Here’s an interesting rant on proper resume etiquette in 2004. So much of what the career counselors tell you is absolute rubbish for the clueful hiring manager. If you’re interested in being another cubicle drone, do all the stuff he tells you not to do in this article. If you’re interested in actually getting a good job with a non-technology-challenged company, the simple lessons Joel puts forth may actually be useful.
As a former hiring manager, I speak from some experience here. Resumes stand out best when they are coherent, targetted specifically for the job, and are concise. A resume is an advertisement, not a history of job failures. You put your life on a page and hope someone takes the bait to schedule an interview.
Great freaking read.
Oh, and a tiny little web site has a really interesting discussion about this article as well.