Even if you're not job hunting, update your resume
It's the half-way point of the year, which means it's a great time to update your resume on what you've done so far this year and how your career has changed. You should be updating your resume at least twice a year, regardless of if you are searching for a job or not.
Why June is so Ideal
May/June marks the beginning of the summer fun season. As a result, you and everyone else are going to be attending more social events. Over three quarters of jobs are never advertised on public job boards like Monster.com or the local newspaper. This means that the people who get the jobs are found through their social networks.
During the summer months, you will be in contact with a large number of people you may not see during the rest of the year. Each of these social events carries the potential for you to meet someone that could advance your career or have a job opening that would lure you away from your current employer. Having an updated resume is the best way to take advantage of random opportunities. Being at the right place at the right time is worthless if you aren't prepared.
Competition is also higher
Recent college graduates have also just hit the job market, so some companies also increase hiring while the talent pool increases. As a result, these job opportunities have high competition competition is higher. Making it that much more important to make tweaks and put finishing touches on your resume.
Areas to Review for Updates
The following are areas to focus on when making updates to your resume. Use these areas as a checklist to see what you should update on your resume this time around.
New Skills and Accomplishments
Go through your job and list any new skills and accomplishments that you've developed since the last update. Don't tell people about your responsibilities, but demonstrate the skills you are using in your job and describe the accomplishments you've achieved. Updating your resume multiple times a year will make sure you capture the skills and accomplishments while they are still fresh.
New and Continuing Education
Update you education section with any continuing or new education you have taken. You probably didn't get a new degree, but you've likely had a lot of education in the past months. Training you've attended, seminars you've gone to, classes you've taken, or certifications you've achieved all should be incorporated into your education section. Having an updated education section is the best way to show prospective employers that you are up-to-date in your field and that you are willing to learn and be trained.
Job Changes
If you've changed jobs within the past year, even a promotion within the same company, make all your updates now. People assume that there is no need to update your resume when you have a new job. Right after getting a new job, however, is the ideal time to update your resume.
You've just closed out your last job, and your skills and responsibilities are still fresh in your head. Update your previous employment with the skills, accomplishments, and responsibilities you had leading up to the job change. People focus on updating their current employment on their resume when they do a job search. In the future, you'll likely give this previous job only a cursory glance, meaning this is the last chance you have to make sure your resume presents everything you want it to from that job.
Additionally, your current job needs to be represented on your resume. Add the current job and start listing the skills you've used so far and any accomplishments you've had.
Summary & Objective
Your summary and/or objective should be updated as well. Once you've made all the other changes, review your summary and/or objective to see if any of those additions should be highlighted in these statements.
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