How to Write a Stellar Executive Resume

50 Tips to Reaching Your Job Target

Brenda Bernstein

• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781510729292
• eBook ISBN: 9781510729308
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Careers

How to Write a Stellar Executive Resume is a step-by-step guide that empowers readers to create an effective and stand out from the crowd as a top candidate for an executive position. Brenda Bernstein, a Certified Executive Resume Master and author of the #1 Bestseller How to Write a Killer LinkedIn Profile, shares the tips and tricks she's learned from more than two decades of helping job seekers get connected with the right position. Readers will discover: • The importance of knowing the target audience and how to best connect with them
• Key social media tips for spreading the word about their skills and experiences
• Why good ol' cover letters are important, and how to use them effectively
• Power verbs to use, and words to avoid
• Samples of successful resumes For many executives conducting a job search, it may have been quite a while since they were last "looking." It's easier than ever to apply for a job – and as a result, there's a lot of competition for a limited number of openings. There's a lot to learn about the recruiting world we live in, and the best ways to use the tools at our disposal. This book provides practical, proven, up-to-date best practices for creating an effective executive resume that gets results.

1

Context

TIP #1:
WRITE FOR THE FUTURE

It is a misconception that resumes are about your past. Resumes are about your FUTURE. In other words, your resume will work if you think about what a potential employer would want to know about how you WILL perform. What experience do you have that will enable you to make a contribution to their firm or organization?

If you are writing from the perspective of the FUTURE, here’s what will happen:

1. You will write detailed bullets that demonstrate your capability to achieve measurable results. Your readers will infer that you can produce similar results for them.

2. You will think about the purpose and priority of each item on your resume, then choose and place your sections and bullets accordingly.

3. You will delete anything that is irrelevant or of minimal importance to your future.

4. You will include positions from as many years back as necessary to share information that’s relevant to your next position—there is no absolute rule about how many years to include!

Keep reading for more resume tips that will help you write a well-formatted, attention-grabbing, future-based resume!

TIP #2:
KNOW YOUR TARGET

If you’re not sure what position you are aiming for, how are you possibly going to get it? Make sure you know what your ideal job is, and write your resume as if you are going 100 percent for that job. If there are two types of jobs you want, write two resumes. If there are three types of jobs you want … ? You guessed it!

One size does NOT fit all in the world of resumes!

If you try to write a “universal” or “general” resume you will almost always fail. You will feel scattered and unfocused as you write, and you will most likely not succeed in obtaining job interviews.

If you are applying to multiple types of jobs because you are not sure what direction you’re headed in, take a step back and consider whether you might want to get some career coaching before you sit down to write your resume or pay someone else to write your resume. Clarity of purpose is key when you start your job search. You might still apply to more than one type of job; just be clear about your intention when doing so.

If you want a recommendation for a career coach, contact us at [email protected]. We will give you a list of people who can help.

You might want to try some exercises that you can do on your own. We recommend Mary Elizabeth Bradford’s Award-Winning program, the Job Search Success System1, which provides worksheets and audio modules to support you through every step of your job search.

Once you know your target or targets, you can begin tailoring your resume. Many of the tips in this book will help you think through how to match your experience to your desired job description(s)! Part of knowing your target is determining whether it is an appropriate fit for your skills and experience. Take an honest assessment of whether you are a match for the position. You might discover that you are not the best fit and that your energy would be better spent on a different application. An article in Forbes magazine covered this issue well: “3 Things That Will Get Your Resume Thrown in the Trash.”2 While it’s good to aim high, it’s important to achieve a balance between reaching for the next challenge and barking up the wrong tree.

TIP #3:
KNOW WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT

Before you start writing your resume, I recommend that you do some soul searching. Mary Elizabeth Bradford’s Job Search Success System3 provides questionnaires and forms to help you in that process. Here are some of the questions you will want to answer:

• What makes you unique? (What do you have that distinguishes you from the applicant sitting next to you with the same experience?)

• What are five characteristics that best describe you when you are at work?

• What is the biggest ROI (Return on Investment) an employer will get from you?

• What have you been complimented on at work?

• What do your friends and colleagues say about you when they compliment you?

• Describe an ideal workday. What tasks would you be doing? What would your interactions be like?

There are some work personality assessments you might consider doing, whether on your own or with an executive career coach. The Essay Expert administers the DISC Profile Assessment, which gives you a clear picture of your leadership strengths and challenges in the workplace based on four characteristics: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. The DISC profile pinpoints what your “natural” working style is versus the style you have adapted for the work environment. The assessment is very enlightening in evaluating your leadership style and potential.

Another assessment is the 360 assessment, which asks you to reach out to friends and colleagues who give their opinions about your strengths and challenges. This assessment is very valuable as well, as it provides outside perspective on what you truly have to offer. You might be surprised by what you find out.

If any of these assessments interest you, contact [email protected]. We will arrange for you to proceed with the assessment most appropriate for you.

Once you have a handle on what you have to offer a potential employer and what you seek in your work environment, you will have much more power in writing a resume that brings forth your strengths.

TIP #4:
GATHER INFORMATION FIRST

Before you start writing your resume, you need to gather information. Start with the basics: Your company names (spell them right!), position titles, and dates. Then move on to what you accomplished in each of your positions. Here are some questions to ask and answer about each of your positions:

• How would you describe the company? How big is it? What is the size/value of accounts? How many clients served? What were annual revenues or profits?

• Why were you hired/what were you hired to do? What are/were your job duties?

• Did you have any notable clients?

• How much money did you make/save your company? How much did you generate in sales? Did profits, revenues, sales or customer numbers increase due to your efforts or programs you implemented? Did you break any records?

• Did you implement a program that improved something by a certain percentage? Did you save a certain amount of time with a process you created or redesigned (make a process more efficient)? What did this area look like before and what does it look like now?

• What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of at this job? Be specific. You may want to write these in the following “CAR” format:

• C = Challenge (think of a challenge you faced or problem you had to resolve)

• A = Action (what action did you take?)

• R = Results (what were the results of the action you took?)

Note: You might also have heard of these as “STAR” (Situation—Task—Action—Results) or “PAR” (Problem—Action—Results) stories.

• Did you receive any awards? What were they for?

• How did you grow and develop into a more valuable, more knowledgeable, more skilled commodity?

Once you answer these questions for all your positions, you will have most of the material you need to sit down and write your resume.

For a more structured approach, you may want to try The Essay Expert’s DIY resume questionnaires. These questionnaires help you create a STELLAR executive resume for just a fraction of the cost of working directly with a resume writer. If you are ready to take on the challenge of writing your own resume now, these services are available at theessayexpert.com:

• General Resume Questionnaire: $97 (VP and C-Level, Sales & Marketing, Accounting & Finance)4

• IT Resume Questionnaire: $47

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Context
• 2 Getting Started
• 3 Content
• 4 Formatting Your Resume
• 5 Cover Letter Tips
• 6 Technology & Social Media
• 7 The #1 Most Important Tip Set!
• Appendices
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author