About the Author:
Susan Britton Whitcomb is president of Career Masters Institute, the job seeker's "go-to" resource for trusted career experts; founder of Career Coach Academy, a training center and think-tank for quality career coaches; and principal of California-based Whitcomb Career Consulting. She holds designations as a Certified Career Management Coach, Credentialed Career Master, Master Resume Writer, and Nationally Certified Resume Writer. She is a member of the International Coach Federation, the National Career Development Association, the Christian Coaches Network, and the National Resume Writers' Association.

Chapter Summary:

• Chapter 1: A Resume Primer
  Explains the basics of a resume's role in your job search, the difference between how job seekers and employers view resumes, the most effective ways to present your resume, why to write a resume, unpleasant truths regarding resumes that you need to be aware of, success stories, and tools you'll need to create an effective resume.
  
  
• Chapter 2 How to Use Branding and Advertising Strategies to Get the Interview
  Explains how to create your unique career brand, how to use a proven ad agency formula to get your prospective employers attention, capture their interest, make them want to hire you, and better yet- make them want to hire you now!
  
  
• Chapter 3: How to Choose the Most Flattering Format
  Explains the points and pitfalls of 12 different resume styles and helps you decide which format suits your unique situation best.
  
  
• Chapter 4: The Blueprint for a Blockbuster Resume
  Thorough explainations of what information should be included (and not included) on your resume. Covers contact info, objectives, qualifications, professional experience, skills, education, affiliations, publications, awards, biographical information, and endorsements.
  
  
• Chapter 5: How to Write Great Copy
  Explains keywords to use in your resume, how to choose them, where to find them, and where to put them. Continues on to explain exactly how to write the content (or copy) for your objective, qualifications, professional experience, skills, education, affiliations, publications, awards, biographical information, and endorsements.
  
  
• Chapter 6: Accomplishments- The Linchpin of a Great Resume
  Includes a breakdown of 10 key factors that will motivate employers to hire you, where to find them in your work history, how to present them, and how to present yourself as the right fit for any position you're applying for.
  
  
• Chapter 7: Editing- Resume Speak 101
  A comprehensive guide to the technical aspects of your resume from punctuation to wording and sentence structure. This chapter is chock full of very useful information for those of us that ain't English majors.
  
  
• Chapter 8: Visual Artistry- The Missing Link
  "If your experience and credentials are impressive, visual appeal will enhance them. If you have some minor flaws or even a glaring hole in your background, visual appeal can help overcome those weeknesses. Without visual appeal, you will look homogenous (at best) amid the stack of your competitors. With visual appeal, you win that all-important, never-to-have-a-second-chance-at favorable first impression. Essentially, visual appeal allows you to out-position your competition at the starting gate, an enviable position to be in because front-runners frequently win the race." -Excerpt from Chapter 8
  
  This chapter explains the importance of having a visually appealing resume and tips for creating such a resume.
  
  
• Chapter 9: E-Resumes, E-Portfolios, and Blogs
  Explains the advantages and disadvantages of several electronic resume formats including ASCI, Word, HTML, Blogs, and RSS.
  
  
• Chapter 10: Cover Letters and Other Parts of the Puzzle
  Explains the strategy, style, segments, and anatomy of cover letters. Also covers other topics such as dealing with salary negotiations, relocation, termination, and missing filing deadlines. In addition, this chapter presents samples of thank you notes, networking cards, and separate references sheets.
  
  
• Appendix A: Worksheets to Catalog Professional History
  A collection of worksheets to help you get all your information on paper which will inevitably save you time when you begin writing your resume.
  
  
• Appendix B: Survey- What Employers Really Want in a Resume and Cover Letter
  Contains results from a survey sent to companies listed in the "100 Best Companies to Work For". This gives you a peek inside the minds of employers to help you create the best resumes and cover letters possible by giving them exactly what they want. In addition, a list of the "Top 25 Pet Peeves and Common Resume Mistakes Noted by Some of America's Top Employers".
  
  Appendix B alone is worth the purchase price of the book in our opinion.
  
  
• Appendix C: Action Verbs with Sample Phrases
  Hundreds of action verbs broken down by Career Genre to help you write copy that makes an impact. This was another section that we found very useful.
  
  

Resume (rez-oo-mey): "A resume, also known as a curriculum vitae (CV), is a document that contains a summary or listing of relevant job experience and education, usually for the purpose of obtaining an interview when seeking employment. Often the resume or CV is the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker, and therefore a large amount of importance is often ascribed to it." - wikipedia.org

So what does this mean to you? Simply put, it's your one shot to make a great first impression.

So let's break down wikipedia's definition. "A resume ... is a document that contains a summary or listing of relevent job experience and education, usually for the purpose of obtaining an interview when seeking employment" - This basically means that it's a snapshot of who you are, what you know, what you've done, and that you create this document to get jobs. Now let's think about that for a second...

You are creating this document in order to get a job.
Such a basic, "no-brainer", "duh" statement; but few realize the importance of it. When you really stop to think about it, THIS DOCUMENT, A RESUME, A PIECE OF PAPER, is deciding your fate in the job market. If a resume is your first contact with a potential employer, you are at your it's mercy.

A resume has a rather difficult job. It has to convey a wealth of information in a very tiny package. Your resume has to not only include the pertinent information to show off your skills, but also draw enough interest from the employer to call you in for an interview. It doesn't take long for the importance of a well-written, visually compelling, and memorable resume to start to sink in.

Now one should also note, that if you have the best resume in the world, but blow the interview... well, you blew it. BUT- at least you got the chance to blow it! Many don't even get that far- mainly because they think a resume is just a formality. They think they can make one resume and distribute it all over town and it's going to ring employer's bells. It's actually quite the opposite. Your resumes and cover letters need to be customized for each employer and position you are applying for.

Over 90% of interviewers agree that a resume and cover letter that shows an applicant has researched their company will gain preference of those that don't. This is all assuming you write a cover letter... over 80% of interviewers say that resumes with cover letters gain preference over those without. These are pretty big percentages to be fighting with!

Your resume is just too important to be throwing out cut-rate versions of it. Keep in mind that the text printed on your resume is not the only thing that it's saying- resumes also have their own version of "body language". It's important for all elements of your interaction with an employer to be congruent- so build a resume that's YOU.