The job market is tough and it's getting tougher.  Your résumé is your No. 1 marketing tool and it may not be doing its job -- getting you an interview.

One reason may be a lack of time.  With the increased competition for jobs and more applicants, employers don't spend a lot of time reading any one résumé.  It's been estimated that today's résumé is getting only about 20 seconds of "eyeball time."  That's not much time to score.  In fact, most applications will get quickly screened out and dumped on the reject pile.

Another reason? Lack of interest.  Most résumés today lack a sense of urgency.  They don't answer the all-important question: "What's in it for the employer?"

Here are four things you need power up your résumé for today's more competitive job search arena to overcome these dilemmas:

1. Focused objective
Does your résumé have a clear, focused objective?  Does it identify one clear job title that you are seeking?  Leave out all that nonsense about "challenging opportunity with a dynamic company."  Remember, it's not about you.

Try this: Under the objective heading, lead off with a clear phrase indicating the job title you are seeking.  For example, write "Chief Financial Officer" -- nothing more is needed.

2. Keyword section

Everyone pays lip service to this, but few act on it.  If you don't, you're missing the boat in two major ways:

Your résumé needs to get flagged by a computer.  To strengthen your odds, you need every potential keyword working for you.  And not just your skill sets, either.  Make sure to add all your industry buzzwords as well as your biggest soft skills.  Did you know that some of the highest searched keywords today include terms we often overlook?  These include "problem-solving," "leadership" and "oral and written communication."

You must appeal to the person who reads your résumé.  A reader will scan a great keyword summary section within the first 20 seconds of looking at your résumé. When added to your personal branding statement below, you increase your chances of hooking this reader and getting a closer look.

3. Personal branding statement
It doesn't matter whether you're a CFO, a software project manager or a wedding photographer.  Answer this question: "What is it that makes you unique, compared with other applicants?"

Don't think that just having great skill sets or years of experience is going to give you any edge. Lots of other candidates have skills the same as or better than you.  The solution is to create a brand for yourself.

So how do you create your own brand? Review your résumé.  Does it have a clear statement that describes who you are and what you offer?  This is called a "branding statement" and may be described as a "value added" or "unique selling proposition."

Don't confuse this with a "summary of qualifications" section that many candidates like to include.  These are merely laundry lists of core competencies and do nothing to make you stand out.

A true branding statement is a one-sentence description of who you are and what critical benefit you offer your next employer.  It should describe your biggest strength and the resulting benefit to your previous employer.

The best branding statements usually incorporate figures in dollars or percentages of money, or time that was gained or saved over a certain period of time.  Here is an example for that CFO:

"Seasoned Chief Financial Officer strong in optimizing organizations to achieve maximum growth and market share who has produced new revenues or savings of more than $65 million for my employers over the past eight years."

Does your résumé have a branding statement this strong? If not, think about adding one. It will take some time to develop your ideal statement.  Once done, however, you will break that 20-second barrier and move that much farther ahead of your competitors.

4. Specific achievements
Companies hire employees to be an asset to their balance sheets.  That means your work should involve helping a company either make money or save money.  Think beyond your skill sets and job duties and find as many ways as you can that you accomplish this.

For example, suppose you're a videographer who tapes weddings and special events and edits them for clients.  You take the extra step of performing all of your post-production work before submitting your results. Your extra effort has saved your employer several hundred hours of additional work.

This translates into dollars saved by the employer and it's just this sort of achievement that must be on your résumé. When it's possible, put a dollar value on your achievements.  Our photographer example might look like this:

"Saved my employer more than $6K in additional labor costs over the past two years by performing post-production work before submitting my final results."

By including several specific achievements where you've helped your employer make or save money, you separate yourself from your competitors and quickly gain the attention of your reader.