If you’re trying to make a name for yourself in any industry, spending a significant time focusing on your c-level personal branding is critical. It can take years to build your personal brand to the level you want it to be at, but avoiding some common mistakes along the way can help accelerate the process and prevent it from having the opposite impact. You’re going to spend a lot of time shaping your brand anyway, so you might as well do it right the first time. Here are a few of the most common mistakes executives make when creating their personal brand.
Being Fake
People can see right through a person when they aren’t authentic. You can optimize your LinkedIn profile to make yourself sound like an expert at everything, but that will only get you so far. You have to be able to back up everything you say on your profile when you make connections in person. Not only will being fake limit your opportunities, but it could cause permanent damage to your c-level personal branding efforts.
Not Making Your Message Clear
In order to make your message clear, you have to know what you’re trying to say. The presentation of your appearance and overall demeanor either online or in-person must match. So when you optimize your LinkedIn profile, make sure your profile picture is a professional headshot rather than a more casual photo. Complete alignment with your overall message is critical to create the strongest personal brand.
Not Targeting Your Audience
It doesn’t do your brand or company a lot of good if you don’t know whom to market your brand to. When it comes to personal branding for senior level managers, you have to be able to connect with your audience in order to make a name for yourself or your company. When your audience can make a personal connection with you, then you’ll be able to effectively cater your brand toward them.
Only Focusing on Certain Aspects of Your Brand
An overlooked aspect of c-level personal branding is not aligning your business brand with your personal brand. If people don’t agree with your personal brand, then your business brand will take a significant hit. The best way to earn and keep business today is through trust, and if a consumer’s trust wavers, then your brand will not be very strong. Professional Resume Services is here to help executives not only craft the perfect resume, but also develop their c-level personal branding. There are many aspects to creating a personal brand, and we will help you throughout the process to ensure all bases are covered. If you ever need assistance or advice about your personal or business brand, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
In the past, having a strong personal brand was seen as a luxury to put yourself ahead of your competition. However, as technology and the digital world in general has advanced, boosting your c-level personal branding is a necessity to keep up with the competition. And if you aren’t careful, your brand will be shaped for you. Personal branding for senior level managers doesn’t happen overnight, and you can’t stop working on it once you’ve reached a certain point. It’s an ongoing process that needs nurturing and attention at all times. But why is this so important? Here are some things to consider about designing your own personal brand.
Manage Your Reputation
Your online reputation means more than just about anything else today when it comes to c-level personal branding. People can say whatever they want to about you on the Internet. Managing your reputation means seeing what is being said about you and taking the necessary steps to clean up any of the negative comments and build on the positive ones. And any time you are active on social media, make sure every single comment or post reflects your brand in the way you want it to be perceived.
Create Content Based on Your Brand
Many executives write books, articles or blogs to boost their c-level personal branding. It doesn’t necessarily matter which one you choose, but it does matter how the content is presented and perceived. Content creation is a great method for increasing exposure, but using the right means for sharing the content is also important.
Have Instant Credibility For Future Jobs
When you’ve designed your brand effectively and manage it appropriately, you’ll have a ton of credibility for any future job you hold. Combine your c-level personal branding with using the best executive resume writing service and your options will be wide open as far as potential employers. Of course, if you’re currently happy at the job you have now, then you can still continue to boost your credibility to enhance your brand and the company’s brand.
Design Your Brand So Others Don’t
When it comes to personal branding for senior level managers, if you don’t work towards designing your own brand, then other people will do it for you. This is a challenge many executives with high visibility have. With the digital world we live in today, people are more expressive than ever before. Opinions can quickly be perceived as factual, and can quickly damage your reputation if you don’t manage it and constantly work to design it. Professional Resume Services takes pride in being the best executive resume writing service, but we are more than that. We want to help our clients with every aspect of a job search, or simply provide tips on how to boost their brand. Our focus is always on helping you achieve your goals, so feel free to contact us at any time to see how we can do so.
