Refresh Your Resume for 2014

The resume as we know it is dead! In the past, an updated resume consisted of adding a new position, a new job title, or updating additional responsibilities. Today’s job market demands more than a few lines and some added duties. Resumes still play a major role as one of your staple career communication documents. In this case, refresh simply means saying something old in a new and relevant way with current market language to showcase your value. Your resume is your marketing brochure, and it should be fresh at all times.

Here are seven ways refresh your resume:

Delete Your Home Address. Don’t want to tell where you live? Then don’t. It is completely appropriate to just put your name, email address, and cell phone number on your resume. Today’s professionals pursue career opportunities without zip code boundaries. With cloud technology, one can work from anywhere and negotiate commute hours for ideal positions. If appearing to be local is important on your resume, then set up a Google Voice number and choose a local area code to make and receive calls via your Gmail or phone app.

Brand It. Personal branding is a necessity for today’s professionals. Add a personal branding statement (PBS) as the introductory statement about who you are and the value you bring to professional relationships. This statement goes under your contact information.

Example: As a personal brand analyst and career coach, I bring my intuitive senses, strategist analysis and collaborative approach to help savvy professionals reassess, realign, and reinvent their career possibilities.

Add a Testimonial. We see client and customer testimonials on all types of marketing materials. Reading about another person’s experiences can create a level curiosity about you. In the white space of your resume add a few words from your LinkedIn Recommendations! Be sure to include no more than two short quotes.

Example: “Carol is a rock star!”
V. Johnson, via LinkedIn

State Your Accomplishments. The past format of resumes included a repetition of tasks and responsibilities under each job. There was nothing to show your specific contributions. Accomplishment statements show qualitative and/or quantitative results in that particular role or project.

Example: Designs and delivers more than 25 quarterly social media workshops for up to 100 professionals resulting in their increased knowledge, skills, and application of techniques for their career management goals. (Notice, there is no proprietary information; it’s all about the skills and the results).

Update Keywords. Job boards can be the best resources for current industry keywords, phrases, and market language to use in resumes! Peruse several job descriptions and highlight new content. Wikipedia the new words to gain a better understanding of the definition and the application in the work environment. Indeed.com is an ideal place to start.

Example: Technical writer is now information architect (for some jobs).

Edit Down. Recruiters and hiring managers don’t have time to read! The current rule-of-thumb is to keep your resume to a maximum of two pages, using a 10-to-15-year time frame. Your last two most recent positions should take up most of the “real estate” on the page. There is no reason to list more than two-to-three bullets under your past jobs! Besides, LinkedIn serves as an addendum to your resume. They should work in concert with each other.

Go Live. Publish your resume on the web! Google Docs is a fantastic tool to accomplish that task. You can decide sharing privileges and post to the web. Publishing your resume will help increase your search engine optimitization (SEO). This means that if your resume is peppered with relevant keywords, you could be discovered in a Google search by a recruiter or hiring manager.

The bottom line is to keep your resume ready for that ideal position. Savvy professionals always are ready!

What other ways have you refreshed your resume?

Stay on point, on task, and on the move!

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Check out the other articles from the January 2014 Newsletter:

Increase Your Digital Presence and Curate Content
Leveraging 2014 Top Personal Branding Trends