By MAX MESSMER, Scripps Howard News Service

In today's global economy, being multilingual can give you an advantage as a job candidate. Companies in nearly every industry rely on geographically dispersed teams to serve customers and clients around the world, which means foreign language skills have never been more valuable - or marketable. But you should note your multilingual abilities on your resume only if you are fluent.

Your computer's spell-check function can be "grate." But as you can see from this example, it doesn't always catch words that are spelled correctly but used incorrectly. Therefore, it's critical that, after running spell check, you closely proofread your job-application materials for easy-to-overlook -- but potentially troublesome -- errors.

As summer winds down and students head back to school, remember the ABCs of resume writing. Whether you're drafting your first resume or updating an existing one, keep the following do's and don'ts in mind.

Given the wealth of information that can be found on the Internet with just the click of a mouse, it should come as no surprise that some hiring managers research job applicants online before scheduling interviews with them. So pay as much attention to your "digital footprint" as you do your resume and cover letter.

Vague. Unclear. Ambiguous.

These are three words you never want a prospective employer to use to describe your resume or cover letter. The following job candidates sacrificed clarity for brevity to their detriment:

"JOB DUTIES: Plenty."

Care to share any with us?

"EDUCATION: In progress."

The school of life.

There's one way to guarantee that a prospective employer will not respond to your resume: Forget to include your contact information. I've seen more than a few resumes that fail to list mailing addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, leaving the hiring manager with no choice but to pass on the submission.

Ask job seekers to name the most important stage of the hiring process, and a common answer is likely to be the interview. But many forget that what they do after the interview can play a part in how they are perceived by hiring managers.

I came across the resume of a recent college graduate who got off on the wrong foot by listing the key "education cources" he had completed. While misspellings and grammatical errors can dim anyone's chances of securing a job interview, these mistakes are particularly damaging to professionals applying for their first job in the so-called real world.

Job hunters often make the mistake of providing too many details in their resumes. Prospective employers are looking for a snapshot of who you are, what you've done professionally and what you can bring to the table. Offering an exhaustive laundry list of every task you've performed will not help you win over time-strapped hiring managers.

"OBJECTIVE: I would like to secure a challenging position and accell in the accounting industry."

Far from an "accellent" start to the resume.