Being aggressive with an executive job search doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be pushy or demanding. Aggressiveness actually means spending a significant amount of time developing the best resumes and cover letters tailored to the job and company you’re applying for. There’s still a time and place for a follow up after you’ve applied for a position, but the vast majority of your work should be done beforehand. Here are some tips to consider throughout your job search.
Tailor Your Resume Specifically For The Job
Writing general resumes and cover letters won’t get you very far. One of the best things you can do is look at the details of all the requirements and insert the keywords you identify into your application papers. You may think an HR manager or recruiter won’t be able to know you’ve sent in the same resume to multiple different companies, but they’ve likely filtered through thousands of resumes in their career to know the difference between a general and specific one.
Read The Job Application Thoroughly
Missing a critical detail in a job application is a guaranteed way to be removed from consideration. For example, if a specific work sample is required for the application, not including one shows your lack of attention to detail. No matter how much you follow up, they will remember you didn’t follow directions from the application, so what makes them think you can follow directions if they hire you?
Make Connections
Once you’ve put together your best executive resume biography and filled out the job application perfectly, wait a week or two before following up. In the meantime, feel free to make connections with the HR manager or other company personnel via LinkedIn or other networking platform. Just be sure to optimize your LinkedIn profile before your reach out so it helps your case instead of hurting it.
Follow Up At Appropriate Times
Following up on a job application is important and effective if done at the right time. As mentioned, wait at least one week after you submit your application before you follow up. There’s sometimes no way to tell if your resume and cover letter get lost in the shuffle, so sending a quick email displaying your interest is recommended. A follow up email is an aggressive way to move your job search forward, but be sure to draw the line between being aggressive and being pushy. Professional Resume Services wants to be involved with all aspects of your executive job search. We can help you optimize your LinkedIn profile, craft the perfect cover letter or resume or even provide tips on how to show the right amount of aggressiveness during your job search. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re in need of assistance at any point during your job search.
Make Sure You Add These Accomplishments to Your Executive Resume
When you’re crafting the perfect executive resume, you may struggle with what information to include and what information to hold back. Some accomplishments get left off of resumes because you don’t want to feel like you’re boasting about certain things or functions. While this humility is a great characteristic to have, you also need to make sure you’re including all the key components of writing an effective resume. Here are some of the most common accomplishments executives don’t include on their resume, but should.
Volunteer Projects
As an executive, it’s easy to think only your work accomplishments should be included on your resume. However, volunteer projects you’ve worked on are important to include today as well. The top rated resume writing services will always ask you what you’ve accomplished outside of your employment. These projects could be completely unrelated to your career, such as helping out with your child’s school functions or similar projects. Being well-rounded in all aspects of life is attractive to potential employers today.
Leadership Projects
Think about all of your leadership projects or experience you’ve had in the past. Leadership doesn’t mean you have to hold the title of being a boss or supervisor, either. Demonstrating leadership qualities as a member of an executive team is just as important as holding a title for a leadership position. Most professional executive resume writers can identify the important leadership positions and qualities you have when you tell them about the different aspects of your previous job. As an executive, demonstrating any leadership qualities will prove valuable for the job you’re applying for, as well as advancement opportunities later on.
Ideas You Had Adopted By Your Company
Did you have a great idea from a brainstorming session with your team? The top rated resume writing services will tell you to include these ideas in your resume. This not only shows you can think quickly, but you’re also intuitive and confident enough to share your thoughts in a group setting. The importance of a team has never been more important than today, so an executive who comes up with great ideas to move business forward is a valuable part of any organization. Professional Resume Services wants to help ensure you have the strongest resume possible before you apply for an executive job. Our professional executive resume writers can help you brainstorm your accomplishments and identify the most important ones, so contact us today to see how we can take your executive resume to the next level.
Many executives forget a job isn’t theirs until they sign on the dotted line to become employed with the company. Receiving a job offer is great, but some mistakes could lead to the offer being withdrawn. You’ve worked so hard to get your executive resume bio in shape to get recognized, land an interview and ultimately get a job offer. Here are some of the common mistakes you need to avoid both before and after receiving a job offer.
Not Being Honest
Don’t tell your interviewer you have another job offer elsewhere if it isn’t true. Similarly, don’t lie about the salary at your current position or previous position. Employers have the right to look at this information for verification before they make a job offer. If you’re caught in a lie, they may question your entire executive resume bio and not give you an offer.
Not Keeping Your References Informed
Your references on your executive resume could be critical in getting you a job. However, any of the top resume writing services will tell you to always keep your references informed when you send in a resume. Employers often call those references, so you don’t want them to be surprised when it happens. You want your references to be prepared so they can discuss your past work most effectively.
Negotiating Too Much or Too Early
Negotiation is part of the interview process for executives. However, there’s a time and place for negotiating, and doing it too early or too often could make an employer uncomfortable enough where they won’t offer you the job. You are entitled to fair pay and benefits, but there has to be some give-and-take as well.
Social Media Blunders
Potential employers almost always look at social media profiles because it gives them insight as to who you are. Use a LinkedIn profile service to get your Linkedin profile cleaned up from a professional standpoint. Also be careful not to post any photos or commentary that could be offensive or otherwise hurt your chances of not looking and sounding professional. Social media is a valuable tool, but it can also be extremely costly when not used appropriately. Professional Resume Services is one of the top resume writing services in the industry. Not only can we help you write an effective resume to boost your chances of landing an interview, but we also have valuable tips about various stages of your executive job search. Feel free to contact us at any time if you’re struggling with your job search.
No matter how you look at it, getting laid off from your job is never fun. You may have been expecting it for weeks or months, or you may have been caught completely off guard. Regardless of the circumstances, there are some things you should do and shouldn’t do immediately following a layoff. You may be tempted to send out dozens of resumes and cover letters frantically in an attempt to find a new job as quickly as possible, but that could possibly be the worst strategy you can use. Instead, here are some do’s and don’ts to consider if you’ve been laid off.
Don’t Feel Sorry For Yourself
Feeling sorry for yourself and telling others about it doesn’t move you forward. Getting out of your rut of being laid off can be difficult, but it’s a necessity. If you must, take a day to reflect on the situation, but then let it go. Visit an executive resume writing service for professional help on brushing up your resume. The professionals there can give you words of encouragement based on experience, since they work with all types of clients and have plenty of success stories to share.
Take a Break Before Starting Your Job Search
You should take a little break before immediately jumping into your next job search. It’s human nature to take a little while to rebound from a layoff, so you need to make sure your mind is in the right place before you start talking to potential employers. This downtime would be the perfect window to optimize your LinkedIn profile, but give yourself enough time to recover before making connections.
Reconnect With Your Network
Reconnecting with your network is something you should do even before you send out dozens of resumes and cover letters. Be sure to optimize your LinkedIn profile first, though, so your connections know exactly what you’re up to when you reach out to them.
Take Time to Devise or Revise Your Career Plan
You may have been taken by surprise with your recent layoff, so take some time to come up with a new career plan. That may involve incorporating multiple streams of income or switching industries completely. Your opportunities are endless, so take all the time you need to put together your next career plan! Professional Resume Services works with people who have been laid off all the time. Our executive resume writing service excels at helping people get back on their feet and into the jobs they want. Feel free to contact us if you need help following your layoff.
Most professional builders wouldn’t dream of starting on a project without a set of blueprints. The detailed drawings are essential to guiding the process of building so that no important factors are left out. The blueprints are examined, changed where potential problems are noted, and referred to during the entire process.
Your career plans should have a set of blueprints, too. They don’t have to be big pieces of paper with diagrams on them, but there should be a carefully-thought-out plan that you follow to make sure all the important factors are being addressed. You should be looking at your career blueprint at least once a year and thinking about these questions:
The end of one year and beginning of the new is a popular time for looking at things like this. But be careful about making all those New Year’s Resolutions that end up ignored in February! Most people decide to toss the blueprint they were using and start over, then they get discouraged because it is too much change, too fast, and too difficult to maintain.
There is a lot in your life that is working well, and you want to build on that good foundation with small changes instead of completely changing an area. Sometimes, it is true that you have to tear down an old building and start over but many builders will renovate a beautiful older building and keep all the good stuff. Your career is like a building in this way — most of the time, the best can be presented in a well-written resume and a new job is offered because of the good stuff you bring to the position.
A blueprint is a professional, carefully designed picture of the planned project that is followed, evaluated, and only redesigned when necessary. The blueprint for your career should be treated the same way.
Some will tell you that nobody reads cover letters any more, so there’s no good reason to write them. But there actually are very good reasons to write a professional, researched, compelling cover letter, and here’s the top reason why: It is your opening argument that the attached resume is worth taking the time to read.
