When you go to networking events, you may be prepared to take résumés with you, but the truth is that most people don’t want to receive an 8.5 x 11″ document when they’re meeting dozens of people. But what everyone DOES expect to receive at a mixer is a business card. As a job seeker, you can maximize the information you share on this tiny billboard—and create a pocket résumé.

A business card is a minimal investment; on VistaPrint.com, you can even find a free option. The trick is to include just enough but not too much to grab someone’s attention. Obviously, you will want to include your name, email address, and phone number. A LinkedIn URL is also helpful. In addition, both sides can be used to showcase talent areas. This is not where you want to put specifics such as companies worked and colleges attended; you want to get to the point quickly! I typically encourage clients to add in a title and some targeted keywords, one or two great accomplishments, or a strong branding statement.

Once you have a great card, remember that you don’t want to be shoving it in everyone’s hands at the event. Instead, wait until you’re asked for your card. And don’t run after everyone you see; target a handful of people and create some meaningful conversations. While most people do want to help others, they’re more likely to do so after getting to know you a bit.

Whether you carry your pocket résumé on a business card, a phone app, or even verbally with a great 30-second commercial, be ready to share your value quickly. You’ll find that you’ll make a great first impression, and it can turn into your next job!

50 versions?! Seriously? What I always tell people is that you really only need one résumé: your master résumé. If you’re looking within a set industry, why would you need multiple versions? What you did at past positions won’t change. And if you’re like most people, you’ll have a hard enough time coming up with ANY accomplishments, much less a variety for different positions. So that means that from the professional experience to the end of the document will probably never change.

While you don’t need to change the whole document, you definitely should be looking at the top third of your résumé before you send it out to a new opening. That section includes your headline/title, summary, and areas of expertise/keywords.

Headline/Title
Although you may have set yourself a title to pursue, each company will likely call it something different, so be sure your résumé reflects their language.

Summary
Who you are at the core won’t change, but how you sell yourself to each position probably will. Reread this paragraph with the job description in front of you. What are they looking for you to do? What problems do they want you to solve? These are imperative to include here because this is the section that’s most likely to be read.

Areas of Expertise/Keywords
While your core competency areas are static, the ones you’ll showcase—and how you’ll sell them—may change. Look at the job description for the “must have” section. Many companies are reviewing résumés via a scanning system first, so if you don’t have the right keywords, you may never show up.

Save each document with your name and title: “Joe_Smith_Customer_Service_Manager.” That way, you’ll know to where you sent it when you’re looking back.

Lying on your résumé is never a good choice, but the truth is that most candidates actually ARE working in some capacity. Many talented job candidates are busy doling out advice and support as a consultant, even if they haven’t hung up a shingle to advertise that effort. On your résumé, though, it’s a good idea to fill in that gap with what you really have been doing for the time you haven’t been working in Corporate America.

What you may not know is that you don’t need an LLC or business license to say that you have a company. Call it Smith Consulting and put it on your résumé. Share what you have been doing as your own entity. Perhaps you’ve helped a significant other, friend, or relative with business-related issues. The catch is that you can’t put a “pretend” position on your résumé if you can’t back it up. Like any other position, you’ll still need to have an overall job scope and, more importantly, accomplishments. Be sure that a prospective employer can follow up with your clients (whether they paid or not, if you helped them, they’re clients).

If you cannot say that you have been consulting, try volunteering to fill the gap. Some job seekers are helping out at career networking groups or even in their own industry. That is pertinent information to share—and it might help you to look more relevant in the job search.

Have questions about how your résumé stacks up? Email it to us for a complimentary review.

For further reading, see:

• Only the Employed Need Apply
• Job Listing: Unemployed Need Not Apply
• Should Employers Be Able to Hire Only the Currently Employed?

If you haven’t written a résumé in more than a decade, yours probably looks a lot like that old style. It’s a list of what you did, what you did, what you did…well, you get the idea. At that time, unemployment was low and employers did have the time to sift through each document and find the gems needed to make that all-important decision to call the applicant for more information.

