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First, establish a great relationship with your EA. Trust and compatibility are the key to success between a boss and his/her EA/PA.I could make a list a mile long, but here are some that I have found helpful with all bosses I have supported. I made a bullet point list first, then talked to each suggestion below in order. Sorry in advance for the length.Here are some tips and routines I use with my boss:Regular 7 minute touch-base meetingsWalk and talkEmails with subjects onlyCommunicate your best time of dayGive your admin what she needs to do her jobMobileDay AppWaze AppNever Late AppOne touch-base email per day when travelingForwarding my office phone to my cell phoneCoordinating his calendar with his wifeOrganizing & tidying his office dailyCreating rules for OutlookCreating signatures for OutlookFeedback given in the momentMake time on Monday morning to talk about the weekendHave your assistant show you tips & tricksRegular 7 minute touch-base meetings- 5 minutes isn't enough and what CEO has 10? When my boss and I first started working together we had a meeting each day. Some ran longer (especially when I was first learning his preferences and we were figuring out what my role would be) and others run shorter, or not at all. For the days it might not happen at all I have a backup. Each day, before he gets into the office, I print his daily schedule from Outlook, make the following notes and leave it on his desk. In the notes sections to the right of the calendar I make 2 lists. I always make sure to write in an unusual color that stands out - purple, teal, etc. something to catch his eye.The top list contains items I think should be on his radar. Usually just key words like - Valuation Pack, Dry Cleaning, Salary Planning etc. Then, I leave the rest of the space open so he can write his own notes.The bottom list (where the lines are) I make a To Do/Touch Base list. On this list I put what I need from him that day, or since I know by boss likely wont get to it that day, what I need within the next few days. Anything I need today I always follow up on in person - that's my job to find him on it, not his to find me on it. I just let him know it's coming. Items I put on this bottom list are for example - Corporate Development Job Offer - Signature Needed, Decision on flights to Beijing, Workout Schedule for next week, etc.These lists allow me the opportunity to talk to my boss even if he doesn't have time to talk. I know we are on the same page because I know he will look at that each morning to see where he needs to be and when. If he has holes in his day and I want to talk about anything in person, I will grab him when he has a free moment to talk. Otherwise I will just grab him for 2 seconds to ask him for quick answers for the things I need. Usually he has already given them to be throughout the day though.Walk and Talk: When my boss doesn't have a lot of time in his day, or I need him on something urgent but he is on the way to a meeting or out the door, I walk wherever he is going with him. The minute or two it might take him to get to his car or his next meeting almost always allows me to get him a message or get the answer I need and its not an inconvenience to him. This saves the day many days.Emails with Subjects only and "EOM": When I have a quick question to ask my boss, maybe he is in a meeting or traveling, or maybe I just want to save him time - I put my quick question in the subject line of the email and follow it by "EOM". EOM stands for End of Message. If you are in finance and this is end of month, find another acronym. Maybe "DNO" - do not open. It saves my boss taking the time to open the email (even on his iPhone) because it is always short enough to fit on one line. My boss is all about, "be bright, be bold, be gone" and this saves us. Example: Subject: "Still no Saver Award Tickets Available EOM"Communicate When Your Best Time of Day Is: My boss is an Iron Man, so he trains constantly. When is his best time of day? Right after his workout. If I need something from him, or there is a meeting that needs him at his best, I schedule it then. Knowing and communicating when you are best able to get certain tasks done is important. Having an assistant that picks up on this and/or schedules your day accordingly (as much as possible) is hugely beneficial to everyone.Communicate Your Working Preferences: How do you work best? Tell your admin so she can plan your day accordingly. Do you need pre-read ahead of time? Do you need 30 minutes prep before each meeting? Do you need a block of 4 consecutive hours a week behind closed doors to get work done? Do you need an hour at the beginning of your day to settle in? Knowing these preferences lets her triage and schedule accordingly. She will do her best to manage your calendar to align with what you need. Often times schedules are slammed back to back (just because there is an opening on your calendar so someone takes it) and it leaves you scrambling and feeling rushed. You will be more productive and efficient if you feel in control. Have her block off standing time on your calendar to ensure you aren't in meetings all day and have the buffers you need. If people need something urgently and you are booked up they will go to her and she can bring the one-off requests to you.Give Your Admin What She Needs: Do you want to be bothered every time she needs to make a purchase or book a trip for you, or for your family? Do you want to have to always hand her your frequent flyer card, passport, or credit cards? No, didn't think so. Give her all your info so she can securely store it so she has it on hand. This way she can just make the arrangements. If you can't trust her get rid of her and find a new admin, or don't hire her in the first place. Save yourself so much time and hassle and just give her the basic information she needs to do things on your behalf without having to involve you.MobileDay App: Do you have a lot of conference calls? Do you travel? Do you take calls from the car? MobileDay is the best 99 cents you will spend this year. It syncs with your Outlook calendar and imports all your meeting details including dial in numbers. Then, with one touch on the meeting, it dials you in - passcodes and all. If you have a dedicated conference line of your own, you can load that (those) too. That way you always have them at a press of a button should you need an impromptu call.Waze App: If you commute, get it. It shows you the fastest route based on real-time updates and input from other travelers. If you select the fastest route, it will automatically re-route you if the route you are on is no longer the fastest.Never Late App (or similar like Bounce): Depending on whether you have an Android or iPhone you may need to find one that works for you. There are a bunch out there - I have used many - but get one. Find an app that syncs your calendar to the app and make sure your assistant puts addresses into the location line in the calendar invite. These apps will recognize your current location, will monitor traffic and will alert you when you need to leave in order to make it to your next meeting destination on time. You need to account for how long it will take you to get to your car and then park, but that's about it. It is super convenient - its like I am traveling with my boss wherever he goes and keeping him on schedule. His wife loves it because he is on time for family commitments, even in bad traffic.One Touch Base Email a Day When Traveling: If my boss is traveling I condense the day into one email - usually send it an hour before I plan to leave the office. This way he doesn't get flooded by emails and I make sure to keep it to the point. Unless something is urgent or an emergency, I put it into the email (I open an email in the morning address it to him then keep it open all day long to add as needed). I keep it bullet pointed and I try to make sections. Update/FYI Section, Approval/Decision Needed Section, Personal Section, Schedule Changes Section are what usually is needed. Then, I put whatever I need to tell him into one of those categories and send it off.Forwarding My Office Phone to My Cellphone: If I am traveling, will be stepping away from my desk for a long period of time, working from home due to weather or sickness or if my boss is traveling in a different time zone, I will forward my desk phone to my cellphone. This way, if he needs me he doesn't have to remember to call my cell or know to call my cell, he can always reach me. Great for his direct reports as well and ensures that any incoming calls to him (anyone that calls the main number and asks for him verses dialing him directly) gets me. Also, it ensures he doesn't have to hear my phone ring all day long if he is in the office and I am not.Coordinating his calendar with his wife: Before I book a company holiday party, board meeting, international travel, off-site etc. I always run the dates by his wife. She and I talk regularly and she sends me items to put on his calendar, but I always double check - just in case something might have come up. Also, if he will be traveling, working late, going to an off-site etc. I always alert her to it just in case she needs to make special arrangements for his children etc. I also send her copies of his itineraries once booked so she knows where he will be and how to reach him in the event of an emergency.Organize & tidy my bosses desk/office daily: Before my boss gets in each day, I go into his office and straighten up. I sort through his papers and put them neatly in piles, if they are items he needs readily or file them away in his office for easy access later. I throw away any trash, shred his previous day's calendar (unless there are notes) and generally tidy up. I put pens back into the holder, etc. During the winter I also wipe his desk/frequently touched surfaces down at least 2x a week with Clorox wipes. I also dust at least once a month. Tidying his office is something that takes me maybe 10 minutes a day all said and done and it makes a huge difference to him each day. He loves coming into an organized office - gives him a fresh start to his day.Create rules for Outlook: Sit down with your assistant one day when things are less hectic and let her know what items in your inbox you don't ever look at. Then tell her which items you might want to look at but don't always look at. Lastly, tell her if there are any items that are super important that they stand out. If she knows Outlook (if not pay for a training session or book for her) she can create rules that automatically delete unwanted items (though she should just unsubscribe where she can too so they stop coming), sort sometimes looked at items into organized folders within your inbox, and bold, flag etc. items that are very important. The nice part about rules is that you can apply them to items that are already in your inbox so you don't have to manually sort the items.Create signatures for Outlook: Ever send the same email multiple times a week? Use a