When you talk about job boards, it always gets me thinking about the currency on those sites which of course is resumes.  With the advent of social networking tools (LinkedIn, MySpace, Friendster) and other services that help you “connect” with employers through introductions, sometimes I think people forget that resumes are still the gold standard for introducing yourself and applying to positions at companies. 

While all these tools are a great addition to your job search, you can’t get away with relying just on the information that you provide through them.  In fact, I feel strongly that without a good resume, good jobseekers are in danger of being passed over even if they’ve got a connection in the company of their choice.  It’s great that you got your foot in the door, but if you can’t provide a clear concise picture of yourself then you are still in danger of being overlooked.  Especially since most recruiters and hiring managers take less then a minute to make an initial review of a resume.

So what can you do to make your resume stand out a little?  Here are a few things that I think go a long way:

1. Be clear – if a recruiter can’t understand what you’ve written on your resume, they most likely will pass over you in favor of someone that has meaningful information.  Explain acronyms and don’t use internal company lingo.  Have someone outside your industry review your resume.  If they can’t understand what you are doing, you probably need to go back and think about how to express yourself better.
   
   
2. Be concise – I don’t think you should confine yourself to the “one page resume rule”.  BUT please, please, please think about your audience.  You don’t need to have a 6 page resume with long descriptive narratives of what your company does and a detailed job description for your position.  Most hiring folks just want to know what specifically you’ve done at a company and what results you achieved.  
   
   
3. Be truthful – I know, I know – do I need to even say this?  Unfortunately, the answer is “yes”.  If you don’t know it, don’t put it on your resume.  You’ll regret it as soon as someone starts asking you questions and digging deeper.
   
   
4. Be reachable - include contact information on the front page of your resume. Make sure that the information is up to date.  You’d be surprised how many times I’ve gotten a great resume with no contact information or I’ve tried calling/email only to find the information is incorrect.  

If you want to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth (and you’re a software engineer), here are a few quick tips to think about when crafting your resume. 

Have a great Wednesday!
zoë