Tips to Update Your Resume with Agilities 

By Jennifer Alvarez, Senior Director at The DeBruce Foundation 

With September comes cooler weather, leaves changing color, and the beginning of fall! Did you also know that September is Update Your Resume month?  

Resumes are important no matter where you are in your career journey; from young adults in high school to experienced professionals seeking new career opportunities, your resume serves as a catalyst in helping you succeed—I know this firsthand! 

My own career journey has featured many industries: I started off in property management, then civil engineering, followed by property/casualty insurance, and was a marketing and client relations director for a law firm before joining The DeBruce Foundation team. I cultivated skills and interests along the way, and each season of my career uniquely prepared me for my next step. A crucial part of making each of these career changes was knowing and being able to articulate the value I would bring to my next role. I’m so glad I did, as it brought me to my role as a senior director, where I get to help expand career pathways every day.  

So, I know writing a resume or updating it after a length of time can feel daunting and difficult. I’m here to share some tips and strategies to help you let your skills and interests shine.  

In our resumes, it is crucial we highlight our unique skills and assets. A resume serves as a way to show and tell any potential employer your value. Updating your resume using your Agilities is a great way to do this! 

Agilities help you elevate you! They can be included on your resume, in a portfolio, and even on a public profile, like LinkedIn. When it comes to your resume, your Agilities help you frame your skills and experiences. They also allow you to translate your skills into work language.  

How do you update your resume using Agilities? Well, let’s begin together! 

First, if you haven’t already done so, begin by taking the Agile Work Profiler© to find your Agilities. The AWP is a free online assessment that helps you identify your work skills and interests. Once you have your personalized, ranked list of Agilities, you can start updating your resume.  

Remember, you can highlight your Agilities when crafting any section of your resume. Let’s take your summary, for example; this is the first line an employer reads – make it standout! By selecting 1-2 of your Agilities and discussing them in this section, you have already demonstrated some of your key values before the employer reviews your work experience! 

For example, you can describe how working as a leader has allowed you to foster your passion for Developing Others; thus, you are looking for a position as a teacher or a financial manager. 

Next, you can describe how you used your Agilities in each of your work experiences. Because these sections are typically very brief, it is important to highlight and explain how you used the Agility in a descriptive, yet succinct way. Then, don’t forget to discuss the positive results from this experience. 

For example, if your top Agility is Working with Information, make sure you use words like interpreting and analyzing when writing about work experiences where you incorporated this Agility.  

If you are unsure about how to craft your Agilities into your resume, we have resources to help you. We have videos that discuss each Agility and how to best include them in your resume, so you can showcase your talents! Here’s the video for Organizing (my top Agility):  

And, you can check out videos for each of your top Agilities.  

Another important tip when updating your resume is to make sure you create a section that specifically discusses your skills. Highlighting your Agilities while you do this makes it easy for you to identify and succinctly list your workplace skills and values. For instance, if one of your top Agilities is Innovating, you can include skills such as thinking creatively and problem-solving. We have created a complete list of Agilities definitions and resume words to help you. 

Now that you have updated your resume using your Agilities, you can feel confident in knowing you are actively expanding your career pathways. If you would like to learn more about how to craft a resume while leveraging your Agilities, check out this slideshow. 

Here at The DeBruce Foundation, we are always finding ways to help you improve your career literacy; one of the first steps in doing this is creating a solid resume. Since September is Update Your Resume month, this is the perfect time to do this. However, you can update your resume any time; in fact, after every experience and new skill is obtained, you should update your resume right away!  

Now that I have provided you with a few tips and tricks, it’s your turn! Update your resume using your Agilities and show any employer just how skilled you are!