Resume Double Duty - Getting a Raise

For most of us, our resumes go back in the drawer as soon as we take a job offer. However, there are some interesting benefits to keeping your resume fresh and dust-free.

Regular Updates

The main thing is to create a habit every month or three to look at your resume and add new bullets to your current job experience. These bullets should highlight the incredible things you’ve done so far.

By having these already in your resume, you significantly reduce the effort to apply, and you have more options to strengthen to choose from when you apply.

Performance Reviews

At some point, you’ll do a performance review at your company. More often than not, these are not enjoyable, yet it leads to promotions, raises, and sometimes termination.

When you have that habit of updating your resume, you have two crucial things available. First, you have a list of great things you’ve accomplished since the last review that you can talk through. Second, if the worst case happens, you’re that much better prepared to rebound.

You might think that having a list of things you’ve accomplished isn’t needed, but many managers don’t have a great way of seeing those things or remembering them. So give them a hand and tell them why you deserve a raise.

Negotiation

When you apply for that next job and interview, you can use all those other accomplishments that you may not have shared so far as evidence that you deserve better compensation.

They already said yes to you with what you’ve shown so far, nows the time to show how you actually can bring even more benefit for them, so you are worth even more than they thought.

Without having something ready for negotiation ahead of time, it can be extremely intimidating to ask for more money. A written down list of why you’re worth even more is crucial to have that confidence.

So what’s something you can add to your resume right now to show your accomplishments?