Let’s start with the good news: You just bumped into a well-connected person and impressed the heck out of them. So much so that they asked you to follow up with your details, because they know someone who’s hiring—but before you do, it’s time to update your resume. (That’s the less-good news.)
Truth is, you have some work to do. Because the last time you even thought about your resume was before you got your current job a few years ago, and it’s seriously out of date.
Of course, that’s just one common scenario. Maybe you’re about to begin a new job hunt and you want to broadly update your resume before tailoring it for each position. Or you’re attending a networking event and want to have an updated resume ready to share. Regardless of your reason for updating, it’s time to open that old file, save it under a new name, and get typing. Here are some steps to take to easily update a resume—fast. If you’re short on time, you could get through all 12 in about 30 minutes.
How often should you update your resume?
Ideally, you should update your resume every three to six months, or whenever you develop new important skills, earn a relevant certification, or gain new work experience. Yes—even if you're not actively job hunting. That way, when it’s time to search again, it will save you time and prevent a long recap of everything you've done until that point.
Update that resume and land your next dream job—one of these amazing opportunities on The Muse might be perfect for you »
How to update your resume: 12 easy steps
The good thing about updating a resume is that you already have a base—you just need to make adjustments by replacing old information with current (and relevant) details.
1. Get it all down first, organize later
Instead of trying to write the most elegant bullet points possible right out of the gate, just write out all the info you think you should add. Don’t second-guess if you start to run a little over a page or if you’re starting every line with “assisted.” Write first, edit later.
2. Ditch old and irrelevant information
You squeezed and cut all you could to get your resume down the last time—and now you’re trying to add more information. It’s time to face the facts: You have one (or more) too many positions to fit on one page. So, drill down to what you’re trying to emphasize in your resume.
Consider cutting everything that doesn't align with the position you're looking for right now. For instance, if you want to be seen as a people-oriented marketer, you’ll keep jobs that relate to PR and cut that bullet about a tracking inventory job you had back in college.
You also want your resume to go back no more than 10 to 15 years—except for especially relevant or impressive positions. For example, let's say you interned for a prestigious political figure in college and now want to work inside the beltway. This is the type of old experience you could keep on your resume to this day. When in doubt, ask yourself, “Does this relate?”
3. Check and update your contact info
While you're cutting down old and irrelevant experiences from your resume, do the same with your contact info and ensure everything is up-to-date. If you haven’t updated your resume in a while, you may need to tweak your location, email address, phone number, pronouns, or anything else.
4. Add new relevant work experiences
Think about your latest experiences, as well as related extracurriculars—such as a side gig or volunteer work—and pretty much everything you added in the first draft (tip #1). Which one of these speak most to the type of position you’re pursuing?
When it comes to organizing your bullet points, you don’t need to go through your daily to-do list and add every little task to your resume. Instead, select what would be the most relevant to anyone reading. Ask yourself, is there anything you do that people wouldn’t know from your job title? Are there tasks specific to what you want to do moving forward? Is there some impressive company initiative you were a part of?
Then, follow these steps:
- Start each bullet point with a different action verb. If all your bullets start with the same verb, check out our list of action verbs for your resume to diversify a little. While you don’t need to come off like a professional writer, you should make sure that there’s a little variety.
- Add numbers. Quantify as many bullet points on your resume as possible. Write down any numbers that go with your experiences. How many people did you manage? How much money did you save? How often did you deliver on a certain task?
- Strengthen your bullet points. Frame your bullet points as accomplishments and include the results of your work. This could mean mentioning new clients you brought in, key changes you've made in the operation, or a new system you've implemented that benefited the company.
One extra tip for your bullet points: If you’re submitting your resume to a specific person who asked for it, a good starting point is to remember how you were just pitching yourself to them.
5. Cut down on bullet points for older jobs
This is for anyone who needs to keep older experiences on their resume: The further back a position is, the fewer bullet points are needed to describe it. Take a look at any jobs more than two positions back and see what bullet points you can trim.
