Your personal brand is one of the main factors that will differentiate you from other candidates throughout your job search. Too many executives make the mistake of thinking c-level personal branding doesn’t matter once they reach a certain level, especially if they have no intentions of leaving their current job. The truth is establishing and maintaining your personal brand is important no matter what stage you’re at in your career. Your executive LinkedIn profile is one of the best ways to do both. Here’s why LinkedIn can be so valuable for personal branding for senior level managers.
You Are More Discoverable Online
You have to expect recruiters and hiring managers to do an online search for your name after you send them a resume or meet them at a networking event. The ultimate goal should be to have your executive LinkedIn profile show up at the top of the search results. If that happens, they will read the information you want them to and it will demonstrate your personal brand accordingly. With the right mix of keywords and content, your LinkedIn profile can be a major reason why you get recognized.
A Platform For Demonstrating Your Knowledge and Expertise
Part of c-level personal branding is demonstrating what you have to offer to potential employers. LinkedIn is the perfect platform for broadcasting your value, whether you do so by joining LinkedIn groups, commenting on or sharing posts or even posting original content. The more active you are, the more knowledgeable you will seem depending on the nature of the posts you make.
Shows You Are Savvy With Today’s Technology
Sometimes not being active on LinkedIn is worse than not having a profile at all. Companies today want to know how savvy you are with technology. How you utilize your executive LinkedIn profile is one way to do it. Recruiters can’t tell if you simply don’t prioritize c-level personal branding or if you don’t have the knowledge to build your profile. Most of the time they will default to assuming you aren’t technologically savvy, so do your personal brand a favor and polish your profile.
Professional Resume Services believes c-level personal branding and crafting the perfect resume go hand-in-hand. There are so many different variables to think about in today’s job searching landscape, so it’s easy to overlook some aspects. Our experts are ready and willing to help you out with any part of your career efforts, so don’t hesitate to contact us at any time for assistance.
The two traditional components needed to apply for a job include a cover letter and a resume. As technology and the job searching process has evolved, though, many people wonder whether it’s still necessary to include a cover letter with their application. If you follow the recommended course of action by attending networking events and making connections with people prior to applying for a job, then cover letters for resumes are still valuable. You want to introduce yourself appropriately and show your personality when applying for a job, and a cover letter is a perfect way to do so. Here are some reasons why an executive resume cover letter still brings value.
Cover Letters Won’t Hurt Your Chances
Most recruiters and hiring managers don’t mind seeing a cover letter sent in with a resume. It doesn’t mean they will read it from start to finish, but including one isn’t going to hurt your chances. On the other hand, some hiring managers actually do read cover letters for resumes thoroughly to get a glimpse of the applicant’s style and brand. So not including one could mean your application gets tossed to the side. The bottom line is there are very few situations where a cover letter will hurt your chances of getting a job, so go ahead and include it.
Things To Keep In Mind When Writing Cover Letters
Any cover letter writing service will tell you to target your cover letter as you would your resume. It starts with addressing the actual person who will read the cover letter. If you aren’t sure who this is, do a Google search and look on LinkedIn for the appropriate person to address it to. Otherwise, it may appear as if you wrote a general cover letter to send to multiple companies, which isn’t attractive for hiring managers. Also, be sure to incorporate some personal branding attributes in your executive resume cover letter so your targeted employer knows who you are as a person and an employee.
Cover Letters Should Add Value To Your Resume
Your cover letter shouldn’t simply be a summary of your resume. It should, however, add value to your resume by going into more detail or highlighting the most important parts of the resume. The language and tone of your executive resume cover letter should be more informal than a resume, while still being professional. Be specific as to why you are a great fit for the targeted company and you can point to your resume for evidence.
At Professional Resume Services, we look for ways to help executives stand out among the talent pool of other individuals. Too many people devalue the cover letter nowadays, which is a huge mistake. A cover letter can be extremely effective when done correctly and our cover letter writing service is here to help. Never hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or need tips for developing yours.
