Effective communication skills used to be added benefits for an executive job seeker, but nowadays it’s a requirement. You’re expected to have top notch communication skills, so if you’re struggling with your job search, it may be time to look into boosting that aspect. Sometimes people don’t even realize they are communicating ineffectively on paper or in person until they hear it from professional executive resume writers. The good news is identifying any potential flaws is generally straightforward and fixing them is entirely possible. Here are some must-have communication strategies for every executive job seeker.
Communicate Clearly on Paper
Your resume, cover letter and LinkedIn profile are the three main components any hiring manager will look at. Since you never know which one they will look at first, all three have to be worded clearly and concisely. The key to effective written communication is telling your reader why you are the best candidate for the job in as few words as possible. Even an expert writer needs someone to look over their work to ensure the proper message is being presented, and professional executive resume writers can be that resource.
Validate Written Skills With Great Interpersonal Communication
Being a well-rounded communicator means your written skills need to be backed up by your verbal communication. Your verbal communication skills are put to the test every time you talk to someone, whether it’s at a networking event, a career fair or even a job interview. You have a chance to boost your c-level personal branding every time you say a word, so choose each word wisely and practice effective communication regularly. The worst thing you can do is call yourself an effective communicator in your resume, but your speech isn’t as polished as you make it sound on paper.
Control Your Online Presence
Your online presence is huge in today’s world. Many executives make the mistake of thinking if they don’t utilize social media and don’t create an account for a LinkedIn profile, then they won’t have an online presence to worry about. The reality is their online presence is still there, but they just don’t have any control over it if they choose to ignore it. Align your online communications with your c-level personal branding and control the message you want people to know about you. Professional Resume Services places a big emphasis on communication every time we meet with an executive. It’s important for your resume style to match your interpersonal communication style, so we take the time to understand your strengths and weaknesses clearly. Communication is such a vital part of an executive job search, so contact us if you need help developing or tweaking yours.
Top 3 Ways to Succeed at an Executive Networking Event
Attending a networking event is one thing, but succeeding at it is another. Everyone defines success differently when it comes to networking events. You may be attending with the goal of finding your next employer or you may simply be attending to build your c-level personal branding. Whatever your reason is, there are things you should and shouldn’t do at these events to give you the best chance to succeed. Here are our top three suggestions to help you succeed at your next networking event.
Prepare in Advance
Depending on the event, you may choose to bring executive resume biographies instead of business cards or vice versa. Do your homework on the type of event it is so you don’t appear to be unprepared. Update your LinkedIn profile with any relevant information prior to attending the event. If you hand out a business card or biography, you should have a link to your profile included. You want to be sure your profile is in the best shape possible for when people view it.
Move Around Frequently
When you’re actually at the event, don’t linger around in one area for too long. People don’t generally gravitate toward people who are stationary, so make it a point to walk around the room throughout the event. It’s tempting to engage in long conversations when you find an interesting person to talk to, but the reality is those people are at the event to make as many connections as possible as well. Instead of boosting your c-level personal branding by talking to one person, spread the wealth to as many people as you can.
Master Your Elevator Speech
The size of the networking event can determine how long you have to make an impression. You want to master your two-minute elevator speech so it’s persuasive and piques the interest of the other person. Deliver your speech in a natural way so you don’t sound like a salesperson, but still clearly demonstrate your value to your listener. A quality elevator speech can give an immediate boost to your c-level personal branding. Professional Resume Services is here to help you develop your LinkedIn profile, your executive resume biographies or anything else to help you succeed at your next networking event. Preparation for these events takes time, but the time investment is well worth it in the end. Feel free to contact us at any time if you need extra assistance preparing for your next networking event.
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.
The Top Ways to Safeguard Your Executive Online Brand
You can significantly help your executive job search if you have a positive online brand. Many employers today will do an online search for a candidate’s name. If you have a lot of negative things about you, or don’t have much of an online presence, you’ll hurt your chances of landing an interview. The importance level of personal branding for senior level managers is very high. Companies want to hire executives with a positive online brand, since they are viewed as an advocate for the company. Here are some of the top ways you can safeguard your executive online brand to ensure you have a positive image.
Search For Your Name Online
You should do an online search for your name at least once a week. The best way to protect and enhance your c-level personal branding is to know what information is out on the Internet for everyone to see. If a potential employer is going to search for you online, you should also take the time to do it yourself and clean up anything you don’t want to show up in the results.
