We've all heard the standard advice: Print your resume on special stock. Outfit yourself with a neutral suit.

But according to local hiring experts, those old standards are changing.

Cyber screening

Although paper with a watermark once was a resume staple, today's job applications are often submitted online.

For applicants with limited technical skills, the process can be intimidating: Attachments that look good on one end can become distorted when opened on a different computer.

According to Lisa Guard, president of Specialized Staffing and Industry Recruiters on Main Street, screeners usually will overlook minor distortions that occur in transition, but applicants should take steps to minimize them.

Those include avoiding complicated resume layouts and sticking to standard fonts. Documents also can be saved and sent as rich text format or pdf files, which protect or preserve the format.

Distortions occur more often with resumes submitted through online job boards.

"The smart candidates follow up with a direct e-mail with an attachment," said Brandi Heichel, human resources supervisor at IDL Worldwide, a point-of-purchase merchandising company in East Butler.

IDL employs about 250 people, and Heichel said when positions open up, as many as 100 applicants come forward.

Technology helps her do the screening.

"Social medias are in these days: We utilize LinkedIn as a social networking site for professionals," Heichel said.

"We would look to see if someone has a LinkedIn profile — see if they're active in the industry."

Although Internet presence can serve some candidates well, Heichel said some employers also will browse social networking sites like Facebook, where applicants have the option of limiting access.

Although online presence can gain attention for candidates, Guard warns that how they arrange their resume content can also make applicants invisible.

"It should be search-engine friendly," Guard said, noting technology is often used to sort submissions.

"When employers are looking for resumes, they're entering a few key words. Those words need to show up in the top third of your resume," she said.

"If you're looking for a position specifically in customer service in the utilities industries ... but your relevant experience was 20 years ago and way at the bottom of the resume, by default that's going to end up at the bottom of the stack," Guard said.

"Technology has made it easy to tweak your resume to match what you're applying to — so absolutely you should do that."

What not to wear

According to Heichel, interview attire has become increasingly casual, often deviating from the once mandatory black or navy suit.

Susie Tack Beardsley, chief administrative officer and partner at Quality Life Services, agrees.

"We have noticed a decline, maybe, in the formality of interview attire," Beardsley said, noting fewer candidates wear a full suit when interviewing — even for jobs in an office setting.

With eight nursing homes, a pharmacy, and residential rental properties, the Main Street business sees a multitude of candidates with varying ideas on what to wear.

"It's all over the place, and it does seem age-related," Beardsley said, explaining younger applicants often tend toward more casual attire.

Employers like Quality Life Services once had a zero tolerance policy on tattoos and piercings, but like many companies have begun to relax those policies.

"It just excludes too many applicants anymore," Beardsley said. "The same with piercings," she added.

According to Heichel, IDL maintains a positive outlook on body art. Creating point-of-purchase displays and signage for various national clients, the company relies on an artistic staff to create and market the products.

"A lot of colorful, bright tattoos shows me that person exudes a lot of creativity," Heichel said, adding the candidate arriving in a black suit might be perceived as "a little stiff."

But either way, appearance is vital.

"The way you present yourself at an interview still very much tells a story about who you are," said Beardsley. "I still view it as an indicator of how seriously you take the opportunity."

"I do think it does depend somewhat on the position. If you were interviewing to be our CFO, I would expect a shirt and tie — perhaps a jacket. Or for a woman, I would expect a skirt or at the very least, dress slacks or a blouse and a blazer," Beardsley said.

"I certainly wouldn't expect flip-flops," she added, affirming Guard's advice that bare legs on women are never OK.

Beardsley said venturing beyond the dark suit is absolutely accepted, but with a slate of more conservative clients, Guard still advises her referrals to stick with a toned-down style.

"If you show up in a suit to an interview at a company where everybody is wearing jeans, that's still better than showing up in jeans at a company where people are wearing suits," Guard said.

"Sometimes at the first interview that's OK," Heichel agreed. "But if you're called back for a second interview, take the cues from those who interviewed you. If they're in a more business casual attire, I personally would ... dial back the suit jacket."

For any interview, Heichel, Guard and Beardsley stress researching potential employers to get a feel for their corporate culture.

"It just depends on who's interviewing you," Guard said.

"If you've got two final candidates who have like experience and qualifications, the candidate who seems like they're going to be the best cultural fit is going to be the candidate who gets the job — and sometimes appearance is what makes or breaks that."