Writing your executive resume

Executive ResumesJob Search


Writing an executive resume has become an extremely complex art. Executive resumes generally are far more detailed than regular resumes. To compete for the high paying, high powered positions, you need to create a resume that doesn’t just inform, but excites, entices and extends the invitation to learn more about your skills, competencies and all the right reasons why you should be the next CEO, CFO or President.
Begin by remembering that very few of the executives in charge of hiring will actually read your resume in full. These days, with the high level of competition and well qualified applicants, even executive resumes need a special polish to attract those hiring. The idea is that this will lead you to the interview, where your other skills will then be examined. To get that interview, your resume needs to be sharp, direct, and catch the eyes of those in charge early.
You want to come across as a well-rounded, exceptionally professional and highly skilled applicant who is the best choice for the job. Don’t be afraid to outline all the skills and experiences that make you so desirable. Still, keep the summary brief, concise and up front, but allow for more details of some of the more important skills and experiences that will prove you are the best.
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of your executive resume is establishing your value. Since the corporation or company will be paying you top dollar, you need to prove that you are of the greatest worth and unique attributes that are rare and can only be found in you (sell yourself!). Your specific talents for solving complex problems can be outlined, but describing the challenges you faced and the actions you took to solve the problems as well as the results of those actions will convey your worth in clear and undeniable ways.
Your focus needs to very targeted and clear. As an executive–a leader— you need to show the reader what you’ve done and what you can do for them. I have my clients get very detailed and accomplishment-focused. It may take some time to gather all the facts of what you’ve done, but it is ‘homework’ worth doing.  Nothing says, ‘I’m hesitant about my skills’ like a vague, unfocused resume.  These kinds of details will show them you didn’t just step off the truck, but that in fact you have been building your skills all along. Examine all your experiences carefully and pick the ones that best show the timeline of how you learned what you learned that will make you the best choice for this job.
Be very thoughtful about what personal information you include. While board memberships and professional associations might be relevant, certain religious or free time activities might not be pertinent (i.e. less is more). Some personal information can be used as an ice breaker (rock climbing as a hobby?), but be aware that some personal information may work against you and be used to screen you out of the running.

How can a Resume Writing Service help you?

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In the current economic downturn, more and more Americans are joining in the hunt for jobs. Positions that once received ninety resumes are now seeing applications in the hundreds.
Industry standards that once applied to resumes are now doubly, even triply true. You’d heard that employers skimmed through resumes before? You can only imagine how quickly they toss through the pile now.
With your resume as a single sheet in that huge stack of paper, creating a pertinent, easy to skim document is more important than ever. So more and more people are taking steps like hiring a professional resume writer to aid them in their job search.
Some people question the ethics of enlisting this type of aid, implying that you cannot present yourself in a genuine manner with the use of such a service, or that the need for help is a manufactured need, or even that the type of help provided leads to a non-accurate representation of one’s skills.
However, these statements seem to stem from a misunderstanding of what it is that the professional resume writer does.
To start with, what is a resume, exactly? It’s a marketing tool that advertises your skills and experience.
In your business, is it unethical to hire a marketing firm in order to sell your product? Probably not. It’s only logical to hire experts to help you in areas where their expertise is needed to improve sales.
A proper resume writer won’t represent you in a way that is not genuine. It is against our code of ethics, and would damage our reputations as professionals.
Let’s face it, in a consulting-type business, your reputation is really all you have. Not to mention that representing clients inaccurately would cause real problems for them, once uncovered.
What does a resume writer do? We take information, that you supply, of your past jobs and accomplishments, your education and experiences, your old resumes and supporting documents, job positions you are interested in and anything else you think we will need for resume preparation — and present you with a new document, tailored to the type of job that you’re pursuing while showcasing your strengths and promoting your value.
We have industry knowledge of certain words that will catch the boss’s attention in your line of business, and they know how HR filters documents. For one thing, did you know that these days, resumes are often scanned by computer for certain keywords?
Let’s be honest, the first thing we all do when faced with a huge stack of paper that we have to weed down to just a few sheets, is to get rid of as much as possible, as easily as possible. So, the first scan, whether by computer or an individual is for weeding out the chaff.
Industry hiring experts know what keywords are typically used in the computerized process and can ensure that your resume includes them. We also excel at aiding people in camouflaging gaps in history.
We are resume experts, and we know how to make yours clear and readable — after all, if those two attributes aren’t met, the rest falls by the wayside.

lying on a resumeIn 2007, Marilee Jones, called the “most celebrated Admissions Dean in America” resigned from MIT — the reason? A lie on her 1979 job application, fabricating several degrees.

