The Ultimate Guide to Effectively Update Your Resume in 2025

Updated December 2024

When was the last time you gave your resume an update? Six months ago? Six years ago? Ever??

Employers and their hiring managers are looking for resumes that contain keywords, top skills, and quantifiable achievements that are as up to date as possible. If you don’t have an updated resume, especially one that reflects your most recent skills and abilities, it might not get consideration from a hiring manager.

This guide for updating your resume in 2025 will lead you in the right direction to catching the attention of hiring managers and recruiters with a strong resume, making sure your skills and story are at the forefront.

Why You Need to Update Your Resume

The most important reason to update your resume is to ensure that it reflects your most current skills and experiences. It also makes it easier for potential employers to find information about you, especially on websites like LinkedIn and Indeed, which increases your chances of getting hired.

Insight Global recruiters are constantly scouring LinkedIn, Indeed, our own internal resume database, and more in search of ideal candidates for positions. Without an updated resume, you may be missing out on opportunities that match your most current skills and experience.

An updated resume is valuable for all job seekers, even if you are not actively looking for a new position. If an opportunity arises unexpectedly and your resume already lists your recent and relevant experiences, it will be easier for you to apply immediately.

What to Update on Your Resume

You may want to update several things on your resume, depending on what has changed since you last edited it. Some of the most common updates include:

Adding new skills and experience
Changing your job title or position
Updating your contact information
Making sure certifications are up to date

You also may want to change the style and formatting of your resume to give it a more modern and eye-popping look.

When to Update Your Resume

You should perform updates as often as necessary to ensure that it reflects your current skills and experiences. There is no set answer as to how often you should update your resume; it depends on a variety of factors such as how often you change jobs, what type of experience you gain, and when your last update was.

However, updating your resume at least once or twice a year is generally a good practice. You may need to do it more frequently if you’ve earned promotions, gained lots of new experiences, and/or changed jobs over the course of a year.

If you’re searching for a new position, this is also a good time to update your resume with everything that you want hiring managers to know about yourself.

Now let’s start discussing what to include in a resume update.

How to Update Your Resume

There are a few different ways that you can update your resume. One option is to rewrite your entire resume from scratch. This is probably necessary if you haven’t updated your resume in a couple years.

Another option is to make changes to specific sections of your resume. This is a lot more useful if you’re just adding a couple lines or a new section to your resume.

Some basic places to build and edit your resume include:

Microsoft Word
Google Docs
Canva
Adobe Illustrator

All of these programs have resume templates, and you can tailor them to your style, job experience, and industry. You can also use the help of an online resume building software if you have the time and funds.

There are also template websites that are free to use which can help you with resume formatting. With these websites, all you have to do is plug in your personal job information and the website will handle the aspects of making your resume look well-formatted and professional!

Whichever method you choose, make sure to export your resume as a PDF so that it looks professional and polished. You don’t want to send an editable document to a hiring manager or recruiter.

Add keywords specific to the position you’re Pursuing

Adding specific keywords to your resume will help ensure that the right people read it. If you’re targeting a specific position, research what keywords are associated with that role and add them to your resume. Doing so will make it easier for the hiring manager to find you.

Remove irrelevant experience

It can be tempting to include all of your experience on your resume, but it’s best to remove information that’s irrelevant to the position you’re applying for.

Deleting some of this past irrelevant experience will give you the room to show off the skills and experience that are most relevant to your target position. Plus, highlighting your most recent experience shows that you are still relevant in your field!

Be specific and concise

Your resume should be a quick snapshot of your skills and experiences. Try to limit the bullet points under each job position at three or four bullets.

Add measurable results/accomplishments

Being able to back up your success claims with measurable results or accomplishments is a great way to show that you’re a good employee. Be sure to include specific numbers and figures whenever possible so that hiring managers know exactly what you’ve accomplished.

For example, highlight that, rather than just “increased sales,” you’ve increased sales by 45% over a five-month period since you became the manager of a sales team.

Update your education section

If you’ve recently completed a course or degree, update your education section on your resume. Include the program’s name, the dates attended, and any notable achievements. If you’re decades removed from any educational accomplishments to list, consider removing this section from your resume. Instead, highlight certifications and awards you’ve earned over your professional career.

Remove outdated/irrelevant Details

Besides shaving off any irrelevant experience, it’s important that the rest of the information on your resume is as up-to-date and relevant as possible. Outside of experience, some things you may want to remove from a resume include:

A fax and home phone number (your cell phone number works best as a primary piece of contact information)
Any certifications that are no longer used or current
A job summary/objective section (companies typically care most about experiences and skills)
A list of references (this can be a separate document sent to hiring managers and recruiters)
Personal information (age, race, sex, and other identifiers like that can cause bias, even though employers aren’t allowed to discriminate)
A photo of yourself (learn why you shouldn’t include this!)

You want hiring managers to focus on your relevant experience when reviewing your resume. Any time spent looking at stuff that is irrelevant, outdated, or just plain unnecessary is taking away from what really matters.

Optimize your resume for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

Always make sure your resume is optimized for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

An ATS allows hiring managers and recruiters to quickly sort through resumes based on keywords, layout, and other factors. In an ideal world, hiring managers would have time to look at every resume they receive, but ATSs are used to help ease the burden.

Make sure your resumes are cultivated with this kind of process in mind (like we discussed before with adding keywords for the specific job position you’re applying to).

Enhance your resume with powerful action words

Action words will make your resume stand out against other candidates who might use run-of-the-mill wording on their resumes. To do this effectively, you can go through each section of your resume (education, experience, etc.) and remove any passive sentences.

Here is an example of a passive sentence versus a powerful, action-filled sentence:

Passive sentence: The company’s sales grew by 30% after I became sales manager.

Action sentence: I helped grow the company’s net sales by 30% over a six-month period as sales manager.

In the first sentence, the sales growth just happened to the company. In the second sentence, you were a specific reason for that growth.

Update Your Resume So It’s Easily Readable

A hiring manager will typically spend no more than a minute or two looking at your resume. It is essential to make sure your resume is easy on the eyes of whoever reads it.

Resume design is not as important as the content, but it can hurt you by distracting from your core experiences. This means making your font the right size and formatting sections so that they are not overwhelming for the recruiter or hiring manager. You also want to make sure your resume is easily readable and flows naturally.

Consider the following questions when thinking of resume design:

Are images or colors overpowering your message?
Is your background color clashing with the text?
Are your indents for experience and skills extreme or not indented enough?
Are your job titles and resume sections easily identifiable?
Does your format help make your resume readable and sell your skills and experience?

All in all, you want your resume to land it at one page. Your format should help accomplish that, too.

Consider a resume makeover

If you’ve tried the tips above and are still not happy with how your resume looks, it might be time to invest in a resume makeover.

As we mentioned before, you can hire a professional resume designer to accomplish this, but you can also just start from scratch. This is certainly more time consuming, but if you find you’re editing every section of your resume, it may be better to start from square one.

Proofread your resume

It might sound obvious but have a friend or family member proofread your resume for mistakes. Typos and poor/inconsistent grammar can look unprofessional and scattered. Before sending it out to hiring managers and recruiters, triple-check the document for errors and fix them.

Download a Free Resume Checklist!

Updating your resume and ensuring you hit all these key points may become overwhelming. That’s why we’ve created a free resume checklist to make this process easier!

Don’t stress yourself out unnecessarily—make sure you don’t leave anything out when crafting the perfect resume by using our free checklist.