Grammar, spelling and punctuation issues can bring your job search to a screeching halt before it even gets started. Still, too many executives overlook basic typographical errors that significantly hurt their chances of landing the job they desire. Whether it’s your LinkedIn profile, resumes and cover letters, emails or anything else, always take the time to proofread your work before any other eyes see it. Some recruiters and hiring managers may forgive a typo here and there, but you shouldn’t rely on it. Here are some tips for avoiding these mistakes and why it’s important to avoid them.
Proofread Everything Before Sending or Publishing
Never rely on the spell check program your word processing software has. Many important words can go undetected when misspelled, so it’s always important to give every document a thorough proofread before sending or publishing it. When you’ve looked at your resumes and cover letters for hours, it can sometimes be easy to overlook simple mistakes. Those simple mistakes could be costly and derail your job search.
Misspelled Words Can Hurt Your SEO
Not only will a hiring manager likely push your resume and cover letter to the side if they contain typographical issues, but you might also be undiscoverable online. Hiring managers rely on online searches to find the best candidates, so if important SEO terms are misspelled, they won’t find you. Everything from the headline of your LinkedIn profile to the list of achievements in your resume all factor into your SEO. One misspelled word can hurt you in different ways, so looking at everything with attentive eyes is worth the effort.
Have A Professional Read Your Documents
An executive resume service will easily catch simple typographical errors. However, what they also do to help is make sure your resumes and cover letters flow naturally, make sense to the reader and clearly demonstrate your brand and intentions. It’s entirely possible for you to have a resume free of grammatical and spelling issues, but still not help you because the language isn’t clear. This is where an executive resume service is beneficial to ensure your target organizations understand exactly who you are.
At Professional Resume Services, we don’t want simple mistakes getting in the way of your dream job. We are here to help you with any aspect of your job search, whether it’s creating a new resume from scratch or fine-tuning an existing one. Typographical errors aren’t a reflection of whom you are necessarily, but they can severely hurt your job search efforts. Feel free to reach out to us at any time to see how we can ensure this doesn’t happen.
You may not think your personal brand is important, but hiring managers and business professionals do. This means you have to understand c-level personal branding to communicate it and know how others perceive you professionally. If you think about it, c-level personal branding isn’t difficult if you are authentic in the way you speak and act around others. And doing so will help you easily demonstrate your value and differentiate what you have to offer compared to others in your industry. Here are some of the main benefits of understanding and communicating your personal brand.
You Come Across As Authentic
Understand your talents and your limitations and don’t say you’re an expert in something when you’re not. Authenticity is something highly valued by hiring managers and is usually easy to see. Being truthful and transparent are great personal attributes that can benefit you professionally as well, and will enhance your c-level personal branding efforts tremendously.
Understand Your Strengths and Weaknesses
No one is an expert at everything, so avoid trying to make yourself seem like you know everything. Focus on your strengths and the value you bring to the table, while also acknowledging your weaknesses. Follow-up on your weaknesses by stating ways you’re working to turn them into strengths. Doing so will give your personal brand a positive image since you’ll be seen as a well-rounded professional who is always working to improve their skills.
Know How You Are Perceived
It’s hard to know how you’re perceived without asking someone. An executive LinkedIn profile writer is a good resource to evaluate your profile and give their expert opinion on what people may think about you. And outside of LinkedIn, don’t be afraid to ask your trusted peers about how they perceive you professionally. You may be saying or doing things that are hurting your perception without even knowing it.
Demonstrate Your Value Without Having to Communicate It
When you are comfortable with who you are as a person and a professional, you don’t have to sell yourself as much. Of course, you have to demonstrate your value to a potential employer, but it doesn’t mean you have to go over the top to do so. Many times your c-level personal branding speaks for itself. It takes some time to be completely comfortable and accepting of who you are, but once you are then you won’t have to communicate it as much since it will be clearly visible.