In 2006, David Edmondson stepped down as Radio Shack’s CEO, after he was caught lying about his academic record —again, claiming degrees that he didn’t earn.

Lying on one’s resume can provide rewards unless one is caught, and then the fall-out can be enormous.

Due, perhaps, to the recent rise in applicant lines, more applicants are being caught lying. Experts estimate that as the economy continues to plummet, the numbers of those lying on job applications will increase. Various sources state that between one-third and one-half of all job applicants lie on their applications, even though in some states, it’s illegal.

And, moreover, the employer of a person caught lying on her or her application can potentially sue the person for losses and expenses incurred.

Just ask Richard Clark about his employment at Coopers Lybrand consulting agency in Canada. He lost his employers several clients when they found out he didn’t have any of his three claimed degrees. He paid for his mistake in cash!

According to a study done by Careerbuilder.com, almost all managers who catch a potential hire lying on his resume will automatically cross him off their list of applicants. Nearly half will automatically dismiss him even after he is hired, should such a lie come to light.

And the potential ramifications are even greater than that — once fired for lying on your resume, do you list that job on your resume and have your new boss call and find out the truth, or do you leave it off and just keep lying, hoping that you’re not caught again? It’s a vicious cycle.

More and more managers are doing background checks on employees, so common lies, like claiming a degree that you didn’t earn or inflating your previous title, are more likely to get caught. Another common lie, changing dates to hide gaps in employment, is especially easy to catch.

And the lies aren’t just from the little people. Executives and other high profile personalities are getting caught, too. Laura Callahan lost her senior position in the Department of Homeland Security when her diploma was shown to be a fake in 2004. Experts state that lies about education are often early resume lies that are carried on throughout a career.

In fact, resume-padding has become so popular, not only are there sites dedicated to resume lies, but there are also entities referred to as “degree mills” and “diploma mills” to further aid pretenders in their goals.

So-called “diploma mills” fabricate degrees from real colleges, while “degree mills” refer to colleges that are not accredited (though they may claim to be) and require either no, or substandard, work.

Even a small exaggeration, such as stating that one has already earned a degree that is still a few months away, can be grounds for automatic dismissal. Is it really worth the risk?

Practice Uncommon Appreciation

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Editor’s Note: I love anything written by Jack Canfield. He inspires millions with his “Success Principles” and “Dream Big Collection” (which I personally own and attribute to my own successes). I love this article because it is so basic and yet so many people still don’t get it. I know that I always found myself working harder for the boss who thanked me, or occasionally acknowledged my extra efforts. It only takes a second, but a simple ‘thank you’ can impact someone’s life forever.
That being said, I figured rather than refer to almost every area of the article in a separate post, I would add the entire thing here.  Enjoy– and thank someone today.
Practice Uncommon Appreciation
by Jack Canfield
A recent management study revealed that 46% of employees leaving a company do so because they feel unappreciated; 61% said their bosses don’t place much importance on them as people; and 88% said they don’t receive acknowledgement for the work they do.
Whether you are an entrepreneur, manager, teacher, parent, coach or simply a friend, if you want to be successful with other people, you must master the art of appreciation.
I’ve never known anyone to complain about receiving too much positive feedback. Have you? In fact, just the opposite is true.
Consider this: Every year, a management consulting firm conducts a survey with 200 companies on the subject on what motivates employees. When given a list of 10 possible things that would most motivate them, the employee always list appreciation as the number-one motivator.
Managers and supervisors ranked appreciation number eight. This is a major mismatch, as the chart below so clearly shows.

