Another Year Has Gone Bye, Have You Added Any New Skills to Your Resume?

Another year has gone away and you are getting ready to reflect on your accomplishments. Perhaps you are looking at preparation for your annual review, or perhaps you are like many other executives who commit to updating their resume each year.

No matter your reasons, being prepared with a well though out resume that reflects your current accomplishments is always a great idea. But if you are not focused, you could find yourself sitting down to update your resume and wondering if you have learned anything new this past year and asking yourself, have I learned any new skills?

With technology evolving faster than a shooting star and young graduates being taught new theories, models and tools, a way to measure yourself is to simply set out to not only keep your current skills updated, but to strive to learn something new.

Here are some basic guidelines:

1) Don’t always delegate, jump in from time to time.

As you move up the career ladder, there are more opportunities to delegate certain tasks. But remember to stay in the fold and jump in once in a while to keep those skills up to date. Rather than give that excel spreadsheet to another, why don’t you put it together.

2)Open up to new technologies. Learn what the recent graduates know.

Whether it is social media platforms, new excel models or simply using editing applications, learn something new. As a leader, you should have a basic understanding of how everything work and the desire to learn something you can teach.

3) Sharpen your business analytics skills.

These are critical in your role as a business executive. Basic understanding of PNL is required and the ability to translate your area into how it impacts the company’s financials are important.

4) Build and leverage your network.

One of the biggest assets you will own throughout your career is your network. Who do you know that could teach you something new? Remember something that works in one industry, could be easily tweaked and applied to your industry. – Think out of the box and be a sponge with those around you.

5) Get involved in non-profit boards.

Since these boards are typically smaller, it will require you to be involved in more areas than you normally would at your organizations. The exposure to these other areas keep your skills fresh and challenge you in areas that you may not strong.

Moving your resume forward is a critical strategy in executive recruiting. Companies look for professionals who are well rounded in various areas and who have the basic technology skills without needing the support of an admin.

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