“I need a new résumé!” Image.

International Human Resources thought leader Dr. John Sullivan points out in this article that hiring managers often spend five to seven seconds reviewing a potential employee’s résumé.

“Is your ‘six seconds of fame’ enough to land you a job?” he asks his readers.

Considering the large stack of résumés it’s likely sitting in, probably not. Unless it’s really good. And it should be, because you’re really good, right? You don’t want to get screwed because you’re misrepresented on a piece of paper.

This week’s Tip of the Peak is here to make sure you aren’t. Check out our résumé tips:

1. Creativity matters.

If you’re creative, this is the perfect opportunity to flex those muscles and show your potential employer what you can do. Cramming every awesome thing about yourself into one page isn’t easy. Show that you can do it in a way that’s aesthetically pleasing. Take this infographic résumé, for example:

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Beautiful.

2. Cute isn’t creative.

There’s a fine line between creative and cute. Don’t cross it.

Please stop.

3. Brand yourself.

Ditch the objective section. Make a firm statement about who you are. Jack the “Computer Programming Professional” sounds way more legit than Jack the guy with an “objective to obtain a fulfilling job in the field of computer programming.” The former seems to be in much higher demand than the latter.

4. Cut it down.

Realistically, your résumé shouldn’t be longer than a page. This is an incredibly debated topic and I’m sure there’s enough great information about you to fill a book, but you should be keeping it concise and to the point. Your potential employer isn’t going to care about you until you make them care, and unless you can do that by the time they get down one page, they’ll probably be tossing it to the side.

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Good call.

5. Non-traditional experience and skills work too.

Did anyone ever tell you that you should only be putting your full and maybe part-time work history on your résumé? If they did — they’re wrong and you should stop listening to them.  The company that hires you is going to care about who you are outside of work, too.

Do you volunteer at a local dog shelter? That’s amazing — put it in. Can you dunk a basketball? Cool! Maybe you shouldn’t put “Can dunk a basketball” in your résumé, but definitely don’t shy away from adding those types of interests that could potentially facilitate a higher connection between you and the interviewer.

6. Link to social.

You need to do this in the electronic copy of your résumé. It’s 2015. If your employers want to find your social sites, they’ll find them. If they have a hard time finding them, it’s going to look a little shady. Everyone is on Facebook — show them you have nothing to hide and invite them to connect. You can get your Twitter followers up too!

7. PROOFREAD!

No explanation necessary. Just do it, do it again and do it 15 more times.

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When you’re looking for a job, you’re only as good as the piece of paper sitting in a stack of forty others. Make sure it stands out.

Get caught up on the other Tips of the Peak here.