Tips To Update Your Resume

Handy Guidelines for Writing a Winning Resume

Aug 7, 2008 Paym Bergson

More job opportunities become available as fall starts. Ensure your resume is up to date and showcases your best talents by following these tips.

It's time again to brush off your dusty resume and revamp it for the current market. Follow these tips to ensure your resume shows your talent, experience and potential worth to the prospective employer in the best light.

Ensure Your Information is Accurate and Up to Date

Have you taken any courses since the last time you updated your resume? Most likely you certainly have had new experiences or job responsibilities. While you may still be at the same job, it stands to reason you've had increasing workload or a successful contract. Include all of the positive aspects - show how you are important to the company; what you've learned and how you'd applied it.

Use Appropriate Language

Use action verbs whenever possible, and use a positive tone at all times. Don't just say you worked as a cashier - expand on what that meant - handled cash, responsible for opening and closing the register and ensuring balance, am bonded, handled customer complaints in a professional manner, etc. This shows YOU know what the job entails, and what you are worth (work wise).

Don't Forget Listing Your Technical Skills

Can you type accurately? How fast? Make sure you really can type that fast. How computer literate are you? What about competency on certain software packages? If you can use Excel and create a basic spreadsheet - put that in your resume. If you have more advanced skills in any software program, that needs to go into your resume as well. Most employers may assume you have a basic understanding of computers. It's up to you to tell them your real experience and comfort level.

Are you familiar with PC or MAC or both? Have you operated a switchboard before? Any other machinery operation proven abilities? Fork truck certification, even if it is old? Handled the new copiers that will send emails to groups as well as faxes, along with the regular job of copying papers?

Don't Forget Listing Your Soft Skills

This is a growing and important section, and allows you to showcase a bit more of your talents and your worth. This is where you can write about your negotiation skills - and follow up in your cover letter with an example (if that is something the job you are applying for is interested in). Soft skills are those talents and experience that are not as tangible as other skills, but are still demonstratable and certainly in demand in all occupations.

Your communication skills are an essential point to put in this section. Problem solving, writing abilities, team work and being able to work independently all fit into this category. As competition becomes stiffer, it is often your soft skills that will make the difference in getting that interview!

Proofread!

There's nothing worse than reading a resume with typo's or major grammatical errors. Don't take a chance on missing out of a great job by your resume being thrown into the garbage due to these errors. Print out your resume and read it out loud. Then get someone else to proof your work, and make any necessary corrections. Then print again, read it over, and read it again out loud. Hopefully this will catch any typo's and grammatical errors.

Bottom Line

Get ready for the job opportunities that are coming your way. Ensure your resume is up to date for information on work responsibilities and courses. Use action words to describe your responsibilities, and expand on your work. List your technical skills and your soft skills in a separate section. And ensure your resume is letter-perfect!

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Copyright August 7, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.

The copyright of the article Tips To Update Your Resume in Career Advice is owned by Paym Bergson. Permission to republish Tips To Update Your Resume in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Tips For A Winning Resume

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