Employee looking to fix a bad resume to get hired for their next job

How to Update a Bad Resume in 2022

January 11, 2022 | Career Blog

Not everyone is gifted at describing what they’ve done during their career. You know what you’ve done throughout your work history, but you may not be able to articulate your duties, experience, or skills in a way that makes a future employer want to hire you.

Or, perhaps you have not completed your resume. There could be missing sections, unexplained gaps in your work history, or various errors. No matter your reason for why you think you might have a bad resume that needs a little cleanup, we can help you! Consider the best ways to update and improve your resume to get hired.

5 Tips for Updating a Bad Resume

When you go about the process of updating your resume in 2022, focus on these five areas.

1. Check For Spelling, Grammar, and Errors

Sometimes a simple typo can scream out to a prospective employer. Remember, this is your first impression, and there could be hundreds of other candidates applying for the same job. Employers will quickly discard a bad resume that contains errors.

So, double and triple-check that you have the correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation throughout your resume. Use a tool like Grammarly to drop in the contents of your resume to verify that you have checked this box.

2. Ensure That You Have a Complete Work History

Your future employer wants to know what happened throughout your work history. If you have a large time gap in between previous jobs, then employers will have some concerns. They’ll want to know what you did during that time. Did you go back to school? Were you caring for an elderly parent? Were you simply unemployed — and why?

ProTip: If you have a gap of time in your work history, you could group jobs together on your resume based on the nature of the work. So, if you were a retail associate from 2005 to 2009 and then again from 2016 to 2020, you could organize your resume by job title and then present the years that you performed similar duties.

3. Fill in Details About Each Job

Each job and each company you work for is different. So, even if you made a lateral move from one company to another company performing similar duties during your career, you should still fill in the details about each job. Use bullets to present one-line details about your duties.

For example, if you worked as a warehouse associate, you want to fill in key details about the work you performed:

Stocked products in the warehouse each day
Regularly checked inventory levels
Ensured that products were stocked correctly according to stocking procedures
Used a forklift to stock products at higher locations
Reported product shortages to the warehouse manager
Interacted with other warehouse clerks to efficiently perform duties
Performed other duties as necessary

These short, quick descriptions of your duties are easy for an employer to scan, review, and understand. They can also serve as talking points during the actual interview.

4. Clearly State Your Objective

Many people skip the important step of stating their objective at the top of the resume. This is a critical piece of any resume to ensure that you make a clear statement about who you are, what you’re seeking, how your work experience can support a prospective employer, and the value that you can bring to the company.

In general, this should be about one paragraph in length. You want to provide a quick overview of your professional and educational experience and talk about what makes you valuable. Employers are scanning and sorting through hundreds of resumes, so you want to be as clear as possible while also presenting a compelling story that will draw future interest.

5. Update the Visual Appeal of Your Resume

A key factor that will support your resume is deciding how to present information visually. Many templates are available through Google, Word, and other resume template builders with various layouts, fonts, and design elements. Not all of these templates are good templates, though! Many bad resumes are the result of bad templates.

You want to carefully select the right template to help you build out a visually-appealing resume that is not too loud yet is not bland and boring. Take a look at the latest resume design trends to help you find the right resume template — or create your own professionally-designed resume! — that fits your industry and the type of job you are applying for.

Need Help Applying For a Job in 2022?

When you’re done updating your resume for 2022, review our job search resources to help you find a new job. You can also reach out to our expert team to help you find temporary work that will set you on the right career path.

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