Recently, in a job seekers group, the following question was asked:
“How often should I update my resume?”
This is an interesting question because it assumes that you have one resume and that you don’t update your resume for each job to which you apply.
Let’s think about it this way:
- When you apply for a job due to seeing a job listing, you are essentially responding to a problem…the hiring person needs a person who can meet the needs expressed on the job listing.
- If you send your “most current version” of your resume, as it is, it would have to be perfectly aligned with the job description for it to be seen by the hiring person.
- Your resume could be stellar, but if it doesn’t “speak” to the hiring person, you aren’t going to get the interview.
So let’s ask the question again:
How often should I update my resume?
I’m going to be brutally honest; YOUR problem…needing a job…isn’t the same as the hiring person, so when you send a resume, if you really WANT the job, you need to express that you are the best person to solve THEIR problem…the open position. This means NOT sending your “boilerplate” resume.
Side note: If you update your resume to match the qualifications for the job, you will also have more success with the application tracking system.