Having recently reviewed a good number of resumes, I found myself yearning for a little more, well, life on the page. Looking through the stack, I imagined an assembly line cranking out documents in a nondescript warehouse in a drab industrial suburb on a gray and rainy day.

Does your resume drone? Take it out and read it with new eyes. Any robo corporate speak stand out for you? Is "world class" included anywhere? Do you have a "proven track record," are you a "fast learner," or "results oriented"?

Once you recognize these cliches, you can do a little humanizing. Think of a good way to say the same thing that sounds like it's from the heart rather than the Robo Resume 2000 machine. Instead of being the old boring "fast learner," maybe you can "quickly acquire new skills." Perhaps you're not quite so "results-oriented" as you are "dedicated to success" or "focused on achievement."

A lot of the time, I think we muddle through getting our resume together, building on the ocean of mediocrity of what we've seen. But it doesn't have to be that way. You can make your resume sound like a real live human being - in full possession of a personality - wrote it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go unhypocrite my own resume before this posts. 

-- Chad Broadus