There are many things that could potentially hold you back from landing your dream job, and none of them are more notable than a lack of c-level personal branding. Having a perfect resume is still essential today, but it won’t get you a job on its own in most cases. You have the opportunity to shape your personal brand however you want. Every action you take or don’t take has an impact on your personal brand, so it’s always a good idea to keep this at the forefront of your mind. Here are some tips for effective c-level personal branding to help you land the job you desire.
Narrow Down Your Personal Brand
When you’re searching for the perfect job, it’s important to understand what the particular company values. You may be a good overall person, but companies want to know exactly what you bring to the table. Find out what the company needs and shape your c-level personal branding around it. This can include shaping your resume, LinkedIn profile, executive profile and more to ensure consistency throughout. When you narrow down your personal brand, you’ll also be able to conduct a more targeted job search and give yourself a better opportunity to land the perfect job.
A Strong Personal Brand Doesn’t Mean Boasting
A common misconception among executives is personal branding requires you to brag on yourself. The reality is the opposite is true. No one likes to work with someone who constantly brags on themselves. The key to personal branding for senior level managers is showing your authenticity. Present yourself in a way that demonstrates the value you bring to the table, rather than telling everyone why you are better than them. Let the employer decide that part, but your role is to be confident in what you offer and stand behind it completely.
Improving Personal Branding Every Day
When you have an understanding that every action impacts your c-level personal branding, it will be easier to improve it. You don’t have to attend a networking event every day to boost your brand. Being conscious about the conversations you have with anyone, inside or outside of the office, can help you maintain your brand. You never know what conversation will lead to a new opportunity, so it’s always important to keep your personal brand at the top of your mind. Professional Resume Services helps executives with their c-level personal branding efforts every day. It’s one of the most important aspects of a job search, along with crafting a perfect resume. The two go hand-in-hand for any job search, and we can help you with both. Feel free to contact us at any time to see how we can help you in all areas of your job search.
What to Change on Your Executive Resume When Applying to Multiple Jobs
We’ve all been a part of a job search before where you put so much effort into writing an effective resume that you want to send it out to as many companies as possible. This is actually one of the worst things you can do, since the resume is most likely generic in nature. Hiring managers can easily identify a generic resume and will toss it out as soon as it’s identified. For the best results, the top resume writing services suggest tailoring each resume you send out to the actual company you’re sending it to. This may seem like a huge time investment, but when you know exactly what to change, it’s not as daunting of a task as you think. Here are some of the main things to consider changing when you apply to multiple jobs.
Locate Appropriate Keywords
The same types of jobs will have different job descriptions. In a world where every resume has to pass through ATS to get into the hands of a human, you have to use the right keywords for each job posting. Read through the entire description and pick out all the soft skills, hard skills and job-specific skills you can find. Then look at your resume and incorporate as many of them as possible without making it sound unnatural.
Add Statistics
Take these keywords to the next level and add an eye-catching statistic whenever possible. Hiring managers like to see percentages or dollar amounts on a resume because it puts your words into perspective and makes you sound much more credible and specific. Simply saying you boosted your company’s bottom line the past three years doesn’t have the same type of impact as saying you increased the bottom line by 10% one year, 13% the next year and 15% the following year. Your executive resume service will ask you to provide them with these statistics so they can incorporate them throughout the resume as appropriate.
Tailor Your Skills To The Company’s Requirements
Do some research on the company’s website before altering your resume. You may be able to identify their areas of need and be able to point them out. Companies and hiring managers don’t necessarily care what you did at your previous jobs. They just want to know what value you will provide their company. The top resume writing services can help you with using your past experience to demonstrate how your skills will transfer to their company and create similar results. Professional Resume Services helps executives with writing an effective resume every day. Having a unique resume for every job you apply for is extremely valuable and well worth the time and effort. Many times you don’t have to significantly change your resume. A few tweaks and additions here and there can make a big difference. If you ever need assistance with your resume, don’t hesitate to reach out to us for tips or advice.
