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Give your resume a spring cleaningIt's a good time to spruce up your first impressionFrom CareerBuilder.com Editor's Note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com.  SEARCH JOBSYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
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Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions. Springtime signifies renewal and a fresh start. It's also a great time for spring cleaning. But this year, don't stop at washing the windows, vacuuming under the furniture and throwing away the old winter clothes. It's also time to spruce up your resume. Your resume is the first impression that any potential employer has of you. However, many people haven't updated or refreshed their resume in years. Even if you are not actively looking for a job, you must always be ready. Here are seven ways you can prepare your resume for a new season of job success: Pack away glory daysIf you are not a first-time job seeker and you still have high school activities on your resume, it is time to move on. Being president of student council was impressive when you were a teenager, but it just doesn't carry much weight now that you are in your 30s. Stick to facts that tell the story of who you are as a professional adult. Wipe out unnecessary information"Certain personal information like hobbies, unrelated activities like 'girl scout troop leader,' and other irrelevant details should be removed. I don't want to know what the person does in her off time, I want to know how she performs on the job," says a hiring manager from Chicago. You have a very short window to gain the attention of a hiring manager, so your resume needs to be full of details that relate directly to your professional skills and experience. Refresh with new numbers, facts and compelling detailsDoes your resume show off your achievements, or does it read like a series of job descriptions? Many people put too much detail about what they did in the jobs, rather than details about what they accomplished. If your resume says that you were responsible for managing a sales team, make it more compelling by telling the reader how your work made a difference. If you exceeded your sales targets by 20 percent three years in a row, say so. Clean up typos and grammatical errorsHow long has it been since you have read through every line of your resume with a fine-tooth comb? Resumes with simple mistakes usually end up in the trash. "I'm always surprised by how many resumes I receive that have typos," says one communications VP. "If an applicant can't get it right in this single, most important document, I suspect he'll lack the same attention to detail on the job." Polish each descriptionRead through your job history. Is it boring? Do you rely too heavily on the same three or four verbs and adjectives? Pull out a thesaurus, try out some new words. Use short punchy sentences. You want to motivate and persuade the reader to take action, not put him to sleep. Rearrange or add new piecesMoving furniture or adding a new piece of art can make a real difference in a stale room. So put this approach to work in your resume. Try a new format. If you've always used a chronological format, try a functional format that focuses on the professional skills you have developed over the years. Add a keyword section. Martin Yate, author of the best-selling "Knock 'em Dead" books including "Resumes That Knock 'em Dead," says that keywords will soon become mandatory for most professionals. Not only will keywords allow your resume to be scanned in seconds, it also allows you to succinctly identify skills sets and demonstrate that you obviously have more to offer than what is discussed in detail in your resume. Cut down the overgrowthAny good gardener will tell you that plants need a good cutting every once in a while. Your resume may need the same treatment. Is it two or three pages long? While proper resume length is debatable, remember that most resumes are scanned in a matter of minutes. Most job seekers need to get to the point in one page. Yate says, "If in doubt, cut it out -- leave nothing but facts and action words!" 
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