You’ve probably heard the phrase, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” That’s the key to landing the perfect executive job nowadays, in addition to flawless executive resume writing. With the amount of job boards online, newspapers and employment agencies, it’s nearly impossible to get recognized if you apply for a job through one of those avenues. Networking is the best way to find out about job openings and get your foot in the door. That’s why personal branding for senior level executives is critical for career growth. In fact, many companies won’t even post their job openings anywhere because of the vast amount of applications they receive. Here are some tips about how networking can be an effective way to land your next executive position.
Start With Who You Already Know
Make a list of all the people you know. This should include family, friends, colleagues and anyone you have come in contact with recently. Sit down and actually think about conversations you’ve had with those people. Your cousin may not work in the industry you’re interested in, but you might recall a discussion you had with him about a friend of his who is in the industry. LinkedIn is a great way to make connections through mutual friends. If you aren’t familiar with LinkedIn, it is worth your time to look into a LinkedIn profile service as soon as possible.
Strike Up Conversations
Whether you’re in a long line at the grocery store or waiting to be seated at a restaurant, start a conversation with the person next to you. Ask them what they do for a living. You never know, you may just be talking to your next boss! The point is you’ll never meet anyone who can help you get your dream executive job if you don’t talk to people. You don’t have to be outlandishly outgoing, but just making small talk could lead to something much larger.
Check Out Conferences and Events
LinkedIn and other social media outlets may not be the best way to find a job, but they are perfect for knowing what’s going on in the industry. A LinkedIn profile service can help you identify the ideal conferences and events to attend. Bring your resume or business cards to the event and hand them out to a few people. You definitely don’t want to be remembered as the person who talks to everyone, though. Instead, just meet a few people at each function you attend and see where it goes.
Just because you meet a perfect connection who could get you a job doesn’t mean it will happen overnight. Be careful when casting a wide net in your network, because you don’t want to be known as the person who’s fishing for any job. If you have any questions about how to network or the best ways to grow your network, feel free to get in touch with us for some tips!
Beware of These Myths About the Job Hunting Process!
The best executive resume writers help you avoid these myths.
As everyone knows, job hunting is a strenuous and arduous process. Everyone has their stories, and most people are good-natured enough to try to help other people in their position by spreading the word on what and what not to do. This has led to a tangled mass of information that continues to spread beyond control. Don’t believe the hype! Let us highlight what information you should disregard.
Be as Distinct as Possible
While you want to distinguish yourself from the competition, there’s a certain way to go about it. Being flashy is not the way to leave a great impression on your potential employers. If you’re considering doing something quirky to capture attention, such as making bold, sweeping statements about yourself and your abilities or changing your resume’s background from the standard white to hot pink, don’t do it! There’s a much better approach. Coach yourself on how to best prepare for meeting people you hope will employ you. Project an optimistic, collected demeanor and learn how to create the best executive resume biographies and you’ll go much farther!
Skills Are the Most Important Element to Getting Hired
This isn’t necessarily true! While employers want people with plenty of experience who know what they’re doing, there are some other traits employers seek out. They want to be sure you match up with the rest of the company in terms of personality, for one thing. You’ll have to fit in well with the company’s pre-existing culture. Skills can always be fleshed out later on during your career, but a highly skilled professional who disrupts the office environment cannot be helped much. You can always learn how to build up the way you market your skills by brushing up on your executive resume writing abilities.
The Salary Discussion Must Unfold In Person and Immediately
In this day and age, no. You have the option of describing how much you would like to earn on your application. However, you don’t want to do this right away. Say your salary is “negotiable” or something similar. This will give you some time to do your research and also shows you’re considerate of the company’s needs by putting them before your desire to get paid for your work. This will leave a favorable impression on hiring agents.
Send Out Applications to Multiple Locations at Once
If you simply apply to every job that’s hiring, you could easily be stuck with a position that doesn’t fit your skill level and/or industry. Instead, you want to look for jobs that cater to your experiences and skills. Once you’ve found jobs that do this, you can then rely on the best executive resume writers to help you create an appealing resume!
