Having an up-to-date resume and portfolio is very important. It shows that you are ready for new jobs and opportunities. Employers look at resumes and portfolios to learn about you. They want to see your skills and experiences.
If your resume and portfolio are old, employers may think you are not interested in new jobs. Or they may think your skills are out of date. That is why it is good to refresh your resume and portfolio regularly.
This blog post will teach you when and how to refresh your resume and portfolio in 4 easy steps. We will also talk about some dos and don’ts to keep in mind.
When to Refresh Your Resume and Portfolio
There are a few key times when you should refresh your resume and portfolio:
After a Major Life Event
Major life events can include:
- Graduating from school
- Getting a new job
- Getting promoted at your current job
- Moving to a new city/country
- Having a child
- Or any other big change in your life
After events like these, your skills, experiences, and goals may have changed. So you need to update your resume and portfolio to match your new situation.
Example: Maria just graduated from university with a degree in marketing. Her resume before only had information about her part-time jobs during school. Now she needs to add details about her marketing degree, courses, internships and school projects to show her new marketing skills.
Every 6-12 Months
Even if you don’t have any major life events, it’s still a good idea to refresh your resume and portfolio every 6-12 months. This ensures the information stays current and up-to-date.
Over 6-12 months, you likely:
- Took a training course or earned a new certification
- Attended a conference or professional event
- Worked on a big project at your job
- Volunteered for a cause you care about
Adding these new experiences and accomplishments can make your resume and portfolio stronger.
Example: Ahmed has worked at the same company for 2 years. In that time, he took a coding course online, led a team project at work, and volunteered with a non-profit coding group. Updating his resume and portfolio with these details shows his continued professional development.
Before Applying to New Jobs
Finally, you should always refresh your resume and portfolio right before you start applying to new jobs.
This ensures your application materials are 100% up-to-date and accurately reflect your current skills and experiences. It shows the employer you are truly ready for this new role.
Example: Sarah has been working as a graphic designer for 3 years. She is now looking to get a senior graphic design role at a new company. Before applying, she updates her portfolio with her latest design projects to showcase her best, most recent work.
How to Refresh in 4 Easy Steps
Now let’s go over the 4 easy steps to actually refresh your resume and portfolio:
Step 1: Reflect on Your Experiences
The first step is to reflect on everything you have done recently. This could include:
- New jobs or promotions
- Courses, trainings, or certifications
- Big projects at work or school
- Volunteer experiences
- Awards or accomplishments
- New skills you have developed
Make a list of all your recent experiences and accomplishments that you want to add to your refreshed resume and portfolio.
Example: Over the past year, Jayden:
- Got promoted to a team leader role at his job
- Took an online project management course
- Led a major software implementation project
- Volunteered as a youth mentor
- Learned to code in Python
He will make a list of all these things to add when refreshing his resume and portfolio.
Step 2: Update Your Resume
Next, take your list of new experiences and use it to update the different sections of your resume, including:
- Work Experience
- Education & Certifications
- Skills
- Accomplishments/Awards
- Additional sections like volunteer work or languages
Be sure to use clear, straightforward language to describe your experiences. Quantify your accomplishments when possible using numbers, percentages, etc.
Example: For the “Work Experience” section, Jayden would add:
“Team Leader (Oct 2022 – Present)
- Managed team of 6 developers, ensuring on-time project delivery
- Provided training and mentorship to junior team members
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to understand project requirements”
Under “Education & Certifications” he would add details about his project management course.
Step 3: Refresh Your Portfolio
For your portfolio, you will want to:
- Remove any outdated, inferior, or irrelevant pieces
- Add your latest and best projects that showcase your skills
- Update descriptions of existing projects if needed
- Ensure your portfolio website has a clean, modern design
The pieces you choose should align with the types of jobs/roles you are targeting. They should demonstrate the specific skills required.
Example: As a graphic designer, Sarah would:
- Remove some older design projects from 5+ years ago
- Add her newest branding projects for corporate clients
- Update case studies describing her design process
- Refresh the layout and color scheme of her online portfolio
Your portfolio should make a strong case for why you are the perfect fit for your dream job.
