Many executives sit down to write their resumes and cover letters thinking it will be simple. Resumes are generally about facts and statistics, but the cover letter takes a different approach. You have a little more freedom to show your personality in your executive resume cover letter, which can be good or bad. The important thing to remember is having a cookie cutter cover letter isn’t going to get you recognized. Here are some tips for making yours stand out.
Hook Your Reader
Any cover letter writing service will tell you the opening sentences will make or break your entire cover letter. In fact, if you don’t hook your reader right away, they may not even continue reading after the first few sentences. The most important thing is to stay on topic and explain why you are excited about potentially working for their company and why you believe you are a good fit.
Target The Company
One way to get the reader’s attention is by showing them you’ve done your research on the company. When writing an executive resume cover letter, targeting the company will make yours stand out over someone who just recycled theirs from a previous application. No matter if you give certain statistics or tell a quick story you learned about the company, the reader will be more interested when you talk about something they can relate to.
Demonstrate Confidence
Talk about the things you accomplished in your career with confidence. As an executive, you need to be assertive in your cover letter, even if it’s natural for you to be humble about your accomplishments. Your cover letter writing service will suggest backing up your claims with facts and evidence, though, so your confidence doesn’t appear to be just words on a page.
Always Be Honest
Anything you write in your executive resume cover letter could come up again later in an interview. If you’re honest in your cover letter, then you should have no problem answering those questions. However, any time you’re dishonest, most interviewers can see right through you and you’ll immediately be disqualified as an applicant.
Proofread Closely
Finally, proofreading a cover letter is something many people forget to do. It may take you a while and several visits to your cover letter writing service to make it perfect, but it’s always worth your time to proofread it closely. Many times an employer will seek out typographical or grammatical errors and throw out those resumes and cover letters right away. Professional Resume Services is here to help you craft the perfect cover letter to increase your chances of landing an interview. We will work with you to show just the right amount of confidence, give targeted information and present facts in a way that will hook the reader. If you ever need help with writing your cover letter, or if you just need another set of eyes to look at it, never hesitate to reach out to us at any time.
No matter how strong you think your resume is, there’s always room for improvement. Even the top rated resume writing services will write, proof and edit any given resume multiple times before it gets into the final form. Sometimes it only takes some minor tweaks, but other times a complete overhaul is necessary. In order to make your resume stand out, here are some secrets to strengthen it.
Utilize Keywords Properly
Potential employers look for keywords at the top of every resume. When you’re writing a professional resume, it’s important to use unique keywords that stand out, rather than using general ones used by every other applicant. Instead of saying you are a “team player,” write about a specific project in which you were a team leader and had to collaborate with others in your organization. The exact keywords can come from either the job description or the industry you work in, but the focus should be specific and unique.
Balance The Design of Your Resume
The best executive resume format will stand out, but not go overboard. The perfect balance incorporates white space and not having big blocks of text. Your goal is for your reader to glance quickly at the resume and notice something different about it. Even a two-second pause is enough time to get the reader to think about reading more. Bullet points are also critical components when writing a professional resume, and it’s easy to incorporate them when you have more than two sentences in any given section.
Control Where Your Reader’s Eyes Go
The top rated resume writing services you use will help you dictate what the reader actually looks at. The strongest resumes have two different parts to them, even though it’s just a single resume. Having a quick visual appeal when the reader glances at it is the first part. But then the content has to be interesting and relevant for the reader to continue reading – the second part. Using bold text, italics and underlining are easy ways to draw your reader’s attention to important points you want them to see. Without these small visual cues, the information you want them to see may get looked over without a second thought. Professional Resume Services is one of the top rated resume writing services for a reason. We are always looking for ways to improve the resumes of our clients, even if we created them from scratch to begin with. By incorporating these secrets into your resume, you’ll have a stronger and more engaging document for a potential employer to read. Feel free to contact us at any time for more tips on how to improve your executive resume.
Executives can work diligently and do extensive amounts of research to know what to put on a resume, only to struggle with landing a job. There’s a lot of contradictory information on the internet regarding the best executive resume format, the content that should be used in a resume, and more. When you can sort away the myths from the facts, you’ll be in a better position to have success in your job hunt. Here are a few of the most common myths you may have heard.
A Good Resume Guarantees A Job
There are no guarantees in life, and writing an effective resume won’t guarantee you a job either. In fact, many times a resume won’t even ensure you get your foot in the door for an interview, especially if sending out emails to people who don’t know you or haven’t heard of you. Numerous factors go into sorting through resumes for recruiters and hiring managers, so the only thing you can do is your best when writing a resume. However, it’s important not to get discouraged, because it could be factors other than your resume preventing you from landing an interview.
Include As Much Information As Possible on One Page
Another myth is your resume has to be limited to one page, so you should cram as much information as possible on it. The top resume writing services will tell you a two-page resume is perfectly acceptable and even better, especially if you have many years of experience and a significant list of accomplishments. The worst thing you can do is try to fit it all on one page. The best formats are easy to read and incorporate white space throughout the document, so avoid the temptation to stuff as many words as you can onto a single page.
