1. Brainstorm. First, check to see if there’s anything you can add to update your resume. If you look down at your resume and nothing comes to you, pull out an empty sheet of paper and list all the pro- jects you’ve worked on, all the training you’ve accomplished, and any
awards you’ve received since the last time you looked at your resume. If you’ve done any volunteer work during that time period, add that too.
2. Eliminate outdated info and “padding.” Now that we’ve made a list of new stuff that we can add, take a hard look at your current resume and your new list of items. Are there items on your current resume that are just padding? Perhaps there’s some achievement on your new list that is much stronger and impressive than what you currently have.
If so, replace the old achievement with the new. Update any new cer- tifications you may have received. And make double sure that all your contact info is up-to-date. You don’t want to miss a job opportunity because you gave your old phone number and email in your resume.
3. Update your format. If you’re like most people, when you first wrote your resume, you probably just used a Word template. But we want our resumes to stand out. It’s hard to be unique if you use the same template that every other candidate is using. Instead of using a Word template, take a look at some sample resumes online. Below, we’ve included a few online resources you can use in your research. Also, it doesn’t hurt to ask friends and colleagues in the same field as you if you can see their resumes to get inspiration on how to format yours.
Further reading:
• LifeClever Template (Word doc — highly recommended)
4. Replace fluff words with concrete language and specific numbers.
Your resume is no time to be vague. So phrases like “Good people skills” have to go. Instead, replace such vague phrases with action words that give specific numbers. Instead of saying “Good people skills,” say something like, “Managed 45 employees and conducted monthly interviews with each of them.”
Further reading:
• 6 Words That Make Your Resume Suck
• 25 Words That Hurt Your Resume
5. Triple check for spelling and grammar mistakes. Your resume is probably the first impression you’ll have on a future employer, so you want it to be the absolute best. Having spelling and grammar mis- takes isn’t the way to leave a stellar first impression. Run through your resume several times and check for any errors or typos. Read it out loud to yourself. Have a friend or a mentor look it over, too.
6. Give it a face lift. Finally, you want to polish off your resume so it gleams among the stacks of inanity on an employer’s desk. One way you can do this is to make simple changes in the font and spacing.
LifeClever has an amazing tutorial on how to make cosmetic changes to your resume that can really make it shine. It’s amazing how such small changes can truly freshen up your resume’s appearance and make it easier to read.
7. Create digital copies. After you’ve updated your resume, make digital copies of it so you can access your resume at the drop of a hat. I always keep a copy of my most current resume saved in my Gmail inbox in case I need to print one off while I’m away from my computer or I need to email it to a potential employer. Also, I recommend attaching a USB drive with your updated resume to your key chain. That way if you ever need a resume, you just plug and print.
Tod a y’s Ta s k:
U p d a t e Y o u r R e s u m e
There you go. Seven simple suggestions to help you update your resume.
Now, take an hour today and update yours.
R e co n n e c t w i t h a n Ol d F r i e n d
I’ve recently been reading the book Team of Rivals, about the men Abraham Lincoln picked for his cabinet. As I was reading it, I was struck by this passage concerning the friendship between the future Secretary of State, William H. Seward, and his friend David Berdan:
“Together, the young men attended the theater, read poetry, discussed books, and chased after women. Convinced that Berdan would become a cele- brated writer, Seward stood in awe of his friend’s talent and dedication. All such grand expectations and prospects were crushed when Berdan, still in his twenties was “seized with a bleeding at the lungs” while sojourning in Europe. . . The illness took his life…Seward was devastated, later telling his wife that he had loved Berdan as “never again” could he “love in this world.”
Such intimate male attachments as Seward’s with Berdan, or, as we shall see, Lincoln’s with Joshua Speed and Chase’s with Edwin Stanton, were a “com- mon feature of the social landscape” in the nineteenth century America, the historian E. Anthony Rotundo points out. The family-focused and commu- nity-centered life led by most men in colonial era was transformed at the dawn of the new century into an individual and career-oriented existence.
As the young men of Seward and Lincoln’s generation left the familiarity of their small communities and traveled to seek employment in fast-grow- ing, anonymous cities or in distant territories, they often felt unbearably lonely. In the absence of parents and siblings, they turned to one another for support, sharing thoughts and emotions so completely that their intimate friendships developed the qualities of passionate romances.”
We have previously discussed the ardent friendships of the 19th century, and the interesting history of male friendship in general. And while much has changed in our world since Lincoln’s day, are we not still a society where we head from our hometowns to far flung locations in pursuit of career or
college, and are we not still at times, if we can admit it, “unbearably lonely?”
(Be sure to check out our article on how to make friends when you move to a new city.)
Yet unlike the men of the 19th century, the men of today do not seek even closer friendships to enrich their lives and lend them support. Instead, under the excuse of being too busy, we often distance ourselves from other men, trying to be the lone wolf. Or, as Wayne has pointed out, we look to female relationships to cure all of our hunger for intimacy.