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Close to two-thirds (62.7 percent) of employer respondents in the 2010 Orange County Resume Survey* said that when receiving resumes electronically (the most common delivery mode these days), they prefer them as a Word .doc.

More than a third (36.1 percent) surveyed prefer PDF files, while 1.2 percent favor Rich Text (.rtf). Text-only (.txt) and online resumes in .html format received no support in the survey.

Although a Wod .doc is usually a safe bet, it’s wise to check the employer’s Web site or contact the employer to determine the preferred file format for your resume.

*The 2010 Orange County Resume Survey by The Center for Career and Life Development, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA, Eric Hilden, Career Placement Officer, was distributed by email to 2,000+ employer contacts in Orange County and shared online employer contacts in Orange County and shared online via social-networking sites including Linkedin.com and Twitter.

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More than half (53.6 percent) of surveyed employers in the 2010 Orange County Resume Survey* said they have no preference for the type of paper resume are printed on when they are sent by postal mail, hand-delivered, or brought to an interview.

Almost a third (31 percent) preferred white paper of the type found in most printers and copy machines. Almost 11 percent preferred heavy gray or cream paper.

Paper choice is thus one less decision job-seekers need to struggle with, this survey suggests. That could be because printed resumes take on a less prominent role in the current environment. It is probably safe to say that most resumes these days are delivered electronically.

*The 2010 Orange County Resume Survey by The Center for Career and Life Development, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA, Eric Hilden, Career Placement Officer, was distributed by email to 2,000+ employer contacts in Orange County and shared online employer contacts in Orange County and shared online via social-networking sites including Linkedin.com and Twitter.

Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

In the Research Study: How Does Your Résumé Compare? Competitive Career Intelligence for 6-Figure Canadians*, 29 percent of résumés assessed did not present a clear strategic target.

WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT: Prospective employers are looking for an ideal match between an applicant and an opening within their organization. Therefore, the recipient of the résumé needs to know what position the candidate is seeking.

WHAT TO AVOID: General résumés tend to be ineffective. If the reader of the résumé is unable to ascertain where the candidate will be best suited, the individual is more than likely to be disregarded even if an appropriate role exists.

WHAT TO DO: Focus is imperative in today’s competitive job market. For a six-figure candidate to be considered, it is essential that he or she identifies a salient job target. Instead of being a closely guarded secret, the ideal position being sought must be the foundation of the résumé.

*Graham Management Group (GMG), a Canadian firm specializing in career-transition solutions for executives, managers, and six-figure professionals, examined and analyzed 1,000 résumés submitted in 2009 to the group by senior-level Canadians. GMG performed the analysis by methodically applying validated strategic résumé principles and theories in a structured manner across all documents. We’re excerpting some results of this analysis over the next several weeks.

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Results from the 2010 Orange County Resume Survey* recently revealed that more than a third (37.6 percent) of employers believe resume length should be determined by the level of the position applied for. Just over 30 percent prefer a one-page resume; almost 19 percent prefer a two-page resume; and 8.2 percent have no preference.

Many job-seekers feel constrained by a mythical “one-page” rule. These results suggest the constraint is unjustified.

*The 2010 Orange County Resume Survey by The Center for Career and Life Development, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA, Eric Hilden, Career Placement Officer, was distributed by email to 2,000+ employer contacts in Orange County and shared online employer contacts in Orange County and shared online via social-networking sites including Linkedin.com and Twitter.

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“Self-marketing success requires three essential elements,” said Susan Guarneri, the “Career Assessment Goddess,” in the Q&A interview she did with Quint Careers:

1. understanding who your target audience is and their needs,
2. having a credible and compelling message that your target audience values, and
3. capturing that target audience’s attention.

Resumes have been the primary tool for self-marketing in the past. Whether they will continue to serve that function in the future depends largely on:

• how the selection and hiring industries (HR and recruiting) of various professions evolve to accommodate other types of self-marketing tools, such as the web portfolio, and
• how the available talent pool chooses to promote their candidacy.

Some professions welcome creative approaches, often involving new technology, while others seem to push towards standardization of online application forms. Similarly, many highly desirable candidates promote themselves to selective target audiences and use distinctive approaches, while other candidates default to generic resumes hoping to catch anyone’s eye. Unfortunately, the path of least effort for many candidates is the generic resume, which is ironically the least effective in meeting the three self-marketing essentials.

Whatever the means of self-marketing (resume, bio, online profile, or web portfolio), best practices indicate that the type chosen needs to be appropriate to the target audience (profession and industry) and the candidate, and it needs to be effective in conveying a message of value and distinction.

