As an executive, you have many options available to you when it comes to searching for a new job. If you have many years of experience, you may choose to use networking as your primary job search strategy. Other people may opt for different strategies. One thing professional resume writing services always say is to keep your options open with your job hunt. This could mean incorporating and utilizing an executive search company to help you land the perfect job. Some people shy away from these companies, but they actually could bring you some unforeseen benefits.
You May Learn How High Your Value Is
Sometimes you don’t know what your value is until someone tells you. The best professional executive resume writers can compare your experience level to others, but they can’t tell you what the demand is in any particular industry. An executive search company may be able to tell you exactly what salary you should be receiving based on your experience. You may be surprised at what the number is.
Executive Search Companies Know More
When you get in touch with an executive search company, they will know more about the ins-and-outs of the different potential employers than you’ll be able to find online or anywhere else. It is their job to do thorough research on a company, so they will be able to answer any questions you have. When writing your resumes that get you hired, you can tailor the knowledge based on the information provided. This will help your resume get recognized more easily since it will appear you have a greater knowledge base than other candidates.
Find The Right Fit With an Executive Search Company
Outside of knowledge within the business, an executive search company may be able to tell you what the culture is, what the work-life balance is and other information that may be important to you. This is information you can’t usually find online or by asking anyone unless you truly know someone closely that works at a particular place. When you have this information available, professional executive resume writers can word your resume to make it fit the culture and incorporate specific keywords to help get your resume recognized.
Professional Resume Services has some of the top professional executive resume writers to help you make the most of your job hunt. If you would like more information about executive search companies, or how our resume writing services can help, feel free to contact us anytime.
Thought leadership is one of the best qualities any executive can have. When you are a thought leader, you have innovative ideas that help business move in a positive direction, all while influencing other employees as well. However, there are some myths you need to be aware of when it comes to thought leadership for executives.
1. You Must Be Perfect
No one is perfect, and thought leaders don’t have to be either. Believe it or not, a good quality to improve your c-level personal branding is to admit you need to check resources to get answers to certain questions. Ensuring you’re providing the correct answers is much more important and enhances your credibility more than giving an incorrect answer immediately.
2. Relationships Aren’t as Important as Productivity
A true thought leader places a high importance on building relationships. It will be evident to professional executive resume writers if you are a self-centered leader or if you are focused on building relationships as you become successful. Employers want to hire executives who build quality relationships as well.
3. Each of Your Thoughts Must Be Original
Don’t be afraid to give credit where credit is due. Every great thought leader uses ideas from successful people before them and build off of those ideas to make their own. However, if you think every one of your ideas has to be original in order to improve your c-level personal branding, you’re wrong.
4. You Must Control a Conversation
The role of a thought leader is to present new ideas in creative and innovative ways. That doesn’t necessarily mean each idea presented is the best right away. Any time a conversation comes up about an idea you have, listen to the feedback instead of shutting the person down right away. You shouldn’t try to spark a debate or control the conversation. The top resume services suggest getting feedback from as many sources as possible before developing your idea and putting it on paper.
5. Once You Have a Great Thought, You’re Done
Thoughts without actions are useless. All professional executive resume writers want to know is what actions you took to get a certain result. You can’t put a thought on a resume because employers won’t know what result happened from the thought. Put your thought into motion to have the best results as a thought leader.
At Professional Resume Services, we believe thought leadership is one of the best ways to improve your c-level personal branding. If you need help determining whether you display the right thought leadership qualities, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
Spring is the most popular time of the year to get some cleaning done in and around the house. But it’s also a great time to clean up your executive resume! This is one of the busiest times of year for professional executive resume writers, so if you plan on using a resume service to clean up the cobwebs for your resume, now’s the time to make an appointment. However, if you want to learn how to tidy up your executive resume on your own, here are a few tips to consider.
1. Highlight Only Relevant Skills
Your last resume may have been filled with a lot of different skills in hopes of the relevant one getting recognized. Any executive resume writing service today will tell you to highlight only relevant skills, because hiring managers won’t take the time to read through them all. You’ve got six seconds to impress a recruiter, so make them count.
2. Remove any clichés
Words like “passionate,” “reliable” and “dependable” all may describe you perfectly, but the reality is everyone believes those words describe them as well. Do yourself and your resume a favor and remove these clichés, since they don’t add any value to your executive resume.
3. Update Dates
Depending on your age, you may need to update or remove a significant amount of dates on your executive resume. Dates are good to use to an extent, but if you are attempting to highlight experience from 30 years ago, chances are it won’t help you land your next job.
4. Be More Focused
The best executive resume services want you to target your resume more. The days of creating one general resume to send out to many different companies are over. Companies today want to see a resume tailored to their needs, so you need to comply if you want to have a chance.
5. If All Else Fails, Start from Scratch
Updating an old resume can take more time than just starting over from scratch. Sometimes even the best professional executive resume writers will suggest starting over with a clean slate. This will help clear your mind from all of the older accomplishments and experiences and allow you to focus on the more current experiences you can remember.