Now, most employers don’t have the time to pour through all of the superfluous information to find what it is you’re really trying to share. You need to give it to them in a way that jumps off the page. You MUST have a strategy—and that changes from person to person and from position to position. For instance, a new college graduate’s résumé will differ from a person who’s been in one job 25 years, and they’ll differ from a person with five jobs in 15 years. Each person is unique, and the résumé should convey your individual talents as appropriate for that position.

If you have questions about how your résumé stacks up, let us help! We’ll provide a complimentary review of your résumé with no-holds-barred feedback. Email it to us now.

One way to help your résumé to stand out from the crowd is to give it some action: Use action words.

There are two ways sentences can be constructed: passively or actively. A passive sentence on a résumé usually sounds like:

• Responsible for managing a team of 20 sales associates.

A better way to say this is:

• Managed a team of 20 sales associates.

As I always tell people, “responsible for” just says what you were SUPPOSED to do. However, an action verb connotes that you actually did it. Which impression would you rather share with your readers?

So take some time and review your résumé to make sure you are really telling people what you did by shaking it up with a little action.

I listened patiently to this seminar and just kept shaking my head at the example. I give presentations about résumés all the time, and one of the first myths I look to dispel is that the document is not about the person who’s name is on it. People give me funny looks at this, and I explain that a résumé is designed to share a person’s value with the employer. It is not about you and full of “I’s”; it is looking forward and sharing the WIIFM Factor (what’s in it for me?).

Yet, in less than 90 minutes, my whole theory on this was thrown in the toilet.

The example shared in the teleseminar told stories, which is what Ms. Ryan kept saying: we need to share stories in our résumés. HR administrators want something more than just the black and white of most documents; they want to hear the meat and potatoes.

As I read the example, all I could think was, “Wow, this is all about the person and shares nothing about how he can help the employer.” And I wondered why an employer would want to read that. Wouldn’t that decision maker want to know the benefit of hiring this person?

Perhaps I’ve just been writing résumés too long, and I’m now set in my ways. A chunk of pronouns on a résumé seems so foreign to me. It feels too informal for something that should be a quite formal document. And it doesn’t paint the candidate as a benefit to the employer.

Thankfully, Ms. Ryan did say that this “human voice” approach isn’t applicable for all situations or positions. I kept thinking about how I could change the approach to be personal but more focused on the employer. So, while I may incorporate some of the suggestions, I think I’ll keep the pronouns for the cover letter, thanks.

A résumé is not about you.
You might think this document IS, especially because your name is at the top, but the truth is that a résumé is truly about the value you can provide an employer. This is often referred to as the WIIFM factor, or “What’s in it for me?”—from the perspective of the employer. Everything on your résumé should explain how you can benefit the employer.

A résumé is not designed to get you a job.
Although a résumé is certainly a component of finding a job, the goal of a résumé is to get you an interview. To do that, you want to make sure you have the right keywords on there for scanning searches and that it reads well for the human eye as well. After you get the interview, nailing that to get the job is, well, your job.

A generic résumé is not effective.
There was a time when you could put pretty much anything and everything on your résumé and the employer would figure out where you fit. However, with the glut of résumés employers receive these days, they simply don’t have time to figure out where you fit. Instead, you need to let them know how you fit to their needs, not the other way around. Have a clear career goal in mind, which will dictate all of the content on the résumé, as well as your strategy.

There are two major categories into which certified résumé writers fall: Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW, PARW/CC) and National Certified Résumé Writer (NCRW, NRWA). Some would argue that the latter is more prestigious, which is why most certified writers have the first designation. I, as a résumé writer with 15 years of experience, have neither designation. Why? It’s simple, really. One is that I’ve never really gotten around to it, and the other—perhaps more important point—is that I’ve found CPRWs to be no better than I am.

