If you haven’t been motivated so far to dig into some of your old career profiles, Spring may just be the time to do it! If you’ve already tackled your resume, then your good ol’ Linked In profile may be next.
This is especially relevant as Linked In has just re-designed its platform, and the old way of doing things on the website could use some serious dusting off…So pull up a chair, crack open your laptop (or smartphone), and get ready for some career profile cleanup in under 30 minutes:
Old Professional Experiences Begone! (10 to 15 minutes)
If you’re still bragging about that awesome first internship you got at that awesome company you dreamt of joining 10 years ago, consider making your bragging rights more private! Although your old professional experiences may stile relevant (and flattering), the reality is they may also her well take away from your current ones. Instead of confusing readers/prospective employers with a lengthy work history, cut it down to your two or three most recent roles over the past 7 to 10 years.
Dust Off Your Skills Section! (10 to 15 minutes)
We can all brag about things we’re good at. However, if you happen to be listing 50 of these skills and only two of them are getting endorsed by other people who are directly confirming that you’re actually good at the things you say you’re good at, you may be dealing with an overload problem!
Those are really “dead skills” that end up cluttering your profile. So instead of piling up on the keywords in your “Skills” section, consider focusing on the ones that are actually attracting endorsements.
Focus on your best accomplishments! (10 to 15 minutes)
It’s one thing to list all your accomplishments, including awards, honors, and other projects! It’s another to distinguish yourself by listing those accomplishments that you really want others to see and trust! Which means that expired diving certificate from high school, or that article published on that website that returns an invalid URL, must go!
Even awards from the beginning of your career which are no longer relevant to what you’re trying o accomplish professionally must be given the boot! Only focus on your best, and most relevant, accomplishments. Oh, and if your Portuguese fluency stops at high-school level, please erase…
Ditch the outdated recommendations! (10 to 15 minutes)
So yes, it was so sweet from your Creative Writing professor to write you a (lengthy) recommendation 15 years ago…But really, if you’re now an accountant and can’t even remember said professor’s last name, it may be time to lovingly do away with the kind words…
The only exception would be if the recommendations are particularly flattering, and are so relevant to your current brand that you must keep them on, even if they’re outdated. However, you may want to either replace or do away with recommendations that are too old and don’t have the relevance they once did.
The point here is: you want to draw as precise and on-point a professional profile as you possibly can. On one hand, it’s easier to “sell” yourself when the reader can actually scan your profile and get a clear idea of who you are, minus the distractions. On the other, it’s a great exercise in “career clarity” to refine and display your real brand to the world. And yes, it shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes…
Want more tips on how to spring clean your Linked In profile? Click below for my 12 tips on cleaning up your Linked In profile:
Welcome to our weekend chat feature! Got something you want to chat about? Post it in the comments below…
Let me ask you this: are you into wearing athleisure on the week-ends? I know I am (even though I need to use it more to actually hit the gym, you know)…Speaking of cool athleisure to sport on the week-ends (or you know, to the actual gym), the hugely popular Ivy Park line had me doing double takes for a while now. I love this logo ankle pair of leggings, with contouring seams that flatter the rear and elongate the leg…They’re $40 at Nordstrom.
I also like the coordinated hoodie, also from Nordstrom.
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
Happy St Pattys’ Day! Business Insider lists the 25 best Irish pubs in America;
The Corporate Sister lists 4 tips to spring clean your resume (plus a FREE guide included);
Could the “work twice as hard” mantra prevent Black women from breaking the six-figure ceiling? Read Ellevate Network‘s brilliant take on it;
Want to ace your interview? Business Insider tips you off on 21 psychological interview tricks;
The Lindsey Pollak blog tells you what millennials really want at work;
Bullied at work? Ellevate Network defines a 7-step process for stopping bullying in its tracks in the workplace;
Considering a career change? The Muse lists 3 things career changers wish they had known before making the switch;
Do you have a disability or know somebody who does? Forbes tells you the best jobs for people with disabilities;
Need entrepreneurial inspiration? Black Enterprise lists 5 international female businesses to watch;
Are you an Instagram addict? Ellevate Network tips you off on getting more followers now;
Don’t feel like cooking? Minimalist Baker suggests 12 recipes for days when you just don’t want to be in the kitchen;
Are you fasting for Lent? My coffee break asks if it’s ok to fast at work during Lent;
App of the week: Punkpost will send out a card for you in maximum style, but in no time;
All the pretty birds celebrates Spring with 9 fragrance suggestions for the new season.