According to a famous study, employers spend an average of six seconds scanning a resume before deciding whether the candidate is worth calling for an interview. To put it mildly, that’s not a lot of time. With that in mind, the clear takeaway is you need to get the employer’s attention and fast. The question is, how? Here are a few tips in executive resume writing that will get you that call.
First Things First
Your cover letter is your chance to showcase your particular talents and set yourself apart. Rest assured, they do get read! Using an executive resume cover letter is the best way to get noticed right out of the gate.
Be Professional
While your friends may call you ‘Buttercup,’ your resume should not. Likewise, your email address should not be goofy or too casual. Avoid using photos as well. This professionalism will set the tone for the rest of your resume. Location matters as well: your employer wants to be sure you’re in the same area as the job. If you need help, take a look at a few executive profiles for direction.
Keep It Tidy
Be sure the structure of your executive resume cover letter is clean and neat. The columns should be aligned, and any bullet points should line up as well. A sloppy resume will indicate you are not taking this job search seriously, and likewise, the employer will not give you the consideration you deserve.
Dates Matter
The hiring manager of a company you apply to is going to make sure your past employment dates line up. In other words, they want to make sure you don’t have large gaps between jobs. That’s a huge red flag to any employer, indicating you might not be reliable.
Be Thorough
While it’s understandable you want to keep your executive profile to the point, you need to give enough details. Thoroughly explain your past positions and what responsibilities you held while in those jobs. Also, be sure to include your past achievements.
Are You Applying for the Right Job?
It’s understandable you may be applying for a position you’re overqualified for. You may be desperate for any job at all or find pickings are slim all around. However, a hiring manager knows you won’t stick around long, and thus, your resume goes to the bottom of the pile.
Attention to Detail
While it may seem obvious, many people forget to proofread. Make sure you don’t have any grammar or spelling mistakes. Even though everyone makes these type of mistakes now and again, this is another immediate disqualifier in the six-second test.
Follow these tips and you’ll have executive resume writing down in no time, ensuring your executive profile and resume pass the six-second test.
5 Ways You May Be Hurting Your Chances with Your Email Communication
Emails are also an important part of executive resume writing.
Email is an important part of professional communication, especially in this day and age where everything seems to depend upon the use of technology. However, a certain finesse comes with sending out emails in a professional context—which, for some, may be trickier to master. If you don’t know the decorum for sending out emails to potential employers, you could be missing out on a slew of amazing job opportunities. Here’s some advice from one of the top rated resume writing services on what to avoid while sending out professional emails to recruiters.
Don’t Assume There’s No One on the Other Side of the Screen
Some companies use automated services to handle their recruitment emails, but others still prefer the human touch. Because of this, you should never assume who you’re emailing. Try to get your foot in the door by sending out your application early, since many employers only read applications sent before a certain date. Also, don’t make employers jump through hoops to read your emails by creating extra work for them to see what you’re sending. This is a surefire way to get your application passed over entirely.
Don’t Forget to Think About Your Audience
Just like with the executive resume writing process, figuring out the identity of your audience will help you tailor your email in just the right way. Depending on who you’re emailing, you may or may not want to include certain tidbits of information, meaning this part of the emailing process is definitely worth some serious thought. The identity of your audience also determines the tone of your email. This makes all the difference when connecting with the person you’re contacting.
Don’t Ramble
You have only a small amount of time to introduce yourself. Make every word count and work in your favor. Only include relevant information that will cater to what a recruiter seeks in a new employee.
Don’t Delve Too Much Into Your Own History
An email is like an advertisement; it’s meant to sell you to an employer as the best available. The best way to do that is to provide brief but factual information about who you are and how you would be a fine asset for their company.
Don’t Neglect Your Subject Line
You won’t be the only one contacting a certain employer. Because of this, you’ll need to stand out all the more. You can do this by writing a subject line that’s different from the rest. For instance, instead of including the title of the position you’re seeking, try including a brief title highlighting your personal expertise.
Professional emails and executive resume writing fall along the same lines in terms of how they’re written. If either of them are poorly composed, you risk not getting the job you want. You can avoid this by learning how to write resumes and professional emails more efficiently or turning to the help of professional resume writing services to get some extra know-how.
