Why It’s Always a Good Idea to Have Your Resume Ready

When it comes to your career, you never want to be unprepared. Even the most passive job searcher should consider these points.

It’s a crazy job market

I wish it wasn’t the reality, but layoffs continue to happen across many industries.  I certainly don’t recommend a fear-based approach to your networking, but maybe more of a Girl Scouts always-prepared mindset. Having your career collateral (resume, LinkedIn, elevator pitch) ready at all times will ensure you’re never caught off guard when a great connection, new introduction, or potential opportunity arises.   

What if you see an amazing job posting with a company you have admired for years – but your resume has collected dust since college?  Timing is everything, make sure your resume is ready to go so you can act on those awesome opportunities in a timely fashion. 

Make sure your dream job can find you if it becomes available!

Yes, you might be status quo and content with your job. But your next rocket ship-worthy opportunity could be out there, and you don’t want to miss out.  This is particularly true for your LinkedIn profile- ensuring it’s optimized, and your skills are *findable* is key.  There are some worthwhile tips out there that ensure your profile is complete so that when recruiters are searching for stellar candidates, your profile won’t have any issues popping up at the top.    Although not always fair, the passive candidate is often the most desirable one.  

You never know, your dream job could be just an inmail away.

Networking is a long game

Networking is best done when there isn’t something on the line.  Have you ever tried reaching out to a contact during an *active* job search period, and feel like it’s more forced?  You have an ‘ask’, but haven’t connected with said contact in months, or even years?   Networking casually and staying connected with your professional acquaintances during all cycles of your career puts less pressure on the requests.

This goes for recruiters as well.  If you have one or two go-to recruiters you click with- and most importantly, trust – keep in touch with them!  So often during my recruiting years, I would reach out to a candidate knowing they might not be actively job searching but thought of them when a great opportunity came across my desk.  I remembered the ones I had long-standing relationships with.  I think the same went for my candidates, so many of whom I reconnected with during various stages of their careers. 

It’ll help you stay on top of your career internally

Have you ever tried to update your resume but struggled to recall project details and metrics, or draw a complete blank on what your 40 hours a week consists of?

A great routine to start is a quarterly check-in on your work progress where you add any noteworthy projects to your resume.   It doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s simply for tracking.  However qualitative outcomes, concrete numbers, and specific goal-oriented bullets on a resume are much easier to articulate when it’s fresh on your mind.  

This is also a great practice to start for your annual review preparation.  How great would it be to have a list of all your key accomplishments ready to chat about with your manager when you want to ask for that merit raise you have been working hard for?

Updating your resume and LinkedIn can certainly feel like a chore or to-do item, if you need some guidance in this area, we should chat.