Getting ready for the holidays can be challenging enough where it’s tempting to put your job search on hold. Besides, companies don’t actually hire new employees during the holiday season, right? This is a common misconception people have. Many businesses actually experience slower times during this time of year, so they have time to do more hiring. So before you delay writing a professional resume until next year, here’s why you should get started on it right away.
Competition is Reduced During The Holidays
Many people have the same thoughts you may have had, which means there will be fewer job applicants during the holidays. Take advantage of the reduced competition and tidy up your executive resume bio to send in. There’s a decent chance you’ll land an interview you may not have landed at other times of the year.
Don’t Believe The Myth – Companies Do Hire During The Holidays
If you don’t believe us, just check the numerous online job boards at any given moment. You’ll find there are thousands of jobs available for immediate hire. Any HR manager will likely tell you they are always looking for quality professionals to interview, and they aren’t going to let the holidays be a reason why they miss out on the perfect candidate.
Better Networking Opportunities
With the relaxed nature this time of year brings, it’s the perfect time to revamp your networking efforts. If you haven’t spent much time on your LinkedIn profile development recently, now is the time to get your profile up to date. You’ll see social events almost anywhere you go between now and the end of the year, so take advantage of it and connect as much as you can. You never know when it will lead to an immediate job opportunity.
Consider Temporary Jobs
Even if a particular company you’re interested in working for isn’t hiring at the moment, you could get your foot in the door with a temporary job. Most of the time, temporary executive job offerings aren’t the result of the holiday season, but rather, end-of-year budget concerns. Depending on where a company stands with their budget, they may not be able to hire a full-time employee in December, but you will be eligible for full-time employment shortly after the start of the new year. Professional Resume Services is here for you when you need help writing a professional resume. Employers don’t stop hiring during the holidays, and we don’t stop helping professionals like you land the job of your dreams. Feel free to reach out to us at any time for assistance with your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile development, or any other aspect of your holiday 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.
Common sense should tell you not to lie on your executive resume, but sometimes it can be tempting to do so. This is especially true if you’re applying for a job you really want, but aren’t sure if you completely meet the qualifications. Instead of lying about your accomplishments or skills, work with the best executive resume writers to help you display the correct information most effectively on your resume. Then you can have a good conscience about submitting your resume and won’t run into these issues later on.
Your Credibility is Ruined
When a hiring manager learns your resume isn’t completely accurate, you’ll likely be thrown out of the applicant’s pool and never be allowed for consideration in the future. Plus, depending on the industry you work in, word could get out about your untruthful resume and ruin your credibility among other hiring managers without even applying for a job with those companies. The best thing you can do is just be truthful on your executive resume bio.
You’ll Be Expected To Have The Knowledge and Skills on Your Resume
If a job posting says you need certain requirements, and you list those requirements on your resume, you need to be sure you actually have them. Most employers expect you to demonstrate those skills right away, and sometimes even in the initial interview. Writing resumes that get you hired can only be effective if you back up the words on your resume with actual actions. You don’t want to find out what might happen if an employer finds out the hard way you lied about your skills and knowledge.
You Will Get Caught
Even if you lie on your resume and get through the hiring process unscathed, it will eventually catch up with you. Whether it’s certain skills you said you have, but actually don’t; or if you simply can’t perform the job given to you because of other misinformation on your resume, you’re going to get caught. Employers don’t like to find out the hard way about people lying on their resume, but they generally will take swift action when they do find out. Just make your executive resume bio accurate and you won’t have anything to worry about. Professional Resume Services is composed of a team of executive resume writers to help you make your resume stand out without having to lie about your qualifications. If you’re feeling the pressure and feel the need to lie on your executive resume, give us a call first to see how we can optimize your resume based on the skills you actually have.
There’s no better feeling than a sense of security when it comes to your job. Being comfortable with your job is great, but what are you going to do if an unfortunate turn of events happens suddenly and you lose it? Having a career backup plan is important for all executives. Keeping in touch with the best executive resume writing service can help you keep your resume updated, but there are some other tips to consider as well when developing your backup plan.
