According to Ric Edelman, author of Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth, the purpose of a résumé is not to get a job, it's to get an interview—you will get the job. A résumé should not list all your skills, but rather tease the employer with your achievements. These are ways to make your résumé stand out.

1. Broaden your work experience.

• Describe your job skills in ways that are transferable to other industries.
• Don't limit yourself to a specific type of job by simply listing the daily tasks you performed at your job. Expand on how your job impacted the business industry or company.
  

2. Use strong verbs.

• Don't talk about your capabilities. Talk about your accomplishments.
• Use active tenses rather than passive voice.
• Good words to use are managed, created, led, accomplished and organized. 
  

3. Target a specific person.
Address your cover letter and envelope to a specific person. Usually a simple phone call to the company is all you need.

4. Target a specific position.
Identify the position you are interested in and tweak your résumé to match the industry.

5. Make it easy to read.

• When writing your résumé think, "Less is more." Many people make the mistake of putting too much information on their résumés.
• Don't write to the edges of the paper. Leave white space in the margins and in between jobs.
• Use a readable font at a reasonable size.
• One page only. 
  

And finally… Take your new résumé everywhere you go. It is your new calling card!

Are you ready to get your dream job? Take the quiz!