Feeling Distracted? Follow These Easy Productivity Tips
Distractions are always plentiful, no matter where you work or what you do. Sometimes distractions can get to the point where your work day has ended and you realize you hardly got anything done. This is a real problem today, especially with the technology we have available to us. If your productivity takes a significant dip, then you may have to work with executive resume writing services pretty soon to help you find a new job. But before it gets to that point, here are a few tips to help boost your productivity and eliminate distractions.
Identify Distractions And Eliminate Them
The first step in eliminating distractions is to identify them. You may be surprised at how much time you spend on your smartphone throughout the day. Some apps are available to help you track what you view on your phone and how much time you spend on it. The results can be astonishing sometimes. When you realize how much time you spend on social media, your LinkedIn profile or other apps, you can work to decrease it. If it means leaving your phone with a co-worker so you aren’t tempted to pick it up, then do so.
Become Task-Oriented
Some people work better when they have a list of tasks to get accomplished, and they can’t do anything else until each task is completed. This can help you stay focused on what you need to get done, and the list can be revised if you complete the tasks more quickly than you thought. Becoming task-oriented may take some time and effort if it’s not your current personality, but it can lead to more productive days at work.
Take Occasional Breaks
Sitting at your desk for several consecutive hours at a time isn’t always ideal. You’re bound to find something to distract you as you’re working, and those distractions may take up more time than you think. Instead, take a five or ten minute break every hour to simply walk around and clear your mind. Find someone to talk to in the breakroom or elsewhere to just have a friendly conversation, and maybe even work on your c-level personal branding. Breaks can help the mind refocus on the task you’re working on and be more productive as a result.
Change Up Your Routine
It’s easy to get into a daily routine if you have a 9-5 job. The same distractions could pop up every day, and if they are part of the routine, then they become part of what you expect to happen every day. Changing up your routine can be valuable to eliminate the usual distractions. If your routine is to check your email, social media accounts or other apps at a certain time, try disconnecting for a bit. You may find even subtle changes can help you become more productive overall. Professional Resume Services provides executive resume writing services to help people land the best jobs possible. However, we are more than just that. We also enjoy helping people work on their c-level personal branding, optimize their LinkedIn profile and more. If you’ve been feeling distracted at work lately and don’t know how to become productive again, give us a call and we may be able to help you get motivated and back on track.
Why You Need Both Personal SEO and Personal Branding During an Executive Job Search
Getting discovered online is a critical component of any job search. In fact, the best executive resume writers will sometimes tailor your resume to incorporate more SEO (search engine optimization) terms to help your name show up more frequently in search results. But what about c-level personal branding? This is also an important piece of a job search that can’t be overlooked. Here are some reasons why you need both personal SEO and personal branding when searching for your next job.
Personal SEO And Personal Branding Go Hand-In-Hand
In order to optimize your personal SEO, you need to incorporate keywords and phrases relevant to the particular job you’re searching for. These keywords typically involve the hard skills and technical expertise required to do the job. From a personal branding perspective, employers want to know about your personal qualities to determine whether you will be a cultural fit within their organization. This could include leadership experience, how well you work with a team and individually and other personality traits. When your online presence includes both personal SEO and c-level personal branding, you’ll have a better chance of being discovered by the top recruiters and employers.
Use Both To Differentiate Yourself
While both are needed to be discovered, you can also use them to differentiate yourself from other job candidates. You may choose to work with a LinkedIn profile development expert to incorporate certain keywords to make yourself stand out, while still using proper SEO terms to be discovered. It’s a fine line between being just like everyone else and differentiating yourself online, but it’s possible to find the perfect balance when you incorporate both aspects.
Never Sacrifice Authenticity
When you think about your LinkedIn profile development and how to incorporate personal SEO and personal branding, it can become easy to fall into the trap of writing content to be discovered rather than being authentic. Sacrificing authenticity is never a good idea for your long-term job prospects, since employers will almost always ask you to validate any of your claims. When you have all the soft skills and hard skills required to land the job you desire, sometimes it just takes working with the best executive resume writers to tweak the wording to help you become discovered more naturally. Professional Resume Services understands the challenges executives face in the digital world we live in today. One minor mistake or omission can derail your executive job search, so we are here to help ensure all of your bases are covered. Whether you need a LinkedIn profile development expert or someone to proofread your resume, we are here for you. Never hesitate to contact us at any time if we can be of any assistance with your job search.
