Conventional Wisdom holds that a good resume emphasizes measurable results and accomplishments, expressed in "action verbs." Edit Express offers these additional tips to really stand out from the crowd:

• Focus it — Make sure your resume answers the questions hiring managers are asking:
  
  
  • What are you looking for? (Objective)
  • What are you good at? (Summary of Skills)
  • What have you done? (Work History)
  • What is your level of education? (Educational Background)
  • What are your computer skills? (Hardware & Software)
  
  
• Tailor it — Be prepared to revise your resume each time you apply for a position. Find out everything you can about the company and job requirements, then rewrite your resume to answer the questions you would ask if you were hiring for that position. Write a new objective, emphasize certain skills and de-emphasize others, or expand your descriptions of relevant projects to address the particular needs of that position.
  
  
• Design it — Take advantage of the desktop publishing technology available to all of us today. Look at your resume objectively (try squinting at it) to see if it is positioned well on the page. Don't send a resume that is either too dense or too thin. Forget the one-page rule; expand to two, or even three pages rather than present a "crammed-in" resume.
  
  
• Demystify it — Review your resume from the point of view of your audience. Circle every product name, document title, company or group name, or technical term that may have meaning only to you or your former employer. Add brief explanations of arcane terms or eliminate them from your resume.
  
  
• Edit! Edit! Edit! — A single typo can land your resume in the reject pile. Find an editor or a colleague you can trust to ferret out the tiniest errors. Pay special attention to spelling, capitalization, and hyphenation issues in technical terminology. Above all, fight the tendency to rely on your own editing skills, no matter how good you think they are.

 
Nan Fritz is Founder and President of nSight, the company behind Edit Express. She has more than 25 years of communications experience. Nan is an Associate Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication, and is also an active speaker and participant in many professional organizations for writers, editors, and publishers.

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