In a computer age, it can be very important to write your resume for the computers to find.

In a blog post at the Wall Street Journal, former senior vice-president of Lehman Brothers Holding Michael Crehan discusses approaches to perfecting the imperfect resume by tailoring it specifically for the job you might be after.

Crehan points out that as more companies use computer search engines to flag resumes that are of interest, a resume lacking actionable keywords will simply be skipped over and not even seen by the people in charge of hiring.

"If the position in question was for someone to do risk or counterparty analysis, and if my resume did not mention these words, I am left to the mercy of the human element," Crehan writes.
However, some of his readers disagree.

Deb Dib, a personal brand expert, writes in Crehan's comments that a resume is "the tangible culmination of a process of self-discovery and marketability, and the LEAST important deliverable. And that’s because it’s the least effective part of a job search campaign."

Dib recommends personal and online contacts and networking as the way to get a job, with a tailored resume coming only to close the deal.