Being Prepared Creates Flexibility
One of the first things you should do when thinking about a backup plan is saving as much money as you reasonably can. Having a few months of salary saved up can provide some time and flexibility to find a new job without having to rush into one. Whether you want to continue in the same industry or search for an executive job in another industry, having a nest egg to sit on will help you buy some time.
Learn Skills Outside of Your Industry
When you have multiple skills outside of the industry you currently work in, your executive bio will look even more impressive. Plus, there may come a time where your job starts getting stale and you want to pursue other opportunities. Becoming skilled in multiple areas can open the door to numerous opportunities and provide a solid backup plan if something happens with your current executive job.
Never Stop Networking
Networking is another key component of an executive career backup plan. You can spend a significant amount of time writing a professional resume, but if you can’t put your resume in the right hands, you may not see much success landing a new job. Whether it’s networking with other executives in your industry or professionals in different industries, being connected is a quality component of your backup plan.
Keep Your Resume Updated
In addition to your executive bio, you should always make an effort to update your resume frequently. You don’t want to be blind-sided by a layoff and not have an updated resume. It’s easier to update your resume as you learn new skills or gain new accomplishments, so check in with the best executive resume writing service often to ensure you’re ready if you ever need to use it. Professional Resume Services wants to help executives feel like they are not only comfortable with their jobs, but also have a backup plan in case something happens. You can never be too safe today, so feel free to contact us if you need help updating your resume or coming up with a career backup plan.
Getting a new job offer is exciting, especially if it comes with a significant salary increase. However, many executives only look at the size of the paycheck and don’t look at other aspects, especially if a job relocation is required. Sometimes a fresh start is exactly what an executive needs at some point in their career, but picking up and moving your family is easier said than done. Your professional resume writing service may help you land a new job in another city or state, but consider these points before you pick up and move.
Consider The Cost of Living
Understanding the cost of living in your new city will help you determine whether the higher salary is worth it. Many candidates find the higher salary is equivalent to the higher cost of living, making the move essentially a wash. Of course, everyone has their own reasons for wanting to relocate, and money may not be the only factor. You may be able to check the LinkedIn profile of other professionals in your field who live in your potential new city. Don’t hesitate to message them directly to get more information and make a new contact.
Think About Your New Commute To Work
If you don’t like spending hours every day commuting to work, then you need to consider your options. Check on public transportation, parking, high traffic areas and more. Some cities are known for having bad traffic, so you don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you have to sit in traffic for hours, especially if you don’t have to with your current job. Again, this is where checking in on the LinkedIn profile of another professional can help you gain a better understanding of the area.
How Will Your Relocation Affect Your Family?
No matter how effective you are at writing a professional resume and ultimately landing a new job, you need to consider how the job relocation will affect your family. If you are single with nothing to lose, then this may not be an issue for you. However, dealing with the stresses of moving can be difficult for a family. Whether it’s your spouse’s job considerations, children’s education or other points, be sure to cover all aspects so your family is comfortable with the move as well. Professional Resume Services is a professional resume writing service dedicated to helping executives land the jobs they desire. Relocating for a job is difficult on everyone, but many times the benefits outweigh the negatives. Be sure to contact us to learn more about writing a professional resume or for other tips about job relocation.
Writing executive resume cover letters is challenging enough. Executives may spend a significant amount of time writing their cover letter, only to have a simple mistake cost them the job. It’s easy to focus on the technical details and ensuring you’ve included the most important aspects of your skills and experience in your cover letter. However, you also have to make sure the most common mistakes are avoided. Here are the top three most common executive cover letter mistakes to look for.
Misspelled Words
Typographical errors happen, but you can’t let them happen in an executive bio or cover letter. A misspelled word could demonstrate to an employer your lack of attention to detail. Since your executive cover letter makes the first impression, some employers will assume these types of mistakes will happen in your work as well, and not hire you as a result. It’s not necessarily the fact that you made a typographical error, but not catching the error looks more concerning.
Including Too Much Information
Any cover letter writing service will tell you to keep your executive cover letter short and to the point. Employers aren’t going to spend a lot of time reading a cover letter. If they see a huge block of text on a page, they may not even read the first sentence before tossing it aside. A clear and concise cover letter demonstrates your ability to communicate effectively. Having too much information can be portrayed as having poor communication skills, which isn’t a good trait to have as an executive.
