The use of correct format, is crucial. There is one, and only one, proper resume format for recruiters -- chronological. Recruiters do not have time or patience to figure out the complexities of a functional resume. To recruiters, time is money. A second danger of using a functional resume is that recruiters automatically assume the candidate is attempting to hide something. This assumption is universal. No job-seeker on earth can hide unpleasant facts within a functional resume. Recruiters are trained from the start to pick up on any possible "red flags" that identify the job seeker as an undesirable candidate.

The use of quantifiable accomplishments, is essential in helping the recruiter see you as money in his or her pocket. Remember this point; you will only capture a headhunter's attention when he or she sees you in terms of commission potential. Since recruiters earn their fee by providing better candidates than their competition, your resume should shout "ACCOMPLISHMENTS." Quantifiable accomplishments are most convincing when connected to bottom-line results: revenue earned, money saved, market share increased, costs cut, or time saved. This type of information gives recruiters selling points to market you to their clients and more quickly put you in front of employers.

The liberal use of keywords, is important not only in the short term, but also leads to future opportunity. At any given time a recruiter may have 10 to 100 specific positions to fill. Recruiters categorize their positions by qualifications identified by keywords. When reading resumes, the recruiter scans for those keywords. Recruiters may be so tuned into finding specific words that they are oblivious to anything else in the resume except keywords.

The best way to ensure your resume is filled with keywords is to scour job postings of target positions and identify keywords of qualifications. Find the most commonly used keywords in 12 or more target postings and use those words as the language of your resume. For future use, recruiters save resumes in candidate-tracking databases to sort later by keywords. If your resume does not have the correct keywords, it may never be seen by human eyes. Correct choice of words means that your resume will get recruiter attention every time he queries by keywords contained in your resume.

About the Author

Deborah Walker is a Certified Career Management Coach whose expertise includes executive recruiting, resume writing, and career coaching. She holds membership in the National Resume Writer's Association and is the creator of CareerShoppingBag.com, the online career resource boutique that offers job-search advice and resume critiques from the nation's top resume writers and career coaches. Subscribers receive weekly job-search advice through Walker's Tip of the Week email. Sign up at www.CareerShoppingBag.com .