Your resume is the main way to market yourself to potential employers and now that jobs are scarce for some of us, it is important to play on your best skills, accomplishments, and why you would be an asset to the company.

Of course, there are a few ways to downplay some of your own pitfalls without lying on your resume.Yahoo’s The Savvy Networker had a list of tips on how to boost your resume, and I just thought it would be fun to revisit; especially because I know how hard it can be to get your foot in the door at any job.

First, eliminate resume gaps by taking out the month from your dates of employment. There are times in most people’s lives where they have been unemployed for some time or there were a couple of months where you were “between jobs” and gaps in employment make employers wary. However if you put 2004-2009 instead of May 2004 – March 2009 then the gap between March and now is gone.

Then, you should be able to describe your previous jobs. When you put on your resume where you worked and what you did, perhaps it would be good to tell your potential employer exactly what the company did or does. The reason for this is that not all companies can be a huge brand name that everyone recognizes.

For Example:

Global Supply Company
Inventory Manager 2006-present

Global Supply is the Midwest’s largest distributor of heating and cooling equipment to contractors. As Inventory Manager I was responsible for managing $1M in equipment and coordinating deliveries and outbound shipments among our 45 suppliers and 400+ contractor clients.

Also, don’t use corporate lingo in your resume. When you say something like “cross-functional collaborator” you are simply asking for your resume to be passed over. Yes, that may have been your actual job, but if you say something that you actually accomplished such as your ability to distribute your company’s product to resellers, then your resume will look a bit more practical than others that put some kind of lingo on their resumes.

Finally, make your resume sound human. Robots can spit out phrases and overused cliches like “attention to detail.” However, you can actually add something that sounds a bit more human. How much better does it sound to say that you are able to tackle office chaos and calm down your coworkers? Hmm…

Of course, these are all just boosters. Your real accomplishments are whats going to sell a potential employer on your resume.

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