It’s human nature to want to receive a response very shortly after sending in your executive resume for a job application. However, the reality is an HR manager likely has to filter through hundreds of resumes on top of their other job duties, so a quick response rarely happens. That doesn’t mean you should never follow up though. Your executive resume writing service will tell you there’s a right time to follow up, as well as a right way to go about it. Here are some tips to consider once you’ve sent in your resume.
Wait At Least One Week to Follow Up
The HR manager or recruiter likely won’t be contacting anyone for at least one week, so give them time to sort through the stack of resumes. Another tip to consider is sending in your follow up in the middle of the week, since Monday’s are generally the busiest days and Friday’s are more relaxed.
Choose Email Over Other Communication Methods
When writing an effective resume, you likely sent your job application for consideration via email. But even if you didn’t, your follow up should still be sent over email rather than a phone call or an in-person visit. Those two methods demonstrate aggressiveness and could be perceived as pushy. Email shows you’re interested in knowing the status of your application, but will give the recipient time to respond at their leisure.
Consider LinkedIn For A Follow Up
An HR manager’s email inbox may have been flooded with new applications, including yours, so sending a message through LinkedIn could be a welcoming change for them. Just be sure you’ve focused on your LinkedIn profile development prior to reaching out, since your profile will likely be looked at closely. A LinkedIn message could prompt the HR manager to dig through their stack of resumes to find yours, since matching a name with a face is ideal in most situations.
Show Interest Without Being Desperate
Desperation doesn’t look good on anyone. Instead of simply asking what the status of your application is, send in a letter of recommendation along with why you’re interested in working for their company. The key to an effective follow up is giving them something to remember you by. Professional Resume Services is here to help you with anything related to your executive job search. Whether you need some assistance with your LinkedIn profile development, writing an effective resume or knowing what to include in your follow up email, we are here when you need us. Feel free to contact us at any time to learn more about our services.
Are the Holidays the Best Time to Search for a Job?
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.
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.
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.
Having a digital presence in today’s business world is invaluable. However, some people only focus on improving their digital brand, which is a big mistake. Business cards have been effective since the beginning of time, and it hasn’t changed. Technology has made certain things easier for executives, but there are also plenty of challenges if you solely rely on it. Focusing on writing an executive bio on your LinkedIn page is great, but you still need a business card for people to find you. Here are some important points to consider when it comes to business cards for executives.
Business Cards Are Still Respected
Whether you’re at a formal networking event, or you just happen to meet someone in passing, they may ask you for your business card. And if you don’t have one, your credibility is going to take a hit. Trading business cards is still expected for executives, so do yourself a favor and always have several handy. This practice is one of the most respected and expected methods of trading information, so you could be the talk of the event in a negative way if you don’t have a business card to offer.
Be Careful Going Completely Digital
When you learn how to optimize your LinkedIn profile, it can be easy to go completely digital in your networking efforts. The truth is other professionals want to have your information readily available at all times, rather than searching for you on LinkedIn. Even if you have your LinkedIn URL on your business card, it’s still more effective handing them a business card than just saying “look me up on LinkedIn for all the information you need.”
Accuracy Is Never A Question With A Business Card
If you verbally give someone your email address or phone number to write down, the chances of them transposing numbers or not spelling your name correctly increases. But when you have the information on a business card, accuracy is never a question. Similar to writing an executive bio, being clear and concise with the information displayed on your business card is invaluable and can improve your brand even more so than your LinkedIn profile. Professional Resume Services is an executive resume service dedicated to helping professionals with their resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles and even business cards. Whether you need help simply writing an executive bio or need to start drafting a resume from scratch, feel free to contact us at any time for assistance.
