I read hundreds of resumes a week, and too many of them are flawed on a basic level. The following is a quick guide to get your resume started. This guide is not meant to make your resume jump off the page. This guide is meant to make sure your resume makes it into the pile and is not lost once it gets there.

First, know what you want. Only you know your expertise and how you would like to use it, so make sure your resume reflects the type of position you are looking for. If you are open to a few different types of positions, you might consider making a couple of resumes. Employers often shy away from those who "can do it all."

Provide all contact information.

What does your mother call you? That should be the name on your resume. Do not use your full name.

• Your name is not as common as you think.

• List the dates of your employment as well as the dates of your education.

• Tell us where you might consider relocating to.

• Tell us how much travel you are comfortable with.

• Set yourself apart, but do so with content. Do not use silly font, CAPS, or annoying formatting.

• One page is generally not enough. If you can fit your entire self into one page, great. If you need two pages, use them.

• Use spell check.

• And finally, get a friend or three to read your resume and provide honest feedback. A few extra pairs of eyes can catch something you might miss.

Distribution and Networking:

You will find plenty of job boards which you can post your resume to. We all know the big ones: CareerBuilder and Monster, but be sure to post your resume on ALL relevant boards. Posting your resume on just one board is really not enough. You need to paper the town, state, country...world? with your resume. Ten minutes on CareerBuilder is not going to cut it.

There are a plethora of great job boards available. Dice is a great technical job board, and is also one of the biggest. Ceweekly, a contract employment job board, is a great place to post your resume and search for jobs if you are a career contractor. Another gem is Jobvertise is small, but it is a great place to post your credentials for employers as registered employers can view your resume for free (e-mail is hidden). The list goes on and on. Just run a search for industry specific boards.

One of the best new places to build a network is LinkedIn. The first thing you should do after polishing off your resume should be to transfer your work history into a LinkedIn profile and BUILD YOUR NETWORK!

While you can use LinkedIn as a job board, LinkedIn is primarily a networking tool. Because LinkedIn is a networking tool, you are able to have your credentials out there without actively seeking new employment. This is great for those who are always interested in something better but do not want the bombardment of emails and phone calls from recruiters and hiring managers which are associated with the traditional job boards.