Inside Scoop on Resumes From Employers and Recruiters

Professionals Share Top Five Tips for Getting Resumes Noticed

PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 23, 2003 -- Employers and recruiters from Fortune 1000 companies tell CareerWomen.com that candidates continue to make serious mistakes when submitting their resumes. According to a recent poll, candidates are sending resumes that are outdated, not tailored to open positions and even full of typos.

"Recruiters and employers continue to look at the quality of resumes with a critical eye," said Jill Xan Donnelly of CareerWomen.com. "Our employer and recruiter partners tell us that a polished resume remains the entry ticket to getting an interview. This poll provides the guidance that candidates should take to get their resume to the top of the stack."

The Career Exposure Network(TM) of sites asked recruiters and employers for their top tips to creating an eye-catching resume. Their recommendations include:

1) Send a cover letter and your resume. The cover letter should explain why you are a good fit for the position.

2) Use appropriate and professional email addresses. Never use addresses that are in poor taste such as hotchick@aol.com.

3) Be a qualified applicant. If you are over or under qualified for the position, beware of burning a bridge with a potential recruiter or employer.

4) Keep your resume factual not fluffy. Overstated accomplishments are a turn-off.

5) Attachments are acceptable, but with conditions. If you send an attachment, make sure it is a Microsoft Word or PDF document or send a plain text version.

Employers and recruiters also reveal that they do have preferences regarding how they receive resumes. When polled, more than 50% responded that they prefer to view resumes in an online resume bank, while only 11% said that they want to receive a resume via postal mail and only 7% prefer to link to an online resume.