Hay River (May 26/03) - If a resume is a chance to put your best foot forward, some are so bad they step on the toes of prospective employers.

Resumes that are messy, full of errors and badly organized often don't even get read by employers.

Pam Jones and Lionel Painchaud of the Career Development Centre in Hay River have seen the good and the bad in resume writing.

"I'm sometimes amazed to see what kind of resumes are sent up to the mines," says Painchaud, a career development officer at the centre, which is operated by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

One example of a common blunder is a person updating an address on a resume, but simply crossing it out and rewriting the new address in ink.

Spelling errors are also a no-no in resumes, and make a very poor impression on employers. Jones and Painchaud advise in unison, "Proof read, proof read, proof read."

Painchaud says people should also watch their sentence structure, recalling one resume with the line, "I've driven a Cat and she was always good to me."

People sometimes write the way they talk, he explains. "You know what they mean, but it just comes out in a funny sort of way."

Painchaud says employers put such poorly-written resumes to one side, and they may not even take a second look.

"I always tell clients that a resume is the way you advertise yourself and your skills," he says.

After submitting a bad resume, some people then can't understand why the employer is not calling, he notes. "You have to ask yourself why you're not getting phone calls."

Jones says she doesn't think people realize the importance of a resume, and that it will reflect on them, adding each resume should be targeted for a particular job.

She says it is a good feeling when someone is successful in getting a job, and that success begins with a good resume. "You have to present a resume where the employer will want to meet with you."

Painchaud advises not to be gimmicky in resumes. "Keep it professional."

Both he and Jones caution job hunters to never exaggerate or lie about their skills or qualifications. "Some people try to pad it up," Jones says, although she warns that will eventually catch up with a person.

Another common mistake by job hunters is to make their resumes too long.

"They go on and on and on," Painchaud says, adding his advice is to keep a resume at two pages.

Painchaud and Jones will be presenting a workshop on writing resumes on Wednesday.