Is your resume stale and lifeless? Or is it full of energy and relevant data about you and what you do?
Your resume is an important marketing tool. If it is as stale as popcorn popped a week ago sitting in a humid kitchen, your reputation, career and next promotion are being impacted.
A resume without energy, pop and sizzle will sit. In fact, it may never be read.
Think about it. If you are busy, do you want to read a lifeless, seemingly endless list of job duties or do you want to know who this person is and what they can do for you? The latter, I bet. The same is true for busy hiring managers.
If you have not updated your resume in the last 90 days, it is time to do so. That’s right, update it once a quarter. Resumes have a short shelf life.
Before you do anything to your resume spend a week with it. Here’s how:
- Read it three times a day. Once in the morning, once after lunch and once in the evening. One of these times read it aloud.
- After a week, grab a highlighter and highlight the accomplishments/results you achieved in the last six months or a year. Where are these within the document?
- Grab a different color highlighter and mark your relevant brand attributes.
- Finally, grab a pen and mark out the parts that bore you, date you or are no longer relevant to the work you are doing or want to do.
Now you are ready to begin to update it and make your resume pop. No more stale, lifeless resume for you.
Are you too close to your resume? Do you want another set of eyes to give you feedback on your resume? A resume critique may interest you.
Do you have a resume question? Post it below.
Second reminder in 10 minutes about ‘resumes’ the last one was what my bio block says on my blog page.
Must take note!!! Thanks Cindy!
I love your wisdom that your resume is an important marketing tool that must be refreshed and refined in an on-going way. Great suggestion to sit with it for a week, read it out loud and then highlight your accomplishments. Thank you so much!