It doesn’t matter whether you’re currently job-hunting or gainfully employed; updating your resume can be a huge task, especially if there is a position you urgently need to apply. Trying to brush up your resume at the point of need can be intimidating, stressful as well as time-consuming.
But, updating your resume doesn’t have to be a painful process. All you need to do is to make the resume updating process a painless habit. If you can follow the simple guide provided on this page, you can actually update your resume effortlessly. Now, read on to learn the 5 pointers to a painless resume update:
1. Remove outdated information and positions
Trying to remove unwanted details from your resume at the point of need can lead to costly mistakes. This can make you lose a job with good potentials unknowingly. So, if you want to make your resume irresistible to hiring managers, you should then make it a habit to always look for those information and positions that are no longer relevant to your goals and have them removed prior to when you will need to apply for a job.
Of course, that position you held at a local sandwich shop while in college may no longer be relevant to your current goals and aspirations. Thus, the best time to remove outdated details is now. Recruiters need recent details about you that are useful and relevant to the job descriptions of the position they want you to fill.
2. Update your phone number and email address immediately
If you don’t have the right email address or phone number on your resume, hiring managers won’t be able to reach you even if you’re the most qualified candidate. This is why it is important that you update your contact information as soon as you changed any of them. It is also important that you change that unprofessional email address you’ve been using since high school to something more professional. If you’re age sensitive, you can dump email addresses with aol.com or yahoo.com and create free and more modern emails on Gmail or Outlook. Make the changes as soon as you thought of it. You may not be able to effect the changes properly when in a rush.
3. Drop the self-serving career statement for branding statement
The self-serving career statement on your resume won’t do you any good. It’s time to portray you as a solution provider and brands yourself accordingly. Your Branding Statement should introduce your qualifications, highlights your most valuable skills to the job, as well as showcases the real-time value you’re bringing on the table for the organization. Your Branding Statement must connect the dots between your skills, the position applying for and the company’s mission and vision.
4. Add recent positions and qualifications
If you’ve just acquired a new qualification or got a new position, it’s important that you add it to your resume immediately before it becomes too burdensome. Even, if you’ve been freelancing or working contract gigs, let your resume reflects it. This can be the most important factor that will land you your next job.
5. Make your achievements easier to find
Time is usually a challenge for corporate recruiters and HR teams. Hence, they often spend less than 15 seconds to skimming through each candidate’s resume to decide who will be selected for an interview. Thus, it is imperative that you update your resume to draw recruiters’ attention to your achievements or major contributions toward company goals by using selective bullets. This should be done thoughtfully so you can make the right impression within the shortest time frame.
Regardless of whether you’re seriously hunting for jobs or still fully engaged at the moment, there is no doubt that having an updated and professional resume can boost your confidence as well as help keep your career goals on track.
If you’re currently seeking jobs in the Philippines or overseas, and you need to update your resume, visit Bossjob now to kick start your job search!
Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash
