Are you confused as to what you should and should not put on your resume? Well, you’re not alone! Many jobseekers find themselves conflicted about what to include on their resume, either adding too much or leaving off too little. As you revisit your resume and gear up for interviews, chances are there’s some refinement that can be done. In many cases, a good resume is about quality – not quantity.
Keeping this in mind, here are three key factors to consider when making adjustments to your resume:
Relevance
As you go through your past employment, think about what positions were relevant to your current job prospects. If you held jobs that were completely unrelated to your industry, they may not benefit you as a candidate or add any value to your applicant profile. However, even if a job appears irrelevant on the surface, you may have acquired transferable skills which you can apply to the workforce today. If this is the case, it’s important to note these specific skills within your job descriptions and highlight them accordingly.
Chronology and Employment Gaps
To some employers, the chronology of your resume will mean more than what’s on it! If you’ve discovered a major gap in your employment history, consider any short-term employment you held during this time. It’s completely acceptable to include temporary or seasonal positions you may have held, as this will demonstrate that you were consistently employed. Or, if you weren’t employed for a certain period of time, think about your other professional endeavors. For example, did you volunteer or join a board? Did you earn a degree of certification? Including this information will fill in the gaps and give employers more insight about how you spent your time between jobs.
Growth and Progression
Ideally, your resume should show a progression of professional growth throughout the duration of your employment history. If there’s a job or position that derailed this representation of your career, you may want to strongly consider removing it. For instance, did you take on an entry-level job even though you were at a management level in your industry? Did you choose to explore a different career option for a short time? Were your fired from a brief stint? It’s best to remove jobs that are heavily disconnected from your career path, as they can detract from your qualifications.
At the end of the day, using logic and common sense during this process can go a long way. Remember, your resume is your biggest selling point as a candidate – take the time to make it look right!
Looking for new job opportunities? Get started with The Liberty Group, an executive search and staffing firm serving 24 cities and their surrounding markets nationwide.
