Though we all know should know the basics of how to approach resume writing and job interviews, Esther Shein of IT Career Planet has gathered the latest thinking from a team of recruiting experts who say the conventional wisdom needs some tweaking. Anyone who's in the process of job hunting, or sees the prospect in their immediate future, would benefit from a full read. In the meantime, here are some highlights.

• The biggest message: focus on past job results. Don't simply rattle off a collection of skills, certifications, and acronyms. If explaining your successes on a paper resume takes more than one page, so be it. Be concise, but be complete. 
• Know the context of the position you're interviewing for. If you're heading into a big department in a big company, emphasize your skills as a team player. If you're targeting a small company, don't worry as much about the group dynamic. Pitch yourself as a self starter who can get a variety of things done. 
• Specifics matter, and interviewers will ask about them. So be prepared to quantify the results of your work in terms of money made or saved, time saved, productivity increased, and the like.

All interviews come down to the same three things, Shein's experts say: "Can you do the job; do you want to do the job and are you really motivated; and lastly, do you fit in?"

Since IT folks tend to be introverts, Shein says, that last bit really matters.

--Don Willmott