I was recently talking with a friend of mine who spent two weeks shopping for the perfect interview suit. She was scheduled to interview at a very white shoe investment bank for a senior position so she wound up purchasing a Chanel suit for the big day. And of course she had to find the perfect new shoes (Prada) and bag (Prada) to round out the look. She spent thousands of dollars on her outfit over the course of two weeks in preparation for this huge and lucrative opportunity. She even scheduled her hairdresser and a makeup artist to make sure she looked her best on the day of the interview. Yet she waited until two days before the interview to call me to talk about updating her resume.

I should mention that she wasn’t actively looking for a job and she got the interview through a partner at the firm who set up the meeting based on knowledge of her past work and reputation. At the moment she walked through the bank’s gilded doors to meet some very senior bankers all they knew about her was based upon reputation. She was, of course, asked to bring a resume with her.

Her resume, at a minimum, needed updating but I did a complete overhaul to make sure the resume made her look like the rock star that she is. In fact when she saw the finished product she told me that she was almost as excited to show them her resume as she was to wear her fancy new perfectly-fitting outfit.

And that got me to thinking about my other friends and clients…does your resume make you feel as fabulous at your outfit?

If it doesn’t then you need to get that document updated and keep it current. Remember that after the interview, when you leave the office, your resume will be passed around to others who didn’t meet you and your candidacy will be discussed. Your resume needs to be able to stand on its own and represent you as well as you could represent yourself if you were present. Does your resume do that?

If not, you had better get busy and update your resume. Even if you aren’t presently looking for a job you never know when your hard earned reputation will land you an interview for a fantastic new opportunity. I am sure you will make time to shop for a new interview suit but will you have time to create a resume of the same caliber?