Social networking and an online presence can propel your job search. If you already have a blog, adding your social media resume creates a powerful platform for making others aware of your skills. If you don’t have your own blog yet, or your own personal URL you are willing to make toward expanding your social networking efforts. A blog should to be regularly updated and kept ‘fresh’ at least once per week, but preferably daily or at least numerous times per week. This doesn’t mean hours of work-just a brief period of time for an update. That might mean a couple of paragraphs of fresh content around your area of expertise-perhaps some views on your industry, commentary around new products, a fresh opinion on some business aspect, and so forth. Adding something of value to the community in which you would like to be gainfully employed can be a tremendous advantage when it comes to your job search.

If you haven’t yet done so, it is highly recommended that you register your name in the form of your own URL and with the “.com” extension ideally. Registration is easy and inexpensive at one of many domain name registrars (a fancy name for a place to ‘register’ your own name/URL). GoDaddy is just one popular and cost-effective option. As of this writing, one domain name will cost approximately $10 per year. Simply visit one of these domain registration sites and do a lookup for it in the search box tool to make sure no one else with the same name already “owns” it. If the name you’d like is taken, consider one of several related suggestions the registrar company might offer that would still contain your name.com in the URL.

Search engines like Google and Yahoo are more likely to list such a Web site when people do a search on your name because they assume that sites with such addresses are highly relevant to the person doing the search. So acquire it right away. It’s also important to remember that you will need to re-register one year later and for every year after that. Otherwise someone with the same name can grab “your” URL out from underneath you, leaving you with a bit of a problem in finding/choosing a new URL name.

As a Hiring Manager I review thousands of resumes a month. Here are just a few of the items I immediately look for in a resume. These secrets will get your resume to the top of the stack every time.
1. Keywords, Keywords, Keywords. Just like location, location, location in real estate. Keywords are the base for any great resume and they are how your resume will get noticed. First, pick job specific keywords those that are relevant to your prior work history, accomplishments, and career goals. When a hiring manager or recruiter does a search in their candidate database or on a job boards the keywords they search for need to be in your resume. Personality descriptors are not what a recruiters searches by. Examples are: effective communicator, self-motivated, amicable. Better keywords are Cost Accountant, Contract Negotiation, and Profit and Loss Management.

2. Tailor your resume to the position you are trying to pursue. On your work history section of your resume don’t list all your duties at your previous job list the ones that are MOST APPLICABLE to the position you are trying to obtain. Even better is to choose accomplishments and contributions that are related and list those as well. Which brings me to my next point.

3. List accomplishments and contributions not duties. Employers want to see what you can do for them, what value-added service or skills are you going to bring to the table. When I review a resume I want to know what you accomplished at your last job and how that translates into what my company needs. Pick accomplishments that are specific to the job you are trying to get.

4. Market your knowledge, skills, and abilities. I always tell my clients the first 1/3 of their resume is the most important. If the top third of the page catches my eye then I will take the time to read the rest. You can make your resume stand out by creating a powerful career summary at the top and then adding a core strengths section right underneath.

5. Create a powerful introductory statement. You introductory statement needs to be related to the position you want to obtain, sell your best attributes, and be POWERFUL. When I read an introductory statement I’m looking for that WOW factor. I want it to grab my attention, tell me you’re the best candidate for my position, and make me want to read the rest of your resume.

6. Highlight your strengths in a core knowledge section. This is a great facilitator for keywords. Use industry specific keywords in this section. If you put your keywords here and disperse them throughout the resume your chances of being first in a search on a job board dramatically increases.

7. Create an eye catching format. Design the layout of your resume to be reader-friendly and attention grabbing. If I open your resume and it is a mess I’m not going to spend more of my time searching through it to find the information I need. If your style, format, and layout are attractive I will be more inclined to read through the rest of the document.

Jessica Holbrook is a former Hiring Manager and a professional resume writer with Great Resumes Fast. She creates powerful, customized, and targeted resumes that are guaranteed to get her clients interviews. For a free resume analysis visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com or for a free phone consultation call 1.877.875.7706

How your resume looks is just as important as the information it contains. One simple idea is to print your resume on paper that is different from everyone else’s. Choosing a type of paper that is slightly thicker than usual, slightly larger than normal and in a color other than white can immediately grab the attention of anyone who is looking at dozens of resumes that are otherwise all identical.

Another thing you can do is to alter the font that you use to print your resume. The majority of people will simply use the default font of their word processor program. It can be to your advantage to choose a different one. As long as you make sure that it is not too fancy or hard to read, then this is a quick way to make your resume noticeable.