According to some experts in the job-hunting field, many companies are now becoming defensive in their hiring practices - more likely to pass on a possible hire if they show the slightest risk of being a problem.

The advice to tailor a resume to the specific job being applied to in order to improve your chances has been around for some time, but according to a column by career coach Chris Posti in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, it has become more important than ever to exactly match the requirements the job offer specifies.

Posti illustrates his point with the example of a chief financial officer who had all the qualifications necessary, but because his background was slightly different from the company's requirements did not even get an interview.

A year ago, in a different economy, he would have received a job offer, according to Posti.

Posti emphasizes that a resume must be crafted to match as closely as possible the exact specifications the company has put down, and a cover letter should not be treated lightly or simply as a re-hash of the information already in the resume.