Resume Tips
Summary:
- Update the resume when you’re NOT looking.
- Be creative with the format but keep a plain text version for the fun forms.
- Feature relevant web information (like LinkedIn recommendations)
- Watch your public profile online.
If you’re like the typical person, you update your resume when you’re looking for a job. So in 6 months or a year or two years, you’ll pull it out and do some editing, then send it out. Here’s the thing… sometimes you forget about your biggest accomplishments and in your rush to hit the apply now button you’re not very thoughtful about the edits. If you’re hasty in sending it, don’t you think others may be hasty in their review?
I remember to update my resume when I do performance evaluations with my manager. In my organization we do PE’s every year. When you sit down and talk about your accomplishments, they are fresh in your head – so updating the resume from there should be a breeze. I’m happy in my current gig but I want to be prepared if an opportunity for advancement presents itself. I don’t want to have to scramble to find/update/polish my resume.
I just worked on a new resume format because most of my work is now digital and many employers are looking for links to the work you’ve done. Since I’m edging more towards strategy and not actual web design, I didn’t feature a lot of the websites I built. I also featured two key recommendations from my linkedin profile and then gave a link to where they could read the rest of my recommendations.
FYI – When you apply for a job at some companies they look at your social media. I remember hearing about a girl that didn’t receive a position because of a racy facebook profile picture. People make judgments about you from your interaction in social media so watch how you speak or if you are one of those ‘freer’ spirits, just clean it up when you’re looking for a gig.


