Your Resume Has The Shelf Life of a Banana
Dee@MissFitChicago.com is a world class career coach and extraorindary resume writer. The results of her work have been mentioned in the Harvard Business Reivew, the Chicago Tribune.
If you’ve been working for a decade or more the experience and skills you’ve garnered are impressive. However, if your resume has not been updated since before the pandemic, fruit flies may be on their way. Every day, people reach out to me, surprised that their old resume (which they may have paid good money for!) is no longer getting results.
Here’s what changed.
1. Modern Formatting and Design: The aesthetics and structure of resumes have seen changes. Today's resumes are clean, minimalistic designs with plenty of white space. Gone are the dense, artistic work that somehow came out of Word.
2. Tailored Content: Today, Resumes are tailored for each job application. Customizing based on the specific role or company can increase your chances of success. The hand is expected to fit into the glove perfectly.
3. HR Technologies & ATS: Many companies invested in HR technologies during the pandemic. Understanding how ATS parses and ranks resumes is crucial.
a. Companies use ATS to scan LinkedIn profiles. Your resume must be keyword-optimized to increase your visibility.
b. ATS is designed to screen resumes and rank them based on relevance to the job description. Tailoring your resume with the right keywords and formats is crucial, ensuring it reaches human eyes.
4. Professional Online Presence: The pandemic facilitated an accelerated shift to online presence. Hairstyles have changed, ties have disappeared, and photography has improved.
5. Remote Work Skills: Surely, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other collaboration software are now in your toolset.
6. Soft Skills and Adaptability: There is a greater emphasis on mentorship, emotional intelligence, and DE&I sensitivity. Mention those skills.
7. Achievements and Metrics: Instead of a list of duties, it’s quantifiable achievements. Have you ever heard of the STARS framework?
8. References. Former employers will no longer say much about a former employee other than confirming dates of employment due to liability concerns. Owning your online presence allows you to control the narrative. It ensures that when someone Googles your name, they find the professional details and achievements you want them to see.
9. Reassess Job Relevance: Some roles you held over ten years ago might be less relevant to your current career goals. Many should be deleted or summarized.
10. Updated Technology Proficiencies: Perhaps you've mastered CRM systems like Salesforce or HubSpot, collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, Notion, Asana, Rust, Kotlin, or advanced uses of Python or SEMrush, and Google Analytics. What are you waiting for if you haven’t logged into GBT Chat?
11. Certifications: We’ve seen the popularity of certifications, like PMP (Project Management Professional) or Agile/Scrum Master certifications, AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft surge. Moreover, cybersecurity certifications like CISSP or CEH are becoming increasingly crucial as cyber threats escalate.
12. Networking: Platforms like LinkedIn are for more than just job searching. They're powerful networking tools, allowing you to connect with industry professionals, join groups, and participate in discussions. A robust online presence can lead to job opportunities coming to you rather than you always seeking them out.
Warmly,
Dee@MissFitChicago.com
Schedule a free consultation here:
https://calendly.com/deemissfitchicago/initial-consultation