A: If you're resume isn't making the phone ring, she's probably right...

... but it's more a question of quality versus quantity. Too much mundane job detail is as bad or worse than too little. For example, if you're in sales and your job description reads, "meet with clients, identify needs, present products and services to meet those needs, ..." you've either just put your reader to sleep or guaranteed a spot for your resume at the bottom of the circular file.

Within your job description, find a way to describe your work-a-day world without detailing the obvious, and do it succinctly. But most importantly, beneath that succinct description, list 2-4 key accomplishments in bullet format.

Back to our sales example. You didn't "meet with clients, identify needs, blah blah blah." Rather, you were "charged with developing a new multi-state territory for complex software systems." And beneath that description, accomplishments:

• Grew business from scratch to more than $1 million within first year, and $4 million within three.
• Drove new territory to #1 ranking out of 8 within three years.
• Selected to train all new company outside reps in Quick Start program.

If you're struggling to come up with a description and accomplishments that will get the attention of a hiring manager, welcome to the oft frustrating world of resume writing. To you, as an administrative assistant, it might seem that you're simply answering the phone and handling irate customers for your boss. But to put that kind of detail on the resume is to make yourself indistinguishable from every other administrative assistant out there. Think outside the box. That is, try to step out of your job and look at it from a third-party's viewpoint. To the outside observer, you didn't just handle the phones, you reduced customer complaints 50% within 6 months and salvaged three accounts that had been written off.

Keep slogging away. With time and focus, you'll find the right mix of detail and brevity.

BTW, the job of a professional resume writer is to be that third party, that neutral observer who can often times identify (or at least flesh out) accomplishments that can make or break the interest of a hiring manager. If that sounds intriguing, find a good one. Start with our home page to see mini-reviews of some of the more popular resume writers on the web.