5 Reasons To Keep Your Rsum Updated: Always Keep Your Career Primed For A New Chapter

1.Unforeseen layoffs. Those darn things can sneak up on you. If you are organized ahead of time, you may feel less ill-equipped when the event happens. Use your current job description to help you develop the most recent section of your work history. Think about everything you currently do including computer software you use, extra tasks for which your supervisor counts on you, and dollar amounts of budget sizes you handle or even money you have saved the company. Those things weigh heavier in employers minds than lackluster job description reads.

2.Promotions and unexpected desirable positions elsewhere pop up. Even if you are satisfied with your current position and salary, innate ambition and curiosity exist. If an unexpected opportunity comes up, you wont have to haphazardly throw a rsum together to meet the application deadline. If your rsum is already primed, all you will need to do for positions that come available is add some keywords pertaining to the specific open job and possibly add in some job duties or achievements that highlight your ability to do that specific job.

3.You can be fired at any time, and in some states it is perfectly legal to fire an employee for any reason or even no reason at all. Companies merge and change management all the time, and your new boss may not like you or may have a favorite candidate in mind as a replacement for you.

4.You could be demoted, especially if your company downsizes without laying off all staff. If you cant handle a pay cut, be prepared.

5.If all of your necessary information is only in your head, time can erode valuable pieces. If it is only on paper somewhere, including letters of recommendation and performance reviews (from which quotes may be drawn), you could lose it. Fires, tornados, hurricanes, and forgetfulness cannot be controlled. Misplacing important documents is very common when moving/relocating your residence. Keep a copy of your rsum in your personal email to ensure you always have access to it.

Here is a list of items from which you need to draw information in order to prepare the most effective rsum:
Awards, achievements, special recognitions
Job performance reviews
Impressive dollar figures or other numbers: budget sizes managed, money you saved the company, money you raised or high sales figures, etc.
Job descriptions
Letters of recommendation
A list of positive qualities unique to you: languages known, special client following or base, VIP contacts within your industry, etc.
Company websites if you wish to include them beside company names.
A list of your skills specific to your career industry. This will incorporate keywords into your rsum, which are very important when your rsum is scanned by tailored computer software. The software will screen you out if your rsum does not contain its keyword quota or does not contain specific words for which it was programmed to search.

Also, if you prepare your own rsum, please, please have one or two people who are knowledgeable about rsums review it before you send it out to companies, and for heavens sake use spellcheck. Nothing turns off an employer more than careless errors like spelling or punctuation. Errors give the impression that you are too lazy to bother with details. I offer free comprehensive rsum reviews by email at krista@composureresumes.com.