I just have to preface my post by saying that I am SO tired of getting resume advice. Just as the "Instructor Blog #2" says, if you ask 10 people, you get 10 different answers, and thus, I'm tempted to disregard about 90% of the advice I'm given -- unless it's from someone directly within the company to which I'm applying. That being said, I still think there are some universal truths, per se, to resumes that these readings hit upon.
I know people are skeptical about objective statements and whether or not to include them, and I think this is a question of audience. Personally, I know that the company I am applying to in this project (Eli Lilly) expects there to be an objective statement at the top of my resume, for two purposes. One, to let HR know which job I am applying for, and two, to tell my potential boss a little about what I am looking for. Because of this, I paid special attention to this portion in the "Skeptical Resume Reader tells what he really thinks" article. In particular, I intend to make sure that I put the role and responsibility I want into my objective statement, and to be sure that I have a confidence voice (both of which the author praises).
Another "universal truth" that I've run across several times that the same author reiterates is the use of strong action verbs in your descriptions. The OWL has a great list of verbs that I plan to reference when I revise some of my previous job descriptions for this project.
I also plan to focus on the key words in the job ad (as "Instructor Blog #2" suggests) and making sure that those appear in my objective statement and skills section or job descriptions. I have never considered whether or not my resume will be scanned before, and thus, want to take a close look at making sure I can get some of these key words into my document wherever I can.
Action Verbs
I also found it interesting that strong verbs can make a huge difference in the quality of a resume. Previously, I've always used words like "participated" or "assisted," both of which are fairly weak. I checked out the OWL, and they do have a pretty good section on them, but I also used Google to find a guide from AGU. This article includes a table of action verbs at the bottom, which was easier for me to sift through quickly. When drafting my resume, I prefer a vertical list of words rather than examples of sentences using those verbs (like on the OWL) because I can usually pick the word I want faster. If I need ideas on how to write a sentence, the OWL makes a great tool too.
Oops
I forgot to look at my action verbs in my resume. Next time around I will reexamining them to help make my resume a stronger representation of myself and my skills. The AGU website is much more helpful than the OWL site. I agree with you, when trying to write something like this it is much easier to look at a list of words and pick out the one that sounds the best than trying to figure out which verb to use by reading sentences . When I go back and look at my action verbs I will definitely be using this resource.
Andy
The frustration of getting different/contradictory advice
I agree that a big problem with creating a resume is that it seems like such a formulaic document, but the dang problem is that each employer's formula is different, and you're expected to know it beforehand somehow. It is an issue, but what we don't want to do is then think that this means that it's all completely relative and you can do anything and it's all equal. As you point out, even though there are different expectations, there are moves you can make that will almost certainly improve your resume. You mention a few, and I think the key one is doing as much as you can to figure out what this job ad wants from you. People sometimes think researching a company is a waste of time, but if you can mention in your cover letter something that demonstrates that you are invested in the company—like that you're really enthusiastic to help with their outreach program through your experience as a volunteer social worker—you better believe that will make you stand out. The key is finding out what kind of person this organization wants and then casting yourself as that person, I think.