I love how GL Hoffman discusses the lean resume concept by playfully experimenting with the idea of a 6-word resume over at his blog. I enjoy these thought-provoking experiments, and I believe Twitter and other social media vehicles are teaching us to write tighter and more thoughtfully. These exercises help us all do a better job of drilling down to our unique value statements for those quick quips and exchanges we 'initially' may have with someone in our networking group or during any aspect of job courting.

As well, your resume must be glimpseable and pithy to grab the attention of the reader so he will pluck yours from the stacks of lukewarm, unfocused resumes and call you in for the interview.

However, I fear we may get so caught up into thinking our resumes must be tweet-like and ultra-lean, that we miss out on an expanded opportunity to provide content- and story-rich value, with muscle and meat!

Job seekers, and those who are presently employed but actively engaged in their career management, let's take a breath, please, and realize the value of your message, and the extended value of your words, moving from conversation to conversation and interview to interview, reinforcing and propelling your unique proposition of value.

Once it has reached the short stack, realize if written strategically and compellingly, the resume can and often WILL support your interview movement, represent your professional/executive presence and boost your momentum leading to the negotiation phases. Recently, one of my actively interviewing resume clients, expressed that value so well, saying this about his resume: "It is absolutely a great presentation and value statement, and I love how it moves from all the lower level discussions to the higher level ones so quickly."

If you honor the resume process, you will reap the return-on-time and intellectual investment deep into your interview engagements. The resume is your partner in the process of clarifying not only who you are but what you bring to the job-opportunity table. No longer a brief listing of where you were, when you were there and what you 'did,' the eloquent and compelling resume knits you intimately into the company's story fabric.

Suddenly, they gasp, "Aha, I can no longer live without this person. He is the salve for our pain, the revenue driver for our lagging sales, the inspirer for our lackadaisical team ..." (You get the drift).

Beyond that, once you're contacted for the interview, your resume can guide the interview process (yes, it will not only land the interview, it will provide fuel for the interview conversation). As well, for group interviews, your resume is passed around among interviewers; and for deeper interview processes involving senior managers, executives and board members, their first impression of you is a read-through and sometimes, thorough examination of your resume BEFORE you walk through their doors for a face-to-face interview.

Yes, you heard right, a read-through: they are actually reading through and scrutinizing your resume, judging you by your resume presence. Is it assumptive? Assuming they know your value? Tactical? Only providing the nuts and bolts of your career, but not really positioning you for their needs strategically? Is it boring? Yawn. Is it elementary in design? Again, like a pressed suit, polished shoes, coiffed hair and the tailored words that spew from your lips, your resume represents YOU at every critical stage of the interview conversation.

Article by Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, one of only 26 Master Resume Writers (MRW) in the world, who has a B.A. in Writing and is owner of Career Trend, a career strategy and writing firm serving a global market. Jacqui composes career positioning documents that land interviews for forward-thinking executives and professionals, unearthing and translating their 'value into words.' Connect with her on LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquibarrett. Follow her on Twitter - @ValueIntoWords

Writing resumes is tough because the days of being able to send out one-size-fits-all resumes and land entry level job interviews are long gone. Now, for a candidate to even be considered, he must tailor each resume to fit each employer. It's a lot more work, but it's worth it if it can get a candidate's foot in the door for an interview.

There are gimmicks and formatting tricks galore that experts disagree on regularly in terms of their effectiveness. The latest, and possibly most controversial, resume trend is the video resume. Some people think they're great, some think they're a mistake and some think they're a fad that will eventually go away ... like rap music.

"If a candidate is insistent on using video, I suggest doing so either in lieu of an in-person interview (if everyone else is at the same stage) or as a follow-up. They can be great, but candidates have to remember that a lot of times employers are unable to view them," said professional resume writer and chief of staff for The Grammar Doctors, Amanda Collins.

Shooting PAR on a golf course is tough! Shooting "PAR" with your resume is easy if you know the P-A-R formula. Here's a specific strategy that will impress any hiring manager and benefit you in a BIG way.

P = PROBLEM
A = ACTION
R = RESULT

When writing about your experience at your previous place of employment, state the PROBLEM you encountered, the ACTION you took to resolve the conflict, and the RESULT that occurred because of what you did. Use clear, focused wording and be brief so the hiring manager can take it in with a sweep of the eye.

Every single day hiring managers all over the country open countless job search cover letters from people just like you who are eager to land an interview for a terrific job. And every single day hiring managers toss most of them into the shredder or the recycle bin.

WHY?

• Because they lack professionalism, personality, and pizzazz.
• They read like a page out of a business manual.

Think about it. You can distinguish yourself by starting out your cover letter with an eye-catching headline that will move yours to the pile marked, "Take another look."

In order to do that, consider creating a smashing title or headline that turns the hiring manager's head and compels him or her to read all the way through from the first line to the last.

