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Alas, we do not live in that world. Instead, our personality, charm and intelligence are relegated to the austere perfunctoriness of the cover letter and our rich life history is reduced to the conventional schematism of the resume.

Since we must rely on these printed pages to represent us in all our depth and breadth when seeking employment, it is critical that they do so as forcefully and dynamically as possible. To that end, I have consulted Aquent's Linda Oshman, who in her capacity as internal recruiter has looked at tens of thousands of resumes over the years, to help me identify the entirely avoidable mistakes that can sap even the most robust resume of all its persuasive power.

1. Lack of overall focus

   Every resume should be written with a specific position or type of position in mind. Without such a focus, your resume is just a list of the places you've worked. That means don't send the same old resume to everyone under the sun.

2. Lack of focus on accomplishments

   If you've worked anywhere for any length of time, you've probably ended up doing a lot of different things. There is no point in describing them all in your resume. Employers want to know how you are going to help them meet their business goals. To that end, make sure that your resume highlights what you accomplished in each position (in other words, how you helped your former employers achieve their goals), not just what you did.

3. Irrelevant information

   It's great that you worked your way through college as a bank teller. But that was 10 years ago and probably has nothing to do with the web design position for which you're applying today. Every piece of information in your resume should demonstrate why you are the most qualified person for this specific position. If it doesn't do that, leave it out.

4. Puffery

   Avoid overinflating your experience or claiming that you've done things you haven't. In other words: Don't lie. Employers can generally sense when your claims don't jibe with the facts, and even worse, they'll also ask you to elaborate on the false information you provided. Remember: The truth will set you free.

5. Spelling/formatting errors

   When you read your own resume over and over again, you're bound to overlook the same mistakes several times. Have someone else proofread your resume and don't rely on spell-check to catch every mistake. "An atention to detale" is a sad way to portray yourself to an employer. Also, if you're cutting and pasting various resumes together, make sure that you use just one format for all headers and positions. A poorly or inconsistently formatted resume sends a clear message, "I didn't care enough about this position to make my resume look good."

6. Use of first person and possessive pronouns

   When describing your accomplishments, use action words: "Coordinated all Web projects; served as Webmaster," etc. The words "I," "me," "my," "mine," and "our" should never, ever appear in a resume. Anyone reading your resume will assume that the job experience it describes is yours.

7. USING ALL CAPS or a "special" font

   When you use all caps on your resume, it seems like you're yelling: "LOOK AT ME! PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" Stop yelling; start selling. Let your experience and accomplishments speak for themselves. Also, "fancy" fonts distract the employer from the more substantive aspects of your resume. Moreover, unless you send a PDF, there's always the chance that the employer won't have the proper font on their system to view your resume properly. Moral of the story: Keep it simple.

8. Missing dates

   Include the dates for each position you've held, even if the time frame strikes you as short. If you leave out dates, it gives the impression that you are trying to hide something. Let the person reading your resume judge for themselves whether the length of time you spent at this or that job is relevant. Frankly, for people pursuing Web careers it is not unusual to work for a number of different companies and clients in a relatively short period of time.

9. Missing or incorrect contact information

   You send out resumes and cover letters because you want people to get in touch with you. They can't do that if you give them disconnected phone numbers and dead email addresses. Include at least one (preferably two) phone numbers where you can be reached, both on your resume and in your email signature. And when you type in those phone numbers, triple check them for accuracy. Calls meant for you shouldn't be going to Joe's Pizza. Also, make sure that your email address is easy to find and sounds professional. Big_bubba@yahoo.com may be fine among friends, but bsmith@yahoo.com.au is more appropriate for a job search.

10. No introduction

    Always include a cover letter (or email) expressing your interest in the employer's company and, more importantly, highlighting the accomplishments that make you the perfect fit for the position. A resume sent without such an introduction makes many employers believe that you've simply included them in a mass mailing or emailing. Even if this is the case, you never want to convey it. Instead, the recipient needs to feel that you have contacted them because you see working for them as a golden opportunity and as the fulfillment of a lifelong ambition (well, you don't need to go overboard, but you know what I mean).

Matthew Grant is the Minister of Enlightenment for Aquent (http://www.aquent.com), a global professional services firm that delivers total staffing, consulting and outsourcing solutions for Marketing, Communications and Creative. Through a network of nearly seventy offices in fifteen countries, Aquent services in the areas of print and Web design and production; advertising and media, marketing, public relations and marcomm office support. Matthew speaks and trains on technical and communication issues.

"Thanks a lot for your mouthwatering information. By reading this, I learned a lot about resume and covering letters. Good Luck

Amaratunga Open University SRI LANKA"

"Great tips, but a question for all the employers out there. Firstly, do you like electronic CV & cover letters as Word Documents or PDFs, does it matter? And Secondly, what do you like to see in a PDF portfolio, nice and arty, 3-5 pages, how much info on the design, any other tips? Thanks Lisa Markovina for some direct insight to what you like to see and why!"

"Really great tips! I didn«t know till now how many mistakes I«ve done. Thank you very much. Linda, Czech Republic"

"excellent points, worth making a note of."

"any tips for portfolios?"

"Fantastic tips! I will be sure to put them in to practice"

"I have no excuses or frustrations now!

Thanks Linda... and thank you too Lisa."

"Thanx. i've put this info aside to update my resume and correct the mistakes before applying."

"Point 10, from a potential employers point of view, is SO important - receiving an email containing a cv with no cover letter, no information about the potential employee other than work / educational history implies that they really aren't interested in the position - or just can't be bothered putting together a letter... which does not bode well for their work ethic. Another point I'd like to bring up is 'artsy' cv's, resumes... sure, white text, grey background looks great, but it's a BUGGER to read - I don't have time, nor do the designers in our firm, to fiddle about with your applications making them readable or print ready - a basic 2 page resume with a cover letter in a print ready format + a nice arty pdf folio is absolutely the best way to go... then the admin bods (ie me) are happy - and so are the designers who will be checking you out for shortlisting. The tip re dates is also important - include them all, even the short jobs - but please don't tell me about your experience as a checkout chick at Best and Less 10 years ago - unless you ended in admin / management and it emphasises your team / management skills - relevance, please. Finally, yes, the all knowing, all seeing, all correcting spell checker - ISN'T!!!"

"Awsome tips. Ill be sure to put them to practice."

"Great tips - thanks Linda. Its always a challenge to differentiate one's self from the crowd, especially when the real currency of designers can be more in their folio than their resume. Its hard to put into words the work you put into a huge annual report or brochure, when as you say its easier to simply explain the results the piece achieved. Designers need to think like all other professionals, that they work in an industry, not a small creative field attached to marketing & comms, and without sounding cliched, the Brand Called You is as important as and reflected by your work and resume. Get out there guys, sell sell sell (yourself)."

"Great tips!
Maybe place a few more examples of fonts and creatively simple layouts"

"Fantastic, to the point and very informative. I have printed it out and kept it for when I have to apply for a position again (hopefully not too soon)"