Before you start reading through this, understand my advice on resumes has changed significantly over the years. I've more towards what my clients have found successful rather than my own experiences because I tend to work as a contractor more than as an employee.

To be fair, the resume hiring managers see or that I might include in a technical proposal is often excerpted for the specific occasion. You may have a wonderful resume but if it's too long no one will read it.

If your resume fails to highly your value or what you might bring a company you may never get a call back. Worse, if your resume fails to contain certain keywords for your industry it may be ignored by human resources.

I recommend clients have a long resume for submission via job boards, a short focused resume for hiring managers, and several general resumes for recruiters. Often you'll tailor your resume against specific job descriptions, that works best.

Your resume needs to focus on one position, showing you have experience and results in the type of position you are applying. A winning resume will be easy to read with clear spacing and a font no smaller than 12pt.

Outline first your accomplishments, followed by a list of companies you have worked with, then a list of tools specific to the position you target. This is a simple format that can be quickly produced according to the position you apply.

It's easy to have a winning resume when you know how. Always be open to feedback and write to the decision maker more than your own preference. But the resume isn't everything, I'll talk about other tools for securing the job of your dream in another article.

© 2008 Get Dream Job, All rights reserved.

Author of the Dreaming Job System who helps any high-income professional find the career of their choice quickly. Enhance your job search skills at http://DreamingJobSystem.com/