Your resume's function is to sell your value to a hiring official. Especially as the job market continues to tighten, it's important that it performs well and delivers the result you're looking for - an invitation to interview.

Are you confident yours is effective? Is it the dynamic document it needs to be?

Don't forget...you could be playing to a tough audience. The reader is often a stranger with little or no prior knowledge of who you are and what you're all about. He or she is going to make a professional assessment based on what you've written, and you're not going to be given a lot of time to make your case.

With so much at stake, why do so many candidates continue to submit resumes that don't get more than a passing glance? Why do so many resumes fail?

They don't make a good first impression.

You need to consider the first connection between your resume and the reader as carefully as you do the first face to face meeting you have with any hiring manager. Within the first few seconds of meeting that person, he or she has formed an impression of you. Fair or not, accurate or not, a judgment has been made...and once that's happened, it can be very difficult to change their view of who you are.

And so it goes with your resume. What kind of "first impression" does it make? What does it say about you?

If you don't make a good first impression, not only will you not score the interview - there's a good chance it won't get more than a passing glance. Poof. 10 seconds and your shot at an interview goes up in smoke.

How exactly do you make a good impression with a piece of paper?

1) You know what's unique about you, and you communicate that uniqueness clearly. Right out of the gate. What makes you different than the legions of other candidates vying for the same position? Don't expect the reader to figure it out.

2) You don't make any mistakes. No typos. No spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. If you submit a sloppy resume, what reason will the hiring manager have to think you'll be a sharp employee?

3) Your resume looks good. It's laid out and organized well. There's plenty of white space. The font isn't so small that it takes a magnifying glass to decipher the text. You don't submit your resume in the form of a novel - keep it succinct. You understand that the first read isn't going to be a read at all...it's going to be a scan. So you make sure you've laid it out so the reader can pull important information out quickly.

4) You give the reader a reason to keep on reading. What's on the top half of the first page - what do you lead with? Does it command attention?

5) You think like a marketer. Resumes that read like a litany of HR-generated job descriptions are the kiss of death.

Pass the first test by making a great first impression. Interest the reader enough to convince him to take a closer look. Give yourself the chance you need to be considered for an interview. It starts right here.

Rebecca Metschke helps professionals improve their marketability. The author of The Interview Edge ( http://www.TheInterviewEdge.com ), a comprehensive career guide to career management, she also writes a daily blog posting strategies, tips and advice for those whose careers are in transition ( http://blog.TheInterviewEdge.com ).