You’re Only As Old As Your Résumé | FATT LIPP

You're as old as you feel, right? Wellll, not if you're of a certain age and job hunting these days. Feelings, unfortunately, have a lot less to do with your employability than the number of birthdays you've celebrated.

In this economy, you're as old as your résumé makes you look. And if you first entered the job market in, say, when Reagan was in the Oval Office, you'd best be careful about what you choose to include in the latter part of your document.

Any pre-1990 job experience, for example, immediately brands you as a 40-something — or worse, depending on how deeply into the '80s the "Career" section of your résumé plumbs. Sure, experience counts bloddy bloddy blah, and some employers with a senior-level opening might have no issue with hiring an individual with 25+ years' experience (read: pushing the Big 5-0).

But all other things being equal, how much of a distinction is there, really, between 25 and 20 years of experience — especially if the latter commands a lesser salary? For that matter, what's the diff between 20 and 15 years, given that the warranted-or-not perception out there is that unlined faces and ungrayed temples are on the good side of the in-prime curve, more adept at social and new media, and so on.

Okay, before the seasoned job-seekers among you go running for the razor blade and warm bath, here's good news: With a little tweaking, you can make your CV-asaurus more contemporary and relevant. In fact, it turns out that cnnmoney.com recently posted a very good piece about how to update a dusty résumé — starting with 11 quick and easy tips on youngifying your document's content, style and format. You can check out that article here.

Happy hunting.