September is Update Your Resume Month! Read to the End to Get 10% Off a Resume Service!
What if you received an unexpected sudden opportunity and needed to update your resume for a new position? Would you be ready with a fantastic resume now?
What if your company needed your resume for their own uses? Would you be proud of what you could hand to them?
If the answer to either of the above questions is no, you’re in luck. It’s September, and that means it’s International Update Your Resume Month!
Updating your resume at least once a year is a really smart idea, regardless of your career situation. You will ensure that you’re tracking and documenting your most recent accomplishments, and that you’re not caught empty-handed—or paying rush fees unnecessarily because you did not prepare for unanticipated resume requests.
Tips to Update Your Resume Right Now
Here are my top 10 recommendations to avoid the panic of a last-minute scramble to update your resume:
- Double-check your contact information. Are your address and phone number accurate and updated? Is your LinkedIn Profile URL customized and included on your resume?
- Rewrite your Summary statement. Make sure it reflects your most current capabilities and achievements. Use specifics about yourself rather than overinflated “resume speak.”
- Add any skills / core competencies that you have added to your tool kit.
- List any updates to your education, courses completed, conferences attended, certifications or licenses obtained, awards won, publications published, etc.
- If you have a new position, add an end date to your previous one. You’d be surprised how many people forget to change “present” to an end date!
- Add your most current position to your resume if it’s not there.
- Include a result or impact in every bullet if at all possible. How have you made or saved your company money? How have you improved systems or processes? Include numbers like dollar amounts and percentages!
- Delete any redundant or irrelevant information. Don’t be attached to your past achievements if they’re not important for where you’re headed.
- Check your formatting carefully for consistency. Is every bullet formatted the same way? Print your resume to make sure it looks good on paper. Don’t risk being judged as sloppy, and don’t make your readers have to squint!
- Create a version of your resume that meets ATS requirements (Applicant Tracking Systems). If you’re not familiar with how to do this, read Tip #43 in How to Write a WINNING Resume.
Tools to Update Your Resume
For more detail on how to accomplish these 10 resume update recommendations, read my e-books How to Write a WINNING Resume or How to Write a STELLAR Executive Resume.
You can receive a free excerpt of both How to Write a WINNING Resume and How to Write a STELLAR Executive Resume by signing up for any of The Essay Expert’s e-lists.
Subscribe here and receive free excerpts of both books!
Special offer!! If you want to update your resume in September, go through steps 1-9 above and send us your current resume with a list of your accomplishments on or before September 22nd. Please also include a statement that you have completed steps 1-9 and are ready for an update. We’ll offer you 10% off any resume service!
You can also get help from our DIY Resume Questionnaires.
What are you waiting for? Update your resume now!
