Keep Your Resume Updated

Unfortunately, the main reason we update or even prepare from scratch, a resume is because of a career emergency.  Fear of lay-offs, surprise downsizing, company closure, company merger or acquisition, or being dismissed are all reasons people will need an updated resume quickly.  However, waiting until the emergency happens is a very bad idea. 

Think of your resume as your personal marketing brochure.  Just like a company’s marketing brochure, your resume needs to be continually modified with new information, have older information revamped or eliminated, and be read and re-read for errors.  Delaying the task of keeping your resume updated, whether actually inserting new information into an existing document, or maintaining a list of projects worked on, documents development, clients work with, sales numbers, inventory managed, computer applications utilized, etc., can leave you flustered during a career crisis and result in a lackluster document. 

Why have to remember this information at a time when you are upset about an impending or recent job loss, nervous about the future, and feeling a great deal of pressure to get a new job.  Your thinking is clearer and your ability to remember important information for your resume and for the interview is stronger during a time when you aren’t highly stressed. 

Take the time today to sit down and write out recent happenings in your career.  If it has been some time, say five or more years since you have taken on this task, try carving time out weekly for a few weeks to think back on your career and give yourself a better opportunity for recall of material suitable for a resume.  You should always have more information than necessary, and that surplus material can offer you some additional support of your experience in an interview.  Update your resume today.  To your career success!

What NOT To Do If You Get Fired

People are fired every day; it is a fact of life.  Most of us will experience at least once in our career.  However, there are a few things that you shouldn’t do if you are fired, and here are the top seven.  So, don’t…

1)      Storm out of the building cussing, crying, screaming, or doing anything that doesn’t show a professional manner.  Yes, you are upset, but acting out in front of your coworkers and superiors will not help the situation, and can backfire when you ask for references.

2)      Forget to ask for a reference letter or two.  You will be surprised how many supervisors and other colleagues will write you a letter of reference, even it is more of a personal reference.   

3)      Hesitate to ask why?  If you are being fired, you have a right to know why.  This is particularly important if your supervisor has not followed company protocols, which could buy you additional time in your job, or even save your job, after petitioning Human Resources.

4)      Be pressured into making a decision on the spot if the company gives you the choice of resignation versus termination.  You could be giving up your rights to unemployment insurance and severance.  Read everything carefully and consult an employment attorney if necessary.  

5)      Thoughtlessly criticize your manager, coworkers, employees, etc., either as you leave, or on social media.  Those comments can come back to haunt you later.

6)      Post news of your firing on social media immediately, asking everyone you know for help and appearing desperate.  Get your resume, LinkedIn and job search act together over the next few of days before involving others in your job search.

7)      Devalue you.  When you are fired it is easy to assume there must be something wrong with you, that you will never get another job, or envision the worst possible outcomes from the dismissal.  By funneling your energy into a job search, and empowering yourself, you will find a new job quicker, and keep many of those worries at bay.

While being fired is upsetting, it can also be a new beginning.  Look at your job search as an journey, not a problem.  As Helen Keller once said:  “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.”  To your career and job search success!