In an article provided to yahoo hotjobs by wetfeet.com, Sara Goldsmith quotes CEO and founder of ExecuNet, Dave Opton as saying, "I don't have time to take the damn things apart." in reference to resumes submitted in "pretty plastic folders".

Rather than recognize an opportunity to possibly match prospective employee with a company that needs someone with attention to presentation, he simply throws the resume away. Its a good thing Mr. Opton gets paid when other people get hired, cause I'd certainly not hire him to do anything.

This is an issue that drives me nuts when I see resume tips posted in little blogs around the web. The only tip that was really useful in Miss Goldsmith's bit was provided by Jeremy Eskenazi from Idealab! He suggests not putting your age in your resume as it is illegal to factor in age when considering employment.

Sure, there are things you can do to improve your resume, but in the end, your resume is a depiction of you. A lot can be said about the kind of person you are based on how you present and/or what you put in your resume. This isn't just important in getting a job, its important in getting the right job. If a recruiter throws your resume away because of some detail that they didn't like about it without first considering if any company they represent could benefit from this nuance, then they are inept at their job. This is yet another example of the greedy bottom line mentality crapping all over the potential for quality.

Do the best you can with your resume, but don't take out anything that would keep you from getting the job because the potential employer might not like it. If you do, you might very well end up at a job you don't want working for people like ol' lazy Dave.

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