By JOE GRIMM

When it comes to selling yourself on paper, you will find that journalistic employers are tough customers. After all, they put out information every day. There are no bonus points for correct spelling, punctuation or grammar. Those are givens. A single error can consign your resume to the circular file. Edit your work, proofread the final copy and then double-check everything. Twice. Have someone else go over it. Make sure the editor is not the first person to see the finished product.

Understand the purpose of a resume. It is not intended to get you a job. It is meant to tell prospective employers enough about you so that they’ll look at your work sample or call you in for an interview. Use the interview, tests, tryouts and other steps to land the job. The resume is one of the earliest of preliminaries. It is Square One.

In a business where word economy is valued, one-page resumes have traditionally been the norm. This is changing, though not with all media managers. Even those with 20 years and several papers behind them limit their resumes to one page. You’re certainly free to exceed that, but it won’t work with everyone, especially when your experience — compared to the hiring manager’s — is modest.

What comes after name, address, phone number and e-mail?
Stating your career objective can help, but only if it matches the opening. An incompatible career objective can eliminate you in a New York minute. It’s OK to not have a career objective.

Put education or experience at the top, depending on which is more relevant to the job you’re trying to get. If all your work has been outside of journalism, but you have a degree in it, lead with the degree and details about your coursework. If you’re completing a non-journalism degree and have two media internships, list the internships first. The chronological order of the categories is less important than relevance. However, follow chronological order within categories, most recent to oldest.

Go beyond simple job titles
Describe your jobs. Don’t say you were a reporter. Say you were a reporter who covered a school district, two police departments and the local court and that you wrote a Sunday column. Mention the more complicated, difficult or humorous accomplishments you had in those jobs. These accomplishments distinguish your resume from others. Say something about your professional interests and abilities that can open the door to an interview.

Use a clean and simple design
Be bold if you can, but not flashy. I have seen cartoon resumes and resumes made to look like front pages. These suggest you lack experience or sophistication and do not give you any advantage over other applicants. As more and more companies scan resumes or feed them into text-searching databases, consider how to make a scannable resume, described here in the JobsPage.

Do I include non-journalism jobs?
If you have a short employment history, you certainly may include jobs that are not journalism-related. These help demonstrate that you have worked for others, know how to toil for a living, show up on time and generally are responsible. emphasize skills that are most similar to the job: writing, handling information, working with the public, juggling tasks.

What else should I include?
Second languages (but you better have more skill than the obligatory school minimum), awards, scholarships, extracurricular activities that highlight leadership and personal achievements that demonstrate relevant qualities such as resourcefulness, tenacity or responsibility. One student impressed me be being a full-time care-giver while carrying a full load of classes.

What about references?
Before you list anyone as a reference, make sure it’s OK with them. Ask whether they can give you a good word. Once, I called a reference and the person said, “He listed me? That was a mistake.” The candidate’s chances stopped there. Don’t assume people will be your references; ask them. But don’t stop there, as most will be polite and say yes. Ask them, “If I were to list you as a reference, what could you say about me?” If you like what you hear about yourself, then ask them to be references.

If your resume is getting crowded for one page, you can use a second sheet just for references. I don’t think there’s any need to say “References available upon request.” We assume so. Some employers disagree with me on putting references on a second sheet, but I don’t think this is a fatal problem, even with them. Do feel free to withhold sensitive references until very late in the interview process.

Omit personal information
It is not relevant whether you are married or single, old or young, a smoker or a non-smoker. Don’t include those facts. They can say you don’t know what’s relevant and what isn’t.

My curiosity is piqued when someone’s resume carries a list of places visited or lived in. Hobbies can intrigue me, too, but they turn others off. Generally, the more relevant it is to the job, the safer you are using it. Being accomplished at a musical instrument, for example, implies precision, discipline and practice. Saying that you have a passion for coffees or that you bake bread may leave some recruiters wondering.