Recently, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke said the unemployment rate is likely to remain high for a while even after the biggest drop in the jobless rate since 1958. In December 2010, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) reported the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 9.3 percent. The last time Illinoisans saw an unemployment rate like that was in March 2009. IDES Director, Maureen O’Donnell said, “preliminary data show Illinois (will) close(d) 2010 with a growing economy, which has not occurred since 2007.”

It appears the economy is making progress, but it sounds like getting a job will still be a challenge. Even doing everything right from waking up early, putting on the business attire, networking, to meeting with contacts – the whole ball of wax; resulted in some interviews but – mostly - more of the same nameless acknowledgements that the resumé has been received and so on and so forth.

You think it’s you. But, do not take the rejection personally; it may be your résumé and not you. Here are some tips that may improve the odds of positioning your resumé.

Does your résumé do a good job of making a case that you are qualified for the position? Is the formatting appropriate for your level of abilities? Does it include keywords, a profile vs. objective statement, and position title on the résumé? Its content and formatting has to grab the attention of the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) program as well as the human resources recruiter.

An ATS program is computer software companies utilize to search résumés, track applications, send computer-generated rejection letters, or even store email addresses, depending on an employer’s specifications. Most significantly, it scans for position-related keywords as well as overused buzzwords to separate the hundreds ...