A job search can be a scary, frustrating, and discouraging task, particularly if you’ve been applying but have had little success landing interviews. One quick and easy way to recharge your job search is to refresh your resume.
Bolstering your resume with new skills and experience, along with a bit of maintenance and reformatting, can go a long way toward a successful job search. Here are 3 ways to give your resume a quick shot in the arm:
- Update your resume with new accomplishments, skills, and qualifications. You might consider including any relevant certifications, memberships to professional organizations, or new responsibilities you have assumed in your current role. This will help the reader develop a broader understanding of why they should consider you for the position.
- Reformat your resume to improve your job search efforts. Many employers use applicant-tracking systems that help them manage aspects of the recruiting process electronically. Occasionally, these systems can fail to accurately capture bullet points, fonts, and other elements on an applicant’s resume. The result is a resume that looks like a mess, and one that recruiters will be inclined to skip over. Having your resume available in different formats, such as Microsoft Word, Rich Text, and PDF, can help to minimize the likelihood of a garbled resume being passed on to a recruiter.
- De-clutter your resume. Some applicants have a tendency to list all of their skills and qualifications and other details on their resume—you should resist this urge. Instead, be brief. Capture only the highlights of the position in your resume, and save the bulk of the details for the interview.
In sum, your resume should be up-to-date, to-the-point, attractive and easy to scan. If your resume doesn’t meet these standards, it’s time to get up, roll up your selves, and get to work on refreshing your resume, because a strong resume is sure to make your job search easier and more enjoyable.