The need to seek new employment can mean a new direction in life, but it should start with a new resume with updated information. This is not just a matter of plugging in job information since the last time a resume was needed. Fashions in resumes change, and a page that appears dated may keep an otherwise qualified job seeker from even being interviewed. Updating a resume should be done carefully, but it is not an onerous task. Following a few simple steps makes the job easy.

Research

Before updating a resume for a new job search, a job seeker should do some research. The first thing to look at is the industry in which work is desired. There may be specific requirements and expectations to which applicants are expected to conform, even beyond formal qualifications. Someone looking for work should identify companies that are hiring, find out who in their organization makes hiring decisions and who the gatekeeper is, and get an idea of things to avoid at the resume and interview stage. It goes without saying that job seekers applying for work in more than one field should have a separate resume for each.

Job seekers should also investigate current practice in resumes, since the style should be updated along with the content. One way to do this is to look at sample resumes designed by professionals. There is a good selection here divided by industry and job title that will give a job seeker ideas about an up to date resume.

Design the approach

Resumes are advertisements. Ideally they should fit on a single page without looking crowded. This means that job seekers who have been in the workforce for a while may have a problem getting everything to fit. While the essentials must be in the resume, a certain degree of pruning may be required. This does not mean trying to deceive potential employers. It just means giving them the information pertinent to their hiring decision without cluttering it with irrelevancies.

The basic choice when updating a resume is between chronological or functional emphasis. All resumes should have a list of recent employers with contact information. Interviewees should present a complete employment history extending all the way back to their first job at the time of the interview. However, if the job in question requires definite skills, the resume should spend more time on those, demonstrating that the applicant has used those exact qualities in previous jobs.

On the other hand, if the job requires fewer specialized skills and more reliability, the resume should provide an employment history of at least ten years. Even if this chronological approach is used, the resume should still carefully point out the candidate's competence in any areas the employer needs. 

Gather resources

Once the applicant has isolated some target jobs and decided on the general direction of a resume update, the next step is to gather data. At this point the job seeker will need specific information about each target employer. At a minimum, it is necessary to know whether resumes should be faxed, mailed or submitted in person and how it should be addressed and to whom, as well as the phone number for follow up phone calls. Resumes should never be addressed by title. Each envelope should have the name of a person on it.

Someone updating a resume for a new job search must also have their employment information at hand. This means the addresses of each employer, the name of the supervisor and the phone number where this person can be reached. In addition, the applicant should list the functions of each job and the skills required to accomplish them, particularly if the skills can be related to the target job.

Write the Resume

Once the research is done, the design decisions made and the necessary information close at hand, the time has come to actually write an updated resume. The document should be clear and concise, written in complete sentences. One single sheet of paper is all it takes, preferably with headings and bullet points to help with readability. Contact information should be prominently placed so that the reader need not search for it. No extraneous material should be included, especially not anything that could cause the target employer legal problems. That means it is bad form to include age, religion or ethnicity unless related to the job.

Resumes have to look good. They should use a conservative font. While fonts with serifs are best for paper resumes, those that will be read on a computer screen look best in sans-serif. In any case, the ink should contrast with the paper used, and that paper should be heavy, have a nice finish and be in a neutral color. Unless the position desired is in a creative field, the resume should look like a business document. Garish colors and pointless clip art make the job seeker seem less than serious, and that is not a quality many employers are seeking today.

Updating a resume does not have to be difficult. Taking it one step at a time, researching, looking at sample resumes and writing a targeted document are the keys to a great resume. That great resume, in turn, can be the key to a great new job.