There are many helpful hints on writing your cover letter and it is a good idea to read up on this skill before you start drafting yours. Then start by taking the specific job description you are applying for and matching your qualifications to that description. Find the company’s goals and mission statement. Can you see how they mesh with the job and how you could be the best candidate for that opening?
If possible, discover who will be reading the resumes and use their name in the opening. Present your case for their consideration by a well-written and concise explanation of how your qualifications fit their needs and their goals. Reference any personal recommendations you have within the organization. Think of who will read your letter, what their goals are, and how to show them you can be the one to meet those goals.
An opening argument isn’t the entire database of evidence in a debate; it is the distillation of that evidence in a simple form that communicates conviction of opinion. Or to put it another way, it is the advertising copy that gets the buyer interested in looking at the product more closely. If that advertising is full of grammar mistakes and spelling errors, the product is seen as jokeworthy and will probably be rejected.
In the same way, if your cover letter is full of grammar mistakes and spelling errors, your resume will probably be rejected without being read because it will be assumed that your standards are lower than the reader’s. If you know you make grammar and spelling mistakes, use all the tools at your disposal to correct them. Computer programs like spellcheck and grammar checks are helpful, but a person will catch things they miss. Ask a friend who cares about writing well to proofread your cover letter. If you lack a friend with those skills, use a service like our Resume Critique and get a professional opinion.
Cover letters can convince a potential employer to consider a resume they might ignore otherwise. And that is a good reason to write one!
Your resume is a compilation of your career for the purpose of evaluation. The reader of your resume is looking for indications you will be suitable for a specific opening and that reader uses your resume to determine if an interview should be scheduled. One way to categorize what will be looked for is summed up in two areas: learn and lead. The ability to learn is essential no matter which position you are filling in an organization. From the top executive to the lowest rung of the career ladder, if you aren’t continually seeking to learn how to increase your effectiveness, you are dead weight. This can be shown in a resume through several means:
seminars and classes attended
organizations and volunteer activity
certifications
The ability to lead is really the ability to think and act independently for the good of the group. Some of this ability isn’t going to show in a resume — having the strength of character to avoid gossip, for instance. Still, a resume can show that you have accomplished goals. The positions you have held in any organization, the time spent as a member and the activities you participate in all show leadership by example even when they are not “head” positions. Your references will reveal what kind of person you are, which indicates what kind of worker you probably will be. During an interview, you are assessed in the light of your resume. The impression the resume gave is adjusted to include the face-to-face interaction and the whole package is considered. Will you be able to learn the job? Will you be able to do the job well even when distractions occur? Will you be a positive force in their particular workplace? If your resume hasn’t shown that you might fit, you will probably not be called in for that interview. If your resume hasn’t resulted in being called in for any interviews, maybe it’s time to look at it again. Does it show that you know how to both learn and lead? Is it well written? Professional Resume Services has carefully built a site with many ways to help you develop an excellent resume for distribution. Explore the tips and services and see how your resume can be one that gets you that interview and the opportunity to learn and lead in a new job.
One of the challenges with writing your own resume and cover letter is the nagging suspicion that you missed something. After all, even if you are an excellent writer, you probably don’t write resumes and cover letters professionally. If you have been submitting your well-written resume with no results, that nagging suspicion strengthens into a dreaded probability. You know how friends don’t see their spelling mistakes; it is entirely possible that you don’t see something you could improve.
It is a good idea to ask a professional to look at your resume, even if you are pretty sure you wrote it well. The Resume Critique is a low-cost, high-value way to do that. Your resume will be read by a certified resume writer and you will be given a comprehensive report three or four pages long analyzing these important factors:
Overall Appearance & Consistency
Spelling & Syntax
Resume Objective & Focus
Position & Strategy
Accomplishments & Expertise
Formatting Sections & Organization
Keywords & Branding
Information Relevance
You will be given insights on what a potential employer looks for, suggestions for improvement that are easy to follow, and everything you need to get your resume at its best. The cost? $39.95, less than you spent for a fancy dinner for two at a nice restaurant. Your career will last longer than that meal did!
We also are offering a critique of your cover letter for $15.oo. Or, if you would like us to evaluate both resume and cover letter and give you professional suggestions, The Resume & Cover Letter Critique Combo is available for $49.95. That gives you professional advice for less than a dinner tab for four at that nice restaurant.
