I got a reminder to update my phone last week. Wouldn’t it be great if we all updated our resumes as often as we update our phones? Wouldn’t it be great if there was an app to remind us to do this every couple of months, or whenever we complete a new project that warrants inclusion?
We’re all tied to our mobile devices. The need to run the most up-to-date software or version is obvious. So why don’t we make the same effort to keep our resumes in the most up-to-date version. Usually it’s because we don’t think about updating our resume until we need it. It’s the same with our networks. Most of us don’t invest the time into keeping our network of contacts fresh and current until we need them.
And then it’s often too late.
Now I’ve been known to say, “It’s never too late to start doing better.” and that’s the good news. You can start doing a better job at both these critical tasks. The truth is that you always need an updated resume because you never know when you’re going to be the one invited into the conference room or your manager’s office and told that your employment status with the organization has changed, the organization’s going in a different direction, there’s been a restructuring of the internal workforce and we’re going to be eliminating redundancies. However they put it, now you know it’s time to dust off the old resume and start networking.
If you go to your laptop, open the most recent copy of your resume and get a message that it’s in an older version of your word processing software, that’s the first sign that you’ve overlooked keeping the resume up to date. The longer you wait, the harder it is to update the resume. It’s easy to forget projects you’ve completed and the quantifiable results you produced.
Updating your resume is something many people have on their To Do lists and it’s usually the one that falls to the bottom of the queue or right off the page. Here’s your reminder. Update your resume before the end of next weekend. Make a call or two to a network contact you haven’t spoken with in the past month (or six!). Keep your network and your resume current. You never know when you’re going to need them.