Theory Serah tie top – Photo credit: shopstyle.com
Every now and then, you stumble on a piece of workwear that makes you all giddy inside…Ok, not always, but when it happens, like with this Serah tie top from Shopbop, you just thank the gods of workwear, give up your credit card and call it a good workwear shopping day. Right?
I love how the simplicity of this chic tie top comes in total contrast with its original knotted hem. A crisp blouse with the originality of a statement piece…
I’d pair it with Spring-appropriate cropped trousers like this Simone pair from Rag&bone. Or these Theory Testra 2B stretch wool pants from Nordstrom for a more conservative office environment.
Out with the old, in with the new…Spring‘s in the air, and we’re looking to replace the old with new pronto… And when it comes to your career, one of the things that can always benefit from a serious dust-up every now and then, without tons of time, energy or money investment, is your resume. I don’t know about you, but in my humongous Spring cleaning to-do list, I like to start with the stuff that I can get done faster…Priorities, right?
Refreshing your resume on a periodic basis not only allows you to add that little spring step in your career. But it also helps you stay current while re-evaluating your career and staying on top of your skills and experience…Not bad for dusting off that old sheet of paper from your last job a few years ago, right?
So here you are, pen in hand, brain in over-drive, ready to update your resume! Here are four simple tips for an effective resume makeover in minimal time while saving some energy to tackle those filled-to-the-brim kitchen cabinets:
Make it Look Good!
Whoever said looks don’t matter hasn’t updated their resume in a while…In today’s competitive job market, your resume’s look does matter! Just imagine being an employer having to choose between two resumes: one filled out from wall-to-wall with loads of text, four different types of fonts, and the other with clear, concise and consistent section headings and bullets and generous white space. Which one would you pick?
Here are some pointers when it comes to making your resume slay:
Make use of white space: That means leaving some blank space between the different sections of your resume, so readers can easily scan it. Also try to reserve at least one-inch margins around the text.
No font overload, please! I know, it looks fun to juxtapose five different types of fonts, but that won’t get you the reader’s attention (or the job, for that matter)! So tone down the font fever, and stick to two at most, preferably two that complement each other.
Bullet it down! You want to grab the reader’s eyes and direct it towards keys skills and achievements. Since they make it easier to scan your resume, use it whenever you can to highlight accomplishments and skills.
No more underlining! Underlining is a big no-no in the resume world. So give away your favorite college ruler and say good-bye to it! And while it’s OK to bolden and italicize characters once in a while,
Detox Time!
You know it’s time to detox your resume when its paper waistline has expanded to three or four pages? Or when your first job after college, yes, the one where you dropped two company laptops in three months and had to explain your ADHD tendencies to IT, is still listed on top of the page?
Take your resume through a much-needed Spring detox by:
Getting off the autobiography bandwagon: If you’ve ever dreamt of writing your own autobiography, this is the wrong medium! If employers cannot get critical information out of your resume by skimming it in 10 to 15 seconds, we have a problem, Houston! As a rule of thumb, your main credentials should jump off the page (please don’t bury your MBA on page 4 of 6), and you should be selling yourself right off the bat…Which brings me to…
Placing your sales pitch at the top of your resume: Showcase your qualifications at the top of your resume. For instance, you could include a Career Summary statement in your resume.
KIC (Keeping it Concise): Keep it concise by eliminating any repeating information, skipping irrelevant information (like date or birth or marital situation), and cutting down on job duties for instance.
Update Your Terminology!
Please don’t stay stuck in the 90’s with outdated acronyms and terminology? Instead, comb through your resume to update the terms and acronyms listed. You can also look for terms that employers are looking for, such as diversity for HR positions for instance.
Focus on Nouns more than action words!
Remember when you had to find the right action verbs to add to your resume? You know, verbs such “created” or “engineered”…I remember wracking my brain to dig out all the action verbs I could ever think of…
That was then…Nowadays, the focus is actually on nouns rather than action words. This is so your resume can be more scannable by employers. Power words such as “responsible”, “passionate”, “leader”, etc, can make the difference between your resume getting picked or not.
For more on Spring-Cleaning your resume, check out my “Spring Clean Your Resume Guide” by clicking on the image below:
If you haven’t been motivated so far to dig into some of your old career profiles, Spring may just be the time to do it! If you’ve already tackled your resume, then your good ol’ Linked In profile may be next.
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at 
Out with the old, in with the new…
