Changes to Make to Your Resume This Year

Changes to Make to Your Resume This Year Changes to Make to Your Resume This Year 8Your resume is seeking your attention as the new year draws near. The lead up to the new year offers a great time to figure out possible changes to make to your resume, with the potential to launch a brand new chapter in your career. Think about it this way: many of us take on new fitness regimens as a new year begins. Similarly, freshening up your resume is one of the best career fitness routines you can undertake to shape up your job prospects and find the best flexible jobs. Keeping up with the top resume  and job search trends is a great way to determine specific changes to make to your resume. In other words, keep things fresh as you set your sights on reaching new career and personal goals this year! Here are some changes to make to your resume this year: Make it visually engaging. If your resume consists of a rote list of past jobs and educational experience, its  the perfect time to come up with a more creative resume that highlights the best of what you have to offer. Experiment with fonts, formats, graphics, and social media elements to make your resume eye-catching and super informative all at once. Make it targeted. Targeting your resume to a specific job or audience is a smart move- and potentially far more rewarding than broadcasting a generic resume across a range of industries, and then keeping your fingers crossed that someone will bite. Give some serious thought to your audience each time you send out your resume, and target your resume accordingly. Make it virtual. If youve been trotting out the same well-traveled resume time and again, you may be setting yourself up for the same-old, same-old responses from employers. If you havent already,  make your resume virtual, which  allows you to post customized versions on LinkedIn, About.me, or even in 140-character targeted segments on Twitter. Make it a social-media showcase. More than 93 percent of recruiters  use social media to find and screen job candidates.  If you dont have a social media presence, you greatly diminish the chances that potential employers will find you online and contact you directly about potential job opportunities. Once you establish a social media presence, make a special point of highlighting it on your both your traditional and virtual resumes- including links, for example, to your blog or other samples of your work. Make it scannable. One of the most tech-savvy changes you can make to your resume is to make it easy to scan with  Applicant Tracking Systems, software designed to help employers manage job applicants and resume data. Use the system to your advantage by editing your resume to make sure it includes keywords for the specific position, such as job titles or specific work experience. As impersonal as Applicant Tracking Systems may be, theyre increasingly used by HR professionals to find the right job candidates. Readers, what changes are you making to your resume this year? Wed love to hear your ideas! Share them with us in the comments section below!