At Professional Resume Services, we focus a lot of our efforts on helping executives with their c-level personal branding. Our LinkedIn profile writing service is popular because it is one of the building blocks for creating your personal brand. It’s no secret that developing your personal brand takes time and a consistent effort, but that doesn’t mean it has to be hard. Feel free to contact us for tips on how to make your branding efforts simple and effective.
Many executives don’t appreciate the importance of having a positive online presence. And some don’t understand their online presence should always be kept up-to-date. If you’re actively looking for a job, you’re putting yourself in a big hole if recruiters can’t find you online. Having a clean and updated executive LinkedIn profile is a necessity today rather than a luxury. It’s worth hiring a professional LinkedIn profile writer if you’ve never developed one before, and there are plenty of other ways to develop and maintain a positive online presence. Here are some reasons why it’s so important.
Recruiters Always Look For An Online Presence
One of the first things a recruiter will do when they receive a resume is conduct an online search for the person’s name. If you have a negative online presence, or no online presence at all, then your chances of moving to the next step in the hiring process are slim. At the very least, develop your executive LinkedIn profile to the point where it shows up at the top of the search results. That way, you’ll know exactly what recruiters are seeing when they search for your name.
Tips For Enhancing Your Online Presence
With the high-level of importance of personal branding for senior level managers, there is always room to improve your online presence. Being active on LinkedIn and other social media platforms will increase your visibility. You can also publish original articles to your blog or social media profiles. Joining LinkedIn groups and participating in discussions on professional forums can also help promote your name. Just be sure to think carefully about everything you post online, as anything you say can be used against you.
Monitor Your Online Presence Regularly
Once you feel comfortable with your online presence, you can’t get complacent. You should always be looking to improve your presence and brand. Monitoring your brand online is critical since anyone can post negative information about you. Do a search for your name periodically and see what results show up. While you may not be able to remove information completely, you can combat it by responding appropriately. You don’t want to let any negativity about you linger online for too long since it could tarnish your reputation.
Professional Resume Services is here to help you upgrade your executive LinkedIn profile and more. We are much more than just a resume writing service. We take pride in working with every one of our clients individually and look at the big picture in terms of job searching. Your online presence is just as important as your resume itself, so contact us to see how we can help you build and maintain yours.
Developing and maintaining relationships is critical in the professional world. We’ve all heard about the importance of networking when it comes to a job search, which also ties into social capital and c-level personal branding. When you help enough people get what they need, the favor will eventually be returned to you when you least expect it. People in your network may be able to offer a tremendous amount of value to you in different ways, so there’s no harm in asking for a favor if it’s done so appropriately. Just be sure you’ve built up enough social capital before doing so.
How to Start Building Social Capital
You can’t have social capital if you don’t have a trusted network of professionals. Start by focusing on your LinkedIn profile development and building your list of connections. Reach out to former colleagues and classmates to see what they are up to. But you don’t even have to stop there. Talk to people every chance you get, whether it’s your neighbors, people you encounter at different events you attend and more. As you start growing your list of connections, you’ll be taking steps in the right direction to build your social capital.
People Value Connections and Relationships
One thing about networking and c-level personal branding to always remember is people value relationships. So you shouldn’t simply ask a connection for help finding a job. They will be more likely to help you if they’ve developed a good professional relationship with you over a period of time. You can do this by reaching out periodically via your LinkedIn executive profile, talking to them over the phone or even meeting with them in person occasionally. Staying in touch even when you don’t need to ask a favor is valuable and will strengthen your social capital.
You Never Know Who Can Help You Reach Your Goals
Being genuine in your c-level personal branding efforts can pay dividends in the long run. You never know when someone you cross paths with can benefit your job search efforts, so treating everyone with the same amount of respect is important. The more you give, the more you will receive in return. Small daily actions to continue developing your social capital may lead you to opportunities you never thought were available otherwise.
At Professional Resume Services, we help executives craft the perfect resume as well as focus on LinkedIn profile development. Job searches today involve many different elements, and we are here to help ensure all bases are covered. Social capital is very valuable for executives, so feel free to contact us at any time for more tips and advice on how to improve yours.