How to Make Your Executive LinkedIn Profile Stand Out
Utilizing LinkedIn to its fullest extent is important for professionals at any level. Whether you’re looking for a new job actively or if you simply want to boost your brand, seeking assistance from a LinkedIn profile writing service is never a bad idea. Most executives today have a LinkedIn profile, but not all of them know how to optimize it to make it stand out among the rest. You have to be careful with what you include and how you present yourself online, as you would on your resume or anywhere else. Here are some great tips on how to make your executive LinkedIn profile stand out.
Align Your LinkedIn Profile With Your Online Brand
Any recruiter, hiring manager or even a colleague will look at your LinkedIn profile as well as any other social media outlets, blogs or websites to get an idea of your brand. If you aren’t sure what your online brand currently is, now is a good time to search for your name in a search engine and look at the results. A good LinkedIn profile writing service will help match the contents of your profile to your online brand so there are no discrepancies. This alignment is critical in how you are perceived to other executives, employers or recruiters.
Fill Out Your Profile Page Completely
Having a LinkedIn profile isn’t enough today. Be sure to fill out every section as much as possible and keep it updated. It’s especially important to focus on the summary section, as this is the first thing people will see when they visit your profile. This section is a great opportunity to summarize your brand in just a couple sentences, and it could be the difference between someone viewing the rest of your profile or moving on to someone else.
Join Groups and Be Active
When you join LinkedIn groups, those groups will be displayed on your profile page. It may be tempting to join dozens of groups, but it’s actually a better strategy to only stick with a handful and be more active in those. The more active you are, the more people will look at your LinkedIn profile. As such, it may be best to work with a LinkedIn profile writing service before you get too active to be sure yours stands out when people view it. At Professional Resume Services, we pride ourselves on being more than just a team of professional executive resume writers. We enjoy helping professionals with various aspects of their job search, including developing their LinkedIn and overall online presence. Never hesitate to reach out to us for assistance with a job search, developing your online brand or for resume writing.
Too many executives today aren’t getting the results they expected as they go through their job search. Most of those times, the job seeker either didn’t prepare enough or prepared the wrong ways. When you visit executive resume writing services, the importance of a strong resume will be stressed. However, it will also be expressed that a quality resume isn’t the only thing to help you land an interview. There are many different variables in any given job search today, so here are three ways to help you prepare.
Identify Organizations of Interest
Targeting your job search is the number one thing executive resume writing services will tell you. Without a target, you have nothing to aim for. Make a list of a dozen or so organizations you have interest in working for. Once you develop your list, narrow it down by researching each company individually to ensure there’s the possibility of a mutual fit. Take note of the culture, the qualities, skill sets required and more. You can eliminate some organizations quickly and focus on the ones that seem like the best fit for both sides.
Know What You Bring To The Table
You may have years of experience, but your next employer wants to know what value you bring to them. Through your own LinkedIn profile development, take a look at the profiles of employees of the companies you’re interested in. See what skill sets they have and how they present them in their profile. These can give you some good ideas to start from or build on if you have similar experiences. Being able to present relevant skill sets will help you stand out on your resume, LinkedIn profile, when networking or anywhere else.
Focus on Personal Branding
The concept of personal branding for senior level managers is more important now than ever before. Employers want to hire executives who are leaders, will fit into the culture and bring innovative ideas to the workplace. You can boost your personal brand by focusing on your LinkedIn profile development and demonstrating unique soft skills. Your confidence in your personal brand will be clearly evident in your writing and speech, and will help you stand out. Professional Resume Services is here to help executives at any part of the job search process. Preparation is critical for any job search, and not spending enough time on it can lead to results you don’t necessarily want. Our executive resume writing services will provide you with assistance every step of the way, so never hesitate to reach out to us for assistance.
There are many different approaches you can take when undergoing an executive job search. While there isn’t one guaranteed way to make your searching most effective, there are plenty of things you can do wrong to derail your chances of getting an interview. Unless you’re one of the very few people (if any at all) who have the interview requests flowing in, there are some steps to take to master your job search. Visiting the top resume writing services is one of them, but here are some other tips to consider.