You Can Never Overuse Action Verbs
Action verbs are important when writing an effective resume. What many people don’t realize is there is a difference between a weak action verb and a strong action verb related to resume writing. Weak action verbs include words like “managed,” “supervised,” and others. They are weak because everyone uses them. The overuse of these verbs make them less important, so it is entirely possible to make your resume sound boring when you incorporate them. Instead, focus on actual results rather than the process you went through to achieve the results.
Resumes Aren’t Too Important Anyway
There may come a time when you hear resumes simply aren’t important anymore. The old saying “it’s not what you know, but who you know” is true to an extent. However, no matter what your connection is with someone, a poorly written resume isn’t going to do you any favors. A quality resume may not land you a job on its own, but a bad one can definitely put you out of consideration quickly. Further, the human resource department will need to have a copy of your resume on file, so thinking you won’t need one won’t help you. Professional Resume Services knows about every myth there is regarding executive resumes. We are one of the top resume writing services because we focus on the facts and research exactly what employers want to see. If you have any questions about crafting your resume, or about a possible myth you may have heard, feel free to contact us at any time for advice.
You have a maximum of 30 seconds to impress someone who reads your LinkedIn profile summary. Many executives struggle with balancing the requirement of talking about yourself, while also explaining your impact on others. It’s challenging to do when you sit down and think about it, so sometimes it’s best to just start with LinkedIn profile development services for assistance. Being concise is key, since every single word matters in your profile summary. Here are the main things to keep in mind when developing yours.
Tell People Who You Are
Can you describe yourself in roughly 10 seconds? That’s about one or two sentences to explain who you are, what your identity is and what value you bring to the table. You don’t have to be a professional LinkedIn profile writer to put together these two sentences, but you do have to choose your words carefully. These first two sentences are critical, since people will generally choose to keep reading or leave your page depending on how intrigued they are.
Be Brief About What You Do
This is the part where you can get specific. Expand on your role within your company, your specialties, areas of expertise and a brief summary of what you do in a nutshell. Do your best to fit this information in three or four sentences to avoid getting too lengthy. If you choose to hire a LinkedIn profile writer, they will try to condense this section as much as possible, while still getting the point across.
Finish With A Bang
If you want to really know how to optimize your LinkedIn profile, it’s by finishing your profile summary with a bang. These last couple of sentences will be similar to your opening two sentences, but make them even stronger. Reiterate how your passion and expertise helps people succeed and how your success has translated into success for your company. Making the last sentence or two impactful will help make your profile summary memorable. Professional Resume Services understands the challenges of writing an effective LinkedIn profile summary. Our LinkedIn profile development services can help you develop the most impactful profile to aid in your networking and professional development efforts. To learn more about how to wow with your LinkedIn profile summary or about the many other services, feel free to contact us at any time.
Do you want to know a secret about resumes and cover letters? Employers sometimes put more emphasis on a cover letter than they do a resume, so not focusing on yours can significantly reduce your chances of landing a job. It’s easy to spend a lot of time crafting your resume and not focus on the other important aspects of a job application. An executive resume cover letter gives an HR manager a glimpse of who the person really is behind a resume, so it deserves some time and attention. Another good reason for a cover letter is that even though you hear that many recruiters don’t read them, there are also many recruiters that WON’T read your resume without a cover letter. Here are some other reasons why your cover letter is important.
Cover Letters Make You Stand Out
Standing out is difficult to do when you think about the hundreds of resumes an HR manager has to sift through for any given job post. Your cover letter gives you the chance to fill in any blanks left in your resume, such as employment gaps, transitions, achievements or anything else. Instead of being a supplement to your resume, your cover letter should be an extension of it to tell your complete career story to your potential employer.
Cover Letters Show Your True Self
When writing cover letters for resumes, you have the opportunity to show your personality. Companies want to hire someone with the right skills and experience, but also someone who will fit culturally. Writing in a natural tone will show your true self and help an employer decide if you would be a good fit with the team. If it doesn’t seem like you would fit in well, then you’ll save time by not going to an interview or getting hired only to find out you simply don’t get along with your co-workers.
Sell Yourself With Your Cover Letter
Finally, your executive resume cover letter gives you the chance to sell yourself. You have a blank page to say whatever you want to about yourself, so don’t hold anything back. Let the employer know what you can offer them, how you’re best suited for the position you’re applying for and what your short-term and long-term goals are. Keep it concise, but get your point across clearly with the goal of making the HR manager impressed enough to want to meet you in person. Professional Resume Services is here to help write resumes and cover letters for executives searching for a new job. We focus on all the details of a job search and know exactly what recruiters are looking for in a cover letter. To learn more about how we can help you enhance any aspect of your job search, feel free to contact us at any time.
Having a digital presence in today’s business world is invaluable. However, some people only focus on improving their digital brand, which is a big mistake. Business cards have been effective since the beginning of time, and it hasn’t changed. Technology has made certain things easier for executives, but there are also plenty of challenges if you solely rely on it. Focusing on writing an executive bio on your LinkedIn page is great, but you still need a business card for people to find you. Here are some important points to consider when it comes to business cards for executives.
