9 signs your resume needs a makeover

Not sure if your resume needs work? Here are nine for determining if your resume needs a makeover.

You have your education listed at the top

This is acceptable when you’re first starting out, but should be moved to the bottom of your resume as you progress in your career and have more experience to list at the top.

You have a functional resume

[Or], one with a huge paragraph about yourself and your skills followed by only the barest of detail about your work experience (dates, company names). Functional resumes drive employers and recruiters nuts! A resume with work experience in chronological order is the accepted standard. Employers prefer to see the details about your work experience listed in the context of where you attained the experience and when.

Your resume is too daunting to read

If your resume is full of long paragraphs (vs bullets) and goes on for more than 2 pages, it’s time to make it over.

The dates on your resume don’t line up or make sense

If you’ve listed so many jobs that the date ranges don’t flow anymore or if you worked in a part-time job at the same time as working full-time and the date ranges become confusing, it’s time to clear up your resume. If your resume has estimates or guesses for the date ranges, you need to go back and find the exact dates.

If you listed irrelevant part-time jobs on your resume…

…it’s time to clean that up so employers can easily see what you’re focused on.

If you still have certifications listed on your resume that are expired or inactive…

…it’s time to edit your resume.

If you claim skills or experience with obsolete software…

…it’s time to update your resume. Also be careful about citing experience with software that you haven’t used in many years – the PeopleSoft applications you learned on 10 years ago have changed and been updated quite a bit.

If you list too much personal information

– or personal hobbies – it can de-value the resume.

If you have your references listed on your resume…

…it’s time to remove them and keep them handy on a different document (that’s distributed as needed).