Mastering and Adapting Your Resume to Market Trends

Executive ResumesResume Writing

In the ever-evolving job market, adapting your resume to reflect current trends is crucial. A well-crafted resume does more than list your skills and experiences; it positions you as an ideal candidate in the eyes of potential employers (the goal). This post will guide you on how to master and adapt your resume to stay competitive.

 

Understanding Market Trends

The first step in adapting your resume is understanding current market trends. Trends can vary by industry, but common elements include the increased importance of digital skills, a focus on soft skills like communication and adaptability, and the need for evidence-based accomplishments. Staying informed about these trends ensures that your resume resonates with what employers are currently looking for.

Analyzing Job Descriptions

To tailor your resume effectively, analyze job descriptions in your field. Identify keywords and phrases frequently used and incorporate them into your resume. This not only helps in passing through Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) but also shows that you’re in tune with the language and priorities of your industry.

Adapting Your Resume

1. Highlighting Relevant Skills

Update your resume to highlight skills that are in demand. For instance, if digital proficiency is trending in your field, ensure your resume reflects your competence in relevant software or platforms. Relevancy is one of my pet peeves. If you don’t have the skills relevant to the job, you may not be a good fit. If you do have the skills needed, don’t just list them, back them up by demonstrating how you’ve used them effectively in past roles.

2. Showcasing Achievements

Rather than just listing your duties at previous jobs, focus on your achievements. Use specific examples and quantify your successes wherever possible.
– Did you increase sales by 30%?
– Did you lead a project that resulted in significant cost savings?
– How did you help your team overcome a certain hurdle?
These specifics make your contributions tangible and memorable.

3. Modernizing the Format

Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all resumes. Today’s resumes are more visual and concise. Use a clean, modern layout with bullet points for easy readability. Infographics and charts can be used sparingly to showcase key achievements. However, ensure that the design does not overpower the content.

4. Incorporating Soft Skills

Employers are increasingly valuing soft skills. Showcase your communication, leadership, and problem-solving abilities through concrete examples. Kennedy suggests using scenarios from your work experience where you demonstrated these skills effectively.

5. Customizing for the Role

Don’t forget to customize your resume for each application. This doesn’t mean rewriting it entirely, but rather tweaking it to highlight the most relevant experiences and skills for each job. When in doubt, check out the job description. You’ll find lots of little gems in there (keywords, descriptors, etc.).

Overcoming Challenges

Adapting your resume can be challenging, especially when transitioning industries or re-entering the job market after a gap. In such cases, focus on transferable skills and continuous learning. Highlight any courses, certifications, or volunteer work that demonstrate your commitment to staying relevant in your field.

The Role of Networking

Networking can significantly impact your job search. Engage with professionals in your industry through platforms like LinkedIn. Often, a strong network can provide insights into market trends and even lead to job opportunities that are not advertised publicly.

Continuous Learning

In a fast-changing job market, continuous learning is key. Stay updated with the latest trends and skills in your industry. Online courses, webinars, and professional workshops can be excellent resources for this. Every extra bit of learning helps. Add them!

In Conclusion…

Mastering and adapting your resume is an ongoing process. It involves staying informed about market trends, highlighting your most relevant skills and achievements, and continuously learning and networking. By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your resume will stand out in today’s competitive job market.

These Words Will Drive Executive Recruiters Away From Your Resume!

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Professional Resume Services best executive resume format

Are you about to begin your executive job search? Have you been searching for a job recently with no luck? Either way, you need to be careful with the wording in your resume. The best professional resume writers can tell you an extensive list of commonly used words that will make recruiters stop reading.
You may think those words apply to you perfectly, but so do hundreds of other people who send in their resumes to the same place. Here are some of the words you may think are harmless, but can actually drive recruiters away from your resume.

1. Enthusiastic

Every cover letter writing service sees this word come across their desk, and so do recruiters. If you aren’t enthusiastic about the job possibility, why would you be applying? This is just an unnecessary word that should be implied in your writing.

2. Motivated

Sending your resume is a sign of motivation—unless, of course, you choose to submit a terrible resume rather than seek the help of the best professional resume writers. There’s no need to explain why you’re motivated.

