Don’t let your career documents gather dust! If your resume or LinkedIn profile has been neglected, it’s time to shake off those eerie cobwebs and revive them.

Keeping your professional documents up to date is essential to staying competitive in today’s job market and avoiding being ghosted.

The Graveyard of Forgotten Resumes

Common Resume Problems

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) can be scarier than any haunted house. If your resume lacks the right keywords and isn’t tailored for each job, it may never make it past the ghoulish gatekeepers.

Additionally, overly formatted resumes can disappear into the ATS abyss, leaving your application unseen.

If your resume still uses grim outdated elements like “Objectives” and “References available upon request,” it’s time for a refresh. These relics of the past need to be replaced with dynamic content that will breathe new life into your resume.

Impact of an Outdated Resume

Resumes without the right keywords often get stuck in that wicked ATS underworld, never making it to a recruiter’s desk. An outdated resume leads to missed opportunities and keeps you from standing out in today’s competitive job market.

How to Revive Your Resume

To escape the Applicant Tracking System (ATS), here are 19 tips to keep you out of the ATS graveyard. Tailor your resume with the right keywords, and match it to each job description. Every bullet point should highlight measurable accomplishments in dollars, numbers, or percentages.

Here’s a tip: use action-oriented language to demonstrate how you helped a company make or save money or time. And remember, bullet points don’t need periods—they’re not sentences.

For extra help, you can use tools like ChatGPT to assist with bullet point rewrites, but always replace suggested numbers with your real achievements or rewrite them so they are truthful and make sense.

How can you do this? Get your little friend ChatGPT to help you and use a prompt like this: I am going to provide you with one bullet point from a resume. Please rewrite it to include a metric that might be a number, percent, or dollar amount. Do you understand?

Never rely on AI to write your entire resume, as it can produce frightening subpar results. Human input is essential for content and formatting!

To ensure your resume stays fresh, set a reminder to update it every six months. This way, you’ll be prepared for those chilling performance reviews and new opportunities.

Have You Neglected Your LinkedIn Profile?

LinkedIn: Your Key to Today’s Job Market

LinkedIn is more than a networking platform—it’s a powerful tool to help you connect with recruiters and potential employers. You risk becoming invisible in search results if your profile is inactive or outdated.

The Risks of an Inactive LinkedIn Profile

A lack of engagement on LinkedIn is like hiding in the shadows—you’ll miss out on valuable job opportunities. An inactive profile makes it harder for recruiters to see your skills and potential, leaving your profile empty and uninspiring.

How to Refresh Your LinkedIn Profile

Update your LinkedIn profile with a new photo and headline reflecting your current professional persona. Add recent skills, certifications, and accomplishments to keep your profile vibrant and relevant.

Don’t just creepily lurk on LinkedIn—engage with your network by commenting on posts to boost visibility, credibility, and discoverability. Share industry insights and actively participate in groups.

This activity will boost your visibility and demonstrate your thought leadership. Aim for meaningful interactions, and avoid two-word comments that do little to show off your expertise and leave a trail of your “lack of effort” in your feed.

Time to Get Out of the Graveyard

Regularly updating your resume and LinkedIn profile will make you visible to recruiters and hiring managers and open up new career opportunities. Don’t let your career languish in the graveyard—take action today to breathe new life into your resume and LinkedIn profile!

Ready to bring your career back to life? Start by updating your resume, engaging on LinkedIn, or seeking professional help to ensure you stand out in the job market. It can be spooky out there!

Did you read the article from last week? The Art of LinkedIn Profiles: Tips to Stand Out in the Digital Ballroom

NEXT STEPS

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Check out our Nonprofit Events Quick List Page for More

• Sat Oct 26 – LinkedIn Profile Reviews
• Mon Oct 28 – Immigrant Professional Career Support Group
• Tue Oct 29 – Beating the Applicant Tracking System: Tips to Format Your Resume
• Wed Oct 30 – Zoom for Entrepreneurs (with a LinkedIn Top Voice)
• Wed Oct 30 – LinkedIn Tips to Build Your Brand