Use Relevant Keywords
Learn what keywords are relevant to your industry and sprinkle them in throughout your resume, LinkedIn profile, biography and more. Many employers use an Applicant Tracking System(ATS), so keywords and key phrases are critical. The top resume writing services can help you identify some of these keywords and incorporate them into your resume. If using job boards or Linked are the routes you want to take, relevant keywords are a must.
Make Sure Your Executive Resume is Targeted
When writing an executive resume, you need to target the company you’re applying to and include relevant information to them. To a point, the company doesn’t care what you’ve done in the past as much as they care about what you can do for them in the future. Identify their needs and clearly explain why you are the best candidate to solve those needs.
Network, Network, Network
You can never network too much, but you have to be prepared before you begin your efforts. When you optimize your LinkedIn profile, you can reach out to others in your industry to expand your network. It’s also never a bad idea to attend various networking events in the area to help others put a face to your name. Networking is the best way to tap into the hidden job market and expedite your job search.
Boost Online Visibility
When you optimize your LinkedIn profile, you’ve taken the first step in being visible online. You should also do an online search for your name and see what information is available on you. Employers will do this, so cleaning up anything you don’t want visible could be critical for your chances of landing an interview.
Keep Your Resume Polished
Finally, visiting top resume writing services often will help keep your resume polished and relevant. Sometimes just minor tweaks are needed, but you always need to have it ready to send out when the opportunity arises. A lot of things happen during an executive job search, but the one constant you have to have is a perfect resume. Professional Resume Services goes beyond simply helping people write an effective bio. We want to help you throughout your job search by providing tips and tricks based on our expertise, all while ensuring your resume, cover letter and bio are written for success. Don’t hesitate to contact us at any time if you need assistance with any part of your job search.
Almost everyone has at least one social media account today. So since social media is such a big part of life and business, doesn’t it make sense to include your accounts on your resume? The short answer is yes, but with some caveats. Certain social media platforms are perfect for including on resumes, while others should be avoided completely. Executives have to think about their c-level personal branding with every decision they make, especially when it pertains to social media. Here’s what you need to consider when incorporating social media on your resume.
Best Social Media Accounts to Include on Your Resume
LinkedIn is the number one professional social media platform that should always be included on your resume. However, simply having an account won’t do you any good. Consider working with a professional LinkedIn profile writer to optimize your profile for your job search. If you include your LinkedIn account on your resume, you have to assume the recruiter or hiring manager will look at it. The best LinkedIn profile development services will ensure your profile enhances your resume, and your chances at landing an interview. Twitter is another account that could add value to your resume, depending on how you use it. From a c-level personal branding standpoint, your Twitter feed can demonstrate your beliefs, personal interests and other aspects you normally wouldn’t put on a resume. Just be sure to clean up anything you don’t want others to see before you make your account known on your resume.
Don’t Include These Social Media Accounts on Your Resume
Even though you have a Snapchat account, it doesn’t mean it should be included on your resume. You can get yourself into more trouble than you can benefit from by including a Snapchat account. Other accounts you may want to consider not including are Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. While there may be value in including these, it all depends on how you utilize them. Most people use these platforms as fun, informal and entertaining social media accounts, which have no place for a professional resume. Instead of cleaning these up, it’s best to just avoid them all together.
Social Media Can Make Your Resume Stand Out
When used properly, including social media accounts like LinkedIn and Twitter on your resume can make it stand out and improve your c-level personal branding. The best thing you can do before including it is allowing LinkedIn profile development services to take a look at your profile to ensure it’s in the best shape possible. You don’t want a simple oversight to be the difference in landing an interview or getting passed over. Professional Resume Services dedicates a large amount of time to helping executives with their LinkedIn profile development. The importance of including social media on a resume is increasing by the day, so ensuring your accounts are valuable and professional will help your job search significantly. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at any time for assistance with brushing up your resume or your social media accounts.
You spend so much time writing the perfect resume, so why do you have to exhaust the same amount of time and effort on a cover letter? The little known fact about resumes and cover letters is they go hand-in-hand in most cases. Some recruiters will look at a cover letter first to determine whether they even want to bother reading a resume. Others will look at a resume first and decide at that point whether it’s worth reading the cover letter. Since you never truly know which is most important, it’s best to make sure your executive resume cover letter is in the best shape before sending it in. Here are some of the details you need to make sure you include in yours.