When a job seeker realizes networking isn’t optional today, they will have a better chance of finding a job quickly. Even executives with extensive careers and who are considered to be experts in their industry have to always be working on their c-level personal branding. There are many misconceptions about networking, including the common belief that it’s not necessary to find a job. Here’s what you need to know about networking to clear up those misconceptions.
Networking Isn’t Asking For Favors
It’s natural for people to not like asking for favors, so they choose to skip networking events. However, your mindset going into a networking event should not be to ask for favors. Rather, it should be to generate engaging conversations with like-minded professionals and see where the relationship goes from there. Asking someone for a favor is not recommended since it could negatively impact your c-level personal branding.
Networking Isn’t Always Formal
If you’re intimidated by the thought of going to a formal event with hundreds of other people, then start out smaller. Make connections through your LinkedIn profile and if you make good conversations with someone, ask if they would like to grab coffee or lunch. Networking doesn’t have to be defined as attending a formal event. Making conversations with people informally is still considered networking and can even be more valuable since you have a one-on-one connection with the person.
Networking Is A Way To Tap Into Hidden Job Markets
The best executive resume writing service can educate you about the hidden job market if you aren’t aware of it. High-level executive jobs aren’t often posted on job boards or anywhere else. You have to know someone to even know there’s a job available. Networking is a perfect way to do it. Keeping up with connections on your LinkedIn profile is an effective method and could lead you to opportunities you didn’t even know were available.
Networking Is Beneficial For Reconnecting
Take some time occasionally to go through your list of connections on your LinkedIn profile and reconnect with them. You don’t have to be actively searching for a job to do so. Your connections will likely appreciate you reaching out to them just to get an update on how their career is going. It’s great for c-level personal branding to always keep your name at the forefront of people’s minds, and making simple conversations is a great way to do it.
Professional Resume Services always stresses the importance of networking to executives who visit us. We can give you tips on how to effectively display your LinkedIn profile, boost your c-level personal branding and much more. A quality resume is only one component of a successful job search, so feel free to reach out to us at any time to ensure you’re covering all bases with yours.
Job searches can be stressful, time-consuming and frustrating, but they don’t have to be. It’s natural to think you’ll get a call for an interview right away when you send in your resume to a company. But even if you worked with the top rated resume writing services, there’s still a chance you won’t get the call as quickly as you had hoped. Instead of dwelling on it and thinking about where you may have gone wrong, use the downtime to your advantage. You never know what may happen, but keep yourself busy by doing these things.
See if Other Companies Match Your Interests
Every executive resume service will tell you to not put all of your eggs into one basket. While you should spend a significant amount of time researching a company before sending in your targeted resume, don’t stop there. Move on to the next company to see if your personality fits with their culture and if you have the skills they are looking for. Most people have a specific list of companies in mind that they want to work for, but may discover other opportunities in the meantime they didn’t expect.
Make A New LinkedIn Connection
You can also use your downtime to update your LinkedIn profile and come up with strategic ways to utilize the platform. Take some time to find executives from other companies of interest and reach out to them. There’s never any harm in introducing yourself and making a new connection. Just don’t go overboard by building your list of connections so large and not knowing half of them. Making connections through your LinkedIn profile can lead to various opportunities later on.
Thank Your Past and Current Mentors
Waiting for a job interview call is a good time to reflect on where you’ve been and look forward to where you want to be. An executive resume service may suggest reaching out to your past and current mentors to simply thank them for how they’ve helped shape your career. They will appreciate the gratitude more than you think, and you never know if they’ll be able to provide you with one last nugget to help you move forward.
Professional Resume Services is more than simply an executive resume service. We work with executives who are at different points in their careers and are pursuing different paths. Some executives we work with don’t have a LinkedIn profile, while others simply need to brush theirs up. No matter where you’re at in your career or what type of career advice you think you need, feel free to contact us at any time to see how we can help.
