A The Four "A"s = Attitude , Aptitude , Accountability , and Ability.

Remember, companies are always looks for "attitude, aptitude, and promotability." In other words, employers look for someone who has a positive outlook and someone who is energetic—with the intelligence and ability to learn new things. They generally are looking for someone who has long-term potential who can be promoted up the ranks, because once you’re “in”, they can utilize what you bring to the company, as well as leverage all the knowledge you acquire while you work as their employee.

In addition to these items, I look for people with accountability and the ability to execute. By this I mean I look for individuals who hold themselves accountable for completing and implementing projects, for continuing their personal development, and for taking proactive steps to improve their skills each year. Equally important is that they will stand accountable for their mistakes and to learning from those mistakes. I look for people who can execute on projects and ideas, and individuals who’ve achieved demonstrable results in previous positions.

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A Create an easy-to-read advertisement for yourself that stands out from the competition.

I've literally read hundreds of résumés. Here are three things that catch my eye and make me notice one over another:

1. Your résumé should be clean, well organized, easy to read, and well written. That means no typos, grammar or spelling errors. I've thrown more than one résumé in the garbage because it contained spelling and typing errors. Take the time to comb through your résumé; ask a friend to read through it for mistakes; and then check it again. Your résumé should represent you and the type of work you do. No company is going to want to hire someone who would send out a disorganized, hard-to-read, sloppy, misspelled piece of corporate communication. Show off your communication skills by making it easy for the company to learn about you, and do it in as few pages as possible.

2. Your résumé should explain what you accomplished in each of the jobs you have held. Communicate what you did in the job, not just what the job description from HR says the job requires. What value did you provide that company? Think about including some of these details to show your unique contribution and participation in each position: How many projects did you complete or create? What impact did they have on the company? Did they impact revenue or profit? Did you re-organize a department and increase productivity or efficiency? Did you volunteer for company activities?

3. Your résumé should be the best advertisement you've ever written about yourself. You're advertising yourself, right? Take pride in who you are and what unique talents you have. Not only are great résumés error-free, easy to read, and communicate what the applicant accomplished in each job, but it looks like the person is proud of it. Here are some pointers:

• Ensure there is appropriate white space, so words are easy to read and not crowded together. The page tells a story; it's easy to scan it and walk away with an overview of the person, then look more closely and get the details.
• Consider using one-line bullets under each job position rather than blocks of copy.
• Whatever you can do to help the reader who will be looking through a STACK of résumés stop on yours and say, "she looks different; this one stands out"—short of spraying it with perfume or printing it on pink paper, that is! Always be professional!
• Use good paper. In the age of e-mail and electronic communication, many times your résumé will be submitted electronically. Yet, in the case where you mail or hand-deliver a résumé, always include a cover letter and always print both the cover letter and the résumé on professional-quality (white, off-white, or gray) paper. Do this, rather than simply using the same paper you use every day in your printer, because it shows you are willing to make an investment in yourself and take the time to attend to the small details that make you stand out as someone special, different, worthy of a closer look. As the reader files through her stack of one-sheets, yours will stand out because it not only looks great, it feels great too!
• When you go to interviews, ALWAYS bring multiple copies of your résumé with you!

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