10 Ways to Really Motivate an Employee
Employees

  • Appreciation
  • Feeling  “in” on things
  • Understanding attitude
  • Job security
  • Good wages
  • Interesting work
  • Promotional opportunities
  • Loyalty from management
  • Good working conditions
  • Tactful discipline
 Supervisors

  • Good Wages
  • Job Security
  • Promotional Opportunities
  • Good working conditions
  • Interesting work
  • Loyalty from management
  • Tactful discipline
  • Appreciation
  • Understanding attitude
  • Feeling “in” on things

Notice that the top three motivators for employees don’t cost anything, just a few moments of time, respect and understanding.
Keeping Score
When I first learned about the power of appreciation, it made total sense to me. However, it was still something that I forgot to do. I hadn’t yet turned it into a habit.
A valuable technique that I employed to help me lock in this new habit was to carry a 3” x 5” card in my pocket all day, and every time I acknowledged and appreciated someone, I would place a check mark on the card. I would not allow myself to go to bed until I had appreciated 10 people. If it was late in the evening and I didn’t have 10 check marks, I would appreciate my wife and children, I would send an e-mails to several of my staff, or I would write a letter to my mother or stepfather.
I did whatever it took until it became an unconscious habit. I did this every single day for 6 months—until I no longer needed the card to remind me.
Appreciation as a Secret of Success
Another important reason for being in a state of appreciation as often as possible is that when you are in such a state, you are in one of the highest emotional states possible.
When you are in a state of appreciation and gratitude, you are in a state of abundance. You are appreciating what you do have instead of focusing on, and complaining about, what you don’t have. Your focus is on what you have received… and you always get more of what you focus on.
And because the law of attraction states that like attracts like, the more you are in a state of gratitude, the more you will attract, and even more to be grateful for. It becomes an upward-spiraling process of ever-increasing abundance that just keeps getting better and better.
Think about it. The more grateful people are for the gifts we give them, the more inclined we are to give them more gifts. Their gratitude and appreciation reinforces our giving. The same principle holds true on a universal and spiritual level as it does on an interpersonal level.
I challenge you to discover ways to immediately appreciate someone in your life, starting today!
For more tips and suggestions on how you, too, can find ways to appreciate those in your life, read Principle 53 in The Success Principles.

© 2009 Jack Canfield

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Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Blog Review… What Would Dad Say?

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I read a lot of blogs. A lot. I want to read even more, but it gets overwhelming when I see my Google Reader overflowing with unread blog posts. So, I got to thinking that if I did it for “research” it would actually be job related. Yes, I am justifying my blog reading addiction. But who cares.
I’m not a professional reviewer obviously, so I am just going to give my thoughts on the blog and how it helped me, or how it might help you. Some will be career-related and some not, because let’s face it, not every thing I read is career-related. Gasp!
You never know… my next review might be YOUR BLOG!
So, without further ado, I give you….
What Would Dad Say? by GL Hoffman        
What Would Dad Say was one of the first blogs I became addicted to when I was in my fast and furious ‘I love reading blogs’ mode. I still remember the first post I stumbled upon of his about Megan Joy, the American Idol contestant covered in tattoos.
It’s author, GL Hoffman, is the Chairman of  JobDig, a career search and employment guide. He also created and launched the incredibly successful LinkUp, a job search engine that search’s jobs from almost 22,000 company websites!
But it wasn’t only the useful sites to offer clients that interested me, but GL himself. As a veteran career expert, entrepreneur, and speaker, he offers a humorous take on all things career. The first sentence of his vision statement on his blog says it all, “I am having fun here…”. GL’s blog always promises a chuckle, some sarcasm, and a breath of fresh air.
He creates these pie chart funnies he calls, “Gruzzles” (graphs + puzzles) which have recently been featured in Fast Company. I love these. I don’t know any other way to explain them except to just go to this link and see for yourself. Clever and witty, they offer a break from the monotony of daily activities while giving you something to think about.
GL is quick to reply to your comments on his blog and knows how to keep a conversation going. BTW, his guest bloggers are interesting, too.
So, take time out of your hectic day to read GL’s blog or chuckle at his Gruzzles. You’ll be glad you did.

