It’s time to start writing your executive resume, or updating it, for a new job search.
This may be your first active job search ever, because you’ve been in demand and easily slid from one job to the next, as your career progressed. You never needed a resume.
Or it could be several years since you’ve dusted off that resume to dive into yet another search.
You know that the purpose of your resume is to attract executive recruiters and hiring authorities at the companies where you’re applying for a job. Your resume should prompt those people to contact you for an interview.
Maybe you know that resumes don’t look or read the way they did even a few years ago.
Maybe you figure that, if you just consult a resume book, you’ll learn how you have to format, write and edit your resume. You may think that things like too many pages, whether or not to use an objective statement, and dealing with employment gaps are your biggest worries.
Figure out how to handle these kinds of things and you’ll be all set, right?
What you may not understand is that resumes today are more personal branding- and personal marketing-driven than ever before. They are meant to drive home what makes you a good-fit candidate for the companies you’re targeting, and differentiate the unique value you offer over your competition.
Not heeding this imperative is at the crux of poor executive resume writing. That is, resumes that are too generic, fall flat and don’t resonate with anyone. Without knowing who your target audience is and what their needs are for a good-fit candidate, there is no way you can know what information you should (and shouldn’t) put into your resume.
Read more about this biggest executive resume writing mistake at my Executive Career Branding blog.
Related posts:
How to Write An Irresistible C-level Executive Brand Resume in 10 Steps
Is the Executive Resume Dead or Dying?
Resume and Brand Story for President-CEO-COO Manufacturing Turnarounds
10 Brand-Diluting Phrases That Can Ruin Your Executive Resume
What’s Wrong with Copying an Executive Resume Sample?
photo by Drew Coffman