Job opportunities seem to be flying thick and fast these days. Companies are making their “move forward” plans which often involve new leaders and differently skilled teams.
People, in general, seem to be reevaluating their work specifically or as part of their work-life continuum. Job postings on LinkedIn are getting lots of views and recruiters’ calls are being answered.
With all this action, you are bound to be presented with an opportunity that you actually want to explore. Something that sounds like a great next chapter – better boss, better mission, better growth – any of these things might grab your attention.
Moving to the next step almost always involves sending a resume. There might be a rare case where you are known to a company and you can secure a first interview without one but eventually, even when you are known in your industry, you are going to need to provide a resume.
When this happens, you want to have it close at hand. Last week, I ran into three people who were very interested in the job that I presented but it took them four days to get a resume to me and it was a crappy one at that. This was due to the fact that their resumes resided only on a home computer and it had crashed.
Making a resume on the fly is not good. You need time to consider what you want to include and not include, the best layout/format and of course, to have it spell checked by someone else. This takes several segments of your time.
When an opportunity has really grabbed your attention, you don’t want to have a sub-standard resume. You want to present a document that represents you with strength. Something you are proud of.
The lesson here is to a) keep your resume up to date and b) keep it accessible and secure. Almost everyone has access to some kind of free cloud based filing cabinet – Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive. Just don’t keep it on an old home PC or Tablet. That’s a recipe for stress and considering a new role is stressful enough.
Recruiter's Couch 