Top Resume Trends for 2017

2017 offers great opportunities for all job seekers both actively searching, and for those passively looking for new job opportunities. The average job search can take around six months, so if you want to change jobs this year, it’s definitely time to get serious about the process. The more work you do now on your resume and application package, the less work you’ll have to do later—and the more flexibility you’ll have if a great opportunity suddenly comes along. Resumes and job searches don’t change too drastically year-to-year…meaning, you likely won’t need to suddenly learn how to make a hologram resume for your next job. What does change is the following areas:

• Technology
• Skill trends
• Economic realities and available jobs

The last one, well, there’s only so much you can do about that. Unless you are the Chairperson of the Federal Reserve, or in a similarly major position of power in the economic sector, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to sway how much leeway companies will have to bring on new talent and fill existing openings. It’s still an important factor to keep in mind when you think about your near-future job hunt, though—knowing the general health of the economy and how your industry is doing in particular can help you decide when it’s time to get out there and look for a new job, or hold back and see if things are brighter in a few months. If you need a new job regardless of the economy or how many openings there are in your field, it’s still important to know what’s going on. The other two (technology and skills trends) are areas you can seize upon to get your resume ready for 2017 and beyond. To get a quick start, you can also download free templates from our Resume Library to get started on your resume creation.

What to Include for Your 2017 Resume

Social Media Dominance

Every person is a brand these days, and that trend will continue to grow stronger in 2017. Make sure yours is in great shape as you look ahead to the next year. Your resume should include links to your career-relevant social media profiles, like LinkedIn, or Twitter if you use it to talk about things related to your field. You can slip those right into the header, where you put your contact information.

Jesse Myname

21 Jump Street

New York, NY 88888

JesseM@emaildomain.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/JesseMyname

Twitter: www.twitter.com/JesseMynameThoughts

If you use your accounts primarily for personal stuff, don’t include them on your resume. And if you really don’t want hiring managers or recruiters poking through the Facebook page you’ve had since you were young and making incredibly questionable choices in friends and photo ops, make sure those accounts are set to private. Even if you don’t provide direct links, you can assume that people will do a Google search on your name, and you don’t want any preventable issues to come back and haunt your 2017 professional self. In addition to any social media cleanup, you can start building up your professional social media presence. If you don’t have active social media accounts, start them! Create a Twitter feed, and start following movers and shakers in your field. If you don’t feel comfortable creating your own content yet, you can still retweet others or post links to interesting (and—again—work-appropriate) links. If you have accounts but have let them fall by the wayside (of which I plead guilty), there’s no time like the present to get them back up and running with current content and an updated profile. It’s all about increasing your visibility as a solid professional voice.

Your Vast Tech Knowledge

These days, there’s an online tool or an app for just about everything. Know what apps and programs are hot in your field right now, but also keep an eye on trends that are just starting, or just picking up speed. Blogs are a good resource for trends, and in addition to any blogs or publications that are specific to your industry, places like Forbes and U.S. News are handy resources for what’s happening now, and what’s coming along soon. Once you know the tech that’s most relevant to your field, you can get more familiar with them and then add them to your resume. Technological skills and mastery are hard skills, and should get their own section on your resume. You’ll want to include bullets for all of the systems or programs you’ve worked with, as well as any apps.

Evidence of Emotional Intelligence

One trend that’s been emerging in hiring, and will continue to grow, is the hunt for emotional intelligence. Remember, companies aren’t just hiring people to do a job—they’re also hiring a colleague. Emotional intelligence is kind of the web of soft skills/people skills that you bring to the table. It’s important to employers because they’re looking for a team member, which means they have a vested interest in finding candidates who not only have the skills and experience to do the job well, but also to work with other team members, clients, etc. So how do you demonstrate your emotional intelligence on your resume? When listing your skills as bullet points, provide a brief example of how you put that skill into play. For example:

• Management skills – Led a multi-city team of sales reps to an 8% increase in overall sales.
• Communication skills – Messaged quarterly revenue reporting to internal stakeholders and clients.
• Team-building skills – Hosted on-site training sessions for new hires, and spearheaded the creation of an in-house mentoring program.

Your resume won’t provide too much space for stories, so keep the bullets short and to the point. You can come prepared with more anecdotes and examples of your soft skills once you have an interview. To get a quick start, access our Resume Library to download resume templates to help you create the perfect resume.

What NOT to Include for Your 2017 Resume

Too Many Bells and Whistles

You might be hearing all sorts of things about how everyone is going to have a video resume soon, or a fancy graphic resume. Those may be moving somewhat ahead of the holographic resume I mentioned earlier, but at this point you really don’t need to worry about fancy formats. Unless you’re a graphic designer, there’s really no need to go out and cute-ify your resume. And right now video resumes are best for actors and reality show auditioners. Unless you fall into either of those categories, the classic resume document is best. But the good news is that you can play around with styling and templates

An Objective/Summary Statement

The simple objective or summary statement (a one-liner outlining your experience/goals and their application to the job at hand) is actually a pretty controversial debate. There’s no hard and fast rule with this one, but if your leaner, meaner resume for 2017 looks better without, you shouldn’t feel obligated to include that statement. Just make sure that your bullet points are very strong, and convey the specific message you want the reader to get.

References

The days of appending a list of names and contact information to your resume are gone, my friend. It’s pretty well understood by potential employers that if you get to the next level (interview, background check, or other vetting) that you’ll pony up the names of people who will vouch for your awesomeness. There’s no real need to provide that up front, unless the company or job description specifically asks for it. You also don’t need to include a line about references being “available upon request.” It’s kind of redundant, and it takes up valuable space on your resume. So take that line, and add another concrete skill or experience bullet that further illustrates how great you are for this job. As you get ready for your 2017 resume, the main thing to keep in mind is that you want to expand your horizons with new skills, and show that you’re plugged into changes and shifts in your own industry. Those come faster than ever these days, so the more you can show your nimbleness with new skills and social media, the better you’re positioning yourself for a very successful career year. Example resume templates for different jobs:

• How to Write a Perfect Customer Service Resume (Examples Included)
• How to Write a Perfect Administrative Assistant Resume (Examples Included)
• How to Write a Perfect Retail Resume (Examples Included)
• How to Write a Perfect Teaching Resume (Examples Included)
• How to Write a Perfect Human Resources Resume (Examples Included)
• How to Write a Perfect Food Service Resume (Examples Included)
• How to Write a Perfect Construction Resume (Examples Included)
• How to Write a Perfect Internship Resume (Examples Included)
• How to Write a Perfect Receptionist Resume (Examples Included)

For more resume templates, access our Resume Library.