Are there any bullet points that are repetitive with more recent accomplishments? Are there any descriptions of job duties you don’t want to do in the future? Or any information that doesn't add to your candidacy for your next job? Delete them to make room for more recent bullet points.
6. Add new relevant skills to the skills section
Much like your experience bullet points, your skills section likely needs a refresh. Start by adding new skills you’ve developed that are relevant to the job you’re after. Don’t worry if they’re already in your bullet points—in fact, that’s preferable. Then trim irrelevant or basic skills (like, “Microsoft Office proficiency” or “Strong work ethic”) to keep your resume tight.
7. Update your resume summary and education
To reflect all the changes you’ve made so far, update your resume summary. As you’ve probably realized by now, relevancy is key. Since a summary is often no longer than three sentences, focus on the qualifications, skills, and information about yourself that matter most at the moment.
For example, let’s say you’re aiming for a leadership position. You could highlight related duties like project management, supervising, and employee development (as long as it’s true, of course).
8. Include additional relevant info, if applicable
There are a few resume sections that aren't mandatory, but you might want to add them if they're relevant to your career stage and the job you're after. These sections include:
- Certifications
- Awards (or recognitions)
- Volunteer work
For example, for those in tech, certifications in coding languages, along with proven experience, can strengthen a candidacy. However, a certification in digital marketing from 2018 is probably outdated and can be left off your resume. Use your discretion and knowledge of industry standards to decide whether to include or exclude these sections in your updated resume.
9. Add relevant keywords (for ATS and recruiters)
If you have a specific job in mind, pull up the job description. If you’re doing a more general update, pull up a few descriptions for the kinds of jobs you plan to apply to. Look for any words that seem especially important.
Usually, these words are specific skills, pieces of technology, experiences, or other qualifications that are mentioned repeatedly or near the top of a job description. These are your keywords and you want to work them into your resume (using the same phrasing) wherever it makes sense.
This helps the recruiters that will read your resume easily pick out that you have key qualifications for the job. It also helps your resume get through applicant tracking systems (ATSs) and into the hands of human recruiters and hiring managers.
Read this next: How to Make Your Resume ATS-Friendly (Template Included!)
10. Reorganize the section order, if necessary
Are your resume sections organized in a way that makes sense? The most important and relevant info is at the top of the page. For example, if the resume you’re updating is the one you submitted right after graduation, you may have your education listed at the top. But now that you have some post-grad experience, you’re going to want to lead with your professional history and most recent job.
Along similar lines, if you’ve changed fields (or want to), you’ll also be doing some cutting and pasting to put the most relevant information—which might not be your current role—first. Just remember that the most commonly used and preferred resume format is reverse chronological (from most recent experience to least recent), unless you're in a unique situation where you might benefit from a combination or functional resume.
11. Check for potential inconsistencies
Once all sections are written down and updated, get into the nitty-gritty details and check for inconsistencies in formatting. For example, if you have periods at the end of some bullet points but not at others, decide which one you prefer and make all look the same. Or perhaps you have dates that feature months, while others just have years. Again, decide for one format and standardize it.
You should also make sure you're consistent with your font and font size choices for titles of the sections and text. When in doubt, go for these standard formatting guidelines for resumes:
- Font: Go for fonts that are easy to read, such as Arial, Calibri, Tahoma, or Cambria. Cursive and artistic fonts are a no-go.
- Size: For regular text, use 11 or 12 points. For titles, 14 to 16 points is acceptable. Keep in mind that the font and font size chosen might impact the readability and length of your resume.
- Margins: Set one-inch margins on all sides of the page. You don't want your resume to look cluttered and having appropriate white space will ensure it doesn't.
Little fixes like this will make that “attention to detail” mentioned in your summary more believable.
