Two men walk into an office for a job interview. Bob is well dressed, fully prepared with his resume in his hand. Joe is also well dressed and fully prepared with his resume. However, Joe looks at Bob's resume and all of a sudden he starts to lose confidence in himself. He's been meaning to update his resume but hasn't gotten the chance to. On the other hand, Bob made sure his resume was updated. He knew that by doing so, he could potentially stand out from candidates who hadn't updated. The point? If you've been searching for employment but are losing confidence in your search because you feel that your resume isn't up to par, it may be that you need to make some adjustments. Here's some tips on how to keep your resume up to date.

When updating your resume, it's a good idea to brainstorm. Ask yourself these questions: What is the very first thing I want this employer to remember me for?, What makes me a unique individual?, What are some ways in which I'm different from other candidates? Doing this will keep you organized and point you in the right direction of the position you're applying for.

It's important that you add your most recent positions right away. By doing this, you have all of your specific responsibilities fresh in your mind. The job responsibilities that you described should highlight the tasks that correlate to the career goals that you currently have. If you can recall an event where you completed a task that relates to these goals, then you should add it to your job description.

There's no need to include all of the jobs that you've held on your resume. If it's not relevant to the position that you are looking for, then discard it. This frees up space so that you can include information that is specific to your current interests and accomplishments.

Many Individuals don't think of adding keywords when updating their resumes. However, this is an important step since many aren't read by human eyes. They are read by scanning systems that look for keywords punched in by Human Resources Representatives relevant to the position that is available. When using keywords, it is important to be appealing to an employer by connecting with the certain attributes that they are looking for in a candidate. Demonstrate how you are an excellent fit for the job by using words that make an impact on the employer.

So back to our scenario about the two men who walk into an office for a job interview. Who do you think was the one who got the job? It was Bob of course. Why? Bob took the time to keep his resume up to date. You can do the same by learning how to keep your resume up to date.