Keeping things updated is essential in your job search.
Speaking, as I was recently, of my half-brother, I remind you today to keep records of your work history! Give as much detail as you can, even if some bits are fuzzy. If you had a job until March of 2015, was it towards the beginning of the month? The end? What was your supervisor’s name? How many raises did you get, and about how much were they?
There’s a lot to sort out here, but it’s worth taking the time to figure it out. Things, after all, will not get clearer as time goes by. While you’re at it, also list the names of your supervisors for each role. You may never need that level of detail, but if there’s even a small chance that you’ll ever apply for a government job, including things like public schools, it’s worth taking the time to record that information while it’s relatively fresh. You can also write down the contact info for those folks, or a general number for the organization. (If the company has gone out of business, you can simply list the year that happened instead.)
If you’ve left most of your roles on good terms, you can also call HR and ask for details. (You can do this if you’ve been fired, as well, but it’s an awkward and sometimes painful conversation.) They should have records of your start and end dates, though sometimes records for contract workers are spottier.
As you gather these details, begin compiling them into a massive document. You can call this your everything resume or your CV or your master work history—whatever works for you. I make it a point to update this annually, around the start of the new year since I take time off then anyway. That keeps you in the habit of maintaining current records, which means that if you see something wonderful, or if your work suddenly lays you off (which is what happened to my half-brother), you aren’t caught quite so flat-footed.
