How To Create An Impressive Executive Resume
Your resume plays a vital role when you apply for a job as the content of this document can affect an employer’s decision of whether to hire you or not. While you can easily download a resume template online and send this to every employer you know of, this tactic doesn’t guarantee the best results —submitting a generic resume won’t create a positive impression.
Since a resume can make or break your chances of landing a job, you must exert time and effort in making one. Experienced interviewers can easily determine your character and suitability to the job by merely looking at your resume. Submitting a sloppy resume just for the sake of it can become the reason why an interviewer will not even consider you for an interview.
To ensure that you get on the interviewer’s good side, follow these tips on how you can create an impressive executive resume:
Less Is More
When applying for an executive position, deciding which information to include or leave out can be a struggle. This is especially true if you have years of experience working in a specific industry.
For you to create an executive resume similar to the ones produced by resume services for executives, find several job positions online that match what you’re applying for. Check what skills and experience are necessary for the job and highlight those in your resume.
For example, if you’re applying as an HR consultant, your experience in employee management, and talent acquisition might be essential, so include these in your resume. Your experience on IT, on the other hand, might not be apt for the HR position so you can leave this information out from your resume.
The key here is making sure that relevant skills are highlighted in your resume so the employers can easily determine your compatibility for the vacant position.
Set Up Your Experiences
The first page of your resume can make or break an impression in the employer’s eyes. A poorly written storyline can discourage an employer from checking the other pages of your resume, and decrease your chances of getting the job.
Make sure that this doesn’t happen by carefully writing up the timeline of your experiences. When making one, be as clear as possible and indicate the industry and size of the companies you’ve worked with in the past. Valuable information such as the scope of your responsibilities from these companies and the amount of profit you managed with your previous employer should also be incorporated in the storyline of your resume.
A carefully written timeline of where you have worked will give the employers an idea of your professional experience and spike their interest.
Think About Your Readers
Indicating the name of your previous employer, the dates you worked with them, and the responsibilities you had when working is essential when creating a resume. However, are you aware that adding one or two sentences about your previous employer can go a long way in helping readers better understand your professional experience? Merely indicating the name of your previous employer will make it challenging for the interview to assess whether your skills fit their company. This is especially true if your previous employer is not widely known.
Make it easier for your readers (aka potential employers) to easily assess your skills and professional experience by adding a brief description of your previous employer in your resume. You can mention the industry and nature of the business of your employer.
For example, if you worked with a company that houses over 700 employees in the US, has 20 offices worldwide, and is now worth about $800 million, make sure to include this information in your resume. These details will make it very easy for potential employers to contextualize and appreciate your achievements.
4. Proofread Your Resume
Working for decades in different industries does not immune you from typing misspelled words or grammatically incorrect sentences. Even as an executive, you can still commit these errors when making important documents, such as your resume.
Before you hand out personally or send through email your resume, go through it and proofread it at least twice. You can do use software that checks for any errors in your spelling and sentence construction or have a friend check it for you. Any of these options can help you improve your executive resume so you can end up submitting one that is free from any type of errors.
It’s Easy When You Know How
Although challenging, creating an impressive executive resume can always be done. Along with your motivation to land a job and build a career, use this article as your guide in perfecting your resume. Once applied properly, these tips will surely wow potential employers and pave the way towards your professional growth!