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Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book, Top Notch Executive Resumes identified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves: Resume contains inexplicable acronyms and industry-specific jargon. Here’s an example of a head-spinning array of acronyms and jargon from one resume reviewed for this book. The reader can figure out many of them, but it would so much easier if they were spelled out;

• Manage the Asia Pacific WCS IT Outsourcing Transition & Transformation Programme Waves 1& 2. This is part of the Global Transition & Transformation Programme, a cluster of 82 major projects over a period of 3 years for an APAC budget of 8.7M Euros, executed by EDS but controlled and monitored by ABN.
• Transitioned to EDS ~300 Technology staff in Singapore, H Kong , Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai including the ABN Regional Processing Centre on time and within budget.
• Negotiated Wave 2 T&T budget cost avoidance of 0.5m Euros.
• Provide direct management support to the A/P Technology CIO & Management Team, encompassing Financial Control Process Co-ordination, Resource Management, Portfolio & Project Control Project (A/P 320 projects with a budget expenditure of ~34M Euros). Responsible for the functional & organizational development of the Global Retained Technology Organization (NTO) and the development of the Global Governance Framework schedule (part of the Global Service Agreement contract).
• Established & Implemented the Value Management Plan to achieve best practices within WCS Technology.
• Developed the Global Retained Organization & Functional model on time & within budget.
• Managed the TOI - WCS (Investment & Commercial Banking) Global IT Operations and Global Change Control Teams.
• Provided Global Infrastructure Operational Services, defined/set Global Standards and Global IT Processing Services Strategy. This encompassed managing the Global IT Ops/Change Control Teams of > 300 staff and relevant expenditure budgets of >100M Euros.
• Restructured Global Lotus Notes Ops Team - FTE Savings by 70 % and London Change Control Team-FTE Savings by 35%.
• Implemented Automation and AS/400 LPAR technologies to reduce RPC Singapore & Amsterdam Operational Costs by 25%.
• Negotiated a new TCO with IBM in Singapore with a cost savings of over 2.3M Sing. Dollars.
• Expanded Singapore RPC Processing Services Capabilities to establish a Centre of excellence.
• Established ISAP Global Change Control TAT Acceptance Criteria Policy & Standards.
• Established Global IT Processing Services Strategy / Business Model.
• Developed the WCS Global SLOs and Major Contributor of the first TOI Service Catalogue

“Acronyms that are company-specific need to be reworked into a generic description of the same type that is easily understandable to those outside of that environment,” advised Melissa Holmes, senior technical recruiter, at Levi, Ray & Shoup Consulting Services, Springfield, IL.
See all 30 peeves: executive resume peeves 1-10 in Part 1, executive resume peeves 11-20 in Part 2 and executive resume peeves 21-30 in Part 3.

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Dr. John Sullivan, who has “worked with major corporations on the design of their hiring and resume screening processes” observes that “nearly all applicants fail to adequately highlight themselves in a way that increases their chances of being selected for further evaluation. Thus, he came up with “30 ‘Power Factors’ to Bolster the Content of Your Resume.” This blog has excerpted those 30 factors over the last couple of weeks. Now we excerpt Sullivan’s “Supplemental Convincing Factors:”

The following elements can and should be used within any resume point to make it stronger and more convincing.

A comparison number — numbers are powerful, but to an outsider, a single isolated number might not mean much. As a result, it is always a good idea to provide a comparison number to show context. Comparison numbers can include the very best in the industry, the best number inside the firm, the average number, last year’s number, the target number, or your competitor’s number (Example: Broke previous sales records by selling 13 additional units on average, per period, and producing revenue 146% above average in our industry.)

Quotes are included — a direct quote from an executive, supervisor, coworker, or even a customer can add credibility and perspective to any accomplishment. (Examples: Was highlighted in my manager’s annual departmental performance review to senior leaders and the “most valuable” team player).

Killer phrases are used — there are certain phrases in business that are universally accepted as signs of good work. Wherever possible include phrases like … “cut costs by xx%,” “completed the project under time and under budget,” “used technology to improve customer service,” “did more with less,” “increased market share by xx%,” “increased margins by xx %.”

A web link — resumes contain only words, and sometimes your actual work is your most powerful selling point. Wherever possible, provide a direct Internet link to your work or reference to your work. In other cases, mention where a sample or a video of it is available.

