Last week I wrote about a Fortune Magazine article that I read entitled Reinvent Your Career. I encouraged you to begin the exploration and conversation about what else you could be doing with your work experience, knowledge, skills and passions, other than your current occupation.

We all need to approach career management with much more vigor, openness and flexibility. Being “comfortable in the job” doesn’t last long these days with disruptive technologies and global talent competition. Reinvent your career, before the marketplace does.

A good place to start is with your resume.

Martin Yate, author of the book Knock ’em Dead: secrets & strategies for success in an uncertain world, states emphatically that “your resume is the most important financial document you will ever own.” He also believes that your resume has to be killer for you to survive. In chapter 2 of his book, he states:

“Everything has changed in job searching over the past few years, so don’t think you can squeak by with updating your existing resume, because I can guarantee you that it will be ineffective. Don’t waste your time; invest in your future by developing a killer new resume for a new work world.”

It has also been said that a well-written resume is a powerful marketing tool that can make your career. It serves as a door opener for you to be considered for exciting new jobs. Your resume along with your professional network can help open up a world of new opportunity and career possibilities.

You’ll need to do more than just dust off your old resume

But many of us are not prepared and only update the resume when we need it FAST. I put myself in that guilty bucket too.

I recently decided it was time to dust off my resume as I was starting to open my mind to making some career changes. It may be opportunistic to apply my executive coaching and training skills to a company as an inside employee rather than as an outside consultant.

So I went searching for my resume. I had forgotten where I stored it. That’s how long it has been since I updated it. If the resume is the most important financial document that I’ll ever own, I best know where it is at all times, and keep it current and active.

The downfalls of a one-page resume

I found an electronic version of a one-page resume that I had created a few years ago to highlight my work history. I wasn’t in the market for a new job, so I figured I’d dispense with the boring detail and just highlight the big chunks in my career. The problem with the one-page resume is that it lacks the critical details of your career accomplishments. I was beginning to forget myself all the cool things I had achieved in my 25 year work adventure.

Get professional help

I decided to get some professional help to get my resume out of the storage box and up to date to today’s market standards. I needed more than just an update, I needed an upgrade.

So I hired resume expert and good friend, Bree Gurin to craft my new/improved resume. I gave her permission to start from scratch. I knew if I attempted to do it myself, it would take me too long and end up being mediocre at best (and probably with a typo or two in it).

Within a matter of days, Bree sent me my new/improved resume. To my surprise it was four pages long! She has reassured me that length is not an issue, so long as the content is relevant to the reader.

• Curious what it looks like? Kathy McAfee Resume_2011

I also asked Bree to provide some tips to my readers on resume writing. Of course, I advise you to follow tip #5 which is to outsource to a resume writing expert. Why mess around with your key door opener?

FIVE RESUME WRITING TIPS
from resume expert Bree Gurin

Tip #1
DO NOT use the ampersand (&) in your resume unless it is part of a company name. Doing so could imply that you are lazy or don’t have good writing/grammar skills.

Tip #2
DO NOT try to limit your resume to one page. In today’s employment market, information is key and due to the fact that most people have shorter tenure than was previously common, their employment history wouldn’t be able to fit on one page.

Tip #3
DO NOT use embellished fonts, small font sizes or graphics in your resume. Your objective is to make it as easy and appealing as possible for a hiring manager to read your resume.

Tip #4
DO be sure to incorporate key words into your resume…lots of them. Most hiring managers will conduct an initial search on the key words specific to the position they’re trying to fill and if your resume doesn’t include those words, your resume won’t come up in the search results.

Tip #5
DO consider having your resume prepared by a professional resume writer, preferably someone who also has a recruiting background that affords them a clear understanding of today’s hiring process.

 

• Read past articles from Bree Gurin including “Are You Resume Ready?”

Your Networking Goal for this week:

Invest  in upgrading your resume this week. Don’t settle for a homemade mediocre version. Get the wheels in motion. Buy a copy of Martin Yale’s book Knock ’em Dead and then call my friend Bree Gurin for a professional make-over of your resume.

For those of you who are willing to invest money in your career by upgrading your resume, Bree Gurin is offering a 10% discount on her already very affordable resume writing services. This offer is good through August 30, 2011. You must mention the promotional code Marketing Motivator to get the special discount. To contact Bree Gurin, see her web site: www.GurinOnLine.com