Asking for advice when you’re struggling with making a decision can be valuable. However, when it comes to getting career advice, you have to be careful who you’re listening to. Most people you ask won’t intentionally give you bad advice, but it also may not be very valuable to you. The best executive resume services will typically offer different bits of information than you would receive from family, friends, co-workers or anyone else. Here’s how to know if you’re listening to bad advice and what to do instead of following it.
Set Realistic Expectations
One of the most vague things anyone can tell you is the ability to be anything you want to be. Better career advice is to take a look at your skills and desires and set a more realistic path for success. It’s never a bad thing to dream about being at a certain level in your profession, but you can’t overlook the work it takes to get to that point. Start by working on your c-level personal branding and achieving realistic expectations before reaching for the pinnacle of your profession.
Don’t Choose A Career Based On Money
You may have also heard to choose a career based on the salary if you aren’t sure exactly what you want to do. This may be great for a couple of years, but it will be short-lived excitement if you don’t like going to your job every day. Instead, focus on long-term happiness by looking at the values a company offers, the culture within the organization, the opportunity for advancement and growth and more. Believe it or not, the people who are motivated solely by money are typically the people who aren’t happy with their jobs and overall lifestyle, with some exceptions, of course.
Choose Your Network Wisely
Take a look at your LinkedIn profile and see how many connections you have. Many experts tell people to get as many LinkedIn connections as they can, because you never know who you will cross paths with. However, the quality of your connections is typically much more valuable than the quantity. Having a dozen or so quality connections on your LinkedIn profile will be more beneficial to you than having hundreds of connections you don’t even know personally.
Patience Usually Won’t Move Your Career Forward
There’s a time and place to be patient in your career. Too many times you see people getting passed up for advancement by people who were more aggressive. There was a time when the duration of your tenure with an organization played a factor in promotion opportunities. However, the times have changed and tenure isn’t quite as important. It’s more important to step up and ask for more responsibilities, demonstrate your leadership qualities and make it known you want to move forward in your career. You’ll likely have much better results compared to being patient and waiting your turn.
Professional Resume Services provides the best executive resume services tailored to your specific needs and desires. We are always willing to offer career advice based on our years of experience, but will never provide advice to people who don’t want to hear it. Our goal is to help you find the job and career you desire, so feel free to contact us at any time when you need us.
As a job candidate, you have to know what works and what doesn’t work with your job search to ensure you make progress every single day. One of the most effective strategies for any job search is networking. With quality c-level personal branding, networking can lead you to many new connections, as well as the possibility of being referred to a company’s hiring manager. This relationship between networking and referrals is underestimated by many professionals, but the truth is companies would much rather pick from referrals than random job candidates.
Why Companies Prefer Referrals
In most cases, the speed of the hiring process is much faster when working with referrals. From an employer’s standpoint, if one of their employees refers a potential candidate, chances are they will be a high quality candidate, a good fit, have a better chance of hiring them quickly and may even lead to other quality candidates. This is especially true if the employee who made the referral understands the importance of c-level personal branding. A hiring manager is more willing to trust one of their own employees rather than a resume they received from other outlets.
Can Networking Make You A Referral?
So now that you know how important being a referral is to a potential employer, how do you become one? Networking is the easy answer. You can start by working with an executive LinkedIn profile writer to ensure your online brand is represented appropriately. You can then use the LinkedIn platform to re-engage with current connections or make new connections based on your interests. One misconception many people have is that networking is all about asking for a job. The reality is networking is about building relationships and seeing where they lead. It never hurts to let your connections know you’re looking for a job and explain your qualifications, though. While companies tend to hire referrals quicker, from a candidate standpoint, becoming a referral may take a little longer since you have to build a strong relationship with your network.
Remember A Referral Only Gets Your Foot In The Door
When you’ve ultimately been referred to a company for a position of interest, it doesn’t mean you have the job wrapped up. You have to remember there are likely other referrals that are candidates as well. Don’t put off visiting the top resume writing services, since it could be the difference in you getting the job or not. Being a referral definitely gives you a better chance of getting the job, but it’s far from a guarantee.
Professional Resume Services is known as one of the top resume writing services, but we also help professionals in many other ways. Building your network and earning referrals can open the door to many opportunities, whether you’re looking for them or not. To learn more about this relationship and how you can use it to enhance your career, feel free to contact us at any time.
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.
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.
Landing a phone interview is often the first step in getting your foot in the door for a formal interview. However, if you don’t take the interview seriously, you may never be invited to the office for the next step. Although a phone interview generally doesn’t last more than 30 minutes, it’s still extremely important and valuable for both you and the employer. You’ve spent a lot of time writing resumes that get you hired, so be sure to avoid these common phone interview mistakes so your efforts aren’t wasted.
Talking Too Much
It’s understandable for people to be nervous during any type of interview. A common nervous habit is getting too chatty, and it’s even easier to talk too much in a phone interview since you can’t see the other person’s facial reactions. The interviewer likely has scheduled a set amount of time to talk to you, so be sure to answer questions precisely and without a lot of extra fillers.
Getting Off Topic
If you aren’t prepared for a particular question, it’s easy to get off topic. Many executive resume services will suggest writing down some of the most common questions you could be asked and creating a cheat sheet so you can be better prepared. It’s easy to ramble on for several minutes if you aren’t sure exactly how to answer a question, but you may be doing yourself more harm than good.
Talking About Yourself Instead of The Company
No one knows more about you than you do, but it doesn’t mean you should only talk about yourself. The company wants to learn about you, as well as what you bring to the table. The key to writing an effective resume is targeting the specific company and demonstrating your value. The same is true for a phone interview. If you talk solely about yourself, then the interviewer may struggle to find exactly what value you bring.
Not Asking Questions
You have to be able to identify the right time to ask questions during a phone interview. Most of the time, it’s best to let the interviewer ask all of their questions. They will typically then ask you if you have any questions for them. If you don’t ask any, then they’ll think you aren’t interested in the job and may not consider you to be a serious candidate. Make a list of some specific and targeted questions to ask beforehand and you’ll be viewed as more of a credible candidate.
Professional Resume Services provides various executive resume services to help people with their job search, including writing an effective resume, boosting personal branding and much more. Phone interviews are becoming more popular today than ever before, so it’s important to be prepared for them. To learn more about what to do and what not to do in a phone interview, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at any time for assistance or advice.
When you think about personal branding for senior level managers, it’s only natural to think about your own career and how it benefits you. However, the company you work for also plays a large role in your own branding and vice versa. An important and overlooked factor in c-level personal branding is exactly how it impacts your current or potential employers. The strongest companies today have the best leaders at the top whose brands align with the company mission and values. Here are a few ways executive branding can benefit your employers.
Boost Your Company’s Brand Recognition
Associating a person with a company is becoming more common nowadays. Consumers want to be able to relate and engage with a brand. So when you have established a solid brand for yourself, the company you work for will benefit from it as well by having a cohesive brand recognition. An interesting concept is when an executive leaves one company for another, and how the move impacts both companies. Most of the time the actual person isn’t affected much, but consumers have a decision to make whether to follow a person or to be loyal to a company.
Create Trust For Everyone
Trust is essential to boost your c-level personal branding. There’s no surefire way to damage your company’s reputation than by being seen as an untrustworthy person. On the other hand, when a company has a reputation of trustworthiness, and your brand is aligned with those values, everyone as a whole will benefit. Authenticity is essential in today’s business world, since consumers can identify a fraud from a mile away. The more people who believe what you say, the more trustworthy you and your company will be.
Expand Reach Through Connectedness
One way to boost personal branding for senior level managers is by being engaged with your LinkedIn profile. Connecting with others online is a great way to increase brand recognition, trust and expand your company’s reach. Simply being active on social media in engaging ways will naturally improve your brand. Just be careful with everything you put on the Internet, since one misstep can damage the brand you’ve worked so hard to build.
Professional Resume Services is here to help executives with their c-level personal branding. Whether it’s by optimizing your LinkedIn profile or creating a stellar resume for a networking event, we are here for you when you need us. To learn more about executive branding and how it can benefit you and your company, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
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.
Executives who haven’t had to update their resume in a while have more questions than answers when it comes to formatting it. The best executive resume formats change year-after-year, so it’s impossible to know how to craft one if you haven’t had to go on a job search in a while. Some of the same practices and concepts may still apply, but there are certain aspects you need to be aware of as well. Many executives find value in using a professional resume writing service to ensure they are up-to-date on the latest resume trends. Here are some tips to consider regarding resume format and length.
Save Different Versions of Your Resume
With technology today, you never know if a recruiter is going to look at your resume on their desktop computer or a mobile device. It’s important to have your resume formatted for easy reading on any device. It’s your choice whether your final version is in Word or PDF format, but it’s not a bad idea to have a copy of both. A professional resume writing service can help you make it clean and concise and compatible for viewing on all devices. Some experts suggest sending your resume as both a Word and PDF document, just in case the company uses an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).
Utilize White Space Without Adding Length
Length is always a question when writing resumes that get you hired. Executives have a little more flexibility than others, since most have an extensive list of experience. However, even though you may have a dozen pages worth of experience, it doesn’t mean your resume should be a dozen pages. Try to narrow it down to a couple of pages if possible, while still including white space. No one wants to read a resume with blocks of text and very little white space. A professional resume writing service can help you combine certain points to make your resume more concise and still have enough white space to make it easy on the eyes.
Clean and Concise Resumes Are Always Best
There is no standard when it comes to the best executive resume format. However, the one thing to always remember is to make yours as clean and concise as possible. A recruiter wants to pick up a resume and glance at it and do a quick overview before reading it in depth. If they have a hard time picking out key points because of big blocks or paragraphs of endless text, there’s a decent chance it will get tossed to the side without further consideration. Stick to a couple pages, include enough white space with a clean format and you’ll improve the chances of getting noticed.
Professional Resume Services stays up-to-date on the latest trends when it comes to writing resumes that get you hired. Every person is different since we all have different levels and quantities of experience. As a result, we will work with you from scratch or we can help you tweak your existing resume to make it optimal. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need assistance with any component of your resume.
