It is time to refresh your Resume!

Although there are many speculations surrounding the economy and job market it is important to consider all aspects including the existence of little to no job security. Therefore making sure that your resume is up-to-date and appealing could begin to pay big dividends for you in 2009.

Updating your resume when you already have a job may seem to be tedious and unnecessary. It is, however, it is important to consider unforseen future opportunities which may present themselves and in order to be ready an up to date resume is a Must!

Tips on how to refresh your resume

1. Begin with a descriptive Headline to communicate your career target E.g. Marketing

Executive backed by corporate management experience. This headline needs to demonstrate

your breadth and depth of experience. Remember to keep this short and simple disclosing your

top selling points.

2. Avoid ‘one size fits all’ resumes, you need to be specific with your career and industries. It is

important to have a clearly defined goal as a specific detailed resume will be more successful

over a general and basic resume.

3. Research! The more you research the easier it will be to write your goals/objectives, align

your qualifications with what employers are seeking, upload your transferrable skills and

experience which will enable you to succeed in positioning yourself relative to your target

sector. E.g. “Award winning business coach seeking to leverage six years training experience

to transition into corporate team management.”

4. Make sure that you update your accomplishments, even if you are still in the same job you

almost certainly will have many skill/achievement additions to update. If you have had a job

change, a promotion or increased responsibilities it is imperative you mention these in your

resume.

5. If you have undertaken and completed self development initiatives include these in your resume. These may take the form of certificates, online courses, degrees, training, TAFE and these show your commitment to continual learning and advancement.

6. Industry jargon and technology are continually advancing therefore your resume should be up to date with these keywords. This includes computer programs and software. A good way to familiarise yourself with these keywords is to scan job postings on job search engine websites.

7. You don’t want a resume the size of a book neither would your employer. Consider what is useful and what may be irrelevant. A hint would be to decrease the amount of information provided for older experience unless you are looking to return to a former career. It may be advantageous to set up an earlier career section which could summarise previous roles, employers and employment dates. Additionally you may want to decrease your information on your schooling history once you have progressed to achieve a college degree.

8. Proofread your resume and see if you can get a third party to read though your resume and provide you with feedback. Note: if you have been going through your resume and making changes it may be best to take a break of about half an hour to become refreshed and then go back to proofread it.

9. Create a file to store future achievements, performance reviews, committees joined, targets achieved including quantifiable results, certificates and any completed forms of study. This will be a great help when it is time to refresh your resume in the future!

10. Don’t forget about your resume once it has been updated; make a point to refresh your resume throughout the year as you never know what lies ahead.

Good Luck!