Your Online Brand Backs Up Your Claims
If you’ve already talked to a potential employer, chances are they are going to search for you online to see if they can verify any claims you made. Don’t tell them you worked for a certain company or have a certain level of experience if it’s not displayed on your LinkedIn profile or other places. Even worse, inaccurate or contradictory information will deem you as being untrustworthy and can damage your personal brand even more.
Have A Professional Social Media Presence
The best way to enhance personal branding for senior level managers is to have a positive and professional social media presence. Employers today look for candidates who are active on social media, so they can be valuable for finding new business or even new candidates. A positive social media presence is critical for c-level personal branding today, so don’t take it lightly. Be active as much as you can and always portray yourself as a professional. Professional Resume Services is here to help you, whether you need assistance in writing an effective resume or improving your personal brand. Our experienced professionals can help you with every step of your job search process, so never hesitate to call or email us at any time for assistance.
How Executive Personal Branding Affects Your Executive Career
Working on your personal brand is more important now than ever before. Executives have typically considered their c-level personal branding as being associated with and representing the company they work for. However, the notion has shifted into marketing yourself as a person rather than as a part of a company. When you work for a company, you still need to brand them as part of your job. The key is to also know when the right time is to work on yourself as well. Not doing so could hurt your long-term executive career prospects. Here are a few ways executive personal branding affects your executive career.
Establish Yourself as an Expert
When you focus on c-level personal branding, you can establish yourself as an expert in a particular industry, rather than for a specific company. Portraying yourself as the go-to executive for many different issues can be very valuable for your career. People need someone to rely on, and if you have the expertise, branding yourself as the person they can rely on can define you in that way.
Learn More About Yourself And Your Goals
Executive personal branding goes beyond writing an effective resume. It’s easy to portray yourself in a different light when you’re representing a company, even when you know it’s not the true you. How you brand yourself could give some insight into your own self, your value, worth and what you’re capable of.
Get Feedback From Peers to Improve Your Brand and Career
One of the best ways to improve c-level personal branding is to always seek feedback from colleagues and peers. You may believe you are taking all the right steps to market yourself appropriately, but you don’t know how you are perceived by others unless you ask someone you trust. Most executives won’t volunteer this information to you, so asking for feedback could open your eyes to some changes you need to make when representing yourself.
Link Your Online Brand With Your Personal Brand
You could be hurting yourself if the person you say you are online doesn’t match the person you are in real life. When you optimize your LinkedIn profile, don’t just write things to make yourself sound good. People will read your LinkedIn profile and have a general perception about you. That perception has to come close to matching in real life, so be sure the two are linked closely and accurately. At Professional Resume Services, we always work with executives wanting to improve their personal brand. We understand the importance of personal branding when it comes to career advancement, job searching and other aspects. Feel free to contact us if you need any tips or advice on branding or any other aspect of your executive career.
Experienced executives have a lot of knowledge that may be beneficial to many other people. If you have a good amount of experience and have decent writing skills, you could enhance your career even further by starting a blog. Even new executives who may not have a lot of experience, but have a lot of ideas, can benefit from blogging. Blogging usually isn’t something executives think of when it comes to boosting c-level personal branding. The benefits are proof enough for you to consider starting one, though.
Blogging Can Get You Noticed
You’d be surprised at how many executives like you search for different articles to help their craft. If your blog offers what they need, you may start building a nice collection of subscribers who want to read your material. Being noticed online in a positive light is one of the best ways to enhance your career.
You Could Build Your Network Through Blogging
You may already have hundreds of connections through your LinkedIn profile, but you can expand it even further with a blog. Consider putting the link to your blog in your LinkedIn profile as well, so your current connections know you have one. You never know who will read your material online, so it’s always best to put it out there as much as possible.
Blogging Will Put Your Name in Search Engine Results
If you’re actively searching for a job and have applied to several places, the first thing those companies will do is search for your name. Your LinkedIn profile is important to them, but they also want to see what else is on the Internet about you. When links to your personal blog with insightful topics and advice come up, you’ll have a better shot at landing an interview compared to someone who doesn’t show up in the search results at all.
Use Keywords and Write About Relevant Topics Naturally
Writing a blog is different than writing an executive bio. Use your blog as a chance to show your casual, laid back side rather than the uptight business professional you have to be every day at work. Incorporate the keywords you have to use throughout the day and talk about those topics as well, so you can relate to people in your industry. Being as natural as possible on your blog will be a relief to you and your readers. At Professional Resume Services, we look for every way imaginable to boost your career. Whether it’s optimizing your resume, helping you incorporate your blog into your LinkedIn profile or writing your executive bio, we can help guide you in the right direction. Feel free to contact us at any time for advice on blogging or any other topic related to your career advancement.
