Update Your Resume with 2013 Achievements

As the holidays wind down over the next few days, consider updating your resume with all of the achievements you accomplished this past year. Doing so will allow you to get ahead of a potential job search in January and February. So what kinds of achievements should you include? Here are three tips.

• Promotions. This is of course the most straightforward achievement to include in your resume. Surprisingly, many people forget or neglect to add changes in title that demonstrate an increase in responsibility.. Moving up to Senior Associate from Associate or Third-Year VP from Second-Year VP still constitutes a promotion. It is ok to add these differentiators if you aren’t sure a slight shift qualifies.

• Exceeding Expectations. Simply meeting expectations is just not that impressive. Surpassing a given sales objective or quota is what you want to include. Unless it was a horribly difficult year where no one was meeting their goals, think about including thinks that help you stand apart – the things for which you were most proud. This could be anything from closing a new piece of business or selling add-on services, to achieving project deliverables in a very tight timeframe in accordance with a stringent budget. The point is that you want to make sure that people understand that you are focused, motivated, and willing to go the extra mile. The examples you provide will send that message.

• Leading organizational change. If you are in a business development role, include any new partnerships, alliances, or client relationships that you sourced. If you are in a non-front office or non-client-facing role, talk about cases where you implemented or effected positive change in your organization, e.g. standardizing disparate processes or streamlining your company’s operating model.

Before your schedule kicks back into full gear take some time to really consider what you achieved in 2013. This is a great time to update your resume and refresh your cover letter so you can take 2014 by storm. I’ve never been a big believer in New Year’s Resolutions but I will say that I am a huge fan of writing down goals and then working towards them. There is something really motivating about reading the accomplishments from the recent past and creating action items for the future. Now is the time! The New Year is on the horizon; what better time to shore up your resources and develop an action plan that will kick-start 2014 on the right foot?  Still need some inspiration? Email me! I am sure in a matter of minutes I can provide you with some “juice” to get your career mojo going!