Resumes

Even in choppy waters, recruiters are still angling for the perfect job candidate. But employers don't have the time or resources to sift through all the applications churned up by the recession. California's unemployment rate hit 10.5% in February -- the highest in nearly 26 years -- while the national rate stands at 8.1%. To boost your chances of getting plucked, you'll need a top-notch resume.

For more than a decade as she raised two children, Sue Estes heard one story after another about how hospitals desperately needed nurses. They were getting signing bonuses, their pay was soaring to levels unheard of during Estes' years as a nurse, and bulging benefit packages included 401(k)s. This year, ready to return to work, she hears a different story. "I've shipped out resumes everywhere, and I'm not even getting the courtesy callbacks," said Estes, 43. "All my friends can't believe it. They've read the stories about the shortage, and they say, 'Places are begging for nurses!

Putting together a professional resume doesn't have to be as painful as filling out a tax form anymore. Years ago, before computers, I would spend days perfecting my resume with numerous retypes. When I was finally done, I'd have to make a trip to the copy shop, all the while knowing that the next time the resume needed updating, the arduous process would begin again.

Lonnie Larson never meant to find a job by computer. Last fall Larson sent a hard-copy resume for an administrative post at UCLA. Several weeks later, he was called for an interview--for an opening he didn't even know existed. It turned out the university staff had scanned his resume into a computerized database and called up the document using keywords related to administrative skills.

Walter Gray, the Los Angeles County director of hospitals who allegedly faked his academic credentials, has been given official notice that he is being fired, according to top county officials. The officials and Gray's lawyer confirmed Thursday that Gray has been sent what is known as a "Skelly letter" in recent days, disclosing the county's intention to dismiss him.

Los Angeles County's director of hospitals, Walter Gray, is under investigation for allegedly falsifying his resume by stating that he has undergraduate and graduate degrees, according to top county officials familiar with the investigation. One of the Department of Health Services' top four administrators, Gray has retained a lawyer to represent him in the ongoing investigation, but he could soon be forced out of the department where he has worked for more than 33 years, the sources said.

Walter Gray, the Los Angeles County director of hospitals who allegedly faked his academic credentials, has been given official notice that he is being fired, according to top county officials. The officials and Gray's lawyer confirmed Thursday that Gray has been sent what is known as a "Skelly letter" in recent days, disclosing the county's intention to dismiss him.

When the aerospace industry was booming, workers used to stop by the El Segundo Public Library to do lunch-hour research. But as defense employment plummeted, the ranks of workers thinned. Now, the library may lure them back with a new feature: resume typing. The service is being launched at 11 Southland libraries by a cooperative library network. In El Segundo, job-hunters with a library card can have resumes typed and proofread for as little as $20, while those without cards pay more.

The newly appointed publisher of the Orange County Register won't be taking the newspaper's top spot because she lied about her college diploma on her resume, the newspaper said Wednesday. Marti Buscaglia, publisher of the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune, was named to the position two weeks ago. On Wednesday, current Register Publisher N. Christian Anderson III announced that the deal was off.

Directors of RadioShack Corp. said they stood behind the retailer's chief executive despite a published report that he didn't earn two college degrees listed on his resume. A biography of David J. Edmondson given to reporters and posted on the company's website said that he earned degrees in theology and psychology from Pacific Coast Baptist College in California.