Are you ready for your next big move? Are there organizational changes in your company that require you to dust off the ol' resume? Well, in today's competitive market, the way to stand out in the job candidate pool is to T.R.A.S.H. your resume.

Expert resume writer Michelle Robin says that when your resume has all the components of T.R.A.S.H—Targeted, Riveting, Accomplished, Succinct and Honest—you will get noticed. Learn more in this issue of Promotional Consultant Today.

Targeted. Robin says that before you even start writing your resume, you need to define your target. Similar to the way marketers have a target audience, your resume needs to have an ideal target company or employer. What is the best way to figure out your target employer? Robin says to write your ideal job description first.

  • What is the title you want?

  • Who do you want to report to and/or whom do you want reporting to you?

  • What industry do you want to be in?

  • What size company do you want to work for? Both number of employees and revenue.

  • What type of culture are you looking for?

  • How far of a commute are you willing to make?

Once you have your target defined it will be much easier to write your resume to the job you want.

Riveting. While it might sound a bit far-fetched, Robin says that a resume can be riveting, or attention-grabbing. She suggests:

  • Design an attractive header

  • Use a headline with your targeted job title instead of a summary ]

  • Use a subhead that is a branding statement, your unique selling proposition

  • Support that with proof points highlighting your value and skills

  • Use a hint of color

The top-third of your resume is the most important part. It is where your most important information should be positioned. Your goal is to capture the reader's attention and make him or read on.

Accomplished. Many people tend to highlight their various job responsibilities in their resume. Robin suggests, instead, highlight your accomplishments. You want to showcase your value, not what you were responsible for.

You can frame up your accomplishments by following Robin's three questions:

  1. What's in it for the employer? Employers are interested in things like saving money, making money, saving time, improving processes, solving a specific issue, etc.

  2. The CAR strategy—the Challenge you were tasked with, the Action you took to solve the issue, and the measurable Results from your action.

  3. The numbers. What tangible numbers can you share that show your results?

Succinct. Get rid of the fluff and lengthiness. Take the Twitter approach of the fewer and shorter the words, the better. A general guideline is to not go over three lines in a job description. Also leave plenty of white space so it's easy to scan over your resume.

Honest. Never lie on your resume. Nearly 60 percent of hiring managers say they've caught lies on a resume, according to a 2014 poll. The most common lies? They were embellished skill sets or responsibilities, dates of employment, job titles and academic degrees. In 2012, former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson was caught padding his resume with degrees he did not earn. He was soon fired.

Get busy TRASHing your resume and land the job of your dreams.

Source: Michelle Robin, NCRW, CPRW, an award-winning and dual-certified resume writer, has translated her extensive B-to-B marketing background into a career focused on her true love: creating powerful career marketing documents that lead to interviews at her clients' target organizations. As chief career brand officer at Brand Your Career, she works with executive-level sales and marketing professionals across the U.S., and helps them discover their personal brand and fast track their job search. Robin's work has been published in the book, Modernize Your Resume: Get Noticed ... Get Hired.