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Do you just want a job or are you looking to advance your career? This is a key question to ask yourself when putting together a professional resume. These days it's hard to separate yourself from this question, especially if you are one of those unfortunate people who have been laid off or have been looking for a job for some time. How you answer this question ultimately guides you, intentionally or not, on how you write your resume. Most of the resumes that I've seen tend to stick with the basic features and functions with a few "sprinkled in for good measure" accomplishments. Little attention is given to the progression of responsibilities, title, company size, etc.
In fact, especially during this period of slow / no growth, many people will take a job just to have one not that I can blame anyone. We all have a family to tend to, mortgages, etc.
But, before you put pen to paper and/or before you take your next job, think of your job history from the context of the beholder. Unless you are a career window cleaner or shoe shine attendant, most employers are generally looking for progressive title and responsibility. Again, this is a general rule, not a hard and fast tenet.
As you outline your resume, think about the companies you worked for and your responsibilities there. For example, did you work for a $1M company vs a $2B multi-national or perhaps a startup. Were you an individual contributor progressively moving into management roles? Or, were you a Director, now perhaps looking to join a company as an individual contributor?
These questions, in fact, will be asked of you during an interview process. Having answers to them before hand is a prudent idea.
Here are some examples. You worked for Joe's Auto Shop as a Vice President, but then moved to Kragen Auto as a Director of Operations. Now, you want to work for Napa Auto Parts as a Manager of Operations. This is not necessarily a backwards progression. Clearly, Joe's Auto is miniscule in size compared to either Kragen or Napa . This is a reasonable progression of size and responsibility, albeit lowered "title status".
On the other hand, if you were a Director of Sales at Microsoft and wanted an individual contributor sales role at, say, Oracle, this might open up questions as to your motivation and ability to perform at a higher level. It could also open up questions about your desire to want to "skate", i.e. not wanting to work very hard.
Of course, these questions above do not necessarily reflect badly on you. But, to the best of your ability, you should craft the right wording and, where possible, if you've had a job title lower than the previous one and the companies were of similar size, work to craft your responsibilities appropriately.
These and my other resume writing tips could tip the balance in your favor.
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