4people-jumpingHave you ever worked with someone who just seemed to have everything go her way? Her projects are successful; she gets one promotion after the other, and she’s just plain happy. So, why is she so successful?
Turns out being happy not only feels good but can also be an important part to achieving job success.

In an article from “Psychology Today” Sonja Lyubomirsky, a social psychologist at the University of California, Riverside writes the following:

“The most persuasive data regarding the effects of happiness on positive work outcomes come from longitudinal studies – that is, investigations that track the same participants over a long period of time. These studies are great. For example, people who report that they are happy at age 18 achieve greater financial independence, higher occupational attainment and greater work autonomy by age 26. Furthermore, the happier a person is, the more likely she will get a job offer, keep her job, and get a new job if she ever loses it. Finally, one fascinating study showed that people who express more positive emotions on the job receive more favorable evaluations from their supervisors 3.5 years later.”
Wow, that’s great news if you’re a naturally happy person, but what if you find being happy a challenge? In Kathryn Britton’s article, Six Tips for Taking Positive Psychology to Work she sites a study by R. Emmons and M.E. McCullough that found that people who focused on increasing their feelings of gratitude are healthier and feel better about their lives. So how do we increase our level of gratitude? Britton offers these suggestions:

  1. Pay attention to good things, large and small. This often requires intentional thought because bad things are more salient to us than good things. For example, I have a friend in his 80’s with arthritis in his hands. He becomes aware of it whenever he knocks something over or has trouble picking something up. I suggested that whenever he finds himself saying, “My poor crippled hands,” that he follow it with “My magnificent legs that let me walk every day without cane or walker.” That does not mean ignoring the painful or disabled. It means balancing it with occasional thoughts of how lucky we are to have so many working parts! We have to work a little to give the positive thoughts space in our brains.
  2. Pay attention to bad things that are avoided. I recently tripped over a small stump and fell flat on my face during a practice hike to get ready for our trip to the mountains. When I picked myself up, I was very grateful to have only a deep bruise on my thigh, no broken bones. It will take a while for the gorgeous 8 inch bruise to go away, but I can still hike. Thank goodness!
  3. Practice downward comparisons. That means thinking about how things could be worse, or were worse, or are worse for someone else. I don’t particularly like the idea of making myself feel more grateful by thinking of others who are worse off than I am. But it doesn’t have to be interpersonal. You can use downward comparison by remembering your own times of adversity or being aware of adversity avoided. The poet, Robert Pollock, said it thus: “Sorrows remembered sweeten present joy.” Here’s a work example. I have two friends who recently moved into the same department in the same company. One is relieved and happy because the situation seems so much better than before. The other is dissatisfied because the teamwork characterizing the old job is no longer there. The first has an easy time with downward contrast. The second will have to work a little harder to find reasons to be grateful.
  4. Establish regular times to focus on being grateful. Gratitude is a character strength that can be enhanced with practice. So practice. Marty Seligman describes two exercises in Authentic Happiness, the Gratitude Visit and a form of keeping a gratitude journal.
  5. When facing a loss or a difficult task or situation, remind yourself to be grateful both for what you haven’t lost and for the strengths and opportunities that arise from facing difficulties. Negative moods are catching, but positive ones can be as well. The character, Pollyanna, helped other people see the benefits in their situations by teaching them the Glad Game. Sometimes, having someone else see what is good in your own life makes it visible to you.
  6. Elicit and reinforce gratitude in the people around you. Tennen and Affleck found that benefit-seeking and benefit-remembering are linked to psychological and physical health. Benefit finding involves choosing to focus on the positive aspects of the situation and avoiding the feeling of being a victim.

So now you know her secret. Sure she may be talented too, but she’s happy and that is her competitive edge. Find ways to increase your own happiness: focus on gratitude, celebrate little victories, look for the positive in every situation, what ever works for you and get ready to experience your own career success.

