3 Instances That Tell You to Update Your Resume
As members of the corporate workforce, it’s important to note that your resume is your ticket to better opportunities. Keeping an updated CV is part of a smart long-term career management.
While there’s no need to update your resume every day or every single month, it pays to allot some time to review that document at least once or twice a year to ensure that the details are accurate and up-to-date. You never know when a room for promotion would present itself or when you would need to move to a new job immediately because of circumstances beyond your control.
Most employees don’t revisit their resumes until they are out of work and in need of a new one. Usually when this happens, employees are already in a state of panic and haste so they tend to skip the thought process of what should be added or omitted in their CVs. Here are some of the instances when you should make some changes to your resume.
Update your resume when you master a new skill
When you have earned your way into learning a new skillset, it deserves to be placed into your resume right away, regardless if you are in the market for a new job or if it doesn’t necessarily relate to your current job.
An integral part of our personal development is gaining new knowledge, such as learning a new language or mastering a computer program. Even if you can’t apply it now, this can be considered as an advantage and could potentially land you additional projects and even attract new professional connections, especially if you’ll sync them on your Linkedin profile.
Update your resume when you are eyeing for a promotion
Knowing within yourself that you deserve a shot to be promoted should also reflect on your resume. This allows you to take a look on your strengths and weaknesses as an employee and lets you see what you should continue doing and what you should work on.
You could definitely pitch in your promotion through your resume by highlighting major projects you have worked on, detailing people you have trained with and more. This way, you also have a paper trail of your case to snag that promotion.
When you revisit your resume, you also get to have a clearer understanding of your career in the long term. You tend to conceptualize the opportunities you are actually seeking and the threats that come with them.
Update your resume when you are in need of extra income
Reality check: our day jobs sometimes cannot suffice and it would require us to have another source of income to get by our finances.
For freelancers in particular, it’s common to have other projects aside from their office jobs. They update their CV in the hope of being able to attract potential clients outside their day jobs and be tapped for that additional work.
It’s also ideal to keep your online resumes and portfolios updated from time to time so that head hunters would be able to tap you if they think you are suited for a particular job or project.
Final Thoughts
Updating your resume at least twice a year has numerous benefits as stated above. Remember to check whether your email address and contact details are updated as well so avoid missing out any opportunity moving forward.
Decipher if you would need to change your photo as well. Proofread your resume at least twice and always have that file ready with you in case you are asked to hand out one.
On the other hand, if you’re not confident in updating your own resume or you just don’t have the time for it, you can rely on our professional resume writing services. For more info, please contact us at 716-649-6000.
Good luck!