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Dr. John Sullivan, who has “worked with major corporations on the design of their hiring and resume screening processes” observes that “nearly all applicants fail to adequately highlight themselves in a way that increases their chances of being selected for further evaluation. Thus, he came up with “30 ‘Power Factors’ to Bolster the Content of Your Resume.” Here are the final six:

• Global perspective — almost every employee is expected to have a global perspective these days. Even if you don’t have formal international responsibilities, show that you have the capability of working with those from other countries. (Example: Partnered with colleagues in China and India to localize customer evaluation and ranking processes developed there and slated for global rollout.)
• Benchmarking — the ability to capture information and answers from industry leading firms is extremely valuable. Highlight situations where you researched benchmark best practices both inside and outside of the organization (Example: Compiled summary of best practices in rapid skill development among professional service firms such as Accenture, Deloitte, and EY.)
• Used metrics — you can’t continually improve anything without metrics. Provide examples that demonstrate you start projects with clearly articulated results metrics in place and that you leverage the metrics to inform decisions. (Example: Devised customer service satisfaction and service efficiency metrics prior to the rollout of new CRM software that would later be used to optimize service center staffing levels.)
• Consulted — if you have had the opportunity to provide technical or functional advice to others, formally or informally, you are viewed as an expert. Highlight where you consulted or advised others internally or externally. (Example: Consulted with several key clients to transfer knowledge on our approach to learning collaboratively using social media.)
• Training — in many companies, access to advanced training means that you are a top employee. Highlight training courses, seminars, workshops and any-advanced training on emerging issues that you participated in. If you have taught training classes, even if they were informal, include that also. Under your education, be sure and list any key skills and tools that you learned and “hot topics” covered in your classes. (Example: Represented my division at industry working groups on ___, and then developed informal internal knowledge sharing summaries for others in my group.)
• Diversity — show that you can work with and understand people from different backgrounds. (Example: Used my knowledge of Spanish and Italian to assist global customers when translated support materials were not available.)

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Dr. John Sullivan, who has “worked with major corporations on the design of their hiring and resume screening processes” observes that “nearly all applicants fail to adequately highlight themselves in a way that increases their chances of being selected for further evaluation. Thus, he came up with “30 ‘Power Factors’ to Bolster the Content of Your Resume.” Here are the next six; the final six will appear in a later entry:

• Planning/Forecasting — employees who are forward-looking are the most desirable. Highlight situations where you forecasted future events or put together a plan, even if informal. (Example: Developed an emergency response plan following news that a court judgment on a highly publicized case would be announced in a building adjacent to ours during business hours. The plan was later used as a template for disaster planning across the company.)
• Goal-setting — the best employees are goal-oriented. Show that before you start a major project, that you set, communicate, and get agreement on goals. (Example: Worked with team members to clarify and set feasible project goals on the ___ project that resulted in avoidance of four possible project derailers.)\
• Time management — you need to demonstrate that you are conscious of time limitations and deadlines. Show that you completed work in a timely manner or even that you were the first to do it. (Example: Was the first within my division to complete all milestones on time.)
• Efficiency — everyone needs workers who are efficient and conscious of costs. Whenever possible, show that you completed tasks efficiently and under budget. (Example: Successfully implemented ____ using only a fraction of the support budget allocated, reducing project cost by 9%.)
• Extensive contacts — being well connected and having extensive contacts is an extremely valuable asset for any individual. Demonstrate that you used your contacts to get access, answers, or information. (Example: Leveraged industry contacts to get unbiased feedback on two service providers being considered for a long-term contract, uncovering a volume of pending complaints and possible litigation against our leading contender.)
• Any major company names involved — in addition to mentioning the names of key individuals, you should also mention the names of well-known and innovative firms you have dealt with including notable customers, strategic partners, vendors, or consultants. (Example: Worked with McKinsey & Co. on the deployment of our groups product with Google, General Mills, and Dow Corning.)

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A current trend in resumes is to use a branding statement, sometimes in combination with a headline.

A “headline” atop your resume usually identifies the position or type of job you seek.

A branding statement is a punchy “ad-like” statement that tells immediately what you can bring to an employer. A branding statement defines who you are, your promise of value, and why you should be sought out. Your branding statement should encapsulate your reputation, showcase what sets you apart from others, and describe the added value you bring to a situation. Think of it as a sales pitch. Integrate these elements into the brief synopsis that is your branding statement:

• What makes you different?
• What qualities or characteristics make you distinctive?
• What have you accomplished?
• What is your most noteworthy personal trait?
• What benefits (problems solved) do you offer?

See a good discussion of branding statements and headlines, with samples, starting in this section of our e-book, The Quintessential Guide to Words to Get Hired By.

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