A friend was just promoted to a position of vice-president of a company. I am happy for him and the first thing I told him after congratulations was "update your resume". He is now in a new league and if and when a headhunter should call or an opportunity to advance presents itself, he must be ready with his paperwork. Ready now, not tomorrow. A prospective employer's first impression of you should be one of preparedness.

How about you? When did you last update your resume?

"Be Prepared" is not just a motto for the Boy Scouts, and having your resume up-to-date is a major part of your preparation whether you are looking for another position right now or not. When an opportunity appears, are you going to have the proper documentation ready? Can you send or fax your resume at a moment's notice?

Have you added your current position, skills, or responsibilities to your resume?

Changes don't even need to be large for them to still be important enough for you to update your resume.

Has your job description changed? Have you attended any new seminars or workshops? Have you given any speeches or been recognized in any way? Have you joined or been honored with awards from any organizations? Changed phone numbers?

What about any continuing education classes or higher certification studies? Maybe you published an article, or a book, or gave an interview to a newspaper, magazine, radio station, or the local television station?

Big changes or small, the important thing is to have your resume reflect your current status accurately and represents you in as positive a manner as possible.

Time isn't always so short, and many, if not most, prospective employers are likely to give you time to prepare and submit your resume, but it is certainly better to have your updated resume ready.

Okay, got those all added?

Now print out at least 2 copies on quality paper.

Remember Murphy's law?

How about Ahern's Law? "Nothing bad waits for a good time to happen."

Will your printer start acting up or run out of ink? Will your hard disk crash? Will the local copy shop be closed for remodeling?

As a last reminder, though you may not want to keep that updated resume lying around on top of your new desk, you really should have it somewhere handy.

© Copyright 2005 JobMarketUpdate.com You may reprint this article as long as the author's resource box below is intact and the links are live.

John Ahern helps people help themselves to better lives and careers. For the latest in job market news, job listings, and updates visit: http://www.JobMarketUpdate.com

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