Our industry is celebrating its annual International Update Your Resume Month this September. However, I am here to tell you that every month should be Update Your Resume Month, because keeping track of your career successes should be a regular part of your monthly tasks. If you only do this once a year, when it comes time to write content for annual reviews at work, you will forget much of what you have done in past year. Worse yet, if you wait to do this when you need a resume, you will be at a loss for content. At a minimum, you will want to do this quarterly to keep from forgetting important items.
Think in terms of the following:
-work projects and your involvement
-business processes you have created or streamlined
-important clients you have worked with
-documents you have developed internally that benefit your workplace
-work awards you have won and why
-professional development you have taken (internal or external)
-work committees and task forces you have participated in
…and other career successes.
You may have a longer list than you want for a traditional resume, but it’s a list that is valuable for developing behavioral interview stories as well. The other benefit… you will also have a wonderful list to remind your boss of at your annual performance review.