What you say and how you say it matter significantly. Your words and the choice of the words you employ say much about you, your character, your integrity, your brand and the very essence of who you are and what you represent.

So as you write your resume, your cover letters, your social-platform profiles, your blog, your twits and other prose, pay critical attention to your words and how you use them.

Here are some thoughts to keep in mind to help you stay true to your character and resonate with your personal brand.

1. Write like you speak. Use words that are natural to your inner voice. Do not use vocabulary that does not fit your personality.

2. Use simple declarative sentences — a subject, verb and object. Keep it simple and succinct.

3. Tell a story. From our infancy, we are read stories to entertain, engage and educate. It is a form of communications to which we all have become accustomed. Use words that tell a story and paint a picture of the point of view that you hold, the achievements you have made, the opinions you have and the knowledge you possess.

4. Say what you know and believe. Speak from your experience, your knowledge, your research, your understanding, your premise. Forget invention unless fiction is your intention.

5. Be honest. Tell what is true. Do not lie, obfuscate, hide or distort. Human nature is savvy. People can often sense insincerity. Even if, in some cases, the insincerity is not obvious, the truth will out.

6. Use active voice. People often respond better to language that is energetic. So in simple terms make the subject the actor and the object the recipient of the action. An example: “The company benefitted greatly from my focus on return on invested capital” is passive. Instead use: “My strong focus on return on invested capital significantly improved the company’s financial position.”

7. Edit yourself. It is human nature that we can be our own worst critic. Yet, we can also be great editors if we give enough time and space in between writing and editing. So after you have written your latest blog or cover letter, sleep on it then edit.

8. Get other opinions. Sometimes the people who best know us can be authentic editors. They can tell us if our voice is stretched, out of tune or not in sync. Objective critics can sometimes be that final tuning fork that makes our words and word strings harmonize.

Increasingly search engines like Google and Bing are becoming the first destination of choice for companies and their search firms and human resource professionals when looking for people to recruit or vetting job candidates.

The chief dilemma for the job seeker is to how to make sure you can be found through search engines. Short of stardom and employing advertising, there are certain techniques you can employ to make sure you can be found and in a way that is controllable, professional and complementary.

1. Become part of social media platforms like Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Plaxo, Ning, etc. Employing platforms like these enable you to craft the type of profile that spotlights your professional career and equally important your professional and personal accomplishments. Be sure to target those platforms that fit with your profession and your personal brand.

2. Take control of third party web-based databases. These would include but are not limited to www.zoominfo.com, www.spoke.com, www.jigsaw.com, www.spokeo.com, etc. Many of these sites allow you to take ownership of your profile and manage the content. Make sure to delete errors or mistakes that could derail your consideration.

3. Establish a showcase on www.slideshare.com. Slideshare is a fabulous and rich content site on which you can upload presentations. In this case, what you will do is produce a PowerPoint presentation about you not unlike a C.V. You can include your resume, links and URLs to your web content, expanded accomplishments, academic credentials, professional photos and video, publications and other career information that help you tell a compelling story about you as a brand and as a professional. And you can be as creative as you want and need. Remember this is a multimedia medium where you need not spare any expense. Include enough information to tell your story. Last but not least, incorporate your Slideshare profile within your profile on www.linkedin.com, both of which are included in search engine results.

4. Highlight your career on www.visualCV.com. VisualCV portrays itself as “Your resume, only better.” VisualCV is customizable and can serve as a resume, online professional profile, business development tool or mini website. And to top it off, just like Slideshare, it is included in Google search engine results.

5. Don’t forget about Google. Build a Google profile. Yes Google gives you the ability to have a profile. If you already have a Google or Gmail account, a Google profile is the next step. Just go to www.google.com/profiles. Google provides the ability to include basic information about who, what, why, where and when. You can also include information on where you live or have lived, your web links, personal and professional interests, education, employers and aliases. Best of all, the profile is included in search.

