Maintaining an updated resume in this rapidly changing career environment is essential for everyone! Whether you are a recent college graduate or a tenured 20-year business professional, ensuring your resume resonates with your current or target company’s needs is a career advantage in securing your next position!
Most of us are reactive and are more likely to only “dust off the old resume” when a new or interesting internal/external job pops up. We say to ourselves, “Oh that job looks perfect for me! I better update my resume right now…what was last year’s performance numbers again? What were the beginning and ending dates of the big project I managed? When was I employee of the month?” Are you seeing the mini-crisis here?
Now What Should You Do?
A powerful resume will get a recruiter or your company’s attention. Below are resume tips that will give you a much higher chance of getting that coveted face-to-face interview or promotional opportunity.
Top 10 Resume Tips
- Update your resume monthly or quarterly with new accomplishments, significant dates and positions.
- Support your behaviors with strengths by descriptive adjectives.
- Use effective titles and keywords.
- Do not use slang or jargon; maintain professional vocabulary.
- Employers like numbers so use quantitative results.
- Each employer has a specific target resume so tailor your resume to each position.
- Highlight your achievements instead of responsibilities.
- Avoid discrimination and do not include personal data.
- Do not include irrelevant information such as political affiliations.
- Please, please no lies! HR conducts background checks to verify resume legitimacy.
References: Adenna Huggins, HR Specialist
