There are many different approaches you can take when undergoing an executive job search. While there isn’t one guaranteed way to make your searching most effective, there are plenty of things you can do wrong to derail your chances of getting an interview. Unless you’re one of the very few people (if any at all) who have the interview requests flowing in, there are some steps to take to master your job search. Visiting the top resume writing services is one of them, but here are some other tips to consider.
Use Relevant Keywords
Learn what keywords are relevant to your industry and sprinkle them in throughout your resume, LinkedIn profile, biography and more. Many employers use an Applicant Tracking System(ATS), so keywords and key phrases are critical. The top resume writing services can help you identify some of these keywords and incorporate them into your resume. If using job boards or Linked are the routes you want to take, relevant keywords are a must.
Make Sure Your Executive Resume is Targeted
When writing an executive resume, you need to target the company you’re applying to and include relevant information to them. To a point, the company doesn’t care what you’ve done in the past as much as they care about what you can do for them in the future. Identify their needs and clearly explain why you are the best candidate to solve those needs.
Network, Network, Network
You can never network too much, but you have to be prepared before you begin your efforts. When you optimize your LinkedIn profile, you can reach out to others in your industry to expand your network. It’s also never a bad idea to attend various networking events in the area to help others put a face to your name. Networking is the best way to tap into the hidden job market and expedite your job search.
Boost Online Visibility
When you optimize your LinkedIn profile, you’ve taken the first step in being visible online. You should also do an online search for your name and see what information is available on you. Employers will do this, so cleaning up anything you don’t want visible could be critical for your chances of landing an interview.
Keep Your Resume Polished
Finally, visiting top resume writing services often will help keep your resume polished and relevant. Sometimes just minor tweaks are needed, but you always need to have it ready to send out when the opportunity arises. A lot of things happen during an executive job search, but the one constant you have to have is a perfect resume. Professional Resume Services goes beyond simply helping people write an effective bio. We want to help you throughout your job search by providing tips and tricks based on our expertise, all while ensuring your resume, cover letter and bio are written for success. Don’t hesitate to contact us at any time if you need assistance with any part of your job search.
Every executive has heard and knows about the importance of c-level personal branding. With all else being equal when it comes to experience and expertise, it is a person’s personal brand that sets them apart from the rest. Whether you’re actively seeking a new job or if you’re interested in advancing even further in your career, using personal branding to your advantage can help you get there. Here are some tips on how personal branding for senior level managers can be used effectively.
Boost Your Reputation Within Your Industry
Every industry has a network, and people within the network have different impressions of people. So if you have a great personal brand and people recognize it, it won’t take long before your reputation gets a boost throughout your industry. You can use this reputation boost to your advantage by seeking leadership opportunities, speaking at engagements, hosting networking events or any other opportunities that arise. Once you’ve established quality c-level personal branding, your options for continuing to improve your reputation are unlimited.
Make Contacts Outside Your Current Professional Network
Your executive bio may indicate you’re an expert in a specific industry, but your personal brand can lead to professional connections outside of your network as well. This gives you the opportunity to broaden your views on business and many other aspects, and could give you more ideas for your own job. Plus, certain industries like to get advice from professionals in an unrelated industry just to see how operations work. The larger your network is outside of your own industry, the more opportunities you will have to grow your personal brand as large as you desire. You can never have too many connections across any industry, and the better your c-level personal branding is, the more naturally the connections will be made.
Use Self-Confidence to Your Advantage
If nothing else, personal branding for senior level managers can provide a major boost in self-confidence. Use this self-confidence to your advantage by standing by your decisions in any aspect of your career and becoming a resource for others within your industry. Complete self-confidence is rare, even among executives, so once you develop it, there are plenty of opportunities for you to boost your brand even more. Professional Resume Services goes beyond simply writing a resume for professionals. It is a big part of what we do, but we also look at the big picture to help executives with their careers. Whether it’s boosting professional branding through networking or simply creating an executive bio anyone will be impressed with, we are here to help. Be sure to contact us at any time for more tips on how personal branding can be used to your advantage.
5 Errors You Could be Making on Your LinkedIn Profile
Having a LinkedIn profile is important for executives today. Networking is such a critical part of business, and many professionals view LinkedIn as the best way to meet other professionals. When completing your profile, it’s important to ensure the right information is included. Sometimes a professional LinkedIn profile writer could be beneficial to provide advice and ensure you aren’t making these common mistakes.
Treating LinkedIn Like Other Social Media Platforms
It’s important to distinguish LinkedIn from Facebook, Twitter or other social media platforms. LinkedIn is a professional networking site, whereas most other platforms are more recreational. For the most part, treat LinkedIn as a way to enhance your career rather than enhancing your social encounters with friends like you would on other social media platforms.
Not Using A Professional Photo
LinkedIn is not a place to put a profile photo including your family or your pet. Use a professional headshot if available, or at the very least, find the most professional-looking photo of you that you have. The LinkedIn profile photo is one of the first things a person looks at, and an unprofessional photo can instantly give your credibility a hit.
Having an Incomplete Profile
Nothing tells a person you’re not totally committed to LinkedIn networking like having an incomplete profile. If someone sees your profile is incomplete, they will likely be hesitant to reach out to you, since they aren’t convinced you keep up with it and are active. A professional LinkedIn profile writer can help you fill out your profile appropriately.
Exaggerating Skills or Expertise
Whether it’s in your LinkedIn profile, your executive profile or anywhere else, it’s never advisable to exaggerate your skills or expertise. Being honest will benefit you in the long-term, and your LinkedIn profile is included in this. If you are dishonest about any of your accomplishments, the dishonesty will eventually be exposed and you will have to deal with a potentially tarnished reputation as a result.
Not Incorporating A Mix of Information
Yes, LinkedIn is a professional social networking site. However, not every single person is professional every minute of every day. Even hiring managers want to know what you do in your free time outside of work. Include a mix of personal information, such as volunteer projects, what you do for fun and anything else you deem appropriate. Demonstrating you have a life outside of work is just as important as demonstrating your professional expertise. Professional Resume Services assists job seekers and networkers by boosting their LinkedIn profile in creative ways. Sometimes you just need a professional LinkedIn profile writer to fill in the gaps or organize information in a way to make your profile more attractive. If you have any questions regarding LinkedIn or your profile specifically, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at any time.
Strengthen Your Job Search with These LinkedIn Features
LinkedIn is constantly evolving and providing new features for its users. As such, a job seeker’s LinkedIn profile development has to also evolve constantly in order to keep up with the competition. It’s entirely possible to have created a LinkedIn profile, filled it out completely, but still aren’t having the success you expected. Don’t give up! You may just not be utilizing the right features. So if you’ve ever asked yourself, “how can I attract recruiters to my executive LinkedIn profile?” we’ve got some tips on specific features to help you out.
“How You Rank”
The “How You Rank” tool on LinkedIn helps you see how often your profile gets viewed in comparison to the amount of connections you have. As a job seeker, you want your profile to be viewed as much as possible so you’ll be noticed more and be seen as an influencer. Being in the top 25% on the “How You Rank” tool should be a goal to strive for, since you will be getting a high amount of profile views at that level. Another benefit of the tool is to see who is most influential within your network. The more active a user is, the more likely they will be willing to interact with you. And on a similar note, an active user is likely the person you want to interact with anyway, since they could be a more valuable connection to strengthen your job search.
Join and Be Active in Groups
If you aren’t