Today, Jason Alba at Jibber Jobber has a great blog post about keeping your resume updated. Jibber Jobber has some online tools available to help you to create a simple resume that you can update any time. I would highly recommend that you check it out.
One thing that I recommend to all of my clients is to keep a diary or journal about what is going on at work. Did your boss tell you what a great job you are doing? Write it down. Were you just named Employee of the Month? Write it down. Is a co-worker behaving inappropriately toward you? Talk to your boss and write it down in your journal. Date each entry in your journal and keep your records at home rather than at work.
A journal can be an invaluable tool when you need to update your resume and start your job search. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to recall little wins or small steps toward a larger goal at work. It can be difficult to remember everything you had to do in order to get to where you are today. A resume should list your accomplishments both big and small so that you can illustrate your skills and value to a potential employer. If you keep good records of your accomplishments and the challenges you faced in achieving them it will be easier for you to tell your story on a resume when you need to.
Don't wait until you need to get your resume out the door to try to update it. Keep it current or at least keep a career journal so that you can update it accurately and quickly if you need to.
One thing that I recommend to all of my clients is to keep a diary or journal about what is going on at work. Did your boss tell you what a great job you are doing? Write it down. Were you just named Employee of the Month? Write it down. Is a co-worker behaving inappropriately toward you? Talk to your boss and write it down in your journal. Date each entry in your journal and keep your records at home rather than at work.
A journal can be an invaluable tool when you need to update your resume and start your job search. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to recall little wins or small steps toward a larger goal at work. It can be difficult to remember everything you had to do in order to get to where you are today. A resume should list your accomplishments both big and small so that you can illustrate your skills and value to a potential employer. If you keep good records of your accomplishments and the challenges you faced in achieving them it will be easier for you to tell your story on a resume when you need to.
Don't wait until you need to get your resume out the door to try to update it. Keep it current or at least keep a career journal so that you can update it accurately and quickly if you need to.
2 comments:
A Career Journal is a great idea. Do you have a sample of what one looks like? If so, I'd like to feature it (or link to it) on my blog: The Job Lounge.
Another nearly automatic, low effort way to keep a Career Journal is to expose the treasures stored in that Great Reverse-Chronological Filing Cabinet, more commonly known as the E-mail Inbox.
I’ve worked for multiple companies where employees must declare the accomplishments during review time. Usually it’s a stretch to remember what happened last week. Just think how few accomplishments that your time-stressed boss really remembers.
In my last three review cycles, I trolled through my Inbox and Sent Items folders for any gems or themes from the previous year. It helps you remember your key accomplishments and usually provides an “audit trail” proving all that you’ve done for the company (key customers won, major catastrophes averted, tree-killing documents published, compliments received, awards won).
While I can’t claim scientifically verified results, I generally received at least one level higher rating that before I starting trolling through my E-mail files.
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