Millions of employees across the nation (and world) day dream about that special day when they will come in to the office, tell their boss they’re done, and leave to go to the airport for a flight to the beach. Some of these employees even count down the days to that beach trip; the beginning of their retirement they’ve spent so long working toward. Unfortunately a subset of those people will not stay retired as they had hoped for whatever reason(s) and will have to return to work, most likely not voluntarily. When faced with this decision, one of the first things the person will have to do is update their resume, which they will need in the job seeking process. This can be easier or harder depending on the person’s specific situation, but in general it requires a little more attention than someone who never left the labor force. Here are some tips for updating your resume after you’ve been retired.
 
First things first, you should be clear about coming out of retirement. Honesty really is the best policy. Who wants to go through the hiring process after coming back to work, only to have to go through it again because the employer found a lie or deception on their resume? It is a different workplace today than it was decades ago, and while playing fast with the truth on a resume has never been looked highly upon, it was more likely someone could get away with it back when there weren’t huge HR departments, easily available background checks, or it was too much of a hassle to find information in general. Today, information is available at light speed thanks to the Internet and even middle management positions are typically only filled after thorough vetting and background checks.
 
Emphasize in detail your skills as they relate to the specific position you are applying for. Generalists have largely gone by the wayside in the modern workplace as specialization has increased dramatically. Look at the field of medicine for example, where multiple specialties have existed for a while but have been specialized even further into sub-specialties. Drop any experience off your resume that is not related to the position, especially if the experience was gained a long time ago. If the position requires special training and you already have it, feel free to list it, but save space on your resume for more important things than unrelated training or training that happened a long time ago.