who is also enthusiastic and results oriented.

EDUCATION

Columbia University, School of Dental and Oral Surgery, Division of Dental Hygiene
BS, RDH, 1982

WORK EXPERIENCE

Drs. Richard Koppel and Paul Dobson
1992-Present
Registered Dental Hygienist

Drs. Robert Zitofsky and Paul Kalman
1985-1992
Registered Dental Hygienist

RD Dental Associates
1982-1985
Registered Dental Hygienist

• Initiated patient education programs which reduced the DMF rate and rate of gingival inflammation by one-third.
• Developed and presented patient education programs which focused on periodontal disease prevention.
• Designed and implemented a promotional children's dental health education program with local preschools to generate incremental referrals. It is estimated we obtained 18 new patients based upon 4 presentations from my efforts.
• Restructured patient recall systems which resulted in a 30% increase of patients keeping their 6 month check up appointments.
• Motivated patient compliance by "selling" optimum treatment plans.
• Completed at least 10 hours of continuing education credits every 2 years: courses included infection control, alternative medicines, treating medically compromised patients, etc.

KB Cleaners Corp.
1995-Present
Owner/President

• Successfully increased sales revenue, in a highly competitive dry cleaning market area, 25% in 2 years, through innovative marketing ideas such as target advertising, seasonal and holiday promotions, coupon programs, volume incentives and loyal customer appreciation programs.
• Managed staff of 13, overseeing the daily plant and production operations of a service industry business at 2 locations.
• Build and maintain good will and troubleshoot client challenges.
• Successfully hire, train, and supervise employees.
• Responsible for accounting and facility licensure.

Napoli Marine Yacht Sales/Hudson Valley Boat Sales
1988-1992
Sales Representative, Million Dollar Dealer

• Highly competitive pleasure boat and yacht market. One of 12 sales staff.
• Sold over $300,000 (approximately 18 units) in the first year in house.
• Ranked within the top 4 sales associates.
• Continued as a Trade Show Representative, part time, at National Marine Manufacturer's Association shows from 1990-1992.
• Moved 3-6 units per show (~$75,000/show).
• Trade show experience - both "in water" and convention hall arenas.
• Won both "The First Boat of the Show" and "The Most Boats of the Show" award, for two consecutive shows.
• Liaison between customer and post sale support staff.

PROFESSIONAL LICENSES

• Registered Dental Hygienist
  1982-Present
  New Jersey and New York

COMMUNITY SERVICE

• Implement and coordinate Annual Coat Drive benefiting Monmouth County, NJ.
• Past President - Hillcrest Fire Co. Ladies Auxiliary, Hillcrest, NY.

References

Nick Corcodilos' "Ask the Headhunter" Web site
The Monster Board -- offers job-hunting advice as well as resume postings