Business Cards Are Still Respected
Whether you’re at a formal networking event, or you just happen to meet someone in passing, they may ask you for your business card. And if you don’t have one, your credibility is going to take a hit. Trading business cards is still expected for executives, so do yourself a favor and always have several handy. This practice is one of the most respected and expected methods of trading information, so you could be the talk of the event in a negative way if you don’t have a business card to offer.
Be Careful Going Completely Digital
When you learn how to optimize your LinkedIn profile, it can be easy to go completely digital in your networking efforts. The truth is other professionals want to have your information readily available at all times, rather than searching for you on LinkedIn. Even if you have your LinkedIn URL on your business card, it’s still more effective handing them a business card than just saying “look me up on LinkedIn for all the information you need.”
Accuracy Is Never A Question With A Business Card
If you verbally give someone your email address or phone number to write down, the chances of them transposing numbers or not spelling your name correctly increases. But when you have the information on a business card, accuracy is never a question. Similar to writing an executive bio, being clear and concise with the information displayed on your business card is invaluable and can improve your brand even more so than your LinkedIn profile. Professional Resume Services is an executive resume service dedicated to helping professionals with their resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles and even business cards. Whether you need help simply writing an executive bio or need to start drafting a resume from scratch, feel free to contact us at any time for assistance.
Reasons You May Want to Avoid Job Boards for Your Executive Job Search
Executive job boards have a purpose, but the chances of you landing your dream job from them are very low. Spending a significant amount of time on your executive profile is great, but the best way to display it isn’t necessarily on an online job board. Hundreds and thousands of jobs are posted on job boards every day. So when you look at the success rate of even landing an interview, you will quickly see your time and resources can be spent better elsewhere. Here are some of the top reasons why you should avoid job boards for your executive job search.
The Job May Already Be Filled
Sometimes HR managers forget to take down a job posting once the position has been filled. It’s natural to assume a job posting is active, but that’s simply not the case. If you’ve spent a lot of time on your executive profile, spending time searching and applying for non-existent jobs doesn’t make sense.
Job Descriptions Could Be Inaccurate
When a company posts a job opening on a job board, they sometimes use the same posting as they did previously, even if job duties have changed. As a result, you could take your resume to a professional resume writing service to optimize the keywords and language, but it won’t even matter. The best way to know the exact job description of a position is to actually speak to someone.
Your Executive Resume Could Be Lost
Any given executive job posting could get more than a hundred applicants. You may be the most qualified executive, but if your executive profile doesn’t have the exact keywords the company is looking for, you won’t even be considered. It’s much easier for your resume to get lost in the shuffle when you apply for a position on a job board. The better option is to hand your resume to a recruiter at a networking event.
Success Rate of Landing A Job is Low
When you look at the amount of applicants applying for any given position, you can clearly see your chances of getting the job is low. You have a better chance of getting a job if you spend the time on your LinkedIn profile development and connecting with HR managers or recruiters via the LinkedIn platform. Time is critical, so spending it wisely when searching for an executive job will benefit you in more than one way. Professional Resume Services can help you optimize your executive profile, no matter what avenue you choose to use for your job search. While executive job boards aren’t necessarily the best option, we will support you and help you as much as possible if you choose to use them. Feel free to contact us at any time if you need a professional resume writing service to help you land your next job.
“While not new, predictive analytics is an important factor in assessing a candidate’s fit and potential. What is new is its accelerating use in corporate America as a means to filter candidates in and out of consideration long before any personal assessment is made.” — Lou Adler
Lou Adler is a regular contributor to LinkedIn and has so much experience and authority in his perspective on the hiring process that it is worth taking the time to understand what he says about the way Big Brother is Now Determining Your Hirability. Today, a person seeking a position is filtered by all that is in their resume, and all that is in their online brand as well. There’s a list of characteristics that fit into a pattern; the pattern of the Achiever.
Here is what the “Achiever Pattern” that many companies look for consists of:
lower turnover with growing responsibility
quality of the years of experience rather than number of years
quickly being assigned (or volunteering) for important projects and/or teams
demonstrating same patterns of initiative & responsibility in every position
rehiring and being rehired by past co-workers
participation in expanding cross-functional teams
Why Are Certain Qualities Desirable?
If you look at the Achiever Pattern’s overall impression, you see someone who is willing and able to work within any setting and maximize the potential. They are good to work with, as evidenced by the fact they hire past co-workers and are hired by people who have worked with them in the past. There’s a pattern there of more than a self-centered trampling on the way to a shinier inflated ego — the achievement they consistently reach is an achievement that is good for everyone.
If you don’t have these qualities, you may be filtered out of the running before you ever get to the interview. It may be a good idea to carefully look at your resume and online presence and see how accurately they are portraying your own achievements. LinkedIn profile development has never been more important than it is today because it reveals a pattern that your next employer uses to predict your hirability.
Include As Much Information As Possible on One Page
You have a maximum of 30 seconds to impress someone who reads your LinkedIn profile summary. Many executives struggle with balancing the requirement of talking about yourself, while also explaining your impact on others. It’s challenging to do when you sit down and think about it, so sometimes it’s best to just start with 