Step 4: Review and Proofread
The final step is to carefully review all your updated materials with a critical eye. Check for any errors, inconsistencies or formatting issues.
It can also be helpful to have a friend, mentor or career counsellor review your refreshed resume and portfolio. They may catch mistakes you missed and provide feedback to improve your materials further.
Don’t skip this crucial step! Small errors can negatively impact your professional brand.
Example: Jose had his wife proofread his updated resume. She caught a few typos and also suggested adding more quantifiable metrics to some of his accomplishment statements to make them stronger.
Dos and Don’ts
Here are some key dos and don’ts to keep in mind when refreshing your resume and portfolio:
Dos
- Do be 100% honest and accurate in all information included
- Do carefully proofread for any errors or inconsistencies
- Do tailor your materials to the specific types of jobs/roles you want
- Do focus on highlighting your most recent and relevant skills/experiences
- Do have someone else review your materials for feedback
- Do use clear, straightforward language that avoids jargon
- Do quantify your accomplishments using numbers/data when possible
Don’ts
- Don’t lie or exaggerate your qualifications – this could get you in trouble!
- Don’t include any unprofessional photos or content
- Don’t make your resume longer than 1-2 pages if possible
- Don’t use small fonts or dense formatting that is hard to read
- Don’t forget to update samples of your actual work (designs, code, writing, etc.)
- Don’t rely too heavily on resume templates – ensure a personal touch
- Don’t wait until the last minute before applying to refresh your materials
Example Scenarios
To summarize everything, here are some hypothetical example scenarios of when and how to refresh resumes and portfolios:
Example 1: Olivia recently earned her Master’s degree in Business Analytics. She refreshed her resume by:
- Adding her new Master’s degree and relevant coursework
- Removing some older part-time jobs from years ago
- Adding skills she developed like data mining, regression modeling, Tableau
- Incorporating metrics like “Achieved 4.0 GPA” and “Completed capstone using 10M row dataset”
She also created a new portfolio website to showcase her best data visualization projects from her Master’s program using tools like Power BI and R.
Example 2: Carlos has worked as a UX designer for 3 years at the same company. Every 6 months, he makes updates to his resume like:
- Adding details of major UX projects he led, including results/metrics
- Listing any new UX skills or tools he learned, like usability testing
- Refreshing the layout with a clean, modern format
He cycles through different case studies to feature in his online portfolio to keep it looking fresh while still representing his best work.
Example 3: Jasmine is interested in getting a job as a copywriter after years in other marketing roles. To refresh her materials, she:
- Shifted the focus to her writing skills/experience at the top
- Removed some older, irrelevant jobs further back
- Added any writing projects, samples, published works
- Crafted a personal branding statement as an “Accomplished Copywriter”
Jasmine made a writing portfolio site to prominently showcase about 8-10 of her strongest copywriting samples across industries.
Example 4: Michael is looking for a new senior software engineering role after being in his current job for over 5 years. As he starts applying, he reviews and updates his resume to:
- Incorporate leadership experience managing teams of engineers
- Showcase his most recent big projects using the latest technologies
- Quantify his impact metrics like “Improved app load time by 15%”
- Remove some older technologies he no longer uses
His portfolio featured live links to apps/tools he’s built, along with short walkthrough videos to bring his projects to life.
Conclusion
Keeping your resume and portfolio fresh is so important for staying competitive and capturing new opportunities.
Make updates after any major life events, every 6-12 months regardless, and especially right before applying to new jobs.
Follow the 4 easy steps: 1) Reflect on your latest experiences, 2) Update your resume details, 3) Refresh your portfolio pieces, and 4) Carefully review and proofread.
Be sure to represent yourself accurately, tailor your materials to your goals, focus on your best and most recent work, format clearly, and get a second opinion.
With an updated, polished resume and portfolio you can put your most professional, qualified self out there and pursue the roles you’ve been dreaming of.