Professional Resume Services exists to help executives like you clean up their resumes for the next career opportunity. When you’re ready to do some spring cleaning on your executive resume, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
The short answer to this question is no! You definitely don’t want to make your executive resume and your LinkedIn profile the same for a variety of reasons. Most professional executive resume writers can help you distinguish the differences between each and why the differences are important. We’ve also given you some more details on the differences below.
LinkedIn Should be More Informal
Recruiters and HR managers will go to your LinkedIn profile to learn more about you as a person. This is generally evident in your writing style, so be sure to make it more informal to give it some voice. There are big differences between resumes that get you hired and your LinkedIn profile, and it’s important to distinguish the two.
Also, don’t mistake an informal voice for being unprofessional. There are creative ways to make your LinkedIn profile professional and informal. If you struggle with that aspect, executive resume services can help.
Executive Resume Summaries Should Be Short and Targeted
Executives tend to make their summaries extensive, because who doesn’t like talking about themselves? However, your executive resume summary should be short and to the point. LinkedIn is the place to talk more in detail on your summary. Summarize your entire career, your accomplishments, strengths and anything else to make you stand out. Most professional executive resume writers will tell you to put just enough information in your executive resume summary to make a recruiter or potential employer want more information about you.
Recruiters Want to See Different Information
Your chances of landing your next executive job will take a big hit if your executive resume and LinkedIn profile are identical. It could signal to a recruiter that you’re lazy, not creative, or just don’t understand what LinkedIn is used for.
Generally, an executive resume should talk about business details, while LinkedIn should be more conversational about how you accomplished certain things. In a nutshell, your executive resume and LinkedIn profile should combine together to give an employer a clear picture of who you are both professionally and personally.
There’s a fine line between crafting the perfect executive resume and writing a solid LinkedIn profile. Many executives use executive resume services to help distinguish the two. If you’re struggling with finding the right balance, feel free to contact us at any time for help.
You can really put yourself in a good position by searching for a new job while you’re still employed—if you play your cards right. If you don’t handle the situation properly, though, you could be headed for an employment disaster leading to you being jobless. Many professional executive resume writers say your resume looks more attractive to recruiters if another company currently employs you. But there are some important things to keep in mind to execute your job search in your favor.
Don’t Talk About it – Unless You’re Asked
There’s no need to tell people around your office you’re looking for another job. What happens if the news gets back to your boss and he decides to just let you go on the spot? Then you’re put in a situation where you have to ramp up your job search and maybe even hire some of the top resume writing services to land a job quickly.
But if your boss sniffs something out and approaches you about the topic, then you shouldn’t lie to him. Tell him about some of your concerns and that you’re just looking at other options with no intention of leaving at the moment.
Be Positive About Your Current Job
If you work at your current job with a negative attitude, it will raise some red flags about something not being right with you. How your colleagues perceive you is critical when it comes to keeping your job search a secret from your current company.
Don’t Use Company Information
When you’re writing an executive resume, refrain from using a company phone number or email address. If you don’t have a professional email address, you need to create one. If your boss has a hint you may be looking for another job, he can see what calls you’ve made and what emails have been sent. You don’t want to have that awkward conversation.
Keep a “Business as Usual” Attitude
Most of all, don’t do anything to tip off anyone at your current job about your job search. Speak to professional executive resume writers on your own time, not company time. Also, don’t let your productivity slip during your job search. It can be easy to have the mentality of not having to be productive since you already have one foot out the door, but you don’t want to burn any bridges.
Juggling your current job may be the most difficult part of searching for a new job. Be sure to contact us if you need any more tips about how to pull it off.
If you take the time to speak with any executive level job-seeker, you are likely going to hear a few words of wisdom about how to find the perfect executive position. However, many of these individuals are full of misguided tips that are going to hinder, rather than help, your job hunt.
To avoid falling for these common job hunting mistakes, use the information here.
Not Knowing What Your Personal Market Value Is
Prior to attending even one interview, take some time to assess your value in the open market. If you don’t know your professional worth, there is a good chance you will undersell your experience and knowledge, which will hurt your negotiating power.
There are tools to help with this. For example, compensation benchmarking can help you determine what your market value is based on your geographic location, experience, skills, etc.
Your Resume Gives All the Details of Your Past Work Experience
It is important to remember, the purpose of a resume is to help you receive a call for an interview. You don’t have to create an extremely detailed autobiography of your entire professional history. If you are having a difficult time consolidating the information on your resume, consider using executive resume writing services.
Trying to Match Your Resume to the Keywords in the Job Posting
HR managers and personnel have to review hundreds of resumes for every position. If they are all full of keywords from the job posting, they are going to have a difficult time finding someone who stands out. Instead of “stuffing” the resume with keywords, fill it with information that describes you, as well as the unique expertise you have. Professional executive resume writers can help capture all the characteristics that help you stand out as a great candidate.