Is Summer the Best Time for Your Executive Job Hunt?
Summer is a great time for executive resume writing.
The dog days of summer are here again, but for many, it’s not quite time to relax. If you’re looking for a new job, you may be wondering if summer is a good time to begin your job search. Of course, the best time to look for a job is when you need it, but can searching in the summer increase your chances or make it easier for you to land a new position? This season certainly has some benefits!
Longer Days
Summer’s long days mean more daylight hours for your job search. Once you’ve finished writing an effective resume, you still have to get out there and submit your resume, travel to job interviews and follow up with job leads. Luckily, the summer months give you plenty of daytime hours to do so, and the longer days allow you to be more productive, giving you more time to hone those resumes that get you hired before you start your summer job search.
Social Hour
Of all the seasons, summer is by far the most social. With pool parties, backyard BBQs and summer happy hours, you have plenty of opportunities to socialize. This is incredibly helpful because as you probably know, c-level job searches aren’t just about executive resume writing. They are about who you know, and the more socializing and networking you can do, the more doors you can open.
Summer Vacations
While you may be hard at work this summer looking for new career opportunities and writing resumes that get you hired, most of your office will probably be on vacation. How does that benefit you? Well, since it’s typical vacation season, it’s easier for you to use your vacation time to go on interviews, take time off to do some executive resume writing or go shopping for the perfect interview outfit. This is a great time to interview because you don’t have to explain your frequent need for time off because it’s a normal part of summertime.
If you’re looking to find an exciting new job opportunity, you may not be able to decide when your job hunt begins; however, if you’re fortunate enough to start your job search during the summer, you have several seasonal advantages working in your favor. The longer days, social events and opportunities to take off for your job search can help you land your new job more easily than those looking for work during the fall or winter.
Your executive resume should reflect why you’re making a career change.
Switching your career path can be a challenging time. There are a lot of difficult choices to be made, and after you’ve decided to leave your current field, you may be nervous about finding a new career with an executive resume that may not match the jobs you’re looking for. Reflecting your career change on your resume will help your new employers understand your switch and get a better sense of why you’re a good fit for your new career.
Updating Your Resume
When it comes to executive resume writing, it is important to show employers what skills you possess and how those skills would benefit their company. Even though your former career path may be different, it is likely you have many transferable skills that will still be relevant to your new job.
You can use your core qualifications to sell yourself in different ways, depending on the industry you’re trying to enter. The trick is to slant your current skills to be relevant for the job you’re seeking. Using the following steps, you can make your executive resume and cover letter for your resume work for a different industry.
Start Over
It is tempting to use your past resume and make some changes here and there. However, you’ll be much better off if you avoid the urge to take this easy route and start from scratch instead. After all, a new career means a new executive resume! With a new cover letter, as well as a new resume, you will be able to start slanting your skills toward your new field from the start, making it even more effective.
Express Interest
In all likelihood, your interest in your new field didn’t just happen overnight. You’ve probably been interested in the industry for years but were simply working in another. Use your new executive resume to tell your interviewers why you’re interested and what you know. This knowledge will help you seem interested, dedicated and ready for your change.
Highlight Skills
A traditional experience-based resume may not be enough for your career change. Instead of listing all the skills you have and have used in your previous job, you need to put all the focus into your transferable skills.
Stay Confident
Use your cover letter for your resume to really sell yourself. A lot of people become less confident when they change careers because there are plenty of people with more experience looking for the same jobs. Really hone in on your transferable skills, your accomplishments and your love for your new field in both your cover letter and resume.
Changing careers can be challenging, but with enough confidence, you can show potential employers why you deserve the opportunity to use your experience and knowledge to make a difference in your new field.
Bad resumes and cover letters are the quickest way to turn off an employer.
First impressions are lasting impressions. Unless potential employers are considering internal candidates, their first impressions of job candidates come from resumes and cover letters. Make a good first impression and improve your odds of moving to the next level in the hiring process. Fail to impress (or worse, succeed in making a bad impression) and you can say goodbye to a lucrative job opportunity that really would have been perfect for you.
