You’re back on the job market, sending out your resume to multiple jobs a day, but you’re not getting any bites. Frustrating, right?

It can be especially difficult to know exactly what’s going wrong – is it my cover letter? Do I have enough experience? Do they just not like my personality?

Slow down a bit. Typically, the problem isn’t a massive personality defect. In fact, your problem might be something as simple as not updating your resume.

That’s right! Just like our social networks and our car registration, it’s important to make sure your resume is always up to date with your recent experience, your modern skills, and the most complete version of the current you.

Let’s talk about updating your resume.

Updating Your Resume: What’s Wrong

First, let’s talk about where your resume might be going wrong.

Length

The number one problem with tons of resumes is that they are far too long in more ways than one.

For example, you might have too much text in a resume – it should be easy to read and give the hiring manager or recruiter a good idea of you at a glance.

Alternatively, you might have a good balance of text, but the resume itself is too long. Typically, a resume should be about a page. While you may feel it’s important to convey every experience you’ve had, your resume should be a portrait of relevant skills to the job at hand.

Out of Date

It’s also possible your resume is out of date. For instance, we no longer really use phrases like “references upon request” or an “Objective” section.

While they might seem inconsequential, these small issues can add up and hurt your chances of being hired.

Tips for Updating Your Resume

Now let’s dive into how you can improve your resume.

Update Your Format

A resume could always do with a nice facelift. Much like we do spring cleaning, it’s useful to go through your resume and reformat some old stuff or take the opportunity to use a professional resume template.

Use this opportunity to trim any outdated lines and make sure there are no garish colors or features. Remember: simple is better here.

Font choice is also good to check. Comic sans isn’t doing you any favors in the job market – go with something clean, like Arial or Helvetica.

Active, Not Passive

Run through your language use and eliminate the passive tense. When you’re talking about jobs, you want to talk about things you did, not things that happened around you. Remember: active communication is always better!

Make sure your prospective employers know that you’re an active part of a team and you stand behind your work!

Now What?

Now that you’re a resume expert, you can update your resume and get on with the job search (and you’ll look more professional doing it).

Need more handy business tips? Look no further than our blog! Check out some of our other useful jobs searching blog articles or check out our free tools if you’re looking for small business solutions.