I'm giving you an assignment: If it's been two years or more since you last updated your resume? Get it done in the next two weeks. Why? Not for the reason(s) you think. Read on!
Met up with a former colleague a few weeks ago. They were burned out. Stressed. Even shed some tears about how bad work had gotten. And they also expressed a lot of fear about the job market and not having the skills needed to get back out into the marketplace and securing a good position. They felt “stuck.”
I asked when this person had last updated their resume. They instantly responded with “I’m telling you, I’m not ready to look for a job and I don’t think I can compete!”
I shared with them that the point of updating the resume isn’t to prepare to go looking for work…it’s to help you solve the biggest problem in front of you – you.
You see, the barriers put in place were self-inflicted. Self-limiting. And so I doubled down: take the next two weeks and work on your resume. Think about all the things you’ve done and accomplished over the last few years since you last updated your resume.
They agreed. Reluctantly.
Called them up a few weeks later and they shared this: I had no idea all the things I had worked on over the last few years! I had no idea all the skills I accumulated and accomplishments I had checked off until I went through this.
We so rarely stop to reflect on our accomplishments. We rush fire-drill to fire-drill at work. We abandon our moments of successes because we’re off to the next crisis; the shine is still on that trophy you just won while your emails are blowing up about yet another emergency.
We spend so much time focused on the tactics and surviving another day of chaos that we ignore all of the wins we produced and supported.
It leaves us thinking we’re incapable of another job. Hell, it often leaves us thinking we’re incapable of doing the job we’re in!
We let the chaos of our work convince us that all the things we accomplished don’t matter; we dismiss our wins because we used the wrong font on the TPS report.
All the self-doubt and negative talk drowns out any (and all of) good we accomplished.
Taking time to reflect on the skills you’ve gained, the progress you’ve made and the successes you helped create is necessary. Not just for updating your resume but if you never take a pause to look back on how far you’ve come…then the next fire-drill is meaningless. You’re no better than a hamster running around on its wheel! Running fast…looking “productive” …thinking you’re killing those KPIs…but getting nowhere.
If it’s been a few years since you’ve worked on your resume…I encourage you to set a two week deadline and try it! Not because you’re “looking” or unhappy…but because you owe it to yourself to reflect on all the great things you’ve accomplished the last few years.
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