Whether or not you’re looking for a job right now, now’s the time to pull out your resume, dust it off, air it and freshen it up. You never know when an exciting new opportunity will present itself (or when you might find yourself in the midst of a sudden downsizing).

Here are some tips for updating your resume:

The Year in Review

Make sure your current job is on your resume. Many of us forget to add our newest job once we’ve been hired. As you list your job responsibilities, be sure to include any projects you’ve managed or major accomplishments. Update it at least once a year.

 Go Back to the Beginning

Look at the job listed on your resume that was the longest ago and consider how relevant it is to your current and future career goals. If it’s still relevant, keep it on there but consider paring the description down.

Eye Candy

One thing recruiters will do after scanning your resume is to read the very last section (kind of like skipping to the end of a book when you don’t have time to read the whole thing!). So list your most recent workshops, professional associations and awards at the bottom. If you’re still listing awards you received in college 20 years ago, it may be time to consider getting out and getting more involved. Employers want well-rounded individuals who stay on top of their game.

Trendy to a Point

As with everything else in life, resume formats follow trends. You want your resume to reflect current trends that work. When I’ve been on the hiring end, I’ve seen some trends that were all about big, fancy fonts and colored, textured papers. To me they seemed more about looks and less about content. It’s easy to surf the web for current resume style guides and compare and contrast them, looking for the styles that say modern, clean and professional. Those will best present you as the professional that you are.

Final Words of Wisdom

Proofread over and over, and then have a few friends proofread over and over. Typos and grammatical errors will land your resume in the trash faster than you can say, “Are you still hiring?” Also, save your resume in the 3 most commonly accessed formats, text only, Microsoft Word and PDF so you have what is needed at the ready and no one can say to you, “Sorry, I couldn’t open your resume.”

If you feel it’s time for a complete overhaul, read our two-part blog on writing resumes in our Resume Tips.

We recently met with Career Coach, Graham Caulfield, to bounce some questions off of him about job searching. Caulfield has worked for companies including Zig Ziglar, Honeywell, Telstra, NEC and Philips in sales and marketing and finds great satisfaction in helping people to obtain their Dream Jobs.

HDJ-What kinds of services does a career coach offer?

Graham- Just a few of the benefits you could experience by working with a career coach include:

1. Expediting the process of determining your new career direction.
2. Helping you with a systematic approach to finding your career fit.
3. Giving you feedback and guidance from someone who has helped hundreds make career changes.

In this economy, old ways of job searching will delay your employment. Responding to Newspaper and Internet ads as your only means of searching will almost guarantee extended unemployment. But a skilled career coach can help you to develop targeted job search tools (like your professional resume), hone your skills for marketing yourself to employers, and design a strategic game plan for finding your next job.

HDJ- How else can these services help someone who is job searching?

Graham- They offer jobseekers the chance to learn how to use all of the tools at their disposal. It provides them with an understanding of how to use their time and resources to the greatest advantage. Career coaches help by listening, providing feedback, and asking powerful questions to improve the job seeker’s ability to market and sell themselves in the job market.

They can coach you on how to answer interview questions most strategically. It’s not always the most qualified person who gets the position-sometimes the person who communicates the most persuasively will get the job.

HDJ- What strategies might benefit someone searching for a job in the healthcare field?

Graham- A good career coach is going help a job seeker identify their unique selling points. With so many applicants in the Healthcare industry having similar qualifications, it is important to communicate exactly what it is that “sets you apart”. It’s not enough to assume that it’s obvious or that everyone will recognize your talents.

HDJ- Do you recommend networking? Why or why not?

Graham- Yes, absolutely. It’s not who you know, but who knows you. Job seekers should become a member of a networking group or two to meet new people and establish a presence in a supportive environment. Sharing ideas leads to exposure and opportunities for everyone.

Usually networking contacts won’t be potential employers. They will be people who know about potential employment. If one discovers that a contact is a potential employer, they should take off their networking hat and pursue employment.

Effective networking also includes being involved on social and professional networking sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter.

HDJ- What is a common job searching mistake that you see?

Graham-That’s any easy one! People don’t read the advertisement and job description carefully. Read it 324 times, then read it again. Also, analyze and use those key words from the ad and job description to ensure that your résumé matches the employer requirements.

HDJ- Thank you Graham! Follow Graham on Twitter.

Discouragement happens to all of us, whether job searching or not. But it’s my belief that the discouragement directly related to not being able to find a job is one of the worst discouragements possible. There is a lot at stake when one is unemployed or underemployed and it usually means that bills are going unpaid. Often there is an inability to pay rent (therefore forcing the unemployed to rely on family or friends) and often there is a family dependent on that job to live.

Ever notice how discouragement can pull you down even further? It is tough to “go find a job” when you are sad. In fact, it can be tough to do much of anything. Although some of us are able to pull back up after a few hours or a day of discouragement and still other people somehow are able to turn it around as a challenge to get something done, some people just can’t.

Here are some steps that you can take to stay productive, even with the discouragement monster threatens:

1. Find some understanding friends or family who have “been there” and ask to bend their ear. Vent to a friend, post on Facebook and just be honest. You will often be surprised and encouraged at the responses. Many will understand your plight and although it doesn’t fix the problem (although you never know!), you will feel better for getting it off your chest.

2. Stay busy. There are many, many cheap or free activities available in your community. Take advantage of those. Make new friends. Find a community group and become involved.

3. Help other people. There is great satisfaction in helping other people who are worse off than you. When you concentrate on other people, you have a very hard time concentrating on your own problems. So volunteer at a retirement home, help the homeless or handicapped or be a mentor to children in your community. Often a few hours is all it will take to bump your spirits back up-but we hope that you continue to volunteer even after you are feeling better.

4. Take short breaks. Sometimes a small break from job searching is needed. However, it is far too easy to let that break become a week, then two weeks and so on. Before you take a break from the job search, set a pre-determined time period for that break. Commit to get back to the grind in two or three days and let someone know this who can hold you to it.

5. Look for a temporary or contract job. Consider taking temporary jobs in the meantime, even if the job duties are different than your usual or ones that you feel would be a “step down”. It will help pay the bills and may even open opportunities for full time employment somewhere. And don’t discount contract jobs. It’s easier than you think to temporarily work as a contractor for a good organization.

6. Consider professional help if the discouragement lingers. Never be afraid to seek help if you need assistance. You will feel a lot better with counseling even if it just ends up being a venting session on a regular basis.

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook