You’re fooling yourself if you think you’ll remember all the important work you did a year or two from now. Sure you may remember a few of the big, visible projects, but the more subtle work you did may be tough to recall.
So when it comes time to update your resume, you’re up a creek if you are just relying on memory.
I recently came across a solution though: the “Career Management Document” , which serves as a way of cataloging your milestones as they occur.
It’s a pretty simple idea, but saves you the trouble of trying to remember all the details of your past at once.
I recently built one, and I check the document every month or so and add new items and projects that seem noteworthy to me at the time. The beauty of the process is that I don’t really need to be selective – I can list anything on my mind at the time. It just translate to more ammo for me to use whenever updating my resume might be necessary.
The key is to not forget about it, and ensure you regularly check in. I just set a monthly reminder to take a look, and that seems to do the trick.
With just a bit of attention a few times a year, this document can be a truly valuable resource for you- not just in keeping a resume current, but as a way of reflecting on what you’ve achieved so far.