Your resume’s sole purpose is to get you an interview. For that reason, it should be treated as a marketing brochure designed to sell a product: you.

This is advice given by Richard S. Reed, president of Career Moves, a North Palm Beach, FL, firm specializing in career-transition coaching for individuals and outplacement services for organizations. During his 40 years in business, he’s seen lots of resumes, especially while holding posts as the European director of personnel for American Express and as personnel advisor to the start-up of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Reed said technology professionals often use outdated, multipage resume models that don’t adequately sell their skills.

“No one gets a job because of a resume, but millions of people never get in the door for an interview because their resumes are so bad,” he said. “Poor resumes fail to [give] the employer [an answer to the question], ‘What can this person do for me?’”

As an IT consultant or independent contractor, your resume has its own special mission: to get you that next project or a foot in the door of that hot consulting firm where you’ve been clamoring to get an interview.
We’re offering Reed’s list of resume do’s and don’ts, tailored especially for the IT professional who works on short-term assignments. We’re also including three sample resumes collected from our contributing writers and TechRepublic members. We believe that these stand out as some of the best for presenting career history, skills, certifications, and especially results—all in easy-to-read, attractive formats. Download the list and the resumes now!