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Make your resume a killer
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June 8, 2000: 12:12 p.m. ET
Sell yourself to perspective employers with persuasive job history
By Staff Writer Rob Lenihan
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - When employers talk about the killer resume, they don't mean a nasty computer virus.
They're talking about the kind of resume that wipes out its competitors and leads them to the perfect candidate.
A recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management of nearly 600 human resource professionals found the average resume is screened in less than three minutes. Think of your favorite song and do the math -- not much time is it? 
More than just a list of jobs and titles, your resume is usually a prospective employer's first impression of you, and it arrives on his or her desk with a few tons of company. You may have a winning smile and a dynamite personality, but if your curriculum is lacking vitae, you may go a long time without hearing the phone ring.
"A resume is a marketing brochure," said John Challenger, chief executive of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. "Just like every company has a marketing brochure, you need one as you sell your candidacy."
The digital age is putting a new spin on the resume situation, breaking down old rules about length and content. Joyce Lain Kennedy, author of "Resumes for Dummies" said the American job market is in transition, shifting from the traditional resume to the digital one. That means successful job hunters must be able to compete in the present and the future tenses.
"We have your resume..."
Challenger said the basic resume should focus on your last 5 to 10 years of experience, detailing your accomplishments, skills and experience.
"The largest portion of your resume should be taken up with your last job," he said. "That's what's most relevant to the marketplace. It indicates where you are right now."
Don't concentrate too much on a particular industry, Challenger said. Many jobs such as sales, human resources, and financial services can be done at any number of businesses. Leave the pigeonholes to the birds.
"You take your skills with you," he said. "Sometimes people get too tied to their industry and not to their function."
Kim Isaacs, resume expert for the job search Web site Monster.com, said your accomplishments will catch an employer's eye. If you improved sales for your company, say so and, whenever possible, use specific numbers and figures. Words like "significantly" are too subjective to make an impression. 
"You should say what were the challenges faced, what were the actions and what were the results," Isaacs said. "It shows the employers you're a doer and that you're not just sitting back collecting a paycheck, but helping the company do better."
How long should your resume be? In the old days -- like five years ago -- a one-page resume was all you needed. Now that's changing. While you should not make your resume long just to do it, experts say if you have a real story to tell, you'll be hard-pressed to cram it all into one page.
"The basic rule is that there is no rule about the proper length," Isaacs said. "Every word on the resume should be actively selling the candidate."
If you decide you want to hire professional help, the National Resume Writers' Association and the Professional Association of Resume Writers list contact information for their members. Resume writers may charge anywhere between $50 and $150 per hour for their services.
Going digital
The ease and economy of the Internet makes it a prime venue for employers and job seekers alike. Often your resume will go directly to a candidate database unseen by human eye.
Here's a few tips for the e-resume:
* Paper resumes should be scanable. Since most companies use different scanning hardware, Isaacs suggested calling a company's human resources department to see if they have any specific guidelines. Make sure the letters in your resume don't touch each other because scanning systems have trouble interpreting characters melded into one. Also, avoid columns and do not use ampersands, percent signs or foreign characters.
* E-mail resumes should be ASCII or plain text so the majority of computers throughout the world will understand it. This is a simple format designed to give employers the basics. 
* Keywords are key. Posting resumes online requires the right keywords to flag down search engines. Kennedy said these may cover such categories as skills, areas of expertise, education and achievements. If you're in sales, you could put "key account development." Manufacturing professionals might include "ISO 9001."
Plenty of general Web sites, such as Excite and Yahoo! (YHOO: Research, Estimates), post resumes free of charge, and there are also sites that cater to particular professions, such as health care, entertainment and the law. Some of these include ShowBizJobs.com, MedZilla.com and BankJobs.com.
Posting your resume online is not without risk. You have to make sure your current boss doesn't see your resume. And since resumes often carry sensitive information, such as addresses and telephone numbers, you should also be concerned about identity theft.
Kennedy said resume services break down to three basic types:
* Open resume banks, where anyone can look at your resume
* Resume banks, where employers need a password to read resumes.
* Private resume banks, which requires a password and allows the candidate to decide whether or not to release the resume.
Me.com
You may want to take things up a notch and create a Web site for your resume. Costs can range from as low as $50 for the basic model to hundreds or even thousands of dollars for all the bells, whistles, buttons and bows.
"You can really showcase your portfolio," Isaacs said. "There are no issues regarding length and it's always available for people to go look at it."
She also said you may include references and link to former employers, once you get their permission. Your domain name can be your own handle or something related to your industry, like "hotsalesguy.com."
Include your site's URL on various versions of your resume and on cover letters that you can invite an employer to click on and take a look.
Web hosting can range from as low as $10 per month to a heck of a lot more, but Isaacs said it is unlikely the average job seeker would need a high-end Web hosting company. Registration is about $70 for two years, but shop around to see if you can find a better deal.
If you feel a little tentative about a Web resume, Isaacs said you can use the free space provided by your ISP before you shift into cyberspace. And remember -- you can constantly update the document, so you'll never be caught short without a current resume.
"It could be a work in progress," Isaacs said. 
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