This was from a call I took yesterday. The conversation went something like this:

Caller: “Hi, um, my name is Bob.  I want to know about your resume service and when you can finish it. Because I need it soon.”
Me: “Hi Bob. Well, let’s skip to your most important question. How quickly do you need it?”
Bob: “I need it by tomorrow. I saw a job position I want to apply for at Johnson & Johnson and the position closes tomorrow.”
Me: “Oh! Tomorrow. Has the position been open a while or did you hear about it from someone?”
Bob: “I heard about it through a buddy of mine who works there. It’s for Regional Sales Management position– my dream job with my dream company. He told me about it awhile ago, but I didn’t really think about it much until last night when we met for a beer and he reminded me it was still open. But it closes tomorrow. He said to send my resume in to the HR person sometime in the morning.”
Me: “Well, it’s 4:30 in the afternoon and I leave my office in an hour and a half. I won’t be able to do it in that amount of time…”
We talked for a little bit more and Bob even emailed me his resume. It was pretty bad (think Microsoft Word’s basic resume template… lots of white space, left-aligned, bullet-ridden and worse, hadn’t been updated since 2001).
The thing that got me was that he had known about the position for a month, assumed he’d have time to fix up his resume, then consequently forgot about the position, and was now in an all-out panic. We’ve all done it with one thing or another–putting off something we really shouldn’t have, and then regretting it later.
I felt bad for Bob because I knew his chances of getting the job with the old resume were slim to none. Worse, when he started talking about his experience and his excellent accomplishments I thought he would have probably had the chance. He said he was going to work on it himself and hope for the best.
So, the moral of the story is UPDATE YOUR RESUME TODAY. Don’t wait until your dream opportunity passes you by.

I read a lot of blogs. A lot. I want to read even more, but it gets overwhelming when I see my Google Reader overflowing with unread blog posts. So, I got to thinking that if I did it for “research” it would actually be job related. Yes, I am justifying my blog reading addiction. But who cares.
I’m not a professional reviewer obviously, so I am just going to give my thoughts on the blog and how it helped me, how it might help you, or just why I liked it. Some will be career related and some not, because let’s face it, not every thing I read is career related. Gasp!
You never know… my next review might be YOUR BLOG!
So, without further ado, I give you….

HealthcareITCentral.com by Gwen Darling

Gwen Darlingcphoto4
There are so many reasons why I love this blog. But first, a little background on the company and Gwen herself.
Having met and gotten to know Gwen through a mutual connection and eventually a collaboration,  I have watched HealthcareITCentral.com grow and expand its reach in just the short period of time that I’ve followed it.
Gwen is a matchmaker. Professional matchmaker that is. Her company successfully pairs the perfect candidate to the perfect company. HealthcareITCentral.com finds and offers job openings, places for candidates to upload their resumes, search engine to perform company research, networking, articles, and more. It is chock full of resources to help any Healthcare IT job seeker find what they need. What’s more, the other side of the website is for employers LOOKING for candidates. They are able to peruse the database to see who matches which position. Everything a Healthcare IT professional needs in one interesting site.
Gwen’s blog is housed under the Healthcare Informatics site, the #1 trade industry publication for the Healthcare Informatics industry. Her blog goes from delightfully funny, “When it comes to your Resume, are you a Flasher, a Streaker, or an All-Out Nudist?” or “I’m talking to you Mr. Pimp Daddy CIO” to thoughtful “What Job Seekers can learn from Farrah” . Her clever blend of useful information and feisty humor makes her blog an entertaining read and one of the top on the site. Job seekers outside of the Healthcare IT industry can benefit from her posts as well, as they do not all relate to the healthcare industry. Many of her posts are stories or things that she has encountered and we can all relate to (think “When limp becomes memorable”), and that shared connection is what keeps me coming back for more.
I look forward to every one of Gwen’s posts. Always insightful, never boring. If you want to read, laugh and learn, check out Gwen Darling’s blog. You won’t be disappointed.