The top mistake job seekers make is failing to even include cover letters for resumes. No recruiter wants to waste time on an applicant who can’t be bothered to complete this simple step. Read on to learn about the other common mistakes job seekers make on their resumes and cover letters.
Keyword Stuffing and Cramming in Too Much
Yes, you definitely want to use keywords that parrot the “must haves” HR is looking for in candidates for a specific position, but there’s an art to keyword use. If you overuse key buzzwords or use them in unnatural ways, it will be obvious you’re trying to pad your resume with certain keywords. Sure, your resume may pass the automated screening system, but it will likely turn off live recruiters.
Another common mistake recruiters hate? Use of tiny fonts and trying to load in as much information as possible. Any skilled executive resume writing professional will tell you it is far better to use fewer words but more effectively highlight your most important skill sets.
Making Careless Errors
It seems like a no-brainer, but a shocking percentage of cover letters and resumes include not only grammatical errors, but spelling errors that could easily be avoided by simply performing a quick spell check. Especially when you have your eye on an executive-level position, spelling errors are completely unacceptable. They tell potential employers you are careless and do not pay attention to details. Those are definitely not traits that will land you a job or even an interview.
Being Vague and General
Keep in mind recruiters may receive thousands of resumes. Winning resumes provide a quick punch list of your specific skills. Instead of stating on your resume you “worked with the marketing staff,” state you “led a team of six lower-level employees and boosted productivity 45 percent while reducing expenditures by $2.7 million.”
Not Selling Yourself
When you’re seeking a c-level or any other executive-level position, don’t risk missing out on the perfect, lucrative opportunity because your resume does not impress sufficiently to land an interview. Once you make it to the interview phase, you can sell yourself in great detail and show the hiring authorities why you are the right candidate. However, you can’t sell yourself in person if you don’t first sell yourself on paper with a resume and cover letter that stands out.
Writing a professional resume requires careful attention to detail.
When Scott Thompson was tapped to lead Yahoo! in May 2012, those who recruited him were sure his stellar resume and outstanding credentials made him the man to take the e-commerce giant to the next level. When Thompson resigned about six months later, those same people wished they had done their due diligence when it came to fact checking his resume. Thompson unquestionably wished he hadn’t padded it. If you’re in the hunt for a C-level job, there are four lessons you can learn from Thompson’s mistakes.
Always Be Truthful. Period.
In light of the Thompson scandal and many others like it, recruiters have gotten the message loud and clear. It’s not tough for an HR department to fact check and do a bit of research online to make sure a job-seeker’s credentials are factual. If you lie when writing a professional resume, you can expect to be exposed, thanks to employers’ abilities to conduct Google searches, check backgrounds and snoop on social media accounts.
Set Yourself Apart the Right Way
Lying on your resume is a clear no-no. So how are you supposed to compete and land that sweet corner office? The obvious answer is to hire an executive resume writing pro, intimately knowledgeable in c-level personal branding. He or she will be able to peruse your resume and intuitively know how to arrange the contents to highlight your real experience and exhibit to employers you are the right fit for the job. It’s not lying. It’s strategically drawing employers’ attention to the most relevant facts.
The Higher You Climb, The More Disastrous The Fall
It’s one thing for a recent college grad trying to lock in an entry-level position to pad his resume. It’s certainly not ethical, but it’s not likely to have ripple effects that could compromise the entire company. It will probably lead to the employee being dismissed, but it probably won’t land on the front page of the local newspaper or evening news. When you’re a high-level executive working for a well-known company and you are caught lying on your resume, that is big news! Good luck finding a c-level job with negative notoriety surrounding your reputation. Even the most outstanding c-level personal branding campaign can’t erase a badly tarnished reputation.
Pad Your Resume With Facts
If you have big ambitions but your resume falls flat, do something to change that. There are myriad resources to help you bulk it up with actual experience, relatively quickly. Take courses, sign up for webinars, volunteer, join professional organizations, find a mentor to give you guidance and ask him to be a reference. Once you’re armed with more credentials, hire an executive resume writing pro to shine the best light on your experiences.
If you’re ready to take your resume to the next level, contact us. We’ll help you put your best foot forward on paper, targeted toward the position you’ve got your eye on.