3. Creative

Creativity is something everyone thinks they have, but in reality, very few people do. Furthermore, those people likely aren’t searching for jobs. The word “creative” will get overlooked quickly because most people can’t back it up with proof.

4. Experienced

You’re showing your experience on the resume, so you don’t need to reiterate it. The best executive resume format will display your experience in a separate section, which needs no further explanation.

5. Team Player

It’s great to be a team player, but you don’t have to talk about it on your resume. The best professional resume writers will tell you to explain a situation in which you were a team player, but they will never actually write out the words. Everyone writes them, but you shouldn’t.

6. Results-Oriented

This may have looked good on a resume in the past, but not today. Any company hiring an executive expects them to be results-oriented. On the other hand, if you truly are results-oriented, your resume should show it.

7. Determined

This is another word that’s implied just because you submitted the resume. If you’re truly determined to get a job, go to a cover letter writing service to brush up your cover letter and resume. Don’t tell a recruiter you’re determined, because they probably won’t read anymore.
Professional Resume Services has some of the best professional resume writers in the industry to help you eliminate the common, yet unnecessary, words from your resume. Feel free to contact us if you need help tweaking your executive resume to make it more effective.

Is Your Executive Resume Overdue for a Revamp?

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Executives commonly make the mistake of not updating their resume until they are in need of a job. However, the one certain thing about job security is the uncertainty of it. You could have a job one day and get laid off the next due to a number of circumstances. That just means you need to always have your resume ready to go so you aren’t scrambling if you do happen to lose your job suddenly. Here are some of the tips cover letter writing services will give you when revamping your resume.

Make Your Resume Searchable Online

Depending on the last time you went through a job search, employers may have still been going through physical copies of resumes. In today’s digital age, the best executive resume format is one that has searchable characteristics online. An HR manager spends an average of six seconds on any given resume, so if yours isn’t formatted for online viewing, it will quickly be passed over without even getting a chance.

Update Social Media Profiles While You’re At It

Speaking of online searchability, you need to clean up and update any social media profiles you have. Social media platforms like LinkedIn give you a great outlet to expand on your executive resume, but it’s different than the best executive resume format. Still, many employers see social media profiles as being an extension of your resume, so you can’t just focus solely on your one-page resume when you’re revamping it.

Add New Experiences and Keywords

Finally, if you’ve been at the same job for six months or longer, chances are you’ve gained some new experiences along the way. Be sure to remove any old or irrelevant experience and replace it with new experience. Don’t forget about updating your executive resume bio as well, since some things could have changed since the last time you updated your resume.
Cover letter writing services also suggest incorporating more keywords, since employers will search for those words. This may not have been important the last time you submitted a resume anywhere, but it is today.
Professional Resume Services is the industry leader in helping executives revamp their resumes for their upcoming job search. Whether you’re currently looking for a job or just haven’t updated your executive resume in a while, feel free to contact us at any time.

Crafting an Action Plan for Your Executive Job Search

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Professional Resume Services best executive resume format

An executive job search is often an arduous journey, which can take up to several months to complete. However, like any journey, you’ll reach your destination when you have a clear plan for how you’re going to get there. Crafting an action plan for your executive job search may seem tedious, but it’s necessary in order to expedite the process. If you don’t know where to begin, professional resume writing services can help get you on the right track. You can also check out our four tips below for developing your action plan.

1. Know Your Target

If you don’t have a specific target, you have nothing to shoot for. Identify not only the industries you’re interested in, but also the companies or people involved in those industries. The key to writing resumes that get you hired is targeting them toward certain people or companies. Be specific, but realistic, when it comes to identifying your target. Consider the industry, the company, the culture, location and even the salary you desire to help you narrow down your options.

2. Make Your Message Consistent

Some people tend to forget that they’re selling themselves when they’re on an executive job search. Your message about yourself and what you want to accomplish should be consistent across the board. If it’s not, you will eventually be exposed and could damage your reputation. Any of the best professional resume writing services can help you create a consistent message for your professional brand.

3. Determine Your Search Strategy

In general, there are search strategies that work and some that don’t. Of course, everyone can be successful in their own way, but it may not be the easiest way. Networking is the best way to search for an executive job, even if it’s not one of your strong suits. You could also call or visit different companies in person, search for recruiters on LinkedIn or other websites, or post your executive resume on different job boards. Networking and targeting individuals or companies usually yield the best results, but you may have to find your perfect mix through trial and error.