different signature depending on who you are emailing? Have your admin create multiple signatures for you. Quicker than Quick Parts and easier to see your options and choose, signatures can be traditional email signatures or a template email. I use them whenever I ask my boss and his direct reports for agenda items for our weekly meeting. I set up the template in a signature and then just have to select it from the drop down when I need to send that email. A 10 minute email takes me about 20 seconds.Constructive Criticism and Positive Feedback In the Moment: Don't wait for my yearly review - give me feedback in real time. Didn't make your coffee right? Don't like the format I use for our weekly meetings? Tell me now, so I don't keep doing it wrong. This is huge! Open, honest communication is key. Say it nice, but say it. If we don't know we can't change it and if it becomes a habit it is much harder to undo. Did I do something that made your day? Did I save you from a huge mistake? Did someone comment on how great the restaurant was last night? Tell me! It never hurts to know you are doing things right and while we do our best to be mind readers, it is great to know when we made the right call (or not as said above) so we know what to do next time. A simple thank you - or a sticky note on my monitor - really makes me feel valued.Make Time on Monday Morning to Talk About the Weekend: In order to have a great relationship with your assistant, you need get to know her and she you. On Monday morning when you come in ask her how her weekend was. Tell her what you did. Share a funny story or a joke. You want to create a sense of trust and goodwill. She will be more loyal, look out for you and feel appreciated and valued. This will go so far. I have seen so many great admins "go bad" because they lost connection with their boss. Once they felt unappreciated they checked out, got passive and it all started to fall apart.Have Your Assistant Show You Quick Time Saving Tricks: She likely has more time, especially if you support her in it, to go out there and learn more about Microsoft Office, apps, time management etc. Make a deal with her. For every webinar or conference she attends, for every article she reads, etc. she has to create a presentation of X number of tips and tricks that she learned and teach them to you (as you wish). Commands like Control K in an Outlook address bar will help you to pull up contacts from your address book with only a few letters of their first or last name. Control F in any internet webpage, Microsoft Office product file or PDF will bring up a Find function that allows you to search for keywords within the content and bring you to the spot where it is written. All these things can save you SO much time and help you to be more productive.

Learn the Basics - Variables, Control Structures, Data Structures, Syntax, ToolsPractice what you learnt on sites like CodecademyTake the course - MITx: 6.00.1x Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using PythonGet familiar with Python LibrariesLearn how to scrape websites and scrape the whole internet, anything and everything possible you can think off without going to jailResearch about Machine LearningStart solving your day to day problems with python. So, if you are doing something over and over manually think how you can automate it.Time to take your skills to next level - Learn Data Structure and AlgorithmsLearn about Frameworks like Django, Flask etc and create a website for yourself.Work on projects that interest you and learn as you go.Below is a list of video resources that I found useful while learning python programming. These resources are targeted towards Beginner to Intermediate level programmers.Python Tutorhttp://www.pythontutor.com ( Free )I highly recommend this tool to everybody, whether you are trying to learn Python, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Ruby, C, or C++ . It will help you visualize what the computer is doing step-by-step as it executes those programs.Bucky Robertshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6gx4Cwl9DGAcbMi1sH6oAMk4JHw91mC_ ( Free )If you are completely new to programming, Bucky Robert’s Tutorials are a good place to start. They are simple and easy to follow. Once you start feeling comfortable, you can move on to other resources.Corey Schaferhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-osiE80TeTt2d9bfVyTiXJA-UTHn6WwU ( Free )https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-osiE80TeTsnP0Nl1UDY8VZAlHu1m_MQ ( Free )Corey has good videos on String Formatting, Generators, Comprehensions, Programming Terms [ Mutable vs Immutable, DRY, Memoization, Idempotence, Combinations and Permutations, String Interpolation, First Class Functions, Closures ] etc and he does a good job explaining the concepts.Derek Banashttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4mEzFDjqtA ( Free )Derek Banas is a self taught programmer. He has a different teaching style, where he will make a video on particular programming language usually 45 -60 minutes in length that will cover 80% of what you need to know regarding that language.EdxMITx: 6.00.1x – Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Pythonhttps://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-mitx-6-00-1x-6 ( Free )This is one of the best course that I have taken so far, not only you will learn lots of python but also important computer science concepts such Algorithms, Recursion, Debugging, Assertions and Exceptions, Efficiency and Orders of Growth, Object Oriented Programming, Trees. This course is taught by MIT Professor Eric Grimson and covers the same material which is taught in class at MIT for course 6.00 – Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python by John Guttag. However at edX they divided the original MIT 6.00 course into two parts. MITx: 6.00.1x and MITx:6.00.2x.MITx: 6.00.2x – Introduction to Computational Thinking and Data Sciencehttps://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computational-thinking-data-mitx-6-00-2x-3 ( Free )This course builds on where MITx 6.00.1x left off. So, knowledge equivalent to 6.00.1x or some prior programming experience in Python and a rudimentary knowledge of computational complexity is required. This course is taught by John Guttag and topics covered are Plotting with the pylab package, Random walks, Probability, Distributions, Monte Carlo simulations, Curve fitting, Knapsack problem, Graphs and graph optimization, Machine learning basics, Clustering algorithms, Statistical fallaciesCodecademyhttps://www.codecademy.com/learn/python ( Free )They say it takes 10,000 hours of coding to become a good programmer. Whether that is True or Not, Codecademy is a good place to get practice on your newly acquired skills whether they are Python, Ruby, Html & CSS, Javascript, Ajax, JQuery etc.Udacityhttps://www.udacity.com/course/intro-to-computer-science–cs101 ( Free )This course is taught by Dave Evans. He is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Virginia where he teaches computer science and leads research in computer security. He is the author of an Introduction to Computing Explorations in Language, Logic, and Machines and has won Virginia’s highest award for university faculty. He has PhD, SM, and SB degrees from MIT.https://www.udacity.com/course/programming-foundations-with-python–ud036 ( Free )This course is taught by Kunal Chawla. He has a bachelor’s in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin and master’s in educational technology from Stanford University. In this course, you will learn how to use objected oriented programming to solve problems. Mastering Object-Oriented Programming will propel your career in tech forward, and it’s also a great way to learn how software engineers think about solving problems.Udemyhttps://www.udemy.com/automate/ ( Paid )This course is taught by Al Sweigart. He is the author of book “Automate the Boring Stuff with Python Programming”. In this course he has good introductory videos on Regular Expressions, Files, Web Scraping, Excel, Word, and PDF Documents, Email, GUI Automationhttps://www.udemy.com/complete-python-bootcamp/ ( Paid )This course is instructed by Jose Portilla. He is working as a Data Scientist in the field. This course is targeted at programmers who have never programmed before, programmers switching languages to python, intermediate python programmers who want to level up their skills.Professional Python Web Development Using Flask (Paid)This course is taught by Jorge Escobar. Jorge has worked in well established companies like Yahoo!, Univision and MongoDB and has also been the technical founding member of various successful tech startups that have received multiple rounds of venture capital.Python - Learn Python From Scratch In No Time Flat (Paid)This course is taught by Tim Buchalka. This guy is professional, experienced software developer who also has exceptional teaching skills. Each video is around 15 to 20 minutes he goes into lot of detail. If you are looking for super detailed python course this is it. Not recommended to impatient learners :)Team Tree Househttps://teamtreehouse.com/library/topic:python ( Paid )Majority of the Python videos are instructed by Kenneth Love. Below is a complete list of Team Tree House Python Library as of March 16, 2016.Django ORMCSV and JSON in PythonPython File I/OSetting up local Python Environment ( Mac, Windows)PyCharm BasicsDjango FormsPython BasicsCustomizing Django TemplatesImage Manipulation with PythonFunctions in PythonTkinterDjango BasicsPython DecoratorsUsing the Requests LibraryPython ComprehensionsPython TestingData Science BasicsSocial Network with FlaskDatabases in PythonRegular Expressions in PythonFunctional Programming with PythonFlask BasicsDates and Times in PythonWrite Better PythonObject-Oriented PythonPython CollectionsCustomizing Django AdminFlask REST APIDjango REST FrameworkIntro to FlaskIntro to Flask Series ( Free )Flask SQLAlchemy TutorialFlask SQLAlchemy ( Free )At some point when you start working with Flask you will need to use ORM to create, update, delete, query data from tables in the database. This guy does a good job providing simple overview of what it is like to use SQLAlchemy.By now you should have enough knowledge and confidence to write small to medium size programs and now you know more than what “Mark Zuckerberg” knew when he started Facebook. Now it’s time to think out the box and think BIG. Time to start your own startup and be an Entrepreneur. Get basic idea on How to Start a Startup - Standford University. Start researching about technology stack used by all major companies Quora, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Pinterest, Instagram, Dropbox etc to get basic idea what they are using and whats in trend. After doing all this, now you should feel that you are not even a drop in the bucket. Keep learning till you get Rich or Die Trying because you live once. You can either live it driving a KIA and live paycheck to paycheck or you could be driving a Lamborghini and living in a mansion. Always remember there is nothing more dangerous than a motivated person.