Hard-to-Read Format
The use of white space, bullet points, margins and other formatting technicalities are important. When you look at your executive resume cover letters, you should be looking at a clean page that’s easy to read. Your cover letter represents you, so if you don’t take pride in how it looks, what are you telling an employer? How you represent yourself is usually a reflection of how you will represent the company, so use a cover letter writing service if you’re struggling with how to format yours. Professional Resume Services has helped hundreds of executives write their executive resume cover letters to perfection. Mistakes are easy to make, and not correcting them can be costly for your job prospects. Whether you need to start fresh with a new cover letter, or if you only need to tweak your current one a bit, reach out to us and we will be glad to help you.
Online C-Level Personal Branding Skills That Entice Employers
You may have written a well-crafted resume, but you can’t rely solely on it to get a new executive position. The importance of c-level personal branding today can’t be understated. The executives who take it seriously and work to improve theirs will always be ahead of the curve. There are certain online c-level personal branding skills that stand out among the rest, from an employer perspective. Here are a few of those skills to keep in mind and try to demonstrate as much as possible to entice a potential employer.
Demonstrate Your Skills By Writing
You’re likely very experienced in your industry, so employers need to know about it. The first place to start is your LinkedIn profile. You have the freedom to write as little or as much as you want on your profile, so take advantage of the space. However, just be careful not to overcrowd your page with a lot of text, since potential employers won’t spend much time reading it. It may be valuable to you to hire a LinkedIn profile writing service to get your initial page set up, then you can update it as needed.
Create and Update Your Own Website
Having your own website shows you have the drive and confidence to market yourself. Employers like this attribute, since they would expect those skills to translate well to their company. You must make sure you always keep your website updated to highlight your most recently acquired skills and experiences. Consider writing a blog on your website once or twice a week to keep fresh and relevant content on your page. And always include a link to your LinkedIn profile.
Be A Social Media Guru
Utilize social media to promote your skills and improve your c-level personal branding, but be careful not to go overboard. There are several social media platforms you could choose, so be sure you use the right one. LinkedIn is always the best choice for executives, but if you use Facebook and Twitter the right way, you may find value in those as well. Promoting the fresh content from your website through social media is a great way to be active on social media and improve your online brand. Professional Resume Services not only helps executives write their resumes, but can also help with LinkedIn profile development. Building your online brand is critical in today’s business world, and we can help you get started. Feel free to contact us at any time when you’re ready to promote your online brand to entice potential employers.
Some business executives are naturally outgoing and personable while others have to force themselves to at least appear comfortable when networking. Networking is a big part of a career as an executive, so being reluctant or hesitant to take part in different networking events can be a problem. You may be able to write the best resumes and cover letters, but if you don’t put your name out there, the chances of them getting into the right hands decrease significantly. Here are a few tips to consider to break out of your fear of networking.
Always Make Eye Contact
Simply making eye contact with another person shows you have confidence. And if you don’t have confidence just yet, make eye contact anyway. Faking your confidence over a period of time will eventually lead to you actually getting more confident. Look the other person in the eye when you’re talking about your executive profile and you’ll make a better impression.
Observe Body Language and Be Approachable
Standing in the corner of a room with your arms crossed isn’t a good way to appear approachable. Look around and see what other people are doing. If you see someone handing out resumes and cover letters, approach them and do the same. A smile and a handshake are two of the easiest ways to be approachable, and neither require much effort.
Be Interested in Other People
You don’t want to force your way into conversations, but show your interest in other people any chance you get. Most executives like to talk about themselves and their achievements, so let them do the talking. The more you ask them questions, the more they will answer you and will have a stronger connection with you.
Don’t Forget Your Business Card
Business cards are great icebreakers if you can’t build up the courage to start an initial conversation. Almost everyone has a business card today and are always willing to trade them. Many people think they have to give another person their entire executive profile in order to start a conversation, but simply talking about the company you work for is enough to break the ice sometimes. Professional Resume Services is one of the top rated resume writing services, whether you need a full resume drafted or just need to touch up your executive profile. We understand the importance of networking, and will tailor resumes and cover letters to fit the needs of your particular situation. If you need assistance with any part of an executive job search, or need networking tips, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
