Nothing is more critical to your job-hunting success than an articulate, compelling presentation of your accomplishments, skills, experiences, educational foundation, and other information pertinent to your background and career.  While resumes and resume formats have historically served the purpose of summarizing the backgrounds of the individuals about whom they were prepared, today’s resumes must do more, as must today’s resume formats.

Much like packaging on a product, a thoughtfully prepared, properly formatted resume attracts attention and generates a positive image of its subject.  In today’s dynamic employment marketplace, the resume is the first and, in many cases, the only means through which the applicant can gain the attention of the prospective employer and distinguish him/herself from other highly qualified applicants.  For this reason, it must accentuate the positive aspects of one’s background, tell the candidate’s unique story, and eliminate or camouflage potential liabilities.  The resume format will determine how this is accomplished.
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Job-hunting today has become extraordinarily competitive and complex, so much so that many job seekers who have never had the need to prepare a resume now discover that most – if not all – of the employers with positions available require them to submit one.  Waitresses, hair stylists, childcare providers, convenience store retail clerks, laborers, various types of drivers, and other service industry workers often express surprise and dismay that they must now join the rest of the workforce in preparing and submitting documents that both reflect and market their skills, experiences, and other qualifications.

And, since the experiences of one candidate largely mirror that of her competition, how does one “waitress resume” differ from another “waitress resume?”  Or, for that matter, how can any of these candidates distinguish themselves from their job market competitors?
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“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.  If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were.  Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee…” 
(John Donne, Meditation 17, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions)

The English poet John Donne expressed this sentiment almost four hundred years ago.  Yet, it seems particularly appropriate today.  Bad economic news abounds across the globe.  And, since domestic business in every nation is dependent upon global markets for significant portions of their revenues, the American sub-prime mortgage crisis has spawned a worldwide economic meltdown of epic proportions.

Recently, in the U.S., CitiBank announced plans to lay off more than 50,000 employees nationwide while senior executives of the three major domestic automobile manufacturers pleaded their cases before Federal legislators, desperate to obtain funding that would enable their corporations to stay afloat.  Added to the unprecedented federal bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, and AIG, these more recent developments indicate that as the “bell tolls” signaling layoffs and unemployment for millions of Americans, it also “tolls” an alarm for the rest of us who are still employed.
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Too often, an initial review of your resume by a prospective employer is more about uncovering liabilities and eliminating you from consideration than it is about identifying why you might be a highly qualified candidate for the opening.

For that reason, your resume should be constructed in a way that eliminates mention (if possible), camouflages, or mitigates the impact of such liabilities.  Let us consider some of the major liabilities of prospective job candidates and what might be done to minimize their effects.
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