Start planning now

It's never too early to examine your present experiences through the lens of the future and consider how they'll look on a resume. There are a ton of college students who hit the job market with no experience to show but a couple summers clearing tables or tearing movie tickets. And while those experiences were fine in their time, you need to think about doing things that will provide opportunities down the road. Apply for internships in your field, and look for summer jobs that can teach you skills related to your major. When it comes time to graduate and look for a real job, you'll be able to present your potential employer with a resume demonstrating relevant experience in the market. Your resume is your lifeline and the best tool at your disposal when it comes to getting the attention of an employer. Make sure it counts.

Cut the double-talk

A lot of college students, wary of appearing inexperienced, trump up their accomplishments with puffy language. This is the job-hunt equivalent of using 13-point Arial typeface on a term paper with 1.5-inch margins: It's not fooling anyone. Don't say you were a "domestic distribution engineer" if you delivered the school newspaper. Be honest about your skills and experience; otherwise, you're just wasting your time. When a hiring manager wants to talk to you, they want to know about actual results and experiences, not stuff that's been dressed up to look better. The more honest you are, the better shot you have at connecting with an employer.

Just the facts

It's also a habit of college students to list things they think are relevant to the job search on their resume in order to make it appear more substantial. But you should only list things that are specifically related to your skills and the job field you're in. Employers know that fresh college graduates are going to have less experience than older workers, and that's fine. Don't try to make up for it by mentioning your place on the swim team. If you want to list skills or accolades, make them tailored to the job. For instance, if you're looking for work in the news media, mention your familiarity with the Associated Press stylebook and any editing or news production software you may have used. If you're a business student, highlight any internships with local companies or any honors you've received in the field. List your GPA (if you're proud of it), but stay away from nebulous topics like "relevant coursework." Your employer knows you took classes; they want you to go beyond that now.

That list is by no means exhaustive, but it is a great place to start. College is a wonderful time, but don't let that joy distract you from some simple techniques and preparations that will help you after you've walked the graduation stage.

This guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas, who writes on the topics of online universities . She welcomes your comments at her email Id: katherynrivas87@gmail.com .

Article courtesy of Liz Handlin and courtesy of Ultimate Resumes

Lara Druyan, General Partner, Allegis Capital

I was recently on a panel for SVASE in which I was asked what advice I had for entrepreneurs raising money. This question arises pretty regularly. So, I thought I would take a stab at memorializing some of these thoughts.

Raising money, especially in the current environment, is hard. However, entrepreneurs have power in the process. Hopefully, you have a choice from whom you raise money. Sometimes that isn't the case, and you take money from whomever is willing to invest. If you do have a choice, or even if you don't, you should know from whom you are taking money. This sounds obvious, but many entrepreneurs don't know much about either the firm (if a venture fund is involved) or the partner at that firm (often more important than the firm itself).

This spirited introduction belies the full story of our Winter 2010 vacation get-away, as just two days into the long-awaited event (we'd been planning this trip for 6 months), I fell sick with a wicked, and somewhat debilitating cold virus that I still battle today.

As with most who experience life's unexpectedly altered plans, my hubby and I first expressed upset and disappointment, then adjusted, simply, 'dealing' with the reality of my less than 100% involvement in our dream vacation -- the first either of us had planned in over a decade.

Invited to an interview, you step into the room and unload that heavy photo album you've been clinging to onto the conference table. In addition to a resume and brag book, you have pictures on your iPhone of your dogs and the neighbor's cat stalking the birds enjoying your new bird feeder. The interview progresses by you opening and flipping through the pages of your album, pointing to your family and friends. You gladly draw the interviewer's attention to those older pictures taken during your college days ... and to the many of your drunk, sleeping positions your friends encapsulated forever through one click of a camera.

Eeerrrk!!!

What? Personal items presented during an interview?

Why not? Isn't that basically what hiring companies are doing rummaging through your public social media accounts, learning more about you and your online activities?

The next few years are certainly gray, unchartered waters for jobseekers. The issue of whether a person's personal life and involvement online should have any place in the hiring realm is definitely a topic that will be battled over for years -- maybe even decades. Some might unexpectedly find themselves entangled in lawsuits, as privacy experts grow increasingly concerned that disqualifying a candidate based on information gained online can introduce certain forms of discrimination into the hiring process.

Jobseekers have every right to be concerned about protecting their online identities from prying eyes, but where should the line be drawn? Employers shouldn't be given uninhibited access to a jobseeker's private life, should they?

Interestingly, a recent study released at Microsoft's 4th Annual Data Privacy Day identified that 70% of those surveyed in the US indicated they had disqualified a candidate based on online information. What was the incriminating online information that caused the disqualification? Of course this was not made public ... and behind the curtain of hiring, only HR managers and recruiters seem privy to such information.

The deeper issue is whether employers should be allowed to open that flood gate by bringing social media activities into the hiring world in the first place. I'm reminded of a line from the movie Jurassic Park. When referring to scientists, Jeff Goldblum's character says, "Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." Maybe employers poking through a jobseeker's online activities are so preoccupied with the fact that they could that they never stopped to think whether they should.

