To take the next step in your career, you know you will need an executive resume that communicates your value in a way that will attract interest in your candidacy and compel the recruiter/hiring authority to take action.
You believe you have done that. Right? Well, probably not as well as you might think. Many executives try to showcase value but they fall short. Here are four ways to help you immediately improve your executive resume and help make your value crystal clear.
SPEAK TO YOUR AUDIENCE
Even six- and seven-figure executives make the mistake of wanting to keep their options open and create a broad scope document that lacks impact.
Employers want to know how you are going to help them move forward and they want to feel confident that you are the person that will help them attain their goals.
Be specific. Make a connection with the reader by using a focused summary and personal branding statement that showcases who you are and how you are capable of making a return on their investment when they hire you.
Weave targeted quantitative results into your opening statement and provide scope by including a header that draws attention to –> position/title being sought, industry, P&L experience, territory size or other key differentiators.
Including this type of information allows the reader to immediately imagine the scale of your leadership, the complexity of the environment you worked in and the impact you made.
E.g., CEO | Online Retail Industry Leader | P&L to $250M | Profit-Driven Growth Strategies.
You can see more executive resume samples on careersteering.com
INCLUDE TANGIBLE PROOF IN THE REST OF YOUR EXECUTIVE RESUME
Forget boring bullet points describing the responsibilities you’ve held throughout your career and switch the focus to outcomes/results of your efforts. A great strategy to use when trying to define your accomplishments is the CAR method.
Start by writing down what challenges you’ve faced, then describe the corrective actions you took, and finally pinpoint the results of your efforts. Once you have defined your accomplishments, you will want to frontload your bullet points to make the outcome shine.
It looks something like this.
“The tech team at ABC company was having trouble bringing new products to market. Project teams were unfocused with members struggling to communicate with one another. I introduced new project tracking procedures and spearheaded morning progress meetings to keep everyone updated and engaged resulting in $10M in new tech solutions to market within twelve months.”
- Delivered $10M in new tech solutions within 12 months by spearheading daily progress meetings and encouraging engagement between all stakeholders.
Integrate numbers throughout your document to highlight your track record of delivering results and reinforce your candidacy for the position you are currently pursuing!
MOST RECENT FIRST
Some executives try to list more relevant experience first based on the job title they are seeking. While this may be a good tactic if executed well. It isn’t going to help you if that experience was a very long time ago. Always list your more recent position first and then work backwards in time. Include the complete name of the company and any distinguishing factors –industry, size of the organization, and/or if they a public company, Fortune 50, 100, 500. Even small bits of information will help distinguish you.
As a rule of thumb, employers are most interested in recent employment history and associated accomplishments. Unless older career entries directly relate to the position being sought, you should forego including them on your document.
ADD A SPLASH OF COLOR
Years ago, it was unheard of to use color on your resume, but in 2019 you do not have to stick with strictly a black and white document. Further, ignite interest by using color text for headings and/or borders. Place a light shading behind portions of text to draw the reader’s eye across the page and to relevant passages.
By using these steps, you will optimize your resume and stand out in a competitive job market.
Bottom-line: Specify, quantify, brag with proof and make it look good.
