There are many books written on how to write a good resume and an effective cover letter. Use lots of action words. Don’t say “I” too much…
There needs to be a book written on how to post job listings that actually discuss the responsibilities of the job. I would love to work with your energetic team at your fast-paced company, where I can plan resources and meet deadlines while demonstrating multidisciplinary knowledge and using my effective communication skills to interact with coworkers. But what, exactly, is the job?
Another pet peeve is the use of terms or acronyms that only have meaning within your company. I would probably love to work with the XYZ Department as part of my job, but you never explain what they do, and Google is no help.
Of course, it doesn’t make sense for me to be discriminating: I’m not going to refuse to apply to a place because their job posting was poorly-written. But really, it’s surprising how many of them are bad.
This may help explain why resumes that come in for many jobs are so far off the mark from what the companies are looking for. Of course some of it is because people grasp at straws. Networking is by far the best way to fill job openings and for people to get jobs that are a good fit. Of course for people right out of college networking is not such an easy thing. I spent a very long time getting my first job – very depressing at times.