3 Tips to Help You Update Your Resume Quickly

September is International Update Your Resume Month! Whether you are passively job seeking, open to new opportunities, or unemployed and raring to secure a new position, it is time to polish and revamp your resume to ensure success in today’s job market.

ATS

Maybe you’ve heard of Applicant Tracking Systems, or read an article about their use. Or maybe not! No matter; the important thing to keep in mind is that the vast majority of companies are using ATS software to “parse” your resume for specific keywords and qualifications.

The other key takeaway is that there are hundreds of versions of this software, and that sadly, it does not work very well. Plenty of excellent candidates have been weeded out by ATS because their resumes were not using the right keywords, or because of an issue with formatting.

Best practices for ATS/Online applications:

-Don’t put information in headers/footers

-Avoid infographic resumes or PDF files

-Use a .doc or .docx file

-Remove any unusual formatting/text boxes/tables/graphs

-Remove live links

-Spell out acronyms (at least the first time they are used)