With the digital age we live in today, it’s easy to think platforms like LinkedIn have completely diminished the importance of a traditional resume. While there are plenty of benefits to having a great LinkedIn profile, it was not created to replace your resume. There are actually more differences between the two than similarities, although they can be used in the same ways at times. Here are the main similarities and differences between the two to keep in mind.
How Are Your Resume and LinkedIn Profile Similar?
When you write resumes that get you hired, you’re going to put your past jobs, skills, experiences, projects and accomplishments on it. These are facts you should also put on your LinkedIn profile, even though they will be displayed a little differently. You also want to focus on your value with both LinkedIn and your resume, along with incorporating the right keywords to make them both stand out.
How Are They Different?
The best executive resume writers will tell you to have multiple versions of your resume for different positions you apply for. However, having multiple LinkedIn profiles can just lead to confusion. Your LinkedIn profile should be more general, while your resume is more specific.
The tone used is also a key difference. When writing resumes that get you hired, you need to use a formal tone. LinkedIn is best for more of a social or conversational tone. Also, your resume should be brief, while your LinkedIn profile can expand on points a little more. In a way, your LinkedIn should provide more context and stories behind your factual points, which should not be included on a resume.
Both Are Useful and Effective
Your resume and LinkedIn can’t replace one another, but they can be used effectively in conjunction with each other. Many recruiters will look at your LinkedIn after reading through your resume, so simply duplicating the information is not what you should do. LinkedIn is designed to provide a bigger picture of your accomplishments, show your personality and show off all of your achievements. Today, both are needed and can be extremely valuable when used most effectively together.
Professional Resume Services has a team of the best executive resume writers to help you with your job search. We know how to maximize your resume and LinkedIn so they can work together most effectively and present your experience in the best way possible. Utilizing your resume and LinkedIn effectively can be tricky, so feel free to contact us at any time to see how we can help you separate the two, while still making them both work to your advantage.
Some business executives are naturally outgoing and personable while others have to force themselves to at least appear comfortable when networking. Networking is a big part of a career as an executive, so being reluctant or hesitant to take part in different networking events can be a problem. You may be able to write the best resumes and cover letters, but if you don’t put your name out there, the chances of them getting into the right hands decrease significantly. Here are a few tips to consider to break out of your fear of networking.
Always Make Eye Contact
Simply making eye contact with another person shows you have confidence. And if you don’t have confidence just yet, make eye contact anyway. Faking your confidence over a period of time will eventually lead to you actually getting more confident. Look the other person in the eye when you’re talking about your executive profile and you’ll make a better impression.
Observe Body Language and Be Approachable
Standing in the corner of a room with your arms crossed isn’t a good way to appear approachable. Look around and see what other people are doing. If you see someone handing out resumes and cover letters, approach them and do the same. A smile and a handshake are two of the easiest ways to be approachable, and neither require much effort.
Be Interested in Other People
You don’t want to force your way into conversations, but show your interest in other people any chance you get. Most executives like to talk about themselves and their achievements, so let them do the talking. The more you ask them questions, the more they will answer you and will have a stronger connection with you.
Don’t Forget Your Business Card
Business cards are great icebreakers if you can’t build up the courage to start an initial conversation. Almost everyone has a business card today and are always willing to trade them. Many people think they have to give another person their entire executive profile in order to start a conversation, but simply talking about the company you work for is enough to break the ice sometimes.
Professional Resume Services is one of the top rated resume writing services, whether you need a full resume drafted or just need to touch up your executive profile. We understand the importance of networking, and will tailor resumes and cover letters to fit the needs of your particular situation. If you need assistance with any part of an executive job search, or need networking tips, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
Simply listing out your career accomplishments and highlighting your experiences on an executive resume isn’t enough to get recognized today. In a way, writing resumes that get you hired is all about how you display the information and what keywords you use, no matter how experienced you actually are.
You generally only have about six seconds to impress a recruiter with your resume. And that’s assuming you’ve already passed the automated trackers using the right keywords to even get your resume in the hands of the recruiter. Here are some insider tips about executive resume writing you may find useful.
Unused Keywords and Basic Formatting Issues Can Hurt You
One of the keys to writing resumes that get you hired is using the right keywords throughout the resume. The best way to find these keywords is to look directly at the job description or the list of requirements from the job posting. Identify certain keywords from those places and use them early and often in your resume.
Another aspect that can make or break you is not using the best executive resume format. Use should use bullet points, bold text and indentations to your advantage to make the resume look clean. No one likes to spend a lot of time reading a resume, so the fewer words you can use to get your accomplishments highlighted, the better off you’ll be.
Many Companies Use an Applicant Tracking System
The main reason why keywords are so important today is many companies use an applicant tracking system to filter through resumes. Any given job posting could generate thousands of applicants. The only way a recruiter can narrow them down efficiently is to use technology to identify certain keywords. If your resume doesn’t have the keywords they are looking for, it won’t even make the cut to be looked at by human eyes.
Professional Writing and Feedback is Critical
Receiving objective feedback is important when writing resumes that get you hired. You can get feedback from family, friends, colleagues or even professional executive resume writers. A professional resume writing service can look at a job description, identify the keywords and incorporate them into your resume to optimize it as much as possible.
Professional Resume Services is here to help executives by providing services from some of the top professional executive resume writers. Whether you need to start from scratch with your executive resume, or if you only need a final proofread, we are here to help you. Feel free to contact us at any time for more insight into executive resume writing and how we can help you.
Making a mistake in your executive resume can be detrimental to your success in landing your next job. Even if you use the best executive resume format imaginable, a typographical errors shows you could lack attention to detail, which is an important characteristic of any executive.
Proofreading your executive resume is essential, but proofreading it the right way is even more important. When you’re working on your resume for several hours, it’s easy to overlook a mistake. Here are some of the top ways you should proofread your resume.
Proofread Out Loud
When you read your resume out loud to yourself or to someone else, you’ll be able to identify some obvious issues. Whether the issues revolve around the overall flow of your resume or a word that simply doesn’t make sense, sometimes reading it out loud will help identify problems you overlook when reading it silently.
Don’t Skip Sections
The key to writing resumes that get you hired is to treat every section of your resume with equal importance. If you have a references section, proofread the phone numbers or other contact information. It’s easy to skip sections like this, but it will look unprofessional if your potential employer calls a wrong number when trying to reach your reference.
Have a Peer Review Your Resume
Your peers can play a big role in your effort to create resumes that get you hired. Ask a friend or family member you trust to look over your executive resume in detail. When you’ve looked at your resume for several hours over the course of a few days, sometimes it’s easy to overlook minor details. Having a peer review your resume can help identify these minor issues to clean up your resume overall.
Hire a Professional Resume Service
Hiring a quality professional resume writing service to proofread your resume should be your last step before finalizing your resume. But just because it’s the last step doesn’t mean it should be skipped. With the highly competitive job market today, having a professional proofread your resume can ensure it is in the best shape possible for improving your chances of getting an interview.
At Professional Resume Services, we can help executives not only write their resumes, but proofread them and provide constructive criticism and suggestions to make it better. If you are pleased with your resume, but want another set of experienced eyes to review it, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
With the world of automation today, it can be virtually impossible to get your executive resume into human hands if you only submit it online through job boards. It may be much easier and convenient to send in your resume online, but there’s no guarantee it will ever been seen. Recruiters will scan resumes for certain keywords and keyphrases using technology in order to eliminate as many as possible. If yours isn’t formatted perfectly, or if you don’t use the right words, it will be quickly brushed off.
So how can you write resumes that get you hired, but have a better chance of getting them into human hands? Here are a few tips to consider.
Optimize Your Keywords
Keywords are the most essential component of any effective resume. Any executive resume writer will look at your skills, qualifications and accomplishments and simply reword them to use appropriate keywords for your industry. This is the best chance you have at getting your executive resume through the automated keyword filter.
Look For Connections
Sometimes the best way to get your resume into human hands is to bypass technology completely. When you make connections with people in your industry, you may not even have to send in a resume online. You still have to focus on writing an effective resume, so don’t think your connection will guarantee you an interview. It’s just one of the best ways to get around the initial resume submission stage.
Be Short and Concise
No one wants to read a long resume. You have an average of six seconds to impress a recruiter or HR manager. The first thing an executive resume writer should do is look how to tighten up sentences and sections. Try to keep your resume to two pages or less, but the shorter the better.
Choose Your Approach Carefully
Whether you choose to submit your resume online or in person, following up with the company is important to know where you stand. Sometimes your resume is filtered out right away because of keywords, but sometimes it could have been lost in the shuffle. Without checking in periodically, you may never know. Just be careful not to follow-up too much to the point where you look desperate.
Professional Resume Services helps executives with writing an effective resume every day. Our skilled professionals know the tricks to getting resumes into human hands, so if you are struggling with the process or need assistance in any way with your job search, feel free to contact us at any time.
With the widely known importance of writing an effective resume, more companies are popping up claiming they write the best ones. Choosing an executive resume service is a big decision relating to your executive career. It’s easy for these services to claim to be the #1 service, but how do you really know they aren’t just using a standard template and switching things around to make yours look unique?
There are plenty of ways to distinguish a legitimate executive resume writing service from a fraud. Here are some things to consider when you’re looking for one.
Make Sure They Are Experts In Your Industry
If the resume service doesn’t indicate specific industries they have experience in, then you may need to look elsewhere. Resumes have to be very specific and specialized. If they aren’t, recruiters will see right through them.
Ask For Credentials or Certifications
When you contact an executive resume service, the writer should be able to provide you with one or more certifications. Those certifications could include:
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- Certified Expert Resume Writer (CERW)
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- Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)
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- Certified Master Resume Writer (CMRW)
- Certified Executive Resume Master (CERM)
While these aren’t the only certifications and credentials available, your resume writer should be able to show proof of at least one of them.
Check Out Any Samples
Any executive resume service should have an abundance of samples to provide you. Sometimes the key to writing a professional resume is incorporating different ideas from other resumes into your own. This is a good practice for writing your own resume, but the best resume writing services will treat you as a unique individual instead of just another resume. Samples should be available, but only for your own benefit.
Talk to An Actual Resume Writer
It’s always important to call an executive professional resume service prior to hiring them. If you talk to a sales person who only offers you their different services instead of learning about you, then you need to look elsewhere. A good company will ask you insightful questions about your career, accomplishments and achievements to get a complete understanding of your background. This could be in the form of an online survey, a phone interview, an in-person interview or a combination of these. The more questions they ask you, the better you should feel about their service.
At Professional Resume Services, we take the time to get to know the backgrounds of each of our executives. We can’t write your executive bio unless we know your complete career history, accomplishments and aspirations, so gathering as much information as possible before getting started is key. Feel free to contact us to learn more about our services and how we can be the right executive resume service for you.
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.
Anyone who has worked as a recruiter or hiring manager knows the difficulties in sorting through executive resumes. And as an executive, you may quickly realize you possess very similar skills as your competition when searching for a new job. Highlighting your best skills and attributes will help set your resume apart from the others. When you combine your tangible skills with writing an effective resume, you’ll have a better chance of distinguishing yourself. Here are some of the most optimal skills that look great on an executive profile.
Critical Decision-Making
Being able to make highly critical decisions with limited time and information is extremely valuable. Quick and thoughtful decision making shows you are very aware of any given situation and aren’t just making a random decision just because you have to. You’ve thought through and anticipated certain decisions that may have to be made, so you’re always prepared. This is a key skill for executives in any industry.
Multitasking
There’s a difference between multitasking and doing busy work. Multitasking means you can get multiple jobs done at the same time in order to be more efficient and move business forward. Be sure to explain situations where you had to multitask to meet a strict deadline in your executive profile. Every executive has to multitask at some point, but the best ones will create positive results out of it.
Team-Building
One of the best things you can put in your executive bio is your team-building experience. Every company wants to hire a team player, whether it’s a lower-level employee or a high-ranking executive. Many executives like to stay tucked away in their office and not talk to others. So if you are actively building stronger teams for your organization, then you’ll stand out.
Strategic Thinking
Strategic thinking just means you think about the past, present and future in any decision you make. You’re also willing to take some risks if the potential reward is high. It’s difficult to display strategic thinking in an executive profile, but it’s a great skill to demonstrate when you have an interview.
Professional Resume Services has seen thousands of executive resumes, so we know which ones stand out. The key to writing an effective resume is making yours stand out somehow. If you’re struggling with the concept, but have plenty of unique skills, feel free to reach out to us at any time for assistance.
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. 