May 24, 2019May 15, 2017

Updating Your Resume

updating your resume doesn't have to be painful
If you’re like most people, the thought of updating your resume sounds about as fun as a dental appointment. It’s one of those chores that is easy to put off. You may even wonder, why you should worry about it if you aren’t looking for a job. Just like going to the dentist, updating your resume is much less painful if you are doing it frequently. Each time you make updates, find a quiet space and give yourself an hour or two of uninterrupted time to focus without distractions. Regular updates will make it easier to remember your accomplishments and make the process much less painful. As your career changes, your resume should reflect that. We’ve highlighted some key times when you should be updating your resume below.

Job Changes

This one is easy. Anytime you change jobs, take a moment to make those updates on your resume. Highlight your new responsibilities and reflect on the accomplishments you achieved in your last position. Remember to update the dates on your resume too. If you’re staying at the same company in a new position, it probably makes the most sense to list the total length of time with the business name, and then list the dates for each position below. Keeping copies of your old job descriptions with your resume can help you recall past responsibilities as you make updates.

New Education/Training/Certificates

Did you get a new degree or certification? Make sure to include it on your resume and take credit for it! When working with resume clients, I often see education and training in progress with expected completion dates that have long past. Once you complete the training, I don’t recommend using dates of education on resumes unless there is a particular reason it makes sense. If your license or certification has an expiration, you’ll want to include that instead.

For most professionals, the education section of a resume should go near the bottom. I recommend that after around three years of professional work experience, that the degree should be moved down, and the experience should be a bigger focus.

Performance Reviews

When you work at a company that does performance reviews, they can help you capture your significant accomplishments. Making updates after your performance review is an excellent way to incorporate regular resume updates into your rhythm as well. Your review can help you capture big projects with measurable results as accomplishments bullets. Save these files in the same place as your previous job descriptions to make future resume updates easier.

Before Applying

Anytime you’re considering applying for a new position; you should review your resume and make updates. Even if you just recently made changes, your resume should be customized for each job. Since most companies use applicant tracking system, the words you choose in your resume should reflect the phrase used in the job posting. Without a high keyword match, there is a chance that the hiring manager might never see your resume.

Use caution when you make these updates though because if you just stuff a bunch of keywords into your resume, the systems are pretty good at picking that up too. The goal is to reflect the language in the posting, without it coming across as forced or over the top. For example, your resume uses the phrase “managed multiple projects at once, but the job description talks about multitasking, make a quick edit to reflect that word better.

Twice a Year

If you make it a habit of updating your resume twice a year on a regular schedule, you’ll make the entire process much easier. You never know when your dream job might appear, and you don’t want an old resume to cause you to scramble. If you revisit the file every six months, making the updates and customizing it to a particular job will be much less intimidating. The important thing here is to write it down and do it. Make a commitment to yourself and set a calendar reminder to get started. If it’s been awhile since you’ve made updates and you’d like some help we can help with resume coaching options to fit your needs.

November 30, 2016October 18, 2016

Resume Accomplishments

mona-lisa-leonardo-da-vinci-la-gioconda-oil-painting-40997 Leonardo da Vinci is the man responsible for the first resume, created over 500 years ago while he was seeking employment as a military engineer in Milan. A lot has changed from that da Vinci’s resume, and etiquette is always evolving. When I was in college, the career centers recommended using a resume to provide high-level information on job duties. They also said I needed an objective, but that’s no longer the case either. Most of the bullets on my first resume started with “responsible for” and went from there. Admittedly, that was over a decade ago. Nowadays, just listing job duties isn’t enough to get you hired. Hiring managers want more than what you did each day; they want you to tell them about what you were able to accomplish. Strong resume accomplishments will help you to stand out amongst the competition.

Show & Tell

Resumes are filled with buzzwords: team player, flexible, strong multitasker, great communicator, etc. While you probably have these skills using these words doesn’t help your resume. Buzzwords are general statements that don’t come with proof, and hiring managers tend to ignore them. Instead of using empty buzzwords, show employers that you have these skills through your accomplishments. While anyone can say that they’re a great multitasker, think about what you can put on your resume to prove it. There are three great ways to present resume accomplishments on a resume: numbers, annual goals, and awards & recognition.

Numbers

Numbers make your resume stronger. Take advantage of any chance you have to show your accomplishments with numbers. Using numbers is a lot easier if you work somewhere that tracks metrics and measures results. I know that it’s not always easy to measure your impact and sometimes it’s hard to remember the numbers that you influenced. These bullets will fall in one of three categories: dollars, percentages, or hours. Keep track of the number of team members, budgets and hours saved as you work on future projects so you can quickly update your resume later.

