{"id":66718,"date":"2014-03-31T13:00:19","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T18:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=66718"},"modified":"2014-03-31T13:38:28","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T18:38:28","slug":"spring-clean-your-resume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=66718","title":{"rendered":"Spring Clean your Resume"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexis Rohlfing, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ New Hampshire<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Spring Clean your Resume<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"alexisrohlfing\"<\/a>Spring has finally sprung! With it, we all have our spring rituals\u2014going back outside every day without\u00a0being bundled, spring vacation, cookouts, and spring cleaning. Spring cleaning is probably the least\u00a0favorite, at least for those who have to do most of it, but it is a worthwhile endeavor. We clear out the\u00a0dirt and dust that can build up over a winter and, in its place, we find ways to freshen our surroundings.\u00a0Your resume is no different. Every so often, we need to reassess and take stock of our resume\u2014what it\u00a0looks like, what it says, and how it presents us to the world.<\/p>\n

Now, you can make the argument that you should be looking at your resume more often, and if you\u00a0can then by all means, do! But by building this into your spring rituals, you can make sure that you have\u00a0done a deep review at least once a year, whether you are in the market for a job or not. O<\/strong>nce you have\u00a0settled into a job and are not actively looking, it can be easy to leave the resume file alone, gathering\u00a0metaphorical dust on your hard drive. The problem is that, when you need it, you\u2019ll have a whole lot of\u00a0clean up you have to do before you can submit an application, causing unneeded stress.<\/p>\n

Spring cleaning in the home has three major steps, and the same steps can be applied to your resume\u00a0spring clean: deep clean, rearrange, and prettying things up.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Deep cleaning<\/strong>\u2014no one ever likes deep cleaning their home. It usually involves clearing out\u00a0grease that has been trapped, or dirt that has been building in corners. It can be messy or\u00a0painful and time consuming to book, but deep cleaning is necessary and gives you a good\u00a0foundation upon which to arrange your home. The same is true of deep cleaning your resume.\u00a0This is the first step where you have to prepare all the elements that will remain a part of your\u00a0resume. This is when you assess the skills and jobs that are listed, and decide \u201cDo I need that?\u201d\u00a0Now is the time to decide if you really need your college coffee shop job on the list\u2014have any\u00a0transferrable skills been accounted for under other positions? Do the achievements that you\u00a0have listed still have relevance to the career track that you are pursuing? An easy way to whittle\u00a0things down is to take the individual elements and paste them into a clean word document,\u00a0as well as pasting in any elements that you know you want to include from your past year\u00a0professionally. From there, you can whittle down the list to make sure that the best you have to\u00a0offer is included in your resume<\/p>\n

\u2022 Rearranging<\/strong>\u2014Every spring, I take a look around my apartment at the furniture I have and think\u00a0about whether everything is in the best possible place. Even if you don\u2019t have too much that\u00a0can be added, finding a new arrangement can make all the difference. Now that you have your\u00a0resume elements, you have to decide if you want to keep the same look you have used in the\u00a0past. There is always the question of resume vs. CV, and the various formats that can go along\u00a0with that choice. My favorite resource for resume and CV formatting is Purdue\u2019s OWL<\/a>. They\u00a0have a four part series on resumes, as well as resume design and samples. OWL also has a lot of\u00a0good writing resources in general as well.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pretty it up<\/strong>\u2014So you have your base elements, you\u2019ve decided on your general format. What\u00a0is left to do? The only thing left is the equivalent of dressing up your home with flowers or\u00a0accent pieces. Now, you need to decide on font, color, and the aesthetics of your resume.\u00a0Because library and information professional jobs can vary widely in terms of scope and possible\u00a0employer, this is not a step to be taken lightly. If you are applying to an information professional\u00a0job with a financial firm, law firm, or some other field that is traditionally more conservative,\u00a0you do not want to make your resume too \u2018out there\u2019 or \u2018over the top.\u2019 Conversely, if you are\u00a0applying for a field that is traditionally less conservative or which will allow for varying designs\u00a0and creativity in a resume, take advantage of that in a way that will showcase your skills and\u00a0what you bring to the job. Above all, make sure that the aesthetics of your resume show off\u00a0your skills and experience, and help make the case for why the hiring manager should call YOU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexis Rohlfing, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ New Hampshire Spring Clean your Resume Spring has finally sprung! With it, we all have our spring rituals\u2014going back outside every day without\u00a0being bundled, spring vacation, cookouts, and spring cleaning. Spring cleaning is probably the least\u00a0favorite, at least for those who have to do most of it, but it is…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":57676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[3802,69,3592,3599,112,5745,6079],"class_list":["post-66718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-alexis-rohlfing","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-new-hampshire","tag-resume","tag-resume-makeovers","tag-spring-clean-your-resume"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/alexisrohlfing.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-hm6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/57676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}