It’s Spring 2017 and if you haven’t updated your resume this year, that’s a problem and I’m very disappointed in you.
Even if you’re still in the same role, with no plans of changing jobs, please take the time to review and update your resume. You never know when an opportunity will present itself and you should always be ready. Below I’ve listed 5 benefits of a brand new resume. At least one of these benefits should inspire you to look over your resume and consider having it updated professionally or doing it yourself.
Confidence Boost
You know you’re presenting the best and most updated version of you as an employee and that will reflect during the hiring process. Candidates that are more confident appear to be better suited for the position.
Increased Self Awareness
When you hire someone to update your resume or even if you do it yourself, you’ll be asking yourself lots of questions to put together the best resume. It’s possible that the last time you updated your resume you were in a different headspace, you could have new career goals or something in your personal life may have changed. Going through the process of updating your resume will bring lots of these thoughts to the forefront and a lot of them will be really helpful when searching for your next job
Reduced Stress
Having a brand new resume, ready to send to an employer when needed, will greatly reduce some of the anxiety most people experience during the job search. There are so many things to worry about when searching for a new job like the interview, if they liked you, will this job be boring, how much will my commute change, having a resume that’s ready to present to employers is one less thing to worry about
More Callbacks
Hiring someone to update your resume or taking the time to update it yourself is really worth the investment. When you’ve invested in yourself the reward is almost immediate. If your resume hasn’t been updated in a while and you aren’t getting calls from employers for interviews, it’s probably time to hire someone or tackle the project yourself. Almost every client that I’ve created a new resume for has received a promotion they were up for or have been hired at a new organization.
Employers Will Take You More Seriously
You wouldn’t believe the kinds of things I’ve seen on resumes ?. Let’s just say that when you submit a resume and you haven’t at least checked the spelling, at the very least, employers will not take you seriously. Getting a fresh set of eyes on your resume will never be a bad idea and getting it updated is an even better idea. Employers view candidates with “good” resumes (ones that have clearly taken work to put together, ones that are free of spelling errors, ones that are easy to look at, ones that showcase the candidate in a way that makes them excited to call them for an interview) as serious about the job they’re applying to. When employers take you seriously, you’re on the right path to receiving a job offer.
I hope this list helped you see how beneficial updating your resume is. If you’re not certain if your resume really needs updating, check out my free Resume Audit Checklist. It’ll give you some criteria to grade your resume on and then you can determine if a new one is needed.
What’s the best thing that’s happened to you after you’ve updated your resume?