I do have a summary and objective up top.

This adviser is not the be-all, of course, but he said that he was sick, beyond the speaking of it, of reading objective statements. He felt they were not 'brass tacks' enough and were sort of like answering the 'name a weakness' question with the fact that you are too much of a team player or push yourself too hard to meet the company's objectives.

He is pretty hardcore, so may not be as good a resource as the HR folks among us, but his approach really does focus on presenting a different structure/view that not only makes you stand out, but cuts through the protocol that has become cliched.

One page, no. But they're pretty adamant no one's reading past page 3.

Mine is 3 as well. Academia, journalism and upper-tier executive positions demand more. The rest of us? 3 is usually good...especially if you are rigorous with avoiding repetition.

eta: This is also why I was happy to include the competencies list because it feels to me like a table of contents that ensures the reader doesn't necessarily have to read the whole document. Or will spark the interest to do so if appropriate.

Aims, how about something like:

Job - 2008-09 School - 2009 to date

I think gaps can be better explained in person. In person, he can say, "We moved back to Michigan for family reasons" and "After I was laid off, along with x number of other new hires, I decided to improve my marketability by going back to school, while also taking care of our daughter." The resume just needs to get him in the door.

Is it formatted as a functional resume, sort of like Bonnie suggested?

"After I was laid off, along with x number of other new hires, I decided to improve my marketability by going back to school

I like it.

It's not. It's Education, Job, Job, Job, Skills, Please for the love of God hire me before my wife kills me for the insurance money.

Start with Skills.

Try Googling "functional resume" and you can look at a lot of examples that put skills first.

After I was laid off, along with x number of other new hires, I decided to improve my marketability by going back to school

I think this could also be said in a cover letter along with, "And now I am looking to..." and then a reminder of some of the skills which would be a good fit for that company and why.

Thanks, Andi. I am having ups and downs, but mostly just enjoying my time with him. And there are lots of other wonderful people to talk to and snuggle.

I am always surprised by how few cover letters we get with resumes when we place ads. It seems like 90% of people just send their resume to every job posting without bothering to customize a cover letter. Just a personalized cover letter that points out the applicable skills helps.