Every aspect of a job search has to go perfectly in order to land the position you want sometimes. You may have crafted the perfect resumes and cover letters with the help of an executive resume service, but still can’t get a job for some reason. If you’re able to land an interview but can’t get past that point, you could be making a critical mistake many job seekers make: not writing a thank you note. Believe it or not, many employers indicate not receiving a thank you note can sometimes disqualify a candidate, especially if they are on the fence about hiring them. Here’s what to consider about thank you notes so you don’t run the risk of jeopardizing your job search.
When To Write A Thank You Note
The timing of your thank you note must be within 24 hours of the conclusion of the interview. It’s important for the interviewers to have you in mind throughout their interview process, and writing a quality thank you note is one way to do it. The company is likely interviewing many candidates to fill the position you desire, so setting yourself apart is essential. You may be the top of the top at your company, but it’s still a good idea to send a simple thank you.
Should Each Interviewer Get A Thank You Note?
Every executive resume service will suggest sending a thank you note to each person who interviewed you. Ask for their business card or their email address before you leave to ensure you have the right information. And if for some reason you realize you forgot to ask for it, reach out to your main point of contact and request the information. The hiring manager will likely ask each interviewer their opinion of you, so you want to shape their opinion to be as positive as possible.
What To Include
Just like when writing an effective resume, the content you write in your thank you note must be unique. Personalize the note to each recipient, and bring up a point you may have connected with them on during the interview. Whether it’s a school affiliation, an upcoming vacation or any other point you related with them on, be sure to point out the connection in your thank you note. You can also use your thank you note as an opportunity to clarify any points made in the interview. If there was an objection or if you didn’t seem qualified for a certain aspect of the job, you can reiterate why you think you will be able to overcome it. Professional Resume Services is more than just an executive resume service. We want to help each of our clients throughout the job search process so they can land the job they desire. The importance of a thank you note is critical today, so contact us at any time for more advice on how to write one and what information you may consider including.
Critical Details to Include on a Senior Level Executive Resume
If you’ve been on a job hunt for any amount of time, you likely have heard about the importance of details. But how do you know which details to include on a senior level resume? The formatting, length and other similar aspects can be corrected by the best executive resume writers, but even the experts don’t know the details of your work history. When you’re applying for a senior level position, consider including these critical details when writing an effective resume.
Don’t Hide Your Credentials
You don’t want your credentials to be buried in your resume or be hard to read, especially if they are a requirement for the job. Display your credentials with the rest of your Education section. If you have letters to display after your name, proudly do so! Don’t be shy. Show the reader what degree(s) or certifications you have! Recruiters and hiring managers will look at the top of the page first, so the top resume writing services always suggest putting them there.
Clearly Show Your Areas of Expertise
The next thing the best executive resume writers will suggest is demonstrating your areas of expertise clearly. All of your skills from your previous job may not correlate exactly to the position you’re applying for. If this is the case, then only list the areas of expertise most relevant to the position you desire. You can do this by looking at the job description and matching certain keywords from it on your resume.
Focus on Recent Experience
When writing an effective resume, your experience should be listed in chronological order. However, most of the time it’s not as important to put detailed information about places you worked at 15 years ago. Instead, focus on the most recent and relevant experience you have. And be sure to quantify your accomplishments, since numbers generally tend to make more of a significant impact on hiring managers.
Provide Your Online Profile Information
Most employers will search for your online profile before contacting you for an interview. You could make their job a little easier by providing them with a link to your LinkedIn profile or any other profile you would like them to view. Just be sure to clean up your profile beforehand, so only the information you want to be visible will actually be seen. Nowadays how an online profile is displayed can make or break your status as a candidate, and you can guarantee the employer will look for it. Professional Resume Services has the best executive resume writers to help you craft the perfect resume. We will ask you all the right questions in order to understand your job history, so the information can be presented clearly. The details make a huge difference in the effectiveness of any resume, and we won’t overlook anything. Feel free to contact us at any time if you are unsure about whether certain details are needed or if you are struggling with any aspect of your job search.
