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Top 3 Mistakes in Maintaining or Updating a Resume

Resume

1) Failure to Continually Update Your Resume

The longer your career moves forward, the longer your resume will become. And not all job histories/details will be pertinent to a position you are applying for, although you may need those details for a future position. So keep a master resume handy. Having a master resume that details each of your accomplishments, positions, certifications and so on, can allow you to quickly pull stand-out information for your next interview. Be sure to continually add to the list so ten years down the line you can recall advancements that you may have forgotten about.

2) Failure to Quantify

One way to pull your resume out of the drab pile on your future employer’s desk is to speak numbers, for everything! “Managed a team” is different from “Managed a team of 38 staff across three departments and all shifts.” Demonstrate your wide range of talents and your work ethic. Speak in terms of revenue, or of value-add. Quantify your productivity. Be sure to remember to add such info to your master resume also! Be rid of vague words like ‘success,’ or ‘accomplished,’ or ‘results’ if you can instead quantify it or prove it with real examples, with real results.

3) Failure to Leverage LinkedIn

The networking sphere of Linkedin is immense and if you have utilized the tool in your career, not adding the URL to a future employer would just be silly; Allow your future employer to see where others have endorsed you, allow them to read the compliments and reviews posted on your profile.

Tracking all your accomplishments, quantifying them, and giving visibility to your professional brand via LinkedIn, are all MUSTS when maintaining a strong and nimble resume. These three behaviors will help give meat to your resume, and set it apart from any vague entries from your competitors.

by Adam Vega

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