By now most executives should understand the importance of LinkedIn as it relates to c-level personal branding. However, too many people spend a lot of time developing their profile and then neglect it for years. While it’s not necessary to be active on the platform every day, any executive LinkedIn profile writer will suggest making at least one weekly post and always updating it as needed. Not doing so could make you miss out on valuable opportunities. Here are some things to consider when updating yours.
Ensure The Content Aligns With Your Personal Brand
If it’s been a while since you last updated your profile, then do a thorough review of the content to ensure it aligns with your personal brand. Your c-level personal branding should evolve throughout your career, so your connections and recruiters need to know what you bring to the table today. Having outdated content can hurt your brand more than not having any content at all.
Optimize Your Profile For SEO
Optimizing your profile for SEO purposes can be challenging, but it’s necessary. Many executives work with a LinkedIn profile writing service to help get them on the right track. Sometimes this may mean simply incorporating the appropriate keywords into your summary. Other times your profile may need a complete overhaul. The goal is to have your LinkedIn profile be easily discoverable in an online search.
Update Your Headshot
Your LinkedIn profile headshot should be only of yourself and you should be dressed professionally. And if it’s been several years since you’ve updated the photo, consider doing so as you’re making other updates. At the very least, your current connections will see you’ve updated your headshot and may prompt them to click on your profile to see what else you’ve been up to.
Is Your Contact Information Current?
Believe it or not, one of the most common mistakes an executive LinkedIn profile writer sees is having outdated contact information on profiles. If a recruiter sees you aren’t willing to at least keep your contact information current, then they likely won’t hold you in high regards with other aspects. You never know what opportunities may come your way through LinkedIn, so always make sure your information is accurate and current so you don’t miss out.
Professional Resume Services offers a LinkedIn profile writing service to help executives optimize their profiles. Developing your profile initially is the hard part, but maintaining it afterward should be a breeze as long as you keep up with it regularly. The best thing to do is conduct a monthly or quarterly review of your profile to ensure it still aligns with your brand. If you need any assistance or have any questions along the way, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
Your personal brand is one of the main factors that will differentiate you from other candidates throughout your job search. Too many executives make the mistake of thinking c-level personal branding doesn’t matter once they reach a certain level, especially if they have no intentions of leaving their current job. The truth is establishing and maintaining your personal brand is important no matter what stage you’re at in your career. Your executive LinkedIn profile is one of the best ways to do both. Here’s why LinkedIn can be so valuable for personal branding for senior level managers.
You Are More Discoverable Online
You have to expect recruiters and hiring managers to do an online search for your name after you send them a resume or meet them at a networking event. The ultimate goal should be to have your executive LinkedIn profile show up at the top of the search results. If that happens, they will read the information you want them to and it will demonstrate your personal brand accordingly. With the right mix of keywords and content, your LinkedIn profile can be a major reason why you get recognized.
A Platform For Demonstrating Your Knowledge and Expertise
Part of c-level personal branding is demonstrating what you have to offer to potential employers. LinkedIn is the perfect platform for broadcasting your value, whether you do so by joining LinkedIn groups, commenting on or sharing posts or even posting original content. The more active you are, the more knowledgeable you will seem depending on the nature of the posts you make.
Shows You Are Savvy With Today’s Technology
Sometimes not being active on LinkedIn is worse than not having a profile at all. Companies today want to know how savvy you are with technology. How you utilize your executive LinkedIn profile is one way to do it. Recruiters can’t tell if you simply don’t prioritize c-level personal branding or if you don’t have the knowledge to build your profile. Most of the time they will default to assuming you aren’t technologically savvy, so do your personal brand a favor and polish your profile.
Professional Resume Services believes c-level personal branding and crafting the perfect resume go hand-in-hand. There are so many different variables to think about in today’s job searching landscape, so it’s easy to overlook some aspects. Our experts are ready and willing to help you out with any part of your career efforts, so don’t hesitate to contact us at any time for assistance.