Essential Elements to Include on Your Career Changing Resume
Going through a career change can be difficult to wrap your mind around. This is especially true if you’ve been in the same industry or worked at the same company for several years. However, ask any professional resume writing services and they will tell you changing careers is becoming more of a norm today. How you present yourself on your resume will make a big difference in how successful you are with your transition. You don’t necessarily have to start from scratch, but you do need to do some tweaking and ensure these essential elements are included in your resume.
Clearly Demonstrate Your Goals
The best executive resume format will be easy to read and display information clearly. However, when you’re changing careers you need to take it a step further. The potential employer needs to know you are seeking a career change and why you think you are qualified for the job with minimal industry experience. You can do this by highlighting relevant achievements, certifications and summarizing your most important responsibilities and how they relate to the new job you’re applying for.
Highlight Applicable Skills and Positives
Some of your skills and achievements from the past may not necessarily apply to your new desired position. Don’t try to force this information into your resume, since it can seem like you’re trying too hard and can hurt your c-level personal branding in the long run. Instead, highlight the most relevant achievements and quantify them. Use numbers and statistics to show how you cut costs or turned a profit for your previous company. Every company can relate to these aspects, so they are the most applicable skills to show on your resume.
Optimize The Resume For ATS
Your professional resume writing services can help you optimize your resume for ATS. You may not have the exact experience required in the job requirement listing, but if your resume has the right keywords, chances are it will get recognized. Not including these keywords may not even get your resume in the hands of a human.
Be Specific With Achievements
As an executive, some achievements are impressive across multiple industries. It’s always better to be specific rather than general. Use dollar amounts, percentages and other numbers as needed to clearly show your success at previous jobs. The more specific you are, the higher likelihood of your resume getting noticed. Professional Resume Services is here to help you with all aspects of your job search. Whether it’s writing a resume from scratch, helping improve your c-level personal branding or providing interview tips, we are here for you every step of the way. A career change can be stressful due to the unknown, but we can help make your path a little clearer. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at any time for advice on how to put yourself in a position for success in your efforts to change careers.
LinkedIn Questions Surrounding an Executive Job Search
Anyone who is in the middle of a job search has likely heard about the importance of their LinkedIn profile. However, simply having a profile isn’t good enough. Your profile can be the difference in landing an interview for a job or getting passed over. That’s why many executives turn to LinkedIn profile development services today to ensure they aren’t making any critical mistakes. Here are some of the most common questions about LinkedIn that we’ve answered to help your job search.
How Can You Use LinkedIn For A Job Search?
LinkedIn is the largest professional online network, and a large percentage of employers used the platform to make their next hire. With that being said, it’s best to utilize a LinkedIn profile writer to help you use relevant keywords and phrases, and to help make your profile as complete as possible. If you want to do it yourself, go over the job descriptions you are looking at and make sure they match up with what is in your profile. Connect with other professionals in your industry to learn more about them and any possible opportunities available. LinkedIn groups are also valuable, since they are full of like-minded people, allow you to demonstrate your personal brand to others and expand your network.
Is Quantity Better Than Quality When it Comes to Connections?
There are plenty of benefits to having as many connections as possible. Your profile will rank higher in the search results, and your message will be displayed to a larger amount of people as well. You may also find someone in your network who works at a company you are interested in, or who knows someone who does. That is the point of LinkedIn… to network. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people. Most are very receptive and generous with their time and information.
Can You Perform A Confidential Job Search on LinkedIn?
The best LinkedIn profile development services can help you adjust your settings in order to conduct a confidential job search. This involves turning off notifications, limiting who can see your connections, viewing other profiles without those people knowing and more. Many executives search for jobs while still employed, and you can easily keep your search confidential through LinkedIn.
Why is A Profile Photo So Important?
No executive LinkedIn profile is complete without a professional profile photo. If you choose not to include one on yours, a potential employer has no choice but to believe you are trying to hide something. And it’s important to note that LinkedIn is not the platform to put a photo of your family or pets. Keep it simple and professional with a formal headshot for the best results. Professional Resume Services provides LinkedIn profile development services to help make your profile as strong as possible. It’s one of the most important platforms for helping make your job search successful, so the time you spend on it is well worth it. We are here to help in any way we can, so never hesitate to contact us when you need assistance in any aspect of your job search.
Identify Distractions And Eliminate Them
