Your resume is more than just a list of your job qualifications and experience. It’s a marketing tool, and a very important one. It introduces you to potential employers, advertises your abilities and skills, and summarizes who you are.

Some may give your ad a quick glance, and some may never read it at all, but the few who do take the time to skim through it, or even give it a thorough read, will be judging you solely by that one document. In other words, it will be a potential employer’s first impression of you, and if what they read isn’t what they are searching for, it may be the only impression of you they will ever have.

This is why your resume must be as accurate and professional as possible, in every way possible. It will not only compete for attention with every other resume in the stack, it will be compared with and judged against them all.

A resume that is clean, organized and free of errors advertises an applicant who is orderly, organized and strives to deliver high quality on the job. It conveys professionalism. A poorly formatted resume with inaccuracies and errors advertises quite the opposite. It portrays a lack of professionalism, and is not likely to receive serious consideration.

How important is this attention to detail? It’s critical. Even one single typo can make a difference.

However, it isn’t just a matter of formatting, spelling, crossing your t’s and dotting your i’s, so to speak. The content of your resume is just as important.

What you do and do not include in your resume is a critical. If it isn’t relevant to the job you are applying for, it shouldn’t be there. Conversely, the items that are most important or relevant to the position should not only be included, they should also be stated early in the document and in order of relevance. What ever you put into your resume, be truthful. Don’t falsify or overstate your abilities, experience and qualifications. Don’t be too wordy, either, Keep it short, concise and directly to the point. This is an ad, not a novel. Save the details for your interview.

The presentation of your resume is also very important. The type of paper it is printed on, color of ink and even your choice of font can make all the difference between having your resume noticed, or completely ignored.

Remember, someone will be reading your resume, someone who may very well decide which candidates will be included in the next step of the hiring process, that of the all important interview, and whether or not you will be among them. Your resume is the first, and in most situations, the only impression that someone reading it will have of you. Make it a good one. Make it the best one that you can.