Probably more words have been written on this subject than any other portion of an employment search. There are experts who are true experts. There are self appointed experts. If you are tired of reading advice on résumés – scroll to the bottom of this section and read the last paragraph.

If you have used your networking skills effectively and you are having a little bit of luck you only have to do this one little thing to get noticed by human resources.

You need to develop a résumé. You need to keep it updated at all times. Even if you are presently employed, one the best weapons in your job seeking arsenal is a ready to go and up to date résumé

There are people who work in human resources that are adamant about the type of résumé they receive. There are people in human resources who do not like a cover letter. There are people who work in human resources who literally love cover letters.

What you need to know before even attempting to write your résumé is how you convey your qualifications to someone whom you have never met and is literally swamped with applications from all over the world.

So let’s break this down a little bit.

First and foremost, have you narrowed down your target zone? Do you actually know which companies you are going to apply to? Have you researched that company? Do you know everything about it?

Style of writing is important. You need to be aware that most résumés today are received electronically and placed in a data bank. You also need to know that human resources personnel will very likely NOT read your résumé before it is placed in that data bank. It will be searched by using a “key word search”. So, it is important to know what key words are likely to be used in this word search.

Many companies today will actually place those “search words” to be used in their advertisement. When the word search is carried out, the person doing that search will simply compile all of the résumés that were discovered during the search. This résumé will be looked at for a very few minutes. In fact if it does not “sing” to the reader, or it has spelling errors, or it looks embellished, it goes in the circular file. You usually have less than 3-5 minutes to impress the reader.

You need to remember this. At this stage of the game, you are simply another number. You are competing with thousands of others for that position. What makes YOU the special person that this company cannot live without?

It is vital that each résumé is a targeted résumé. One sure way to be passed over in this highly competitive job market is to send a résumé that says everything about you and yet passes on little in valid information. If the position you are seeking is one which requires some serious outdoor and isolated wilderness engineering experience with a pipeline company, do not emphasize your staffing experience in National Defence Headquarters!

It is important to sit down and evaluate all of your credentials and put them together in a package that represents you and how you are the person this company cannot live without.

For this reason, one of the best recommendations anyone can make is to have a professional design and create your résumé(s). Unless you are a pro and have done this for many years, résumé building is a very difficult and precise art. It will not guarantee you that desired position, but it will definitely give you a head start over the competition. Be prepared to spend money for this. You definitely will get what you pay for.

Simplest things are often overlooked and vital to the success of your search.

1. Some companies will inform you of the method of receiving the résumé. Follow their instructions. Be it a “word doc” or email, or snail mail. This company has determined the way they wish to receive your correspondence. Follow their directions or risk not having your résumé accepted.

2. Some companies will inform you whether or not a cover letter is required. Follow their directions.

3. Follow any specific font instructions to the letter.

4. If a résumé has a defined length, or must be hand written, then do it. (Hope your penmanship is up to snuff!)

Clear and concise writing, with no spelling or grammatical errors will keep your résumé from going immediately into the ignore file. Then your easy to read résumé will detail your capabilities, education and training, past employment history and responsibilities, accomplishments, awards, how you will be an asset to your prospective company, etc.

Note the following!!

The absolute best way to be noticed by a company is to have your résumé hand carried into the office of the hiring manager. If you have developed your network, you are immediately on the top of the pile. Network, network, network!