Last week I shared with you some of the wonderful insight and knowledge I learned from my interview with professional  resume writer, Karen Swim. This week I will break down the details of how to fine tune your resume in order to gain maximum results.

I have, for you faithful readers, Karen’s top 10 pieces of advice. Each of these top 10 has equal weight of importance. These are golden words of wisdom that should be your guideline when putting together the paper version of your representation, in no particular order:

1. Be honest. Don’t feel you need to embellish or exaggerate your experience and qualifications. If you feel you may lack some of the technical knowledge for a particular job but are strong in other qualifications, no worries, basic technical skills can be taught. Many employers have their own way of doing things, so sometimes a clean slate is just what they are looking for. But do not say you know how to do something just because you think it will help you land the position. Just be up front with all of your information.

2. Remember the biggest purpose of your resume. It is a marketing tool. You are the product. You have to be able to sell yourself with written words.

3. Your resume reflects you and your personality, both your professional side and your personal side. Stay true to the real you. When you are sitting before a potential employer for a face to face interview, you don’t want them wondering if they have the wrong resume in front of them.

4. A final resting place for all your past employment should not be on your resume. Keep the list streamlined and targeted to a specific field. If you have had a major switch in profession over the course of your career, work with a professional resume writer, such as Karen Swim, to find the best way to meld the transition from one to the other. A professional will be able to advise you on the pertinent aspects of how the skills and applications from one career can be presented as higher qualifications towards the next career.

5. Realize that your resume is NOT a magic bullet. If it does not get into the right hands, has poor presentation, or does not give a clear picture of the person it represents, the resume will be dead in the water. Just because you have fancy paper and delivered it to the front desk of a potential employer will not insure its success.

6. Present quantifiable results. If you had a part in financial success for a previous company, list them. List dollars earned, dollars saved, percentage improvements. Numbers talk.

7. The average time spent scanning a resume, is 15 seconds. This is the moment when a potential employer will decide if they want to bring you in for a face to face interview. Key words relevant to the position need to pop out. This is another area that Karen recommends working with a professional resume preparer. They can help you select the best key words and put the final touches on your personal branding statement as you target both the job and the reader.

8. Another great tool is a well written cover letter. This is where you specifically mention the job for which you are applying and your qualifications to show you are the best person for the job. Your cover letter should be short, just a few paragraphs to serve as an informative summary of the contents of your enclosed resume.

9. Proof your resume. Print it out and look it over as you hold it in your hands. Do the key words catch your eye? Are there any grammatical or spelling errors? Does the layout flow easily? Is the gist of the resume obtainable with a quick 15 second scan? These are the things you are looking for as you proof your resume. Share it with others to see if anything catches their eye in a negative way, and then make adjustments if needed.

10. Finally, follow up. Don’t invest your time and effort into such an important project and then forget about it as soon as you’ve delivered it. Be proactive and take responsibility for the power your resume possesses. Mention with the delivery of your resume, that you will be checking back within a certain time frame. And then do it. If you said you would check back in a week, make sure you check back in a week. Don’t abandon your resume to carry you through to the job. Karen suggested using jibberjabber to stay organized as you distribute your resumes. This site will help you track when and where you have submitted your fined tuned resume.

By following this advice from Karen, you are sure to have a resume that will wow and impress any prospective employers. After that, it is up to you to live up to the image your resume presents and wow and impress, in person.

Next week I will share with you Karen’s advice for presenting a past employment experience that ended in unfavorable circumstances. You don’t want to miss it.

Please share with us your questions and comments; we would love to hear from you.

Karen D. Swim is the President and CEO of Words For Hire, and author of How to Write Your Own Killer Resume. Her company provides integrated marketing solutions to a wide range of global businesses and career marketing and branding solutions to high impact professionals. Karen has more than two decades of management, marketing and business strategy experience. She uses integrative problem solving to customize marketing and content solutions for clients. The difference is solutions that align with the customer’s brand and objectives rather than cookie cutter, me too marketing that forces the customer into a predetermined model. To learn more about career marketing solutions or to purchase the book, go to getcareerhelp.com.