Okay, let’s cut straight to the chase: your resume is still a valuable part of your job search and your hopes for career advancement and fulfillment.

In this day and age of runaway technological advances, it might be tempting to dismiss something as rustic as a piece of paper (or two). The resume is old. It’s outdated. Employers hardly look at them anymore . . . right?

Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

If you ignore or neglect your resume, you are only hurting yourself, and there are countless ways that people construct, use, and present their resumes incorrectly. Don’t be like them.

Below are four quick tips for maximizing the value of your resume:

#1—Do not treat your LinkedIn profile like a resume.

If a recruiter (or even an employer) connects with you about a job opportunity and asks you to send your resume, do NOT respond by saying, “Everything’s on LinkedIn,” or “Just look at my LinkedIn.” There are a couple of reasons not to do this. First, it comes across as lazy and unprofessional. Second, your LinkedIn profile does not fully convey the value that you offer to a potential employer. LinkedIn is a social media site shared by millions of people. Your resume is your unique professional value proposition.

#2—Provide the right information.

You know the basics: contact information, including your name and email address. However, it’s also important to include your physical location. You don’t have to include your full address, but the city and state in which you live should be standard. If a recruiter or employer is interested in your candidacy for a particular position, then they should know where you’re located, at the very least. Share your general vicinity.

#3—Avoid formatting faux pas.

Keep in mind that resumes are typically entered into what is called an applicant tracking system, or ATS. Recruiters use them. HR departments use them. Just about everybody involved in hiring uses them. This is important because an ATS will not properly read resumes that have a photo (including your headshot) or are sent in PDF format. This is why if you send your resume electronically—which is overwhelmingly the case these days—you should send it in a Word document.

#4—Speak to the employer’s needs, not your wants.

The company is not hiring you because of what you want; they’re hiring you because of what they need. Do you have what they need? If you can’t answer this question, then they’re not going to hire you. With that in mind, you can throw the “career objective” out the window. That talks about what you want. Instead, provide a “professional summary,” one that talks about your skill set, experience, and the value you offer to a potential employer. Speak their language and address what they need.

In what shape is your resume? Does it need upgraded, changed, or improved? Use the above tips to help improve your resume . . . and by extension, improve your chances of landing a great job.

If your resume is ready to go today, then click here to create a profile with The Doepker Group, upload your resume, and access our database of open positions.