Resumes for late-career professionals should highlight enterprise-sized successes up front. Examples include significant contributions to company growth, procedural practices that saved the company substantial sums of money and any innovations that brought recognition to company brands.

List any professional affiliations and awards at the end of your resume if they emphasize leadership skills, or otherwise distinguish you professionally or personally from the rest of the crowd.

How to kill interest in your resume

Here are a few examples:

• Sloppy, visually unappealing resumes that contain typos and other errors.
• Personal photographs.
• Personal information like date of birth and Social Security number.
• Political party affiliations.
• Religious affiliations.
• Personal hobbies not relevant to your particular industry or career.

"Don't give people more information than they care about," Whitcomb says. "You'll end up looking like a smorgasbord, and not the specialist they are looking for. You want to be able to convey your brand, that unique promise of value and what you're going to deliver. So everything needs to be aligned with that brand and the value proposition."