Show Them What You've Got

Did I take the lead on a significant project that increased my employer's profile?

Once you start thinking about your past work achievements in this way, you can illustrate to prospective employers why and how you intend to bring value to their organization.

Sound daunting? Not if you invest the time. Suppose, for example, you're currently working at a video store and looking for a move up the career ladder. You're not going to get a lot of response to a resume that reads, "Watched movies and restocked shelves."

But if you can truthfully say "Reorganized aisle end cap displays and increased movie rentals and sales by 10 percent," that may catch an employer's attention. Trunk's brother Erik did just that and was able trade a clerical job at a large video store chain for a new position in marketing for an internet start-up.

Create a core resume. When you're home at your computer, forget the advice about limiting your resume to one page. Start big, then carve out the parts of your employment past that are relevant to each job you apply for, says Joyce Lain Kennedy, author of "Resumes for Dummies" (For Dummies, 2002).

In this "core" resume, Kennedy advises to include everything you've ever done, including hobbies, special interests and anything else you think might in some way be pertinent to an employer. This is your starting document from which all your targeted resumes will be born, but which, Kennedy warns, no employer should actually ever see.

Once you've created the base document, it's easy to create what Kennedy calls an "OnTarget" resume for each employer, cutting and pasting only the pertinent highlights that are relevant to a specific employment goal.

While you might include three years of college lacrosse on your resume when looking for an entry-level job, for example, it should probably come off at mid-career unless an interest in sports or competitive experience is pertinent to a job you're seeking.

In addition, committed job seekers would be wise to research a prospective employer's job requirements and then tailor a resume to a particular opening. Employers are increasingly looking for exact matches between job requirements and the skills they see on resumes. That approach, Kennedy says, is a proven way to break away from the stale, formulaic resume pack and help overwhelmed human resources personnel find your resume.

It's like shopping for a car, she says: "If I want to find someone who is selling a red convertible that gets 25 miles to the gallon, for under $20,000, I'm going to go to the ad that exactly matches what I'm looking for."

Make your resume scannable. Once you've tweaked that resume so that it truthfully sings your achievements and qualifications, make sure that it is scanner-friendly by writing in keyword search terms a prospective employer may be looking for.

This isn't as tricky as it may sound: Use the employer's own job posting as your guide. Many companies today use software to electronically scan all the resumes they receive, according to Roberta Matuson, president of Northampton, Mass.-based consulting firm Human Resource Solutions, who has performed work for search giant Monster.com.

Highly qualified job candidates are often overlooked, Matuson says, because the key words that were included in the job description weren't mentioned anywhere in the resume.

Simplicity and precision count. Finally, don't forget the simplest of advice: Keep your resume short, easy to read and free of errors.

A resume is essentially a marketing tool for landing you an interview, so your life story isn't needed -- no hiring manager wants to read six pages on any applicant. Choose a clean layout and make sure to find someone to proofread your resume before submitting it or, potentially, face a quick end to your hopes.

Even these simple steps can set you apart. "You wouldn't believe how many resumes I get that are not proofed or that are written in an unclear manner," says Amy Maher, staff recruitment director for a Washington, D.C.-based law firm. These, she reports, tend to move swiftly into the "no" pile.