Ahh, but hiring companies won't find my online activities. Think again. Technology giants have only just begun leveraging the social media phenomena; and not surprisingly, for financial gain.

Microsoft announced the integration of Social Connector software, which will be released mid-2010. The add-on software is designed to let someone like me readily see the online communications from those who send me email. Microsoft's Group Product Manager, Dev Balasubramanian, was quoted as saying: "As you communicate you can see their social activities; you can see all the folks in your social network and it updates as you are reading your e-mail." Certainly it appears to offer great benefits to the masses, but for jobseekers, it just might leave an unpleasant sour aftertaste.

No doubt, employers will soon be given a larger spy glass -- and unfortunate for jobseekers, Microsoft isn't the only company abuzz with developing new applications that will take public social media data and translate it into something that can be researched and used, for good and evil.

Regardless, employers need to take a long look at their current hiring practices to determine whether a drunken party photo showing Joe Jobseeker has anything to do with the value Joe brings to the table professionally, and how well he performs while on the job.

In my opinion he did some things really right and a few things really wrong:

Valentino's Smart Career Moves:

1. Doing the one thing he loved and was passionate about for a living.

Apparently the only thing he ever wanted to do, from the time he was a child, was design beautiful clothes for beautiful women.

I once heard multi-millionaire Ross Perot say that if you do what you love the money will follow and I think that is very true.

Can you imagine a campaign ad that starts: 'Hi. My name is John McCain and I am applying to be your President.'

Applying sounds weak. It makes us sound subservient - we are asking for something when we apply for it.

So politicians don't apply. They run campaigns.

When a politician runs a campaign, he is engaged in the act of marketing. He is deploying a variety of strategies in order to communicate his value. He is being creative. He is engaging other people. He is offering solutions. That is worlds apart from 'applying.'

I haven't blogged because my company website was being redesigned. Once the blog content had been moved, I had to wait for the new site to go live before adding any new posts. A few technical hitches slowed us down, but we're finally done and so here I am.

I love the new design - it feels like we just bought a really great new outfit - but getting there was a big leap for our business. We had to commit to making a lot of big changes and to investing both time and money in transforming ourselves. We also had to let go of the reigns a little bit and trust a new team of people to guide us on our new path (for perfectionist control freaks like me, this is not an easy thing to do!)

Although there are plenty of professional resume writers who could help, some military veterans don't feel comfortable talking to someone who has no military background or experience. Some military jobs require a Secret clearance or higher, and there might be things that simply couldn't be included. Someone with a military background or experience might know how to include such information without giving away classified information in the process.

1. Anemic, weakened by lack of attention as it sits idly in your virtual computer drawer, untended and under-fed as your career purrs along.

2. Or perhaps, it was resuscitated by artificial means as a result of the panic you felt when you were suddenly laid off.

3. A heart stint strategically placed here to unplug a clogged resume artery, a pin there to bridge disconnected resume bones.

4. You gave it a quick facelift and a boost of botox to endear it to the modern masses.

5. As a result, your resume is an unwholesome reflection of its once healthy self.

Your resume is your career heartbeat. Feed it regularly, reevaluate and revisit your career health-care plan and reinvigorate your resume with fresh-from-the-vine, vitamin-enriched word stories to achieve a more robust career outlook and competitive edge.

Isn't your career lifeblood worth the nurturing to boost your vitality in the career racetrack within which it will be expected to outperform other vital, story-enriched career positioning documents?

Article by Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, one of only 26 Master Resume Writers (MRW) in the world, who has a B.A. in Writing and is owner of Career Trend, a career strategy and writing firm serving a global market. Jacqui composes career positioning documents that land interviews for forward-thinking executives and professionals, unearthing and translating their 'value into words.' Connect with her on LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquibarrett. Follow her on Twitter - @ValueIntoWords

My answer to this question is that it depends on what kind of a LinkedIn or Twitter presence you maintain. If what you have on LinkedIn is what I would call "anemic"--thin on information about you with no strong business case for why anyone would want to contact you--I'd say no, at least not until you remedy that situation. Do you contribute as a subject matter expert to discussions and forums? Do you have more than a handful of connections? If you cannot answer yes to both of these questions, your LinkedIn profile is not going to add anything positive to the perception a recruiter or hiring manager is forming about you.

Do you wake up every morning on time? Do you head to the shower and prepare your body with a cleansing for the work day ahead?

Men, do you step out of the shower and faithfully put your razor to work, ridding your face of offensive stubble that began creeping up on you around 5:00 the previous day?

Women, do you faithfully set about the task of applying make up and styling solutions to your face and locks, not to mention, working the curling iron, blow dryer and whatever other machinery produced by modern man to ready you for taking on the day?

And after these laborious tasks are completed do you not all head for whatever room contains your clothing for the day, and don the appropriate clothing, taking time to make sure this tie goes with this shirt and these shoes go with this skirt?