The Pain-Free Way to Keep Your
Resume Updated and Ready for Anything
The logic behind updating your resume is a
bit of a riddle. Unless you’re actively sending out applications, you’ll put
off revising it until tomorrow. But all too often, great opportunities appear
unexpectedly, and you’ll wish you’d edited it yesterday.
That’s because you might not be
consciously looking for a new job, but then you see an amazing opening (with a fast-approaching application
deadline). Or, you’re invited to join a panel or connect over email with a
prestigious contact, and you need to attach your resume. And your heart sinks a
bit as you realize you haven’t even opened it since you landed your last
position over a year ago.
So, you set out to update it in a hurry, accepting that you’ll have no time to adjust how it’s organized, or even to send it to a friend for proofreading. The best you can do is try to see if there’s anything major you should
add (like a new side gig or volunteer role), but otherwise you leave it pretty
much as is. Sure, that’s not the worst thing in the world, but there’s a better
way.
The trick is to spend a few minutes each
month making sure your resume is up to date. I’m not suggesting you overhaul it
every four weeks: Seriously, you’ll drive yourself crazy! Instead, I’m
suggesting a line here or there and then reading it out loud. By making these
three updates each month, you’ll be 100% prepared the next time some great
opportunity comes along.
1. Add New Roles
Most people update their resume when they’re
looking for a new position—and then let it lie dormant until the next job
search. It makes sense in that you can’t really start editing as soon as you
accept an offer, because who knows how closely the role will mimic the position
description.
But, you could probably go ahead and update
it starting after a month. Begin by adding the company, position title, and
your start date. The next month, add a few main responsibilities. Should a cool
networking, publishing, or presentation opportunity come along, you’ll have a
starting point.
This goes for volunteer positions, side projects,
and post-graduate internships too. Even a title and a couple of lines will give you a skeleton
so you could update your resume much faster in a pinch—and be sure you’re not
forgetting anything.
2. Update Your Impact
Once you have all your current positions
listed, take a few minutes each month to consider if they’re up to date. This
goes for big things like if your title or primary responsibilities change, but
also for things like adding new projects.
In her article, Three Ways to Make Sure Your
Bullet Points Will Impress Recruiters Muse writer
Lily Zhang says:
Simply put, did you make something better? Maybe you saved time and
money on a project or created something all new that your team sorely needed.
The idea here is that you didn’t just up the head count at your company, you
solved problems…To really highlight the impact you made, use numbers—think,
‘cut processing time down by 3 days,’ or ‘designed and implemented new
interface, improving employee efficiency by 30%.’
Naturally, you’ll be better able to recall
the results of your latest project the month you did it—as opposed to six
months from now. So, if you spearheaded a website redesign or hit a major sales
goal, add that bullet point. (You can always go back later and cut it off it
it’s no longer relevant or add long-term impact.) But for now, you’ll be sure
this selling point is on your resume!
3. Double Check the Details
Anytime you make a change, you want to check
your resume is still in top form. So, set aside a few minutes each month for
proofreading. If you restated your work in a prior position, check the verbs are still in past tense. Add something to a new role? Check that
the verbs are in present tense.
Look for consistency across what may seem
like minor details: Either all bullets should end with periods, or none should.
Similarly, the month for all employment dates should be spelled out,
abbreviated, or listed as a number; not some mixture of all three. Headings
like “Experience,” “Education,” and “Skills” should have standardized
formatting—either they’re all in caps, or emphasized with an underline, or
they’re all not.
Next time a cool opportunity comes along—whether it’s to throw your hat in the ring for a new job or consulting opportunity, to speak at event, or just to attach your resume to an email, you’ll be able to feel confident. You won’t have to worry if it really reflects what you’ve been up to you, because you’ll have been updating it all along.
By Sara McCord
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