Assuming You Need More Certifications or Schooling to Get the Job You Want
You don’t have to acquire an MBA or a large selection of certifications to find the right executive role. Remember, two of the wealthiest executives that ever lived, Carlos Slim and Bill Gates, don’t have these credentials. The important thing is to utilize your skills and abilities to demonstrate your professional experience and expertise.
Ruling Out Opportunities Carelessly
Don’t overthink the job description you read. Treat the ad as an ideal. In many cases, the description is a wish list of what businesses want in a new executive, but there are only a few requirements that are absolutely essential. Don’t take yourself out of the running without evaluating the situation carefully. Once you know the specifics, you can begin writing a professional resume that targets these desired traits.
Executive resume writing services can help you create a resume to highlight your unique skills and abilities. Using these professional services can help you stand out from other candidates seeking the same executive level position.
Every company has different positions within each organization. The job duties of those positions can vary from company to company, so you have to be specific as to what job you’re looking for on your resume. A marketing director at a small firm may have multiple job duties, while a marketing director at a large corporation might only be in charge of one aspect. That’s why targeting your executive resume is critical to get the job you want, and the guidance from an executive resume writing service may be essential. Here are some tips on how you can target your executive resume.
Know What You Want
If you try to be general in your resume and make it seem like you’re the jack-of-all-trades, you probably won’t get much recognition. Executive resume targeting means you need to show you have one particular skill mastered and are seeking a job requiring those skills. When you’re as specific as possible, you are more likely to receive responses from companies regarding the exact position you’re looking for. The best professional executive resume writers are crafty when it comes to being specific to the job description and using the appropriate keywords to help get you recognized.
Differentiate Large and Small Companies
Some people want to work for a large corporation, but some want to start at the ground floor. Whichever you prefer, it needs to be clear and evident in your executive resume. Make it known you want to use your skills to help a start-up company grow into a larger business, and are willing to wear multiple hats to get it done. Alternatively, you could say your skills are a better fit for a large corporation where you sit behind your desk all day and make the current operations run more smoothly behind the scenes. Some of the top rated resume writing services will help you target the ideal fit for you, as long as you are clear with them regarding what you want.
Lay Out Your Criteria
Sometimes the best thing applicants can do is to be specific about what they want in a job. However, when you include a section like this, you have to be very careful. If you are overly specific, you might significantly narrow the amount of potential responses you get. You could talk about the work environment you prefer, the size of the company, how you like to interact with co-workers and clients, the type of management style you like and so on. There’s a fine line between being specific about your criteria and being demanding. If you’re having a hard time differentiating the two, then you may benefit from the assistance of an executive resume writing service.
Targeting your executive resume could be the difference between getting the exact job you want or just settling for whatever is offered to you. Feel free to contact us if you need any assistance or guidance when you’re working on targeting your executive resume.
For many, interviews can be some of the hardest parts of the job seeking process. This holds especially true for the naturally nervous and the socially clumsy, as well as those who just don’t cope well with pressuring social situations. If any of those last three descriptions fit you, we understand your worries. The good news is you don’t have to wring your hands over interviews! In this article, we’ll go over the three most common ways people bungle their job interviews and how you can avoid these mistakes and ace your own interview!
1. Revealing Too Much Unavailability
Let’s face it: employers will rarely hire someone who lives several hours away from the company office. It is unrealistic to expect or believe someone who lives too far away will be able to consistently make it in to work on time. Furthermore, if other circumstances limit your ability to work on a consistent basis, this will also count against you.
While we’d recommend simply not applying for any jobs you know you’ll have trouble commuting to for any reason, sometimes you have valid reasons for picking that employer. For instance, you could be in the middle of a move, so your being too far away is simply a minor and temporary technicality. In the meantime, you may want to borrow the address of a friend or relative who lives in the area until you’re able to relocate properly.
2. Aggression
Of course, you always want to have and maintain a go-getter attitude when it comes to applying for jobs. If you don’t, you’ll never get a job at all! However, there’s a difference between being motivated and being pushy, and you never want to come off as the latter. This is the easiest way to ruin your chances of being called back.
Once you’ve interviewed, do not try to call the employer with no warning whatsoever. In the meantime, spend that energy elsewhere if you can’t get rid of it, such as by working with a team of professional executive resume writers to tweak your resume and related documents. The most you should do is send out an email to the employer, re-introducing yourself. This will help you stick in their head as a potential candidate.
3. Neglecting Your Pitch
No matter what company you’re seeking to work for, all of them will want to get to know you during the interview process. Ideally, you can use this chance to reveal strengths that your resume will not necessarily show (even if you’re a pro at writing resumes that get you hired)! Having a great pitch will catch your interviewer’s attention and let them know you’re worth giving a chance. If you bungle this, you could risk your entire chance at getting the job. Think about who you are and what your professional strengths are before going to the interview to help hash out how to market yourself to your employer.
Additionally, you may want to rely on an executive resume writing service to help ensure you have a better chance of landing interviews—and jobs! The best thing to do is get in touch with a team of professional executive resume writers to help turn your prospects around.
