Importance of Updated Resumes for Employees and Yes, Employers

Christine Johnson, Cued Forward on
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Keeping your resume updated is important for telling your career story.  As cited in our recent blog, almost three-quarters of employees are looking for new jobs.  Here are six reasons you should embrace updating your resume.  Plus, reasons why employers should not panic when they hear their employees are “looking.”

Employees: Welcome to today’s job market

Opportunity knocks

Many employers are distinctly aware of the challenges faced in today’s labor market – they have lots of open positions.  Since finding the right candidate is job one for many organizations, submitting your resume earlier in the process gives you a head start to grow your career.

Be prepared

The business world is in a constant state of flux. Jobs are changing. Many of you will not be in the exact same role in a few years. The gig economy continues to grow. With large numbers of layoffs in certain sectors continuing (for example retail) and mergers and acquisitions in the news throughout this year (Amazon acquiring Whole foods for one), employees need to be prepared for what’s next in their company, industry, and economy as a whole.

Connected networks

We are more networked than ever.  You never know what may come up during an introduction or conversation.  According to a recent article in Business Insider, around 70% of open positions are not published.  Additionally, up to 85% of job openings are filled through networking.  By failing to stay current with your network, you may be missing your next career opportunity.

Lots to do, little time to remember

You do a lot in your day, but can’t remember what you did last week.  How are you going to remember leading a team to finish a project?  Stepping up to lead a community service project?  Your professional story is in your work details.  If you don’t remember them, who will?

Be your own storyteller

There is a line in Hamilton the musical about telling our stories, “Who lives? Who dies? Who tells your story?” We may not always be around to tell our story so it is important we tell our own stories now, when employers are listening with open ears. Your resume is your professional story.

We do not do well sharing our accomplishments, but can readily admit our failures.  It’s even harder to promote yourself even when you are under stress.   Work on listing accomplishments when the pressure is not on.

Employers: Employees’ Updated Resumes are Not All Bad

There are also benefits for employers when their employees keep their resumes updated.  Employees updating their resumes alone should not scare employers.   Since we already know that a majority of employees are looking for new jobs, it is no shock that employees are using their writing skills (or hiring a resume writing writer) to turn their outdated resume to a current tale of their career.

An organization’s focus should be on why employees are considering leaving and not their desire to update their resume.  When an organization knows employees are updating resumes and possibly looking for new roles, they are handed crucial data that they might not otherwise receive (even from an employee survey).  I would advise these organizations to start looking at their pay practices, employee development plans, and overall culture to see what is not working.

Organizations should also consider requiring a current resume for employees applying for internal positions or being promoted.  These updated resumes can be a valuable source of what the employee values in his role and what he sees as his biggest accomplishments.  These newer resumes give you, the employer, a more complete story of the person already working for you.

When was the last time you updated your resume?  Tweet us and let us know how long it has been since you updated your professional story.

Image Credit: Pixabay

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