BY: KYNSAY HUNT, VICE PRESIDENT OF PROGRAMMING
Hey y’all! First off, I want to introduce myself– I’m Kynsay, the VP of Programming for UofSC PRSSA this year. I’m a senior public relations major and event management minor. I’m also a remote public relations intern at Butin PR in Charlotte, NC and a portrait photographer, so you already know I have to plug my Instagram @elysiansnaps!
Now, on to what you really came here for: what do I mean by “your resume is a working document?” Well, I’m glad you asked. As you probably already know, your resume is the one-page synopsis of your career, your skills and your accomplishments. But how often do you realistically look at it? When you’ve started a new position, when you’ve finished a position, or when you apply for a job?
The point of your resume is to showcase who you are to recruiters, but it is also a document that will help you remember all of the skills you have to offer. As an intern at a PR agency, I could work on as many as eight to ten things in one day (and those projects might be designated to different clients) so it can be easy to forget skills I’ve learned on the job.
By revisiting your resume every couple of weeks– or every month– you ensure that you’re not forgetting to include skills you’ve accumulated! Here’s what has worked for me (so far) in keeping my resume up-to-date.
I write down tasks I do at the end of each day.
Sometimes, I’m working on multiple projects in a day, so writing them down in a notebook helps me keep track of tasks that I’ve done enough times to consider myself proficient. Once I’ve gotten a handle on the skill, it goes into a second list.
I keep my resume skills list on my desktop and in a notebook so that I can revisit it every other week.
Having this section of my resume handy keeps me accountable to update it every other week. While I might not update my real resume that often, I always have a list of things to add when I do go in to change it.
I’m not the only person who reviews my resume.
We’re all prone to missing our own mistakes when writing, especially because we already know what we meant to say. When I revise my resume, I have a roommate, friend, classmate or mentor look over it.
I have multiple resumes.
This sounds wild, right? Actually, it helps me. A stock resume is a great place to start, but once you’ve got a plethora of skills and experience and not a lot of space on the page, things start getting cut from the resume.
I have three resumes. One that highlights my graphic design and photography experience, one that highlights my agency/digital content creation experience and one that highlights my leadership experience.
By having three– all of which have different focuses– I always have a resume that shows relevant skills to different positions. I’d encourage you to consider creating multiple resumes that highlight different experiences– you’ll help yourself in the long run!
Overall, it’s important to remember that your resume is your career autobiography– and since we’re all just beginning our careers, our autobiographies are nowhere near finished! When we treat our resumes like a reminder list of everything we’ve accomplished, they are much stronger than when we treat them like a means to an end on a job application.
Happy resume writing!
P.S. I’m no expert on the subject, as a student myself. But if you want help from hiring managers who review resumes quite frequently, you might want to sign up for the resume critique workshop UofSC PRSSA is hosting! The workshop and panel will be held on Sept. 8 from 6-8 p.m. in SJMC Room 115! Signups are live now at the link in our Instagram bio, and they close on Sept. 5 at 5 p.m.
Contact info:
uofscprssa.org 