Resume Goals for 2009

Last weekend I spent a few hours putting some of my 2009 goals on paper.  It made me think about my career goals, and what I should do for my personal career management.  Here are some thoughts I have for my own resume, and how to make it what it should be for 2009:

1. Find my last resume. Sounds simple, but when I got laid off I spent days looking for any version of my resume I could use as a template to update with all my new information.   I never found my old resume, but I realized even if I did find it it would be pretty useless – it was about six years old!
2. Check and double check the spelling. When I get my new resume put together, I’m going to go over it with a fine-toothed comb.  I don’t know why I can find errors in others resumes, but I miss the simple stuff in my own, but I do know that one error (spelling, grammar, etc.) is a red flag right away.  People expect resumes to be perfect.
3. Check my branding. What brand messaging is my resume communicating?  I need to see if that message is accurate and the message I want people to know about me.
4. Find a quote/endorsement I can put on your resume. This is a trick I learned from professional resume writers – take part of a recommendation from your LinkedIn profile and put it as a quote on your resume.  It really stands out and adds substance to your overall story or value prop.
5. Figure out what I want your brand to be.  Where do you want to be by the end of 2009, and what do you need to do to get there? Get a new certification?  Achieve something big (so you can put something quantifiable).  I need to figure out what I want to be able to say about myself, professionally, by the end of next year, and figure out what I need to do to make that possible.

Of all of these, I think # 5 is the most important, considering we are about to start a new year.  Where do you want to be by the end of 2009?  What personal growth do you need to prepare for to really make the content and substance of your resume sing?

Career Resumes can help write your resume, but it’s up to you to have substance to put on your resume – what are you going to do next year to beef it up?