Three Simple Tips to Get Your Resume in Gear Today

Here’s a tough question for you: if someone reached out and needed your resume right now, would you be prepared? This is important, because even if you’re not actively searching for a job, you never know when the perfect opportunity will come along. You want to be ready!

We always advise our clients to update their resume quarterly (every three months) just to make sure it’s always ready to go. It will always be ready to shoot off to a hiring manager or HR representative if the perfect job comes along. If you wait too long, you’re going to have to really work hard to think back on previous roles, responsibilities, volunteer work, awards, and so on to get it up to date. 

So, why don’t we work together to get your resume in gear today? We really do want you to do this along with us, so go ahead and open up your resume file on your computer right now. 

Ready? Let’s get started…

Tip #1 - Remove Old and/or Entry Level Positions

If you haven’t updated your resume in some time, there’s a good chance you have some old and/or entry level positions on it that can be removed. As a general rule, most jobs that you apply for will want to see 10-15 years of work experience. This is one of those situations where more isn’t always better. If you go back 20+ years on your resume, it might start to look cluttered, and there’s a good chance those jobs aren’t very relevant to the position you’re applying for anyway. 

How long will this take? About 15-30 minutes.

Tip #2 - Edit the Upper Portion of Your Resume

The upper portion of your resume is where you’ll find your headline, summary, profile, and/or objective. Generally, this is also where you list your contact information. It is so important that this information is accurate. Of course, you’ll still want to go back in and adjust this section every time you apply for a new role, but now is a great time to do some preemptive updating. Look for any outdated information or awkward phrasing, and make sure it highlights your most valuable experiences, since this is what people will read first. 

How long will this take? About 30 minutes.

Tip #3 - Formatting and Design

Odds are, you aren’t a graphic designer. That’s okay. You don’t have to have one of those resumes that doubles as a playable vinyl record to stand out from the crowd. You just have to make sure it’s clean, uncluttered, and attractive. There are many templates available for free online, or you can choose to hire someone to properly format and design your resume so that it looks modern and appropriate.

How long will this take? About 60 minutes or it can be outsourced

Bonus Tip

Once you’re happy with your resume, go ahead and save it as a PDF. So often, people send along their perfectly polished and designed resume in a Word document, which can lead to disastrous results. For instance, if the person reviewing your resume doesn’t have the same version of Microsoft Office as you do, it could display differently for them. Fonts might show up the wrong size, alignment may be off, and paragraphs could get cut off. Trust us, it’s not a good way to start off your job search and it can be really frustrating and confusing. 

How long will this take? About 5 minutes.

Pretty easy, don’t you think? In about two hours, you can have a resume that’s completely updated, properly designed, and in a format that guarantees consistency no matter who you send it to. The best part is, now that you’ve done this work, updating it quarterly will be super easy, and should just take a few minutes each time. 

Need help making your resume shine in a sea of applicants? That’s what we do best at Next Level Career Services! You can book a consultation call here or learn about our resume packages here.