For many years, I’ve had a presentation called Rejuvenate Your Resume, Reap the Rewards. This title applies just as much today as it did 15 years ago. A resume is an active document that should be reviewed and refreshed frequently as you go through your career journey.
A resume refresh can also serve as a confidence booster on those down days when you think the world is going to fall apart, and you see minimal interest in you as a product. It doesn’t just change how hiring managers see you; it changes how you see yourself.
One of the benefits of the English language is that you can tell the same compelling and enticing story using many different words. How can you rejig those success STAR stories and make them even more appealing to the reader? For ideas, return to your brag book for a fresh look at the original situation.
Are there other stories that should be included on your resume? When a client engages my services, I ask them to dig deep and uncover all the achievements they’ve had during their career.
A rule of thumb is that for every year of your career, you should be able to articulate 1.5 STAR stories. If this is a struggle for you, as it is for most, now is the time to do some soul searching and unearth more accomplishments. From there you can decide which ones you would like to portray in the resume.
Keep in mind that there is a limit to how much you should tinker with this important career document. I see too many executives get sidelined by trying to perfect their resume. As a multi-credentialed resume writer and leader in my field, I am here to tell you there is no such thing as a perfect resume.
Meaningful time writing and adjusting a resume will bring meaningful results. Yet once you are reasonably happy with the verbiage, content and format, and you know it is an up-to-date and scannable resume, you should not waste any further time. Stop working on your resume, move on with your job search, and let your resume work for you.
Leave a Reply