You never know when you'll be looking for a job next
By
Brazen Life By Jo Casey
Work is going well, and you have a job you enjoy with great benefits. You feel like you have a future at this company. You have no intention of moving on anytime soon. You're in a good place professionally, so you may never need to think about revisiting your boring old resume ever again!
Work is going well, and you have a job you enjoy with great benefits. You feel like you have a future at this company. You have no intention of moving on anytime soon. You're in a good place professionally, so you may never need to think about revisiting your boring old resume ever again!
Unfortunately, that's a myth. In fact, everyone should review their
resume and and keep it up-to-date no matter where they are in their
career.
If you haven't revisited your resume for awhile, read on for seven reasons why you should polish it this very moment:
1. Remind yourself of your skills and achievements
A resume isn't just a list of job titles and how long you've worked at various jobs. It's a record of your body of work.
Your resume contains info about what you've learned, the skills you've developed
and the differences you've made in your career. Having a clear sense of
your journey will help you make smart short-term and long-term plans
for your career.
2. Give yourself a confidence boost
When you're in the thick of day-to-day work, it's easy to forget how far
you've come and in which areas you've developed. By revisiting your
accomplishments periodically, you'll better be able to track your own
professional progress and make sure the important ones make it to your
resume.
If you update your resume just every few years or only when you're
looking for a job, you might completely forget about new skills because
you mastered them so long ago. By keeping your resume up-to-date, you
can see how you've grown even from a few months ago.
3. Understand yourself better
One of the keys to happiness,
impact and career development is understanding yourself. Your resume is
the blueprint not only of your skills and achievements, but also of
your preferences, passions and values. Every role you've ever had has
been a reflection of who you are.
You can learn from the jobs you loved, the ones you hated and those that were just a bit "blah."
Dig deep. Did you thrive in a particular type of environment? Did you
enjoy working in teams or independently? Did you thrive working for innovative fast-changing organizations or those that valued evolution and heritage?
Analyze what lit you up and has worked along your career path, as well
as what hasn't worked. Use the information you learn about yourself to
tailor your own work towards your preferences.
4. Reflect on your key lessons and identify development areas
Your key achievements happened for a reason. And so did your mistakes.
Have a look at your resume and think about which events have been great
teachers. What did you learn? How have you moved forward with those
learnings? What could you do to develop even further?
5. Develop a clearer idea of your strengths
Research has shown that the more you work to your strengths, skills and
passions, the happier and more productive you are. In other words, it's
not doing great work that brings you happiness, but feeling happy that
helps you do great work.
So, how have you worked toward your strengths in the past? How can you
do it more in the future? How can you consciously use those strengths
more often and in new ways?
6. See the thread that binds your body of work together
Resumes give you a high-level view of your career. Patterns start to
emerge that can give you new insights into your career and where you
might want to head in the future. Ask yourself what thought processes
led to you make those career choices. Would you do anything differently?
7. Prepare yourself for the worst
The world of work has changed beyond recognition over the past 20 years. It's a sad fact, but you never knowa
when your resume might come in handy. Having one that's up-to-date will
help you hit the ground running if you ever do need to look for
alternative work.
If you have an updated resume you can send out quickly, you'll recover
more quickly after a layoff and have less to stress about. Hope for the
best, but prepare for the worst, as the saying goes.
Revisiting your resume can feel like a pain in the butt. It takes time
and requires that you reflect on your career journey. But it doesn't
have to be so painful. The more frequently you update your resume, the
less work it really is. Plus, revisiting your accomplishments will help
you develop confidence and clearer direction in your career.