3 Tips to Freshen Up Your Resume in 2017

3 Tips to Freshen Up Your Resume in 2017Employers are on the move trying to meet talent shortages and discover new ways to find qualified candidates. Job seekers are infused with optimism about the opportunities before them. If youre one of the 74%+ of job seekers open to new opportunities this year youre probably taking a good look at your resume and wondering if its as ready as you are for a new job search. Ive heard from countless job seekers in the past two months who are concerned their resumes arent up to the challenge, that their resume hasnt been updated recently, isnt positioned correctly, or doesnt get responses. If youre having a hard time writing your resume or simply not feeling confident about the current condition of your resume, here are three quick tips that you can use right now to freshen up your resume so that its ready for the 2017 job market.CULTURE FIT IS IMPORTANTThe majority of recruiters say that culture fit is an important factor in their hiring decision. Y ou dont hear much about culture fit when it comes to resume writing, but your resume is a great place to abflug setting the stage for a great culture fit. Start by researching the company culture of the organizations that you want to target in your job search. Find out what beliefs and values drive their organization and if these align with yours, be sure to include that information within your resume.DITCH POINTLESS WORDSMeaningless words that take up space and add no value to your resume do not market or brand you strongly enough to be included. Examples of these words include results, success, professional, accomplished. These words are not inherently schwimmbadits just that they dont tell the employer much about you and the distinct value you offer an employer. Instead, replace these generic phrases with specific terms. Instead of saying you are results-driven describe the results you deliver with metrics, facts, and figures.Replace the generic term success with the actual succe sses youve had using specific examples, keywords, and industry terms.The word professional can be switched with the actual position title that youre pursuing.Accomplished is an overused phrase thats hard to quantify. So instead of saying youre accomplished, share the accomplishments with metrics.MODERNIZE YOUR RESUMEIf you havent updated your resume in the last two years its time for an overhaul. Our society has become increasingly more visually driven. If you dont believe me just Google some basic stats about the performance statistics around videos, visuals, and infographics over plain text. Or, research what our current attention span is (about 8 seconds less than a goldfish by the way). Content-heavy resumes that lack visually engaging elements, design, and color are outdated. Its time to revamp the design of your resume to include charts, graphs, visuals, color, boxes, shading, borders, and other visual design elements that will engage the reader and make content easily digest ible and quicker to consume. If youre getting an average of only six seconds for an initial scan, use visuals to communicate large chunks of information more quickly. For examples of visuals in resumes here are several resume samples that include color, borders, shading and graphs.If youre not confident in your current resume, take time to make changes in these three key areas. If youre still struggling, need an executive resume writers help, or are in a time crunch you can get more help here. I believe you deserve a career that brings you joy, fulfillment, and the ability to live your best life. If youre having a hard time writing your resume or your current resume isnt generating the response youd hoped it would, reach out to me on LinkedIn or visit my website for help now