[shay]

People who are actively looking for work -- and especially those who haven't yet built up a solid network for referrals -- will increase their chances of making it through the primary gatekeeper (be it a startup CEO, HR rep, or dev director) if they are GENUINE and ORIGINAL.

People responsible for hiring (esp. in today's market) are inundated with TONS of resumes. It's completely logical that a great (and efficient) way of vetting them is by (A) looking for any errors because, if such errors exist, it's an immediate dismissal and (B) automatically taking notice of the non-boring ones.

I think the "standard" resume -- the ones that have language akin to "I am seeking a position at an established organization..." are dead. And they should be. Because they're such a snore. (I mean, I almost fell asleep while typing that sentence up there.)

But a running record of achievement that tells a story of how awesome you are, how you think/approach challenges, and what you've accomplished (from business-level results through granular, specific technical learning) is very much alive and well.