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What if you could talk to four hiring professionals and ask them what they
REALLY wanted to see in your resume?

Do you think that might give you an advantage in your job search?

Well, that’s just what I did for this week’s column.

I spoke to recruiters and career experts from across America and convinced
them to share their best advice with you.

So, without further ado, here are four tips from career experts to help you
write a better resume – and get hired!

1) Research the company and customize your resume
In this job market, too many candidates are chasing too few openings. That
means you must differentiate yourself. And a great way to do that is to
customize every resume, to clearly target the positions you apply for.

"I advise all candidates to send out no generic resumes. Make sure you
include keywords from the job postings online or from the newspaper – this
can grab employers' attention and keep them reading," says Felix Lin, a
recruiting professional at Los Angeles-based Marclin Group
(www.marclingroup.com).

So carefully match your resume to job postings, to make sure your resume
hits all the hot buttons in every ad you respond to.

In addition, research target companies using www.google.com,
www.hoovers.com and your network of contacts. The more you know, the better
you can tailor your resume to appeal to hiring managers.

"You want to know what kind of management style will be a good fit at your
target employer. If you have contacts there, find out what happened to the
person you'll be hired to replace. Were they fired, promoted, what? Use any
advantage you can get – you have to research companies like there’s no
tomorrow," says Lin.

2) Showcase your achievements
When writing your resume, shoot off your big guns early. Because if you
start off slow, employers may never finish reading.

"Top career accomplishments and awards should be at the top of page one for
impact, not buried on page two," says Ron McManmon, a former recruiter and
currently Executive VP of Bend, Oregon-based Careeradex, Inc.
(www.careeradex.com).

For best results, mention at least 2-3 of your top achievements within the
top third of page one -- this is the most valuable real estate in your resume.

You can include your achievements in a Profile or Qualifications Summary
section, with 4 or 5 bulleted paragraphs, each one or two lines long.
Bullets make for easy reading and allow you to make your best points quickly.

3) Break up long text
"Avoid paragraph forms that are text heavy and hard on the eyes. Bullet
points definitely make for easier reading," says Rick Fox, Branch Manager
at Edina, Minn.-based Princeton Search (www.mrimpls.com).

My own rule of thumb is to break all paragraphs longer than three lines
into two or more shorter, bulleted sections.

Here's just one "before" and "after" example from a recent resume that
crossed my desk, with grammar and punctuation improved as well.

BEFORE
Administrator of a 40-node local area network utilizing Windows NT primary
domain model, integrated with a Novell Netware server for GroupWise E-mail
access. Windows NT Server 4.0 provided DHCP-TCP/IP services for the
intranet, as well as account validation, and management of shared
resources. Windows NT Workstation 4.0 provided access to the domain.

AFTER
* Administered 40-node LAN running Windows NT primary domain, integrated
with a Novell Netware server for GroupWise E-mail access.
* Managed Windows NT Server 4.0 (DHCP-TCP/IP for intranet, account
validation, and shared resource management) and Windows NT Workstation 4.0
(domain access).

4) Stay within two pages
"The initial review of a resume is very brief -- as little as 13 seconds.
We look for several items, including companies worked for, job titles and
timeline. These should all be prominently displayed," says Doug Binning,
President of Minneapolis-based Upstart Solutions (www.upstartsolutions.com).

A good rule of thumb is to limit your resume to two pages at most. "The
attention span of resume reviewers is notoriously short," adds Binning.

Anything that doesn't make the cut can be used to create supplemental
documents, listing your projects and prior experience in detail. Bring
these supplements to the job interview, where you can use them to expand on
your resume.

Best of luck to you!

---------

Kevin Donlin owns and operates Guaranteed Resumes. Since 1995, he has
provided resumes, cover letters and online job-search assistance to clients
on five continents.

Kevin has been interviewed by WCCO and WLTE radio, and KMSP TV, among
others. His articles have appeared in the National Business Employment
Weekly, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Twin Cities Employment Weekly and others.

As a reader of this publication, you're eligible for a special offer. Get
your F-ree Job Search Kit ($25.00 value) at the Guaranteed Resumes Web site
- http://www.gresumes.com