Arshad
Do you update your resume over time? If yes how often do you do?
Updating you resume would mean adding additional achievements or swapping with better achievements you have made throughout your college years. From what I know only few people update their resumes often. #college #career #resume
15 answers
Sweta Doshi
Sweta’s Answer
I typically update my resume when I'm starting to look for a new job, or sending it to someone for a particular purpose. You always want to make sure your resume is the strongest & most relevant it can be for a given audience...so if there are updated or more relevant achievements that you want to highlight for a particular person, make sure you update it or create a version for that.
Thanks for the advice. I have already started tailoring my resume specifically for each company I am applying.
Arshad
Martin Hnat
Martin’s Answer
I usually update my resume once a year. Generally I would encourage you to update it at least when you want to apply for a job, so you make sure that the information is relevant and up to date. It's good to update your resume regularly so you don't forget to document any new skills or professional certificates you gained.
Thanks for the advice.
Arshad
Brent Parrish
Brent’s Answer
During either of these sessions, you often are asked about your self-perceived strengths during the last year or 6 months and areas for growth/improvement. If you aren't asked these, ask your mentor/supervisor/advisor to reflect for you - and WRITE the answers down! You should incorporate the strengths that either you or your supervisor identifies into your resume in your skills/strengths section or under your job/education history section, as appropriate. When you are given areas of growth/improvement, focus on these during the next 6-12 months and you can then list them down as strengths in the next year! (Bonus if you succeed in growing both for professional and personal gain!)
Second, identify quantitative successes relevant to your job. For example, if you make ____ number of sales calls and sold $_____ in goods, put both of those numbers in your resume. Another example might be you lead a global or regional team of ____ people on a project that generated a ___% increase in revenue for the company. These are KEY numbers that employers and graduate schools are looking for.
Don't worry if you agree or disagree with some of the qualitative feedback from a supervisor for the purposes of updating your resume. You should focus on it to improve personally and professional, but in your feedback sessions, you want to try to catch all the numbers and strong qualitative data you can so you can simply the best of it down to fit on your resume and make you look the best.
Updating your resume regularly is critical as your grow in your career, especially if you can keep an active LinkedIn profile so potential hiring managers can seek you out for better and higher paying jobs, speaking and mentoring opportunities, and quality networking with others in your field.
Rachael Fassnacht
Rachael’s Answer
Yes. It is important you keep your resume current to your positions, titles, and length of service. I highly recommend updating as you progress in your career in real-time. There may be milestones and/or projects you take part in and would like to highlight in your resume for yourself as a future job candidate that you may forget to include or not recall the magnitude of if you waited to update your resume until it was needed years later. As you progress as a professional your resume should reflect that progression.
Jennifer Keely
Jennifer’s Answer
Katy Maclean
Katy’s Answer
I update as things come in. I.e. a new award, a new pc. of education etc...
Vic Wong
Vic’s Answer
Desiree Giler Mann
Desiree’s Answer
I keep a master resume with my standard formatting, and absolutely no concern for length (it's way too long to ever share as-is!). Then, as I need it, I can edit it down to tailor it for a specific use. This way I can target the skills, accomplishments, and so on for the purpose at hand.
Jonathan Lunsford
Jonathan’s Answer
This is a good question and the short answer is yes! While it is not imperative that you do this on a specific timescale, as a Recruiter, I can tell you that it's just easier if you update your resume as things change and you gain new experiences. That way, when the time comes for you to maximize the potential of that document then it will have everything on there and you can tweak it at that point rather than trying to recall everything you've done. It's also worth noting that keeping your LinkedIn Profile up to date as many firms have already started to move to only looking at LinkedIn profiles and not even requesting a resume. Currently keeping both your resume and your LinkedIn Profile up to date is a smart move.
Jonathan recommends the following next steps:
Stephanie Chen
Stephanie’s Answer
Vijay Shankar Venkataraman
Vijay Shankar’s Answer
So many good answers!
I also keep a master resume with every little work experience that was in any way meaningful for me. This makes it really easy to put together a customized resume with targeted experiences when applying for a new position. I try to do this reflection once a month, but realistically end up doing it only a couple of times a year.
Jordan Whitmer
Jordan’s Answer
I update my resume about once per year. I work in sales management, and although I haven't changed jobs in the past 3 years, I think it is always important to reflect on the past year, jot down my milestones, and beef up my resume. If i wait longer than a year, then I find myself forgetting about some of the great things that I have done!
wilson phan
wilson’s Answer
Definitely! At most companies, there will be some sort of performance review where you and your manager will go through your performance for the given time frame (quarterly, semi-annually or annually). This will be a good time to transfer those work performances, contributions and experiences to your resume so you have all of that information readily available on your resume when you need to send it to an employer.
Robyn K
Robyn’s Answer
I generally do not update my resume on LinkedIn until I have done something for at least 3 months, However, I do keep track of everything on my "master" resume on my computer.
This "master resume" where I keep all of my experiences, awards, credentials, etc. in one place. Each time I do something new, I may add a bullet point or another section. That way, if I apply for a job, I can look through the total of my experiences and decide, depending on the qualifications and needs of the position, what is most relevant.
Over time, as I have changed careers, I also keep resumes for different types of work, where I might highlight different components of the work. For example, if I am applying for a job that requires a lot of event planning, I am going to focus on the jobs and accomplishments from my event planning experience and maybe shorten or take out information that may not be as relevant.
I would also say that the earlier you start working on your resume, the better. If you know you are thinking about changing jobs, going to graduate school, or applying for a promotion, start updating your resume as early as possible! It takes a lot of time to tailor your resume, and while you want to have a job description by your side, it's never too early to start editing and adjusting.
Danny Tang
Danny’s Answer
Like others have said I usually update my resume when I'm interested in making a career move; but if I'm happy with where I am then I'll update it at least once a year. Usually after doing a performance review with my boss, I "pre-write" my resume with the skills and goals I hope to attain for my next job. This helps me to stay on track and move forward with my goals.