How Your Executive Job Search is Affected by Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has many different functions and benefits. You can either greatly benefit from SEO when you’re searching for an executive job, or you could fall way behind the rest. Being discovered is one of the most important things in a job search today. You may have a great LinkedIn profile, but if you don’t have the right keywords on your profile, recruiters won’t be able to find you. Here are some tidbits about SEO you should know about so your job search is affected by it in a positive way.
What Does Search Engine Optimization Accomplish?
When recruiters search for candidates for an open executive position, they will use certain keywords in their search engine. SEO works to deliver the most relevant results based on those keywords. Hence, it’s important for you to know which keywords should be used throughout your executive profiles on each platform you use online. If you’re somewhat unfamiliar with SEO, you can’t just stuff your LinkedIn profile with keywords and expect to be discovered. In fact, this will go against you for SEO purposes. You need relevant information about yourself to go along with the keywords sprinkled in here and there.
Use The Right Keywords
The best place to find the proper keywords to use would be in the company’s job posting or on the company’s website you’re applying to. Most of the phrases and keywords have to do with certain expertise they’re looking for, so you should be able to fit them in naturally if you possess those qualities.
Place Your Keywords Appropriately
For SEO purposes, you should put an emphasis on having your keywords at the top of your page, whether it’s a personal blog, LinkedIn profile or any other online executive profiles you have. Once you develop your profile or online resume, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have an expert check your page for SEO so you can maximize your chances of being discovered.
Proof Everything Thoroughly
It goes without saying, but you should proof anything you put online multiple times. Typographical errors or poor grammar not only looks bad for your c-level personal branding, but it can also hurt your job search from an SEO perspective. This is especially true if your typo comes in an important keyword, so be sure to proof your profiles thoroughly and have a second set of eyes look at them as well. Professional Resume Services offers expertise in the complexities of SEO. We can fully optimize your LinkedIn profile to match the branding you strive for in your executive job search. If you need any assistance or advice regarding SEO and your job search, feel free to contact us at any time.
Top 5 Secrets to a Great Senior-Level Executive Resume
Executives today may struggle with formulating a quality resume to get a senior-level position. Many executives haven’t had to search for a job in a while, so they are rusty when it comes to how the process works. One of the main things helping you out will be if you have strong c-level personal branding. When you combine your personal branding with a professional resume writing service, you’ll be setting yourself up for success in your job search. But how exactly can you create a great senior-level executive resume? Here are our top five secrets.
Highlight Personal Branding
C-level personal branding is the most important attribute any executive can have. Display it on your executive resume by highlighting your passions, strengths, attributes and the value you bring to the table. Making your resume pop is critical in today’s job search process, and personal branding can put you a step ahead of the rest.
Be Specific and Targeted
General resumes don’t do the trick anymore. You have to do research on any given company before you send them a resume. Then tailor a resume to fit what they are looking for. Be specific about what skills you have displayed in the past, and how they will translate to the position you’re seeking.
Limit Your Resume to Two Pages
When you have years of experience, it’s easy to get carried away on your resume. One of the toughest things for executives to do is limit their resume to only two pages. The reality is no recruiter or HR manager is going to read the entire resume anyway, so you have to pick out your strongest strengths and highlight them. This is one of the biggest reasons why people choose to use an executive resume service.
Display Your Value
Companies don’t care what you’ve done for other companies, for the most part. All they want to know is how you can help them. But the two go hand-in-hand, since skills and attributes can translate from one job to the other. Just be sure to tailor your resume to show how valuable you can be for the company you’re applying for.
Remove Vague Objectives
The “objective” section at the top of a resume is a thing of the past. Saying you’re seeking a job is understood. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have applied for the job in the first place. Instead, replace the objective section with a headline stating what you bring to the table. Consider hiring a professional resume writing service to help you target specific keywords to help your headline stand out as well. At Professional Resume Services, we aren’t afraid to tell you our secrets for crafting the perfect senior-level executive resume. Our main focus is helping you get the job you desire, and we are available to help in any way you need us. Feel free to contact us at any time for more secrets to writing a great resume.
Executives today may struggle with formulating a quality resume to get a senior-level position. Many executives haven’t had to search for a job in a while, so they are rusty when it comes to how the process works.