A resume impacts your application more than you think; it can get you rejected even if you’re qualified.
About 75% of qualified applicants don’t get an interview only because the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) couldn’t read their resume.
This is only one of the reasons why a well-written and well-formatted resume is important. Recruiters use it as a factor, too, of whether you’re worth hiring or not.
If you’re writing an executive resume and you need some tips, read below to know how you can improve it and increase the chances of making it to the final interview.
1. What’s Your Personal Brand?
You may be a great manager or leader, but you’re not the only one. There are others who are likely to be better than you, too. That’s why you need to set your personal brand, to let the employer know how you’re unique.
Not sure what your personal brand is? Write down your key achievements in your career and find the common theme here.
Now, ask yourself how you present yourself in meetings, social media, and conversations. Do you think your coworkers, bosses, and clients see you the same way?
When you figure out your own brand, it’s important to show it throughout your resume.
2. Customize Your Resume
High-level jobs are usually open for application for a specific reason. It could be that the company is looking to expand and they need an experienced leader to build a team. It could be that the sales had been declining and they needed someone to turn that around.
You need to know these things when you’re writing a management resume or an executive director resume, for example. It should contain the skills they’re looking for.
Generic resumes will only work for generic job postings. If you aren’t sure about the job, see if you can contact a recruiter to ask about the vacancy.
3. Tell Them What They Want to Know
A recruiter’s first interest is in what you can bring to their company. Of course, your goals and objectives matter, but most executives don’t care about those. For this reason, you may want to forego describing your desires and career goals.
Start your resume with a summary of your skills and the value you can add to their company. In line with the top above, it should show how these skills are fit for their needs.
4. Describe Your Achievements
Instead of saying what you did on your last job, detail what you accomplished instead. It’s a given what your responsibilities were, and it’s a given you did those duties, but how well did you do them?
If you tell the recruiter that you implemented a new system that boosted productivity, for example, you increase your chances of getting an interview. If you managed to increased sales, they’ll be more interested in how you can do the same for them.
Remember to give them numbers and facts, though. Don’t say, “increased revenue.” Rather, say something like, “increased revenue by 16% in the first year after a 5-year decline.”
The key is to detail how awesome your achievement is and what is its exact effects on the company. Presenting what your challenges were will also make them appreciate your achievements more.
5. Be Concise and Detailed at the Same Time
Aside from detailing your achievements and challenges, avoid saying clichés, too. These include, “track record of success,” “introduced a new product,” or “strong customer service skills.”
Go into details about these claims – what did you define as success? What product did you introduce and how it made an impact? How did your customer service skills contribute to the company?
You could instead say, “surpassed sales goals by 15% or more every year,” proving your track record. Likewise, “Increased customer satisfaction by 20%” proves your customer service skills. “Developed new products that increased market share by 3.5%” gives the reader more insight into it.
At the same time, don’t put too much information that isn’t as necessary. List down and detail your every skill, but don’t put things like “Microsoft Word” and such. Your employer already expects this of you.
6. Pay Attention to Your Resume Design
Your resume should be easy to read with the most important information highlighted. It should have a lot of white space; if it looks cluttered, the recruiter may not even bother reading it. This is also why you should be concise when detailing your skills and achievements.
Don’t more than 2 typefaces – one for the headings and one for the content. Choose a readable font and steer clear of unprofessional, creative fonts, as well.
It’s also important to note that your education won’t matter as much as when you were a junior employee. Write down your alma mater, any continuing education, license information, and nothing more at the bottom of your resume.
8. Don’t Forget to Proofread Again and Again
Once you’ve finished writing and formatting your resume, do a read-through once and again. Watch out for any typos and grammatical mistakes that might disqualify you from the race. If in doubt, have someone else read it.
9. Hire an Executive Resume Writing Services
If you aren’t confident about your resume writing skills, though, that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve the job! You only need a little help, and there’s nothing wrong with hiring a writing service.
Make sure you get the right one, though – one who will take into account your brand and make it show throughout the resume. Read reviews online to see which are the best around and which ones are worth the money.
Why Do You Need to Learn How to Write an Executive Resume?
Knowing how to write an executive resume may be the difference between you and another candidate with the same skillset. Recruiters want the candidates to impress them, and you can do so right off the bat with a well-written resume.
Looking for more tips and guides? Feel free to read our other blog posts and find out what companies are looking when hiring.
