Resumes used to be simple little documents, a couple of pages long, with a few references at the end. These were passive summaries that laid out your qualifications in a low-key manner - and more often than not, they slipped quietly through the cracks of the company's hiring desk.

Perhaps a passive, low-key resume is keeping you from getting your dream job.

If you think that a resume is merely a list of work-related things you've done in your life - than you need to seriously change your perspective.

A resume is your effective sales brochure

A resume is not a list of accomplishments - it is your high-caliber sales agent - a sales pitch that will present you to your prospective employer in the best light possible.

You need to break away from that mold and create a resume that works as your specialized sales agent, presenting you to your future employer as the best possible, and obvious, choice.

Keep in mind that a person is hiring you - so in this case the first impression really is the last.

Only those resumes that catch the employer's attention go on to step two: The Job Interview.

When you get to that stage, your resume has done its job - now it's up to you.