12. Make last-minute, final adjustments
Last but not least, you'll want to make any final adjustments necessary before submitting your updated resume to any opportunity—“just in case” you missed something:
- Make extra cuts (if necessary). If your resume is longer than one page (or two if you’re further along in your career), now’s the time to cut it down. Consider removing the last (usually the furthest back) position there. If it’s at the bottom, it’s probably the least important. If that’s relevant, then maybe consider reducing your resume summary, skills, or any section that is taking too much space unnecessarily.
- Check grammar and spelling. Start by running it through a spellchecker. Then, read it out loud to make sure you’re not missing any words or errors. Try starting with your bottommost section and reading the resume from bottom to top (sentence by sentence, not word by word!) to help you catch any errors you may have overlooked.
- Get another set of eyes on it. If time permits, it’s always helpful to get someone else to read over your resume and check for typos and other mistakes.
- Compare your resume to your LinkedIn. The information in your resume and LinkedIn profile should match (with the difference that LinkedIn doesn't have a length limit, allowing you to add more in-depth information), because recruiters might check it. Ensure one reflects the other.
- Save the file in PDF. Unless an employer specifies otherwise, you should save and send your resume in PDF. It appears more professional and avoids any formatting issues, because it's not editable. Keep a doc copy on your computer so you can update it in the future.
Start now
While you should strive to keep an updated resume on hand, there’s no need to panic if you’re caught off guard. Use the steps above to get your resume up to speed right now—and maybe check back in on it every couple of months so you’ll be more prepared next time.
FAQs
“How do I edit my resume?”
Open a copy of your resume on your computer (or copy and paste it in a blank doc page) and start updating outdated information, section by section. Then, exclude what's not necessary (for example, experience more than 10 years old) and information that's irrelevant to the job you're after. Finish with a grammar and spelling check to ensure there are no typos or grammatical errors.
How far back should a resume go?
Your resume shouldn't go more than 10 to 15 years back, unless your older experiences are impressive or extremely relevant for the job you're after.
“Can ChatGPT rewrite my resume?”
Yes, ChatGPT is capable of rewriting resumes. However, you must provide it with clear and extensive instructions of what you want to highlight. Otherwise, you might end up with a generic resume that doesn't really stand out from the rest. A better idea would be to work with a career coach—so you can develop the necessary skills and confidence to talk about yourself and make a stellar resume on your own.
Read this next: How to Use ChatGPT for Your Resume (Prompts Included!)
“How do I update my resume for a second job?”
If the job you already have is similar and/or relevant for your second job application, you can add it at the top of the “work experience” section, making it clear that that's your current occupation. The description of your duties should be in the present tense. For example:
Marketing Inc., New York City
Content manager (February 2022 - Present)
- Develop creative content to three social media accounts, currently increasing engagement rates by 15%
- Write content for the company's blog applying SEO strategies, currently increasing page views by 12%
What is the most updated resume format?
The most updated resume format is the reverse chronological resume, where your employment history and education are listed from latest to oldest.
How to convert an old resume to a new format?
If you don't have the editable file of your resume anymore, open a new document on Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or similar application you have in your computer. Copy and paste your old resume there and update it by reorganizing the sections and replacing out of date information with new info. (For extra guidance, refer to this article with tips and examples of the most used and updated resume format.)
“How do I modernize my CV?”
Modern CVs (and resumes) don't have pictures (unless asked by the employer), cursive fonts, or non-traditional colors. They should be in reverse chronological order and have a summary instead of a resume objective.
How to update a resume with current job?
Add your current job at the top of the “work experience” or “employment history” section and use the word “present” to highlight that you're employed. When writing your bullet points for this specific occupation, use present tense. For example:
Nevada Animal Shelter, Project Manager
March 2023 - Present
- Managing the shelter's social media accounts, creating awareness content that is currently reaching an engagement and donation increase of 11%
- Leading a social media campaign to recruit new volunteers, which increased the number of new volunteers by 7%
Regina Borsellino and Amanda Cardoso contributed writing, reporting, and/or advice to this article.