Do a Skills Match with Your Current Resume

By J. Mason
Online Career Tips Editor

When is the last time you took a look over your resume? If you’re on the job hunt then it’s probably been today, but if you’ve been in the same job for a couple of years now and you’re content there it’s possible that your resume is collecting dust. It is a great idea to update your resume, and your LinkedIn profile, when new responsibilities and tasks are earned. This way you’re alerting not only colleagues to the change, but potential employers will have a clear window into your most recent activity.

Start simple with the skills and responsibilities on your resume. Since job descriptions usually come out when a promotion comes around, or when a job is offered, it’s hard to track down a finite list of duties. Build out your own list, but keep it short and concise. Go for a max of eight and a minimum of four. Boil down what you do into tangible items. For example:

• Manage regional company events and placements.
• Report website traffic on a quarterly basis.
• Responsible for producing, editing and publishing copy.

Don’t be vague when updating a task list. This will more or less give a potential employer insight into how much you can manage at a given time, as well as the amount of responsibility you were trusted with.

When you start going into skills you can do a quick search through a career site as a frame of reference. Employers like to know if you can write copy, edit content, build out microsites, create and maintain analytics dashboards, and more. If there is a product name you can reference with more technical skills make sure to include it. This may be something a sorter might be doing a keyword search on when reviewing a pile of resumes.

In the end don’t sell yourself short. Even if you have a short list of skills for each job that can signal expertise to a potential employer, or your colleagues. Being a “jack of all trades” isn’t the hallmark for a top notch employee anymore. Being the best in what you do elevates your position as well as necessity in any company.