You may well be able to play the trombone while riding a unicycle, but potential employers probably don't care.

According to new-millennium workplace expert and author Liz Ryan, highlighting unique skills is counterproductive on a résumé because unless those skills are in any way relevant to the job at hand, the employer isn't interested.

In her column in Business Week, Ryan stresses that while it is a normal tendency for job seekers to want to stress the skills that make them unique, those should not be the focus of a cover-letter or résumé, because we still think the purpose of the exercise is to tell the employer about ourselves.

"That's an outdated approach," Ryan writes. "Today, it's got to be 'Let me make it clear that I understand what you, the employer, are up against - and that I've got what you're looking for in the next person you hire.'"

Ryan does support storytelling in a résumé but insists those stories "brim with relevance" or they will not impress busy HR people, only confuse and frustrate them. You should only put experience on your résumé if you can make the case that the skills you gained from that experience are relevant now.