With employers receiving hundreds of resumes you must make sure that your resume hooks an employer's attention within 5 seconds. A great way to do this is to use job titles and skill headings that relate to and match the jobs you want. For example, compare the headings Michael used in his before resume to the headings used in his after resume. Before: Accounting / Recordkeeping , Administrative, Computer Skills After: Management of A/R and A/P Accounts, Departmental Administration / Recordkeeping, Computerized Accounting Applications Even though Michael's title was Accounting Assistant, he actually managed over 1,000 A/R and A/P accounts. Using skill headings that market the true nature of his job duties will generate him more interviews and higher salary offers. Employers make snap judgments when glancing at your resume. If they see unrelated job titles or skills the likelihood is very high that they will make an immediate assumption that you are not qualified for the job you want. Adding to this problem is the fact that employers don't have the time to read through each of your job descriptions to determine if you have the skills they need. The design of your resume must highlight the most important information about your work experience, skills and education. At first glance this information forms the image that employers have of your skills and abilities. Resume design should get attention but it's really the content of your resume - the descriptions you include of your skills and abilities - that determine how many interviews you generate--as well as the level of salary offers you receive. Compare the before and after statements from Roger's resume shown below: Before Resume: Maintained records for accounts receivable and accounts payable accounts. After Resume: Managed over 1,000 accounts receivable and payable accounts working directly with the Chief Financial Officer. As this example illustrates, our image of Roger is changed and elevated when we read the after example. In the above example, Roger's after statement demonstrates that using numbers to describe your achievements and responsibilities can greatly expand and elevate your image. Typically the more specific you can be in describing your duties the better. Another strategy that is extremely important in controlling the image that employers develop about you is to use Power Verbs that match the level of position you want. For example, Roger wants to use the experience he's gained to move into a management position. To strengthen his image he should use as many "management oriented" words as possible. For example: Typical Verbs: Gave work assignments to staff of entry level accounting clerks. Power Verbs: Directed workflow, supervised and trained accounting staff performing posting to general ledger, accounts receivable and payable accounts. Most resumes provide a list of duties that each applicant has been responsible for--without explaining the benefit of those skills to employers. For example, a secretary's resume might state she can type 80 wpm and is extremely accurate. This statement lacks an explanation of how her typing speed and accuracy benefit an employer's bottom line. The real benefit is that the employee can produce more work and ultimately save the employer money. A better statement for this person's resume would be:

• Achieved top production volume by maintaining high degree of accuracy with typing speed at 80 wpm.
• Cut labor expense over $6,000 annually by eliminating the need for part-time wordprocessing staff.