4. Track Your Progress

Whether you’re creating your action plan or putting it into place, tracking your progress is helpful. Checking off different boxes from your plan will give you some added self-confidence to help you continue pushing forward. Just remember the target you identified earlier so you can know what you’re aiming for.
At Professional Resume Services, we take pride in our ability to help executives with their job search, even if it just means putting together the best executive resume format. If you need assistance with your action plan for your executive job search, feel free to contact us at any time.

Should Your Resume Be Mobile Friendly?

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Professional Resume Services best executive resume format

You may be under the impression that executive resumes are outdated thanks to the rise of networking and social media. However, a well-crafted resume can be just as effective. In today’s business world, there aren’t many people who aren’t connected at all times. That’s why when you’re sending in your executive resume, you need to make sure it’s mobile friendly. There’s nothing more frustrating for a recruiter or hiring manager than not being able to view a resume from their mobile device. If you aren’t sure how to make your resume mobile friendly, a good executive resume writing service can help.

Recruiters Work On-The-Go, Too

Time is limited for everyone. Since you only have approximately six seconds to impress a recruiter with your resume, even the smallest mistake is magnified. A recruiter may be on a business trip, on lunch break or just away from the desk for any other reason. If they read your email with the resume attached, but can’t view the resume clearly, it could be lost in the shuffle.

Make Your Resume as Easy to Read as Possible

There’s a lot of discussion about the best executive resume format, but sometimes the best one is one that’s simply the easiest to read. You don’t have to be one of the best executive resume writers in the world to make your mobile friendly resume more accessible. Mobile devices are designed to make life simpler and more convenient. Make sure your executive resume fits those characteristics to have the greatest chance for success.

Increase Your Interview Opportunities

Many professional executive resume writers will tell you having a mobile friendly resume will increase your chances for job interviews. When you make your resume and contact information easy to view on a mobile device, the recruiter can contact you immediately, rather than having to wait until they return to the office. Hiring managers want to streamline their hiring process as much as possible, so when they have a chance to set up an interview quickly, they will do it most of the time. If you have a resume that’s difficult to read on a mobile device, your interview chances will decrease.
Having a mobile friendly executive resume is important nowadays. To ensure your resume is mobile friendly, feel free to contact us to get in touch with the best executive resume writing service.

What is the Best Executive Resume Format?

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Professional Resume Services best executive resume format

Your resume is usually the first thing a potential employer will see when you’re searching for a job. Having the proper format may seem like a little detail, but it’s actually pretty important. You want to make sure you have it in a format that will stand out, but you don’t want it to be too over the top and risk looking unprofessional. The best executive resume format clearly highlights your accomplishments in a clean manner. Here are some important things to consider when deciding on a format for your executive resume.

Chronological Format is Key for Executives

The best executive resume writers will recommend a chronological format for executives. Recruiters like to follow along the timeline of your career. It’s effective for people who have specialized expertise in a certain field because it highlights their attributes and ties them into the job they’re applying for.

Be Clear With Your Points

You may be thinking it’s risky to not include dates of employment or educational experience on your resume. While some employers do pay attention to dates, the best executive resume writing service will tell you it won’t cost you a chance to interview. Again, as long as you are clear with the expertise and experience you have, recruiters generally won’t raise a red flag for missing dates.

Combining Chronological and Functional Formats Can Be Effective

The best executive resume writers may even combine the functional executive resume format with the chronological format. This requires a little more attention to detail and creativity, because you want to highlight your most recent and relevant experience.
Executives with extensive experience will have more success with this combined approach than new executives with little experience would. If you don’t have experience and still believe a combined format would help your chances, the best executive resume writing service can help you pull it off.
Finding the proper executive resume format is a touchy topic. The goal of your executive resume is to make it pop without going overboard. If you would like to discuss the format of your executive resume and what options you have, feel free to contact us at any time.

Three Ways to Boost Your Job Searching Strategy This Autumn

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Get a new fall job with the help of professional resume writing services.