Managed all aspects of the $1.5M program budget including membership benefits, events, project development, and staffing.
Launched three successful campaigns in 2015 in new industries resulting in 150% grow
Developed a tool to update and track data entry transactions, saving 40 hours of weekly labor.

Annual Goals

Chances are you go through some goal setting at work each year. Goals are fantastic tools for resume writing so pull out your previous reviews and see what projects you were working and how you performed. These are the big-ticket items that you should include on your resume. As a project manager, your resume should highlight how you effectively led teams to deliver ahead of schedule, under budget or exceeding the requirements.

Led two teams through bi-yearly employee survey action planning, increasing survey response rates from 37% in 2009 to 68% in 2011.
Organized and oversaw a multi-day trade show for vendors in the food and beverage industry at the Hospitality Expo in Las Vegas.

Awards and Recognition

Awards or recognition make great resume accomplishments Any recognitions or awards are potential resume accomplishments. Since you are using your resume to highlight your achievements, awards and recognition are an excellent way to go about it. If the project is outside of your normal scope but matches a skill that the job is looking for, then it’s worth including. When you use your resume to highlight accomplishments you’re showing that you’re willing to go above and beyond.For my superstars out there who have lots of awards under your belt, be selective and choose the most impactful awards.

Recognized as Employee of the Quarter for organizing a community-wide food drive and overseeing 15 volunteers to advertise, collect and deliver non-perishable goods to the local food bank.
Selected as 1 of 12 Executive Advisors out of a class of 250 nationwide. Donated over 200 hours of management consulting to a student team over a three month period.

Functional Bullets

Sometimes it’s not possible to focus solely on resume accomplishments. Sometimes you need to demonstrate skills for the job, and you don’t have an achievement that relates. This is where the functional bullets come in handy. They focus on the general responsibilities of the job. A resume has limited space, so do your best to keep these items to a minimum. Don’t repeat them, and only list skills that you’re not able to cover in other areas.

Responsible for reporting and ensuring compliance with federal, state and local laws
Built and managed project schedules using both waterfall and agile methodology
Used HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS to design the internal company website.

Frequency of Updates

The good news is that resume updates get easier each time you do them. After awhile making updates becomes more about fine-tuning your resume. As your career grows, you want to revisit your resume every six months to a year, even if you’re not looking for a job. Set up a calendar reminder and set aside an hour or two to update your current job responsibilities. That way your accomplishments stay fresh, and you capture them before you forget. It’s okay if this version of your resume is long, you’ll be customizing it for each job you apply for in the future 🙂 This just provides you with more material to choose from when you become an active job seeker.

November 30, 2016September 12, 2016

The Resume Objective is Dead.

If it’s been awhile since you’ve updated your resume, you might still have an objective at the top. I remember struggling to write a creative objective to say “Hey you, I want a job. I want this job because it’s awesome”. The resume objective was a nice way of telling the employer that you were interested in the job and asking them to consider you.

Here’s the deal. If you are applying to my job opening, I am pretty sure you want the job. I assume that you think you have the skills and abilities to do the job. In the past five years or so, the objective has faded away and been replaced with the summary.

Changing Career Fields

I’ve seen some sites recommend keeping the objective to let employers know that you’re interested in changing fields. I’m going to disagree respectfully. Tailor your resume to each particular job, including the summary section. My advice to someone looking to change their field would be to start with something like “Experienced accounting manager with a passion for Human Resources.” Then, make sure the skills you list are relevant to the desired career field. Another thing to do is outline the reasons you want to make the change in the cover letter. Start with why you are interested in making the change and how your previous experience can help the organization or department.

New Graduate

If you are a recent graduate, your career center might have told you to include an objective because you don’t have a lot of work experience. I’d much rather read about the skills you’ve gained while attending school, being an active volunteer or extracurricular activities. Talk about your experience leading a team, capstone projects, research, and analytics.

The Resume Summary

The summary is a modern replacement for the resume objective. I’ve seen a variety of resume summaries while working in HR and doing resume consultations. A resume summary should highlight your qualifications and skills very briefly. It’s like the abstract on a research paper or the TL:DR version of your professional experience. Your summary should grab the hiring manager’s attention and hook them into reading the rest impressive resume.

The nice thing about summaries replacing the resume objective is that they tend to be longer than a sentence. The summary can be in a short paragraph, bullets, or a combination of the two. For jobs where technical skills are important, bullets tend to work better because they can list languages or technical skills you have.