Personalization
Find out the hiring manager’s name if you can, and address them in your cover letter accordingly. The top rated resume writing services suggest using personalization whenever it’s appropriate throughout your cover letter. This demonstrates you’ve done your homework and the reader will feel more of a personal attachment as well. If you need to, feel free to contact the employer and ask for the name of the hiring manager.
Perfect Grammar and Punctuation
Even a minor typographical error is magnified when it’s in your cover letter. It tells a hiring manager you’re not focused on details, and could be a big black eye when it comes to your chances of landing an interview. Utilize the top rated resume writing services available to you to proofread your cover letter to ensure you’ve incorporated perfect grammar and punctuation.
Your Own Contact Information
With all of the details, experiences and accomplishments you have to focus on in your cover letter, many executives neglect to include their own contact information. The basic contact information you need to include on your executive resume cover letter is your name, phone number and email address. You may also choose to include your LinkedIn profile to provide the hiring manager with an additional resource.
Include The Company Name
Hiring managers can easily spot a generic cover letter from a personal one. Get the full name of the company correct, and spell it correctly. If you use an existing cover letter as a template to write another one, be sure to change the company name appropriately so you’re referring to the right place. Professional Resume Services provides services beyond just helping executives write resumes and cover letters. We want to help you throughout your job search process. When you visit us early on, we will provide helpful guidance along the way to ensure even the tiniest details don’t get overlooked. To learn more about how we can help you land your dream job, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time.
Executives can work diligently and do extensive amounts of research to know what to put on a resume, only to struggle with landing a job. There’s a lot of contradictory information on the internet regarding the best executive resume format, the content that should be used in a resume, and more. When you can sort away the myths from the facts, you’ll be in a better position to have success in your job hunt. Here are a few of the most common myths you may have heard.
A Good Resume Guarantees A Job
There are no guarantees in life, and writing an effective resume won’t guarantee you a job either. In fact, many times a resume won’t even ensure you get your foot in the door for an interview, especially if sending out emails to people who don’t know you or haven’t heard of you. Numerous factors go into sorting through resumes for recruiters and hiring managers, so the only thing you can do is your best when writing a resume. However, it’s important not to get discouraged, because it could be factors other than your resume preventing you from landing an interview.
Include As Much Information As Possible on One Page
Another myth is your resume has to be limited to one page, so you should cram as much information as possible on it. The top resume writing services will tell you a two-page resume is perfectly acceptable and even better, especially if you have many years of experience and a significant list of accomplishments. The worst thing you can do is try to fit it all on one page. The best formats are easy to read and incorporate white space throughout the document, so avoid the temptation to stuff as many words as you can onto a single page.
You Can Never Overuse Action Verbs
Action verbs are important when writing an effective resume. What many people don’t realize is there is a difference between a weak action verb and a strong action verb related to resume writing. Weak action verbs include words like “managed,” “supervised,” and others. They are weak because everyone uses them. The overuse of these verbs make them less important, so it is entirely possible to make your resume sound boring when you incorporate them. Instead, focus on actual results rather than the process you went through to achieve the results.
Resumes Aren’t Too Important Anyway
There may come a time when you hear resumes simply aren’t important anymore. The old saying “it’s not what you know, but who you know” is true to an extent. However, no matter what your connection is with someone, a poorly written resume isn’t going to do you any favors. A quality resume may not land you a job on its own, but a bad one can definitely put you out of consideration quickly. Further, the human resource department will need to have a copy of your resume on file, so thinking you won’t need one won’t help you. Professional Resume Services knows about every myth there is regarding executive resumes. We are one of the top resume writing services because we focus on the facts and research exactly what employers want to see. If you have any questions about crafting your resume, or about a possible myth you may have heard, feel free to contact us at any time for advice.
In the past, having a strong personal brand was seen as a luxury to put yourself ahead of your competition. However, as technology and the digital world in general has advanced, boosting your c-level personal branding is a necessity to keep up with the competition. And if you aren’t careful, your brand will be shaped for you. 
Include As Much Information As Possible on One Page