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Please write to dearsam@dispatch.com. Samantha Nolan is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer with a graduate degree in Marketing and Communication and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service résumé writing firm.

For more information, call 614-570-3442 or 1-888-9-LADYBUG or visit www.ladybug-design.com.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of the readers in central Ohio for their ongoing support and readership of Dear Sam during the past three years. It is my sincere pleasure to provide you with actionable résumé strategies and job search advice. I hope you have found the information to be useful and have been able to implement these strategies in your own job searches. I look forward to many more years of helping readers navigate their job searches. Please feel free to contact me anytime with questions at dearsam@dispatch.com. - Samantha

Dear Sam: I have been looking for a new position since March with no success. I hate my current job. I'm underpaid, overworked and unappreciated. My main issue in finding another position is that I'm overeducated and underexperienced for most opportunities. You'll see on my résumé that I have held mostly customer service positions. I also have a degree in physics/astronomy. I am at my wit's end. I have looked at state and federal jobs and both small and large companies. I have tried scientific fields, HR, finance/ accounting, administrative, etc., and no one has given me a chance. I am fully capable of all the positions for which I have applied. The companies that turn me down use "experience" as an excuse not to hire me. If you have any advice, I certainly would appreciate it. - Jamie

Dear Jamie: First, let me paint a picture of your résumé for our readers. It begins with a statement on your availability, followed by technical skills, education and, lastly, experience. The current structure of your résumé will rarely, if ever, yield a call for an interview. Let's go through each section and identify opportunities to enhance the information.

A résumé never should open with a statement referencing your availability. Instead, engage the reader with a qualifications summary, which showcases your related skills and experiences.

You might have to develop different résumés for different purposes if you are going to pursue diverse objectives.

In essence, a qualifications summary should answer questions such as why they should interview you; what makes you qualified for the job; and what value you offer over your competitors. With the screening process being as short as seven seconds, this summary plays a decisive role in whether you get a call for an interview.

Take a look at the case studies section of my Web site, www.ladybugdesign.com, for ideas of how to structure this summary.

You stated that you are "overeducated." Therefore, opening your résumé with an education section will hurt your chances of getting an interview.

You have listed your highschool diploma, which is unnecessary because you have a higher-level degree. I realize you may have listed your high school studies because your class rank was impressive. But, this information may be placed best on your cover letter to reinforce your ability to excel in all academic and professional pursuits.

You also listed graduate studies that took place in 2004/2005. Unless you are pursuing opportunities related to that field of study (teaching), I’d suggest omitting this as it will position you as unfocused and overeducated.

There are some severe problems with your experience section. You have listed eight positions spanning the past nine years, and only the last two positions have significant explanation as to what duties were involved.

When perusing this section, I have no idea what you like to do or what you want to do in your career. You have moved throughout diverse roles focused in the areas of customer service, research, foodservice, teaching and office support.

You also have included months of employment in this section, which is not necessary, as it only creates a "messy" look. By removing the months, you probably could omit unrelated positions that do nothing to enhance your candidacy.

Remember, you graduated from college three years ago, so presenting nine years of experience creates a disconnect. It would be wiser to focus only on your related and most recent engagements, to position yourself as a recent grad with five or so years experience and a consistent record of working throughout your college career. This would present you as a more competitive, and not overqualified, candidate.

To revamp this section, review each position and determine which ones add value to your candidacy. Consider omitting or relocating teaching/research positions you held while pursuing your degree if they are unrelated to your current objective. This maintains focus on your positions in the areas of customer service and office support.

Engage the reader by exploring your responsibilities and achievements for each of these positions. If you do not have many achievements to highlight, think about presenting an overview of your experiences in a "Select Highlights" section appearing before the "Professional Experience" section. Doing so will focus the reader's attention on your skills and experiences in the customer service/administrative field. This removes any focus from the movement throughout your career, short tenures and abundance of experience despite being a "recent" grad.

Describing your positions with a few bullet points and four to six words each will not yield much value to the hiring manager. If you want the reader to get a sense that these positions qualify you for what you now want to do, you have to give them some space on the page, add value through strategic content, and highlight where you went above and beyond your daily assignments.

Again, reference some examples on my Web site or any recently written résumé book for ideas of how to expand the content within this section to work for you.