Is Your Resume Looking Tired?

April 04, 2008

Has your resume been the same for the past two years? If it has, then maybe it’s time for a change. You know more than you think you know, so don’t be afraid to show that knowledge off. Since I’ve been freelancing, I often have this kind of conversation:

Friend: Have you heard about … {social networking, teenage obesity, roofing materials}?

Me: Yes, I wrote an article about it.

As a web content writer, I get to research all kinds of interesting things. Although they don’t always match my own interests, I always learn something from my research. So, although I’m not necessarily an expert in the new areas, I know more than enough to get by. Here are a couple of questions to show where I’m going with this.

  • What do you list as your main topics of expertise on your resume?

  • What have you learned in the last six months that you could add?

We have to research what we write, and so we are always learning. In the last three months, I have written about:

  • blogging

  • broadband

  • business education

  • conservatories

  • consumer finance

  • employment law

  • fertility treatments

  • freelance writing

  • marine biology

  • mobile phones

  • post traumatic stress

  • property sales

  • psychics

  • real estate

  • salsa

  • self catering holidays

  • teenage obesity

  • travel

  • writing careers

Some of those topics, such as writing and consumer finance, I knew about before. Others I learned about as I did the research. I’m not claiming I’m an expert in everything, but my knowledge of employment law has definitely expanded.

So here’s my challenge. Make a list of everything that you have written about recently. What have you learned enough about to qualify as an expert? If you’re wondering what counts as expertise, consider whether you would still need to do research to write an introductory article on the subject. I’m not saying that you’ll never have to do research again. After all, statistics and facts should always be checked and updated. However, the chances are that you will know more about your subject of expertise than the average person. Now, add those areas to your resume and any public profiles that you use for attracting clients. See what happens. Who knows, you might get some new business because of it.

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