Last week alone I had 6 friends send me their resume for review. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I mean, I hate that so many of my friends are out of work, but I love that I can help in some small way. Oftentimes I review the resumes and just shoot over some structural suggestions on how they can beef up their resume offerings. In fact if you are looking for those, Shannon Paul wrote a great post not too long ago on some easy steps you can do to savvy-up your resume for today's job search 2.0.

For our purposes here though I really want to talk about the words themselves. There are thousands of e-books, resume guides, and blog posts out there that list the best adjectives every job seeker should include in their resume. The truth is the best resume writers are talented wordsmiths. You need to be conscious of what words you are using and which ones you are omitting as you respond to each specific job posting.

Does this get time-consuming? Hell yes. Is it worth it? Obviously. We all know that resume reviewers rarely spend more than a minute or two on your resume. Whereas a few years ago they may have been looking at job title and time spent at your past job, a shift has occurred. These days so many people finagle their resume job titles and time spent at past companies is usually only brought up if you make it to an in-person job interview. So what are they looking for?

Words. With so many candidates to choose from, hiring managers are looking beyond finding a “strong candidate” and they are seriously mining resumes for “the perfect match.” If compared to a dating service, they no longer want to see you are “outdoorsy” they want to see you are a “mountain biker who loves kayaking on weekends, and late evening jogs during the week.” Talk about raising the word-listed bar.

When you are writing up your resume it’s your responsibility to research that job posting and look at the specific words they use. Is there a heavy focus on loyalty, work ethic, dedication? Or instead did they sway their job posting toward words like “innovative, fast-moving, multi-tasking?” You need to understand the climate of the company and tailor your resume to catch the eye of your reviewer.

Piggybacking off that idea, I think there are some really safe themes to lace through your resume when seeking out a job in 2010. For example budgets are tight right now, so words like “efficient” and “streamline” as well as “practical” and “actionable” are all great words to throw in there. Whereas a year ago it may have been best to note your ability to team work and brainstorm at a higher conceptual level (and these still hold weight of course) companies need action right now. They need to know they have a lean team of top-notch, go-getters.

One disclaimer here: Don’t put it in there if you don’t fit that bill. Seriously. No I mean it. Really. As this competitive climate continues to surrounds us, it’s understandable that people would insert words that stretch past their comfort zone. You know that isn’t always a bad thing. It forces you to grow as a person if hired. With that said if you sign up as one person and deliver a very different employee. It is a true recipe for disaster.

As resumes evolve this year into more "multi-media, recommendation (UGC) laced, extension of our online portfolios," don’t forget to assess the words you are using. It’s no longer about making sure the adjectives are more evolved then they used to be, it’s about matching those words to fit the company’s needs in this economical climate. Things are changing folks—I suggest you hold on tight. Wheeeeeeee.