You might be employed full-time, and even in the same job for several years. It might not even be on your radar to change jobs. Still, you might like to earn a little more.
Upgrade your resume. Yes, by upgrading your resume, you have the opportunity to increase your income in a number of ways.
But what does it mean to upgrade your resume? Two things:
1. Add in the highlights of your last few years. No, you might not have any new jobs to add (unless you never added your current position once you landed it), but surely there have been challenges you have mastered, achievements you can mention, skills you have learned.
2. Have the resume rewritten by a professional resume writer. You’ll be amazed how much more impressive a resume looks when written by someone who knows just what impresses the bigwigs.
Four ways to leverage your upgraded resume
GO FOR A RAISE: An upgraded resume helps define your value. It is not as important as job appraisals or other internal measurements, but it does contribute. Take a moment to show the upgraded resume to your supervisor. An impressive resume will do two things. First, it will help you explain why you think your value to the company has increased since you were hired. Second, it will help your boss understand what value another company might see in you (and with an up-to-date resume, you would appear poised to use it), and why he should consider more carefully your request for a raise.
GO FOR A PROMOTION: An upgraded resume helps position you as a person ready to move up in the company. It not only shows succinctly how you have grown since you first arrived, but it demonstrates that you are aware of your growth, of your value, of your readiness to take on new challenges. You will be taken more seriously in any consideration of a promotion.
GO FOR A NEW JOB: Perhaps the most obvious way an upgraded resume can help you earn more money is by applying for new job vacancies that appear on the market. The new, more impressive resume could be sent to recruiters and headhunters, as well as to companies in response to job openings posted in the newspaper or online.
GO FOR SECONDS: Even if there is no chance to better your income from your current employer (there are situations that not even the best resume can fix), many people take on second jobs. This might also be an option – a part-time job that pays better than many part-time jobs, based on your upgraded resume.
Getting your resume upgraded is not very difficult; it takes very little time or money. But it can help your career move forward and earn you a higher income.
Author Bio: This is a guest post by Gerry Sandis, one of the bloggers at Resume Mag.
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If you’d like to write a guest post for Canadian Finance Blog, we’d be happy to see what you’ve got!
A good point to note is that updating your resume and posting a copy on job websites will allow prospective employers to find you and potentially make you an offer. Wouldn’t it be great to get headhunted and offered an unresistible offer. At VSM Investments we have been locating prospective candidates via resume searches. Those who have updated resumes certainly do get highlighted whereas we miss out on those with older copies. Virata Gamany
Usually, people think of resumes for job hunting versus using your accomplishments to negotiate a raise with the current company. I glad you included that!
Good Article, I would have just looked for a new job to get any kind of big additional raise. But updating and going for the raise it s very good idea.
I might actually be starting a second job soon. With two jobs and running my own blog it’s gonna be pretty tight on time but the money will be great and reflected on my own portfolio.
Good instruction if you want to move something in your career.
To pursue a good strategy forcefully all the time will bring you the success you are looking for.
Some professional resume writers are great and can do a lot to spruce up a resume, but I’d rather not blindly trust them with my resume. It’s similar to blindly trusting an investment advisor with your money. I would much rather educate myself and then take their comments and suggestions into consideration. Every profession and specific job will require unique resume looks and highlights. Do some research because, “No one cares about your resume more than you!”
That is a good idea to use an upgraded resume to ask for a raise. I think it is harder for them to deny your request when your accomplishments are right there on paper backing you up.
Resumes are a simple, yet effective way to get noticed in the working field. The effort and attention involved in their creation can make all the difference in being hired or not. Learning the process of resume making may be the very first step in achieving one’s goals and securing the future they’ve always dreamed of.