You can take your job search or career to the next level by using all of the features LinkedIn offers to your advantage. The truth is, though, many executives aren’t proactive enough in this regard. A key aspect of your LinkedIn profile development is joining various groups related to your industry. These groups allow you to network with professionals who aren’t currently a part of your network. Whether you’re actively searching for a job or just looking to build credibility, joining groups with your LinkedIn profile is valuable. Here are a few of the most important aspects of LinkedIn groups.
Build Your Credibility
An executive LinkedIn profile writer can help you build your actual profile, but it’s up to you to continue building your credibility. This means posting original articles, commenting on other original articles, participating in meaningful discussions and more. You can build your credibility by offering expertise and not expecting anything back in return. The more your name shows up in these groups in a positive manner, the better the reputation you’ll have.
Learn From Other Experts
When you’re in a LinkedIn group with other experts in your industry, you will almost definitely learn something new. Use this knowledge to your advantage in your current job or use it as a springboard to land your next job. When you approach LinkedIn groups with an open mind, you may come across great opportunities you never expected going in.
Expand Your Network
When you engage in conversations with other group members, they will surely visit your LinkedIn profile. And more often than not, the visit will turn into a new connection to expand your network. At this point, you will be able to see any updates they post to their profile and vice versa. Keeping in touch with your connections is valuable in many ways, even if you’ve never even met them in person.
Create Networking Opportunities
Sometimes you’ll come across people who are close to your home or office and can easily meet up with them for coffee or lunch. Conversations in LinkedIn groups can lead to direct message conversations from your LinkedIn profile. And if there is mutual interest, you can both attend a formal networking event or simply meet up to exchange ideas. Simply being conversational is the first step to creating valuable networking opportunities that can lead to much greater things.
Professional Resume Services focuses on crafting perfect resumes as well as helping clients with their LinkedIn profile development. Many executives overlook important aspects of LinkedIn and we are here to help them take advantage of them. You don’t have to be actively searching for a job to participate in LinkedIn groups, so contact us at any time to see how valuable they can be for you.
Plenty of myths and misconceptions are out there when it comes to the best methods for conducting a job search today. If it’s been a while since you’ve had to search for a job, you may think the new trend is posting your resume to online job boards rather than visiting companies in person. However, you could be wasting a lot of time by making that your strategy. A professional resume writing service can help you create the best resume possible, but it doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the first job you apply to. Here are some tips and strategies to help you land your dream executive job in today’s digital age.
Why Networking is an Effective Job Search Strategy
Networking has been around since the beginning of time, and it’s still one of the most effective job search methods. However, the landscape has changed slightly and professionals are using their executive LinkedIn profile to lead their efforts. You can build a large list of connections via LinkedIn in many ways, including joining LinkedIn groups. If you have a targeted company you want to work for, you can search the platform to find employees there to connect with. You never know whom you may cross paths with, so networking is always worth the effort.
Clean Up Your Social Media Profiles
You have to expect recruiters and hiring managers to search for your name and check every social media profile you have. Be sure to clean these up so they reflect the personality you want others to see. There could still be some lingering posts from several years ago that aren’t appropriate, and you definitely don’t want a hiring manager to discover them. Once all the negative aspects have been cleaned up, you can optimize your LinkedIn profile and other platforms to enhance your personal brand.
Brush Up Your Resume
A professional resume writing service may need to check your resume for common mistakes. The same resume format you used to get your current job several years ago may not be attractive today. You also want to use more targeted language throughout your resume instead of just creating a general one to apply to multiple jobs with. With Applicant Tracking Systems and other technology employers have available, one minor mistake in your resume can ruin your job search. It’s better to have a professional look it over to be sure you aren’t sabotaging your job search before it even begins.
Professional Resume Services is a professional resume writing service that does much more than simply write and revise resumes. We understand the importance of a quality executive LinkedIn profile and work with our clients to ensure their image is consistent across all platforms. Landing your executive dream job today requires more effort than it did a decade ago, so feel free to reach out to us at any time for more tips to help you out.
A major part of a job search involves making your personal brand appear to be what you want it to be. However, executives often make the mistake of gearing their c-level personal branding more toward what they want others to perceive of them, rather than showing who they really are. The problem with this is recruiters and hiring managers can see right through it. All it takes is a little bit of inconsistency and your job search could be ruined. So when it comes to personal branding for senior level managers, being truthful and honest are the best ways to go.
Why Some People Are Hesitant To Show Their True Brand
Some people resist demonstrating their true brand because they don’t want the world to know what their personality is. If you haven’t conducted a job search in several years, you may remember thinking your resume needs to follow a certain pattern or standard and shouldn’t deviate from the norm. Times have changed now and hiring managers want to know who they are hiring as a person and a professional. While it’s understandable to be uncomfortable showing your brand, it’s important to also know that differentiation is critical when it comes to being recognized.
A Personality Fit is Important To Employers
When you show some of your personality on your LinkedIn profile, recruiters will get a glimpse into who you are as a person. A solid mix of professional achievements and personal experiences will bode well on your LinkedIn profile and will increase the chances of you getting noticed. The more natural the language in your profile sounds, the better your c-level personal branding efforts will be, especially when you back it up in your verbal language and your resume. Companies prioritize hiring people with good personality fits now, so never hesitate to show a little.
Your Personal Brand Presents Unique Value
Without c-level personal branding, executives have no real way of standing out among dozens of other job applicants. You have a great opportunity to distinguish yourself with your personality and tie in how your personality offers value to the company. This could mean working well as a team, the ability to think creatively, be a leader or anything else. Professional achievements for executives often seem similar on paper, so your personal brand could be what sets you apart and gives you a better chance of landing the job you want.
Professional Resume Services is here to help executives make sure all bases are covered when it comes to their job search. Personal branding is a much larger aspect of a job search today than it was several years ago. Sometimes all it takes is optimizing your LinkedIn profile, while other times you may need to work on your entire online presence to show your true brand. Regardless of where you’re at in your searching efforts, feel free to give us a call if you need assistance along the way.
One of the best resources anyone can use today for a job search is LinkedIn. Even the people who understand the reasons why LinkedIn profile development is so important often don’t even utilize it to its greatest capabilities, though. Unless you work in an industry where SEO is important, then you may not know exactly how to incorporate keywords throughout your profile. This is when working with a professional LinkedIn profile writer can be extremely beneficial. Here are some of the most powerful impacts you can experience when using SEO to your advantage with LinkedIn.
Soar To The Top of Search Rankings
Recruiters and hiring managers have a certain list of words and phrases they use when searching online to find the right job candidates. If your LinkedIn profile doesn’t have the words to match their criteria, then there’s a very small chance you’ll be discovered. A LinkedIn profile service can help you strategically incorporate keywords in the right places on your profile, while still making it flow naturally. The result will be your name showing up higher in the search results, so you’ll have a much higher likelihood of getting discovered.
Incorporate Keywords In The Right Sections
LinkedIn can be tricky if you don’t know the ins-and-outs of it. You can put relevant keywords all over your profile, but if they aren’t in the right sections, you may not reap the rewards. The sections of your profile closest to the top of the page rank higher for SEO purposes, so be sure to prioritize those. The name section, job titles, professional headline and summary sections are the most important ones a professional LinkedIn profile writer will suggest incorporating the strongest possible keywords in.
Research Employers To Discover Relevant Keywords
So how do you know exactly which relevant keywords to put on your profile? An experienced LinkedIn profile service can be valuable to lean on, but you can also do some research on potential employers to see which terms they use. Incorporating a good mix of keywords is always good. However, you also need to make sure you’re using the ones the potential employer believes are most important as well.
Professional Resume Services is more than just a service that helps people write their own resumes. We like to be involved with different steps of a job search, which includes LinkedIn profile development. We understand a well-written resume is only one of many components of a job search today. In this regard, we take the extra steps to ensure all bases are covered and you’re ready to be discovered as a quality job candidate. Never hesitate to reach out to us for assistance in any area of your job search.
Writing the perfect resume may seem difficult to accomplish with all of the tips and tricks you have heard about. The top resume writing services can point out mistakes on your resume that you may not even believe is an issue. For example, we’ve all heard about the value of using bullet points in a resume, but did you know using too many bullet points is a sign of desperation in the eyes of an employer? Identifying mistakes like this can be tough, so here are five of the biggest errors the top resume writing services can help you discover and prevent.
Not Including Your LinkedIn Profile
Nowadays employers are going to look for social proof rather than simply relying on your resume to tell them what they need to know. Not including your LinkedIn profile link at the top or bottom of your resume may indicate you’re hiding something or you don’t want them to search for you online. Employers will try to find your LinkedIn profile anyway, so make it easier on them by providing the link.
Too Many Bullet Points
While it’s tempting to list out every achievement, skill and accomplishment you’ve earned over the years, try not to put them in the form of too many bullet points. Having more than about five bullet points may indicate you’re trying too hard to appear qualified for the job. It’s best to narrow down your most relevant attributes to the job you’re applying for and only include those.
Not Enough White Space
You never want your resume to be more than two pages, but you also shouldn’t stuff as much text as possible into those two pages. The best executive resume format will leave a good amount of white space around the perimeter of the document and between each section of the resume. This makes the entire document look cleaner and it’s much easier for the hiring manager to read.
Listing Political Affiliations
You may feel strongly about your political affiliation, but your resume is not the place to list it. One of the only times the top resume writing services will recommend listing your political affiliation is if it’s relevant to the job you’re applying for. Otherwise, it’s generally a big risk to include it.
Inconsistencies or Typographical Errors
Proofreading your resume thoroughly for typographical errors or inconsistencies is essential. Don’t rely on spell check offered by your software program, since it doesn’t always catch everything. Once you believe you have everything in order, allow a friend or a resume expert to proofread and critique it as well so you don’t miss anything.
Professional Resume Services can easily identify potential errors in a resume that aren’t necessarily evident to the average person. We know what hiring managers and recruiters are looking for and what the major pitfalls of any given resume are. If you’re unsure about any aspect of your resume, feel free to reach out to us at any time for helpful tips and hints to consider.
If job-seeking executives only knew exactly what recruiters were looking for in candidates, their efforts would be made much easier. While you may not know a lot of the specific characteristics or qualities recruiters are looking for, you can get a general idea of what you need to include on your LinkedIn profile. A common misconception among executives is they should only write in a professional tone and talk about their achievements. This is only one aspect of what recruiters usually look for, though. Here are some of the other components that are always taken into consideration.
Positivity
Everything you put online either helps or hurts your c-level personal branding. Even if you left a previous employer on bad terms, don’t say anything negative about them on your LinkedIn profile or anywhere else. When you bad mouth them, a recruiter can’t help but think you’ll do the same to them if things don’t go your way, so it may not even be worth the risk of talking to you. Recruiters want to hire positive people to join their team, so always keep this in mind.
Social Proof Backing Up Your Claims
You should expect a recruiter to do a significant amount of research on you. Help them out by giving as much information as you think they will need on your LinkedIn profile. If you claim to be an expert at something, back it up with proof. Provide a link to your blog or website, if applicable, point to an article where you were recognized. Recruiters are always going to look for social proof to back up every claim you make, so be proactive and give it to them upfront.
Understanding Your Personality
An executive resume writer will always suggest inserting some of your personality into your resume or LinkedIn profile. Companies today are placing a higher emphasis on hiring people who fit their culture from a personality perspective. They want to hire people who will be there for the long haul, fit in with other employees, work as a team and provide unique value. You can easily demonstrate your personality without getting too personal, and an executive resume writer can help you if needed.
Professional Resume Services helps job candidates optimize their resumes and LinkedIn profiles so they are in a prime position to be recognized by recruiters. There are a lot of moving parts in a job search, so we are here to help make sure all of your bases are covered. The main thing is to be conscious of what you put online since it will always be taken into consideration by a recruiter. No matter where you’re at in your searching efforts, feel free to reach out to us for assistance every step of the way.