6. Become an active Twitterer! Yes I realize this seems strange because you really care not to daily Tweet your food choices. Well don’t. Instead, employ Twitter as a strategic tool to add value to the knowledge stream on the web. If you are an expert or thought leader on a particular topic or topics then provide a steady stream of pithy and helpful commentary that enlightens and entertains. Twitter is actively searched in most search engines.

7. If you have a passion, blog!!! If you want to be recognized for something and develop a following, blogging can be a useful device. In fact, if you have a passion, blogging is a natural. But the key word is “passion.” If you are a thought leader or expert on something let people know and become recognized for your knowledge an enthusiasm. http://wordpress.com and http://blogspot.com are both useful and free platforms to express yourself. Get busy!

8. Get engaged with your communities! Do you belong to industry or professional groups? If you do and are not engaged, consider getting involved. Join a committee, run for an office or board position, volunteer for an event. Often times being a part of a group that is doing worthwhile things can attract attention.

No doubt about it, this economy is the one of the worst for job hunters in many years. What used to take days and weeks is now taking months and years. Despite the good news in The Wall Street Journal on Monday April 19 about hiring of young engineers in Silicon Valley, by and large the outlook for old and young alike is abysmal.

Anecdotally and otherwise, I am constantly hearing stories of incredible age discrimination in today’s job market. It seems that employers want young and cheap. Folks above the age of 45 are increasingly reporting that they are washed up and no longer have the skills that companies are seeking. Young people sit frustrated due to lack of response from companies and headhunters due to their seeming lack of experience.

Well, it may be the current situation. But I do think that the tide will likely turn when employers realize that they are missing out on a surplus of great experience and talent that can significantly bolster their productivity and help them quickly accommodate the recovering economy.

So to those who have suffered through a lengthy period of job search, here are some suggestions of things to do while wading through the mire of unemployment or waiting for the economic storm clouds to part.

1. Take a break from the search. If you are looking everyday, you can become jaded and frustrated. A day or two wine tasting, golfing, bike riding or even sitting on a log at the beach is therapy from the daily grind.

2. Go pro bono! I know it’s not a paying gig. But doing what you enjoy for others can often lift the spirits and give you a sense of renewal that you are indeed talented and effective. If you are in the business of PR, marketing, creative processes, etc., there are folks who can use your skills. The Taproot Foundation http://www.taprootfoundation.org is one such organization that cherishes your writing skills, account and project management abilities, marketing savvy, IT wizardry and other talents. Also, look around in your own town, there are likely organizations waiting for your call.

3. Try a couple of acts of random generosity and expect nothing in return. If you have friends or colleagues that are in your same spot, offer to help them out. Buy them a mocha java and commiserate. Counsel them on their job search and things they may want to do to improve their marketability. Take a break from yourself.

4. Develop a personal brand statement. Conduct a brainstorm session with your friends to ferret out what is your personal brand promise. Do a focus group about you. Ask other people to identify what might be your brand essence. See if you can identify or label yourself in three words. Do a self exam and combine that with what your friends say. The result may surprise and enlighten you. If you like it, use it as your Linkedin description.

5. Present yourself in Multimedia. Take your statement of brand essence and let that be your inspiration for your own Microsoft Power Point presentation. Make it as long as you need or want. Get creative, add photos and video, include web links to your content, talk about your family if it helps describe your value in life.

Take a break from the wading and waiting!

6. Spread the gospel of YOU!   Get yourself an account on www.slideshare.com. Take your Power Point presentation and convert it into an Adobe Acrobat file. Upload it to your Slide Share account and then incorporate it into your Linkedin profile. All of this content eventually will be included in search results of Google and Bing, making it easier for companies and search firms to find you and learn your value.

Bottom line is, get creative, think outside the box, think outside the bun, run it up the flagpole, drop back ten and punt, get out of your routine and take a fresh look at yourself, at others and other things.