10 Tips for Updating Your Resume
Last year.. .everything changed; the job search process was no exception.
It’s time to update your resume and your LinkedIn profile to reflect new skills you’ve acquired. (And if you are like 90%+ of the workforce… you probably are open to new opportunities right now, so why not!?) If you are in the role you’ve held for the last several years, it’s actually the best time to update your resume. And, you’ll want to optimize your profiles for modern searchability.
Here are 10 tips to update your resume and LinkedIn Profile:
1. Give your Resume/Profile a Facelift.
Old templates might be poorly laid out and hard for recruiters to easily consume. There are thousands of free resume templates online but remember to keep it applicant tracking system friendly, and easy to read (use bullets instead of long paragraphs). Don’t include your #IRL address, but be sure to include your email address and linkedin profile.
2. Use a Readable Format
Recruiters spend less than 10 seconds glancing at resumes before deciding if the applicant is a potential fit. So get to the goods quickly! List your top 4-6 accomplishments as it pertains to the role you are seeking and then include your technical skills in advance of going into detail on Employment History. This allows recruiters to see your skills at a glance.
3. Get Rid of Paragraphs
Copious text is too much to read through (yea, I know, ridiculous), so are too many bullet points. Condense everything as much as you can and use 5-7 bullets to convey your experience is a good alignment for the job. Recruiters everywhere use LinkedIn, so you want to make sure you do the same updates on your LinkedIn profile and make sure it is keyword rich.
4. The World has Gone REMOTE
Now that many employers are embracing remote work, it’s a good idea to include any work-from-home skills on your resume. Add remote work collaboration tools like Google Docs, Asana, Trello, etc. to your technical skills section and notate if each role you’ve held has been remote. *It’s also worth mentioning what accomplishments you achieved through the pandemic, shows your grit and perseverance.
5. Out with an Objective statement … in with Resume Summary
Older resume coaching prompted us to write an objective at the top of our resume. Try replacing it with impactful summary statements: think brief statements of top skills, experience, accomplishments that can quickly communicate to a recruiter who you are as an employee. (Maybe even put these in bullets --- remember, make it easy to read!). You want to show them quantitative achievements and measurable results -it’s good practice to trickle this in through your entire resume/professional history, too.
7. Don’t be Lazy.
You’re not a bore, don’t let your resume be either. Recruiters read hundreds of resumes every day. Be sure to optimize the <10seconds they give you. Use a compelling voice and action words like strategized, ideated, transformed and wherever possible replace passive voice with an active voice. On your “About Summary” in LinkedIn, make sure you take advantage of this space using active voice and keyword-rich statements!
8. Version 2.0
It’s likely you’ll want to have a few versions of your resume handy. Ideally, you would tailor your resume to each job you are applying for by modifying your experience to align to the requirements of the job. It’s also worth adding a headline - are they looking for a Sr. Frontend Developer? Or perhaps a Sr. Javascript Developer, see the difference? Call that out in bold at the beginning!
9. Extra Eyes
For the love of Pete… and Sally and Faysal - get someone to read your resume and give you constructive feedback. If working with a recruiter, they might ask to help format or modify it a little too, take the input. It’s intended to help you.
10. Myresume.doc is NOT a Good Save Option.
Finally, save your resume with a unique descriptor to you, not as myresume.doc (You’d be surprised how many myresume.docs are out there!) Good luck with your updates.
ITEOM Digital Technology Talent Partners collaborates with top technologists and top employers to align purpose and passion and re-incorporate belonging to make the job search and work experience more human.
We're people people, here to help. If you need eyes or ears to review your resume, don’t hesitate to reach out.