Autumn can be a refreshing time of year, both from a weather perspective and for job seekers. You’ve gotten through the tough summer months and may feel a little worn down after applying for jobs consistently. The good news is autumn brings out new opportunities since school is back in session and newly graduated students aren’t flooding the market. Now is the time to get involved with your LinkedIn profile development and touch up your resume to revamp your job search!

Learn New Skills

If you’ve struggled with getting the job you desire, consider taking online classes or certification programs. The best professional resume writing services will suggest adding any type of educational experience to your resume, especially if you don’t have a significant amount of relevant work experience. Not only will learning new skills boost your confidence, but employers might even be more attracted to your resume because of your commitment to continuing your education.

Open Your Thoughts

It’s easy to get caught up in the repetitiveness of applying for certain jobs. You could be leaving some great jobs on the table due to tunnel vision. Open up your thoughts a bit and look at other opportunities. These may or may not be relevant to the jobs or experience you’ve had in the past, but the goal is to broaden your horizons.
When you look at other job opportunities, you may realize you’re more qualified for those than the ones you’ve been looking for. Alternatively, you could find a field that interests you enough to look into taking continuing education classes to learn more. Professional resume writing services will encourage you to broaden your view of your job search so you don’t get bogged down and find yourself in a rut.

Consider Temporary Jobs or Contract Work

The best executive resume format will highlight your attributes and indicate you’re open to a variety of opportunities. However, you don’t want to seem desperate. Sometimes companies simply aren’t hiring full-time employees, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply. You may be able to find a temporary job or a contract position to help get valuable experience.
The autumn months are unique because companies don’t necessarily hire a lot during the holidays. If you are able to work as a contractor or hold a temporary position through the holidays, you may even be brought on full-time after the first of the year; and if not, at least you have something else to put on your resume!
Seasonal changes can be refreshing to job seekers, and professional resume writing services know this. Autumn is a great time to rejuvenate your job search.

Functional or Chronological: Which Is the More Effective Format for Your Resume?

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Use chronological as the best executive resume format.
The differences in resume formatting seem to be a little-known fact among job hunters. Most people have learned to write out a resume in one way or another and learn about any alternative methods later on in life, either when they no longer are submitting resumes to recruiters or are in the throes of a job search. Currently, there are two types of resume formats: functional and chronological. Both of them have their advantages. It will serve any executive resume writer well to know about both formats in order to decide which will better suit their needs.

Functional Resumes

You can think of a functional resume as something of a professional showcase. It is meant to underline what you can do. In other words, it’s about the experiences you’ve had and the skills you’ve gathered and developed. These two elements of your career history should receive the most focus on this type of resume. While chronological information can still be included, it should be kept brief and be written last.
Generally, you will write a functional resume so each skill you’d like to discuss serves as a header. You can then devote a few lines underneath to discuss what this skill entailed and how you’ve utilized it throughout your career positions. You will also have to talk a little bit about yourself at the top of the page, mainly about your academic and career history. Again, this should also be brief.
This format may prove useful for some executives in the middle of switching careers. However, it isn’t the best executive resume format in the eyes of hiring managers and recruiters. Using a functional resume may give off the impression you have large gaps in your work or academic history or you otherwise have some other detractor from your hireability you don’t want to divulge.

Chronological Resumes

Unlike functional resumes, chronological resumes basically serve as a timeline of your career history. Resumes of this type list out your full work history from your newest position to your oldest, as well as a bit about your skill set and similar information. Under each position you list, you’ll also include a bit about the tasks you fulfilled, along with any accolades you’ve earned while there.
Those with a lot of experience in their chosen field will find this resume format the most helpful, as will newly graduated college students. Recruiters will also find this format much easier to sort through and read. However, this type of resume can be misleading when it comes to shorter career positions you’ve held, and your skills will be downplayed considerably.
We consider this to be the most useful resume format because it displays all important information up front with no risk of miscommunication. It is especially useful for downplaying any existing gaps in your work history. Every recruiter and hiring manager will recognize and accept this format so you’re far less likely to hurt your chances of gaining their interest. We recommend making chronological resumes your first choice!
Writing a resume is understandably tough. However, picking the right format can help move things along. If you’re still unsure of the best way to organize your resume, you can always consult the best resume writing services for suggestions on which resume format to use! Be sure to get in touch to get the help you need and land the job of your dreams!