Update 10/2015: For whatever reason, this answer has picked up a lot of traction. If you're a media outlet looking to post this in some way, please connect with me or Quora first, as it's marked "not for reproduction" to maintain some of its integrity. Responses to this answer over the last few years have been really fun, if not over-dramatic. My answer to this question was published last year on Mashable, and as a result I got all types of feedback -- both negative and positive. Time has passed and I've changed some of my perspectives here and there or further explained the logic with more examples and practical application. It felt like a good time to update my answer to this question so I did! Thanks, friends. Carry on.I think this varies from recruiter to recruiter and also depends on the role for which you're applying. For one, I don't look through stacks of resumes anymore. I hate paper. I do everything online.There has been for many decades, some mysterious "wizard of oz" type viewpoint of the recruiting world that I think is somewhat misappropriated. People seem to be truly fascinated by what goes on behind the curtain, when in reality, recruiters aren't running the covert operation many think we do. Our world is a lot simpler than you think. "Does this candidate seem like they stand a chance of being a good match for this role? If yes, proceed to next step. If no, reject." Each recruiter is different, so there's no one way to answer this question. But I'll highlight briefly (actually, not so briefly) how I personally absorb a resume. I should preface this by saying that currently I primarily recruit for senior-level software engineers. In my past life I recruited for PMs, MBAs, Finance, Sales, and pretty much all of it. Everything I'm about to say broadly applies to all of these fields. I also was a campus recruiter, and you read resumes of new grads a bit differently since experience is less meaty. So for non new grads, here's how it goes in my brain:Most recent role - I'm generally trying to figure out what this person's current status is, and why/if they might even be interested in a new role. Have they only been in their last position for 3 months? If so, probably not the best time for me to reach out, right? Unless they work for Zynga, or somewhere tragic like that (said with great respect for Farmville...the app that put Facebook apps on the map). If it's an incoming resume, I'm wondering why the candidate is looking now. Are they laid off? Did they get fired? Have they only been in their role for a few months and they're possibly hating it? But most importantly, is their most recent experience relevant to the position for which I'm hiring?Company recognition - Not even gonna lie. I am a company snob. Now don't get all Judgy Mcjudgerson about my judgy-ness. Hear me out. It's not even that I think certain companies are better than others (although some most certainly are). It's purely a matter of how quickly can I assign a frame of reference. This is also known as "credibility." Oh you worked at Amazon? Then you're probably accustomed to working on projects at scale. You're at a well known crash and burn start up? You have probably worn many hats and have been running at a sprinter's pace. There are some pretty blatant if/then associations I can make simply by recognizing a company name. Because recruiters have generally been doing this job for awhile, we notice patterns and trends among candidates from certain companies and we formulate assumptions as a result. There are edge cases and our assumptions can fail us, but again, this is a resume review -- we're talking a less than 20-second analysis. Assigning frame of reference is often more difficult to do when a candidate has only worked for obscure companies I've never heard of. When I can't assign company recognition, it just means I have to read the resume a little deeper, which usually isn't an issue, unless it's poorly formatted, poorly written, uninformative and wrought with spelling errors, in which case...you might have lost my interest. See? That's tragic. Keep it tight, folks.Overall experience - Is there a career progression? Does the person have increasing levels of responsibility? Do the titles make sense? (You're a VP of Marketing for a 5 person company? Heck, I would be too.) Do the responsibilities listed therein match what I'm looking for?Keyword search - Does the person have the specific experience for the role I'm hiring for? There have been times when I command + F the crap out of resumes. Especially the long ones that are hard to follow. This isn't fool proof, but if I'm looking for an iOS Engineer, for example, and the words "iOS" or "Objective-C" don't even make a cameo appearance in someone's resume, I have to furrow my brow, read a little deeper and figure out what the heck is going on. Throughout my career supporting hiring for different profiles, I've done this on many occasions searching for things like Ruby on Rails, Mule, Javascript, and seriously, anything you can think of. Now if you're thinking you should "key word" it up on your resume, think again. Keep it authentic. And don't you dare think of putting your resume on the Internet and imbedding 250 completely irrelevant to your skill set key words at the bottom in 5pt white text so no one can see. I'm on to you. But I do think you should be vigilant to ensure that the actual important key words contained in the meat of your experience are represented