I disagree about obective statements, however. Generally, a candidate’s objective is to obtain employment. I understand that, and that’s why I’m getting the resume from that person in the first place. A professional summary will do (it will show the person’s ability to compose a thoughtful, cohesive paragraph as Karen mentioned), and an objective statement is overkill especially if one is using a professional summary.

And yes, please do update your cover letter, tailored specifically to the job you’re applying for. I’m not even going to look at your resume if your cover letter is written to a company or a job that isn’t mine.

Absolutely explain employment gaps and use month-and-year dates so that 2005 – 2006 and 2007 – 2008 isn’t left to question if it’s a month in each year totaling less than four months’ employment.

I like to see what duties have been performed as well as accomplishments. What I do not want to see is how this person is going to single-handedly turn our company around, increase sales by 100%, etc. That’s a red flag of an over-inflated opinion of their potential value to my company. Tell me what you have done in the past and let me decide how valuable you can be to my company.

I require a cover letter, and I want it to be edited to reply to me and the job opening I have advertised. Obviously, the basic letter can be generic to all ads being responded to, but with a computer, it doesn’t take that much effort to personalize each response. If that’s too much trouble, I don’t want to employ this person.

In order, these are the must-haves and the only sections that should be on a resume: Header (name, address, email); Ojective; Summary; Professional Experience; Education; Skills. No social media info. No references or offer to provide them. No volunteer work or awards unless they are directly related to the specific opening.