I’m not trying to sound like I’m “all that and a bag of chips” in the résumé writing world; like anyone else, I’m sure I have areas in which I can improve. However, since the CPRW designation is a test and submission of a résumé, it’s pretty easy to do that (again, I know I should do this; when do I have the time?). Granted, the NCRW is much more rigorous, so someone with that usually is a good writer and immersed in the profession, but I have seen some not-so-good work come from CPRWs.

The bottom line is that, while a designation can certainly be a good thing, it is not the end-all, be-all. By all means, ask anyone with whom you plan to work what qualifications s/he has. Ask if she is certified. Ask how long he’s been writing. Ask all of those things, but do not base your choice solely on the fact that one does or does not have certification. For my part, not only have I been writing résumés for 15 years, I have written for TheLadders.com and am a member of the National Résumé Writers’ Association (NRWA) and the Résumé Writers’ Council of Arizona (RWCA). I write the weekly newsletter for the former and am the vice president of the latter. I also have a contract with the City of Phoenix to write résumés as part of the Obama back-to-work grant they have. I have paid my dues. Someday, I will get the letters after my name…but don’t let that alone make you think I cannot write a good résumé.

If you fall into one of these categories and are struggling through your résumé, you may want to hire someone! Okay, okay, no pitching here; I want to provide some hints to get you on the best track. The first thing you need to do is determine what you’re targeting. A résumé should always begin with the end goal in mind. Look at what skills you need to have to get into the position you want. Make sure you have them! Think about the accomplishments that fit into that position as well, as accomplishments play a huge role in a well-written résumé.

Once you have all that hammered down, start thinking about which strategy is going to work for you. It could be chronological, functional, or a unique combination. Regardless, you always want to showcase your WIIFM factor: tell the employer what you can do for them! Otherwise, you’re just making it a laborious read—and I can guarantee you it will be passed up. Pile in the accomplishments because they’ll sell you much more than your skills. Oh, and make sure you have the right keywords!

Regardless of how great your résumé is, it won’t do too much on its own. Remember to incorporate social media and in-person networking to create a comprehensive job search. In this new economy, WHOM you know carries a lot of weight!

I’ve had the great privilege of conducting résumé presentations for high-school students at some Phoenix area schools, and the biggest pushbacks I typically hear are that teenagers haven’t yet worked and they don’t have any accomplishments. I beg to differ. I also used to work in college admissions, and I know that, while a well-written résumé likely won’t make or break your application, it certainly can serve to impress. Besides, why not learn how to write it well the first time?

Some things to consider adding to that first résumé:

Volunteer Experience
It’s an old-fashioned notion that a résumé can only include paid experiences. If you title the section “Experience,” it’s open to all kinds of additions. Keep in mind what you’re looking to do and then think back about what you’ve done that fits. For instance, if you’re going to school to be a teacher and you watched your kid brother for the past three years on weekend evenings, that’s great experience! Or perhaps you tutored elementary kids. List your volunteer experience just like a job (don’t mention it was unpaid), along with accomplishments.

Don’t Discount “Irrelevant” Positions
Even if it doesn’t seem relevant, something in the customer-service realm is always helpful moving forward. If you have worked at McDonald’s for two years and your long-term goal is to be a doctor, you might be prone to omit this tidbit. However, McDonald’s has a strong customer-service model, and the fact that you held a job while attending school shows your ability to balance your time.

Mention School Projects
Have you been on the cheerleading squad? A football player? A member of the yearbook crew? All of these roles are important and highlight your ability to be responsible and part of a team—the main things employers seek! If they’re mostly “jobs,” put them in your experience section. Otherwise, they can be mentioned in your education section.

Include Relevant Classes
Many schools offer classes in the area you’ll be studying in college. If you have taken these relevant courses, by all means include them! If you want to go to law school, that debate class can definitely be important.

There are so many ways to write a great high-school résumé, so don’t get frustrated. It’s a chance to practice, and getting yourself on the right path is worth more than anything.