on your resume.Gaps - I don't mind gaps so long as there's a sufficient explanation. Oh you took 3 years off to raise your children? Fine by me, and might I add: #respect. You tried your hand at starting your own company and failed miserably? Very impressive! Gap sufficiently explained. Whatever it is, just say it. It's the absence of an explanation that sometimes makes me wonder. Still, I understand that sometimes people feel uncomfortable sharing certain things in a professional context. If you had a gap, surely you were busy doing something during that time, right? Get creatively honest and just name that period of your life in a way that shows you acknowledge that it might raise an eyebrow.Personal online footprint -- This is not required. But if you have an online footprint, and you've bothered to include it in your resume, I'm gonna click. This includes personal domains, Quora profiles, Twitter handles, GitHub contributions, Dribbble accounts, or anything a candidate has chosen to list. Two out of three times, I almost always click through to a candidate's website or twitter account. It's one of my favorite parts of recruiting. You never know what you're gonna get.General logistics -- Location, Eligibility to work in the US -- I try to make some raw guesses here, but this is not a place of weeding someone out, more just trying to figure out their story.Overall organization -- This includes spelling, grammar, ease of use, ability to clearly present ideas. If you're in marketing and you've lost me in the first three bullets, I have concerns.Total time it takes me to do all of above: < 25 seconds*Note: I will likely later read the resume far more in depth, but only if I already know I like the candidate. It takes me way less than a minute to fully digest a resume and flag that person for follow up. I read a resume pretty thoroughly once I know I will be speaking to that person on the phone or reaching out via email. But I will not thoroughly read a resume of someone who did not pass the above categories. Maybe that makes me a heartless corporate recruiter, but I'm just keeping it real, folks. Recruiters move quickly. I'm trying to remove the barrier for people who might struggle with getting their resume properly acknowledged.Things I rarely pay as much attention to:Education -- Believe it or not, this is more an after thought for me in a resume and certainly not the most relevant element by a long shot. There have been times in my career where I could go a month reviewing hundreds of resumes and not recall looking at that section even once. Peeps, our college career center counselors lied to us. However, I will say that as a university recruiter, I almost always looked at education first. But that's because experience is often lacking with new graduates. But if you are not a new graduate, experience is king, my friends. I can think of a few exceptions where perhaps a hiring manager wanted a certain pedigree (Wharton or HBS MBA, for example), but even that's being de-prioritized less and less I find. I will also add that this changes drastically by industry and company. I currently work in tech, but I've also worked in management consulting and education is huge in consulting. I'll also add that some tech companies care more about education than others -- for example, Facebook definitely more heavily favors engineering candidates who have demonstrated core CS fundamentals by obtaining a computer science degree. Some recruiters even narrow the field and look for candidates with computer science degrees from top 25 schools. Even still, Facebook employs many engineers who never finished college. Experience rules the school.Fancy Formatting -- There are exceptions here. I say this with the caveat that I LOVE a creatively formatted resume. LOVE. However, no amount of fancy formatting is going to make up for a lack of experience. So reign it in. Also, it's important to keep in mind that if you're applying to a position online, whether it's a PDF or not, many companies' applicant tracking systems parse your resume for information and convert it to pure text as the most immediate viewing format. Recruiters don't often see how awesome your resume is. The original file is usually there for us, but many recruiters aren't clicking through to that. If you're going to do something fun with your resume, I recommend keeping it PDF and also be sure it converts to text fairly cleanly so it doesn't come through our system looking wonky. Or just email it to an actual person.Uncomfortably personal details -- In Europe for example, I've noted that it's very common to list things like family status, citizenship, and sometimes even weight and height on CVs. Often it's common to even include a photo. The US is a bit different, and by different I mean very litigious. Many employers are trying to avoid any type of discrimination, so often seeing that stuff on a resume can make recruiters feel uncomfortable. We just want to know about things that pertain to your work history. So please take your photo off your resume. If we want to see what you look like, recruiters can just stalk you on LinkedIn.Cover letters -- There is a debate on this, but I'm sorry, I don't read cover letters. I want to see the resume. Most of my recruiting colleagues agree, but I know there are still recruiters that do love and value cover letters. I find that a lot of candidates don't even send them anymore (Hallelujah). Cover letters are sort of a throwback to a different era - an era where you actually sent your resume snail mail. If you're going to send one, that puppy better be darn good. I'm of the mind that most companies that request cover letters only do so to weed out the people who haven't bothered to read the directions. But if you're in marketing or sales, etc., I can see the cover letter as a strong component of someone's potential candidacy. But seriously...ugh with cover letters.Things I wish more people would do:Bring personality into the resume -- We recruiters are staring at these missives all day long. Throw a joke in there somewhere for goodness' sake. Very few of us are curing cancer. We should lighten up a bit. Know your industry, of course. An easter egg buried in a resume may not go over well if you're in a very buttoned up industry. I think it's important to keep the work experience details as professional as possible, but trust me, there are ways to have fun with it. I love an easter egg buried in a resume. And I absolutely LIVE for creatively written LinkedIn profiles. For example, this guy is boss. I have emailed his LinkedIn profile around to dozens of friends and co-workers over the years. It's that epic. So well done and tells a great story. Best read starting from the very bottom and working your way up to the top. But he knows his industry. Probably not a good play to talk about marijuana in your LinkedIn profile if you're gunning for Director of Communications for Bank of America.Include URLs for online footprints -- Nuff said. And within your comfortability of course. I get it. We've overshared our way to a more private society, but if you're looking to stand out, write some stuff on the Internet. Contribute to open source repositories. Demonstrate some level of domain expertise/interest outside of your 9-5.List key personal projects -- I ask this in almost every phone interview I do. "What kind of stuff are you working on in your free time?" I am always inspired by this. Also shows me that you have passion for your industry.Things I wish people would stop doing:Using MS Word's resume templates -- Period. Oh my gosh. Please, let's kill them all. Especially that one with the double horizontal lines above and beneath the candidate name.Writing resumes in first person -- Exceptions made for people who do it cleverly. If no one has ever told you you're clever, then you're probably not that clever. Don't do it. It reads oddly.Allowing their resume to be a ridiculous number of pages -- Unless you are a tenured college professor nobel laureate with multiple published works, you do not need an 8+ page resume. That is not impressive; that is obnoxious. Also, I do not care that you worked at Burger King in 1988. I mean, good for you, but no; not relevant.Mixing up first person and third person or present tense and past tense -- Pick a voice, pick a tense, and then stick with it. I suggest third person and past tense. If I were you, I'd eliminate pronouns (e.g. My, I, She, He) from your resume altogether. Instead of writing "I helped increase overall sales by 300% by breeding rabbits in my garage," Simply eliminate the "I" in that sentence. So, "Helped increase overall sales...blah blah blah." Go through your resume and remove all the pronouns and rewrite the sentence to make it sound like a bullet point. By "past tense" I mean that your resume should always be voiced from the perspective of something you already did -- not something you're currently doing. So even if you're in your current position, you should still list those accomplishments in the past tense.Listing an objective at the top of the resume -- Dude, seriously? This isn't 1992.Mailing, faxing, or hand-delivering paper resumes -- Immediate disqualification. Do not pass go. Go straight to jail. While I have your attention though, let's camp out on that last point for a moment: Hand-delivering paper resumes. Look, I get it. People are trying to stand out. It can be tough out there. And I completely respect the hustle. But in 2015, HR professionals are swamped, anxious, and jumpy. When a random stranger shows up unannounced asking to speak to someone in HR or recruiting, we're wondering if you have a gun and a vendetta, and we've probably alerted security. Seriously. It's really creepy. It's also not really how the corporate world works any more, and oftentimes it can place an undue burden on people to rearrange their schedule to make time to talk to you...which makes them grumpy...which doesn't exactly put you in a good spot as a potential candidate. So seriously, folks. Think long and hard before you decide to randomly show up at a company's headquarters with your resume. It might have a huge pay off, but it probably won't.Sending resumes addressed to the CEO that end up on some random recruiter's desk unopened - This is a gross generalization here and exceptions are made for smaller companies, but um, CEOs don't often read resumes -- not the first pass. Also see above re: paper resumes. P.S. We sometimes laugh at people who do this. (All of the above does not apply if you're Tristan Walker or exude ridiculous amounts of awesomeness)Exaggerating titles and responsibilities -- Eventually the truth comes out.There you have it. Thirty seconds in the brain of one lowly recruiter. I hope this helps make someone better or more effective in their job search. If you take issue with anything I've said here, you're well within your right. Recruiters are paid to be judgmental sharp shooters. We fail often and we miss out on really good candidates. This is one recruiter's opinion. I am nothing if not honest.Happy hunting.