If you're looking for a job after several years of being employed with the same company, it's time to update your professional resume. Not only do you need to update the text of your document, but you also need to make sure you are using a modern design. Follow these tips to ensure your new resume stands out in a good way.
1. Conduct Market Research
If you have been in the same position for several years, there is a good chance your industry has gone through some changes. Don't work on your resume updates until you research the job market and determine what employers want. If several job advertisements mention the same skills, make sure you add those skills to your professional resume. Another way to tailor your resume to the current market is to look at several job advertisements to get an idea of which keywords you should be using in your resume.
2. Determine a Target
Before you update your professional resume, you need to have a target job in mind. Choosing a target early on helps you focus on the skills and achievements most related to your desired career. If you want a managerial job, for example, your updated resume should focus on your leadership skills.
3. Focus on Achievements
For best results, your professional resume should showcase your achievements, not your job duties. If your current resume reads like a list of mini job descriptions, it's time to update the verbiage. Make you achievements stand out by using action verbs, and include hard data as often as possible. Instead of writing "Wrote content for website," write something like "Increased company website traffic by 38 percent by writing engaging copy."
4. Write a Profile
Although including an objective on your professional resume is a rather outdated concept, some hiring managers still expect to see a summary of your qualifications or job history. Therefore, you need to have a candidate profile available for any hiring manager who wants to see it. Instead of writing about what you expect in a job, you need to summarize your qualifications within one or two sentences. Use this profile to tell hiring managers or external recruiters why you are the ideal candidate.
5. Make Design Updates
The text of your resume is important, but so is the overall design of the document. If your current resume is written in an outdated font, pick something more modern. Use bullet points or bold text to call attention to your achievements.
6. Review the Final Document
After spending all this time on your professional resume, you don't want to be disqualified from a job because you made a typo. Read through the resume several times to ensure there are no errors. For best results, read the document aloud to make sure it flows well and doesn't contain any awkward sentences. Print your resume to make sure there are no formatting issues.
Your resume is a living document, not something that is set in stone. If it's been a while since you looked for a job, take time to make resume updates that showcase your recent achievements. Updating your professional resume makes it easier to attract positive attention and increase the number of interview requests you receive.
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