You’ve done the job hunt before. You’ve crafted a spotless resume; you’ve written stunning cover letters; and you feel rather confident your ability to get a job. However, after a few years of work and some advanced education, you are qualified for the c-suite — and that is a completely different job-hunting experience from what you’re used to.
Most notably, the executive resume deviates from the traditional resume in significant and conspicuous ways. If you want an executive job, you need to perfect your executive resume. Here’s how.
Table of Contents
General Executive Resume Tips
A typical resume is short and to-the-point; hiring managers hardly have the time or energy to sift through every applicant’s personal manifesto, so typical application materials must be eye-catching and brief. However, executives are hardly typical employees; they are tasked with making the big-picture decisions that determine the company’s future. Before a board is willing to bring you on, they need to be certain that you have the skills and knowledge for the position. That means you need more resume than usual to get the job.
Usually, an executive resume is at least two pages in length. This provides you with enough space to explain your education and employment history in full, detailing your responsibilities and your impact. Additionally, executive resumes include a summary, which is more or less an elevator pitch intended to persuade readers of your qualifications.
The most important feature of your resume is your achievement section. Because you will be expected to do great things as an executive, your history of accomplishments matters. You shouldn’t be afraid of tooting your own horn — but you also shouldn’t lie. If your successes are anything less than honestly great, you probably won’t get the job.
Because executives are expected to be the best of the best, you should seriously consider using executive resume writing services during your job search. Professional resume writers not only know exactly how to tailor any resume to any job, but they can also identify mistakes in your application materials and give your resume a final shine.
CEO Tips
The CEO is the captain of the company ship, and as such, this person will be responsible for every aspect of the organization, from its finances to its marketing. If you are applying for CEO positions, you need to demonstrate your competency in all business fields, which is best done through a strong resume summary. Once you win readers’ interest, you can show off in your achievements section — which should use plenty of numbers as quantifiable proof of your greatness — and your skills, which should focus on management and leadership but establish aptitude in industry-appropriate fields, as well.
As important as the content in your CEO resume is the document’s look. The CEO’s style impacts a business’s brand, so you should be careful to align your application materials with the look and feel of your potential employer.If you can balance professionalism with your target brand’s feel and prove your experience, then you probably have the job.
CIO Tips
Largely responsible for a business’s internal tech-related decisions, a CIO must have a strong foundation in technology as well as business management. However, unlike a CEO, a CIO is valued primarily for their hard skills. Thus, you shouldn’t focus heavily on your resume summary for these positions; instead, you should highlight your skills, noting where and how you acquired them. Because your technical skills might be almost endless, you should limit your list to those that directly apply to the position you seek. Because this information can be dry, it is imperative that you grab your reader’s attention quickly and maintain it throughout your documents. Unique formatting is your friend for finding the best CIO job.
CTO Tips
One of the newest additions to the c-suite, a Chief Technology Officer focuses on innovation in tech, which usually means producing products for customers. As a result, the achievements section within your executive resume is of primary importance. Your goal should be to list the products you have created — or helped to create — and use numbers to explain their success. For example, you might note how many product sales occurred or the ratings of your products on popular review sites.
Different types of executive resumes look different, but all of them are vastly dissimilar from your standard resume. Before you embarrass yourself with a humdrum application document, you should build an executive resume that will wow and win you the job.
About Carson Derrow
