As a professional resume strategist, clients from around the globe share their existing resumes. I see resumes that are unproductively sparse and contain nothing that might entice a recruiter. I see resumes that are equally unproductively dense, containing every little, tiny, itseebitsee thing the person ever completed, provided and maybe even dreamed, that still contains nothing that might entice a recruiter. The authors range from students to seasoned professionals, from clerical to health workers, educators to trades people, from financial whizzes to organizational gurus. Most people, it seems, have no idea what belongs, and just as importantly, what does not belong in their resumes.

Hans Hofmann, an abstract expressionist painter, uttered these now famous words, "The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." The key words for the job-seeker about to embark on updating a resume are "eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." Hofmann shared those words with art students; however, that approach will undoubtedly lend your resume the power of a true work of art-the power to influence.

Three Steps to Eliminating the Unnecessary:

Step 1: It astounds me how often, when asking a client about one of the bullets on his or her resume, the client responds, "Oh, I haven't really done that; it was just one of the things on my job description." I can imagine the thoughts of the interviewer who got that answer in a job interview, and those thoughts are not assessing the candidate as stellar. Including something you have never done shows lack of strategy and evaluation of material, and by inference, perhaps a lack of good material, or at the very least, a lack of judgment. Eliminate the "I wish had done that" material.

Step 2: The next step to purging the unneeded, unwanted and unproductive on your resume is to remove everything that doesn't relate to the job you are applying for. Think of it this way: some information represents what you once did, but if it doesn't build your case for the position applied for referring to it will keep you stuck in that old position. The purpose of that material is past, and remaining stuck on it may just keep you stagnant.

Imagine that you are stepping up to an Executive Sales, Account Management sort of role. What good would it do you to continue including information from long-past roles, such as: cash register, open and close; tidying store after customers leave? That information paints you not as a super-sales person, but as a good retail clerk. Highlight your sales abilities, how you dominate your store's, or perhaps the chain's, statistics in highest monthly sales, in highest add-on sales, in highest repeat customer sales. Eliminate the "I also do unrelated work" material.

Step 3: Eliminate your hobbies, outside activities and religious affiliations. These rarely have a place on a resume. No one cares that you enjoy gardening, going to the movies, or spending time with family. Resume real-estate is expensive. You have one or two pages in which to convince the reader that you are an excellent candidate. Don't waste that space on details that don't even get read.

Each and every bullet and indeed every word on your resume must be considered; that is, you must actually think about each and every word, phrase, and point you are making. If it doesn't build your case as a stellar candidate for the job, with related skills, relevant education and perfectly suited additional value, out it goes. Create your own work of art - influence the reader, by allowing the "necessary to speak."

Stephanie Clark, a respected leader on the Canadian resume scene, is owner of New Leaf Resumes. Recipient of an unprecedented three awards for outstanding resumes in the Career Professionals of Canada 2008 Awards of Excellence, Stephanie's cover letters are included in Joyce Lain Kennedy's next book on cover letters. Stephanie's clients, serious about managing their careers, appreciate working with a leading professional. Stephanie invites you to visit her website at http://www.newleafresumes.ca for more information.

Copyright2008 New Leaf Resumes. Feel free to reprint this article, but please provide the author with full credit, and include the preceding paragraph.

Stephanie Clark, BA, CRS, CIS, http://www.newleafresumes.ca

An Award-winning and published Resume Strategist, dedicated to advancing your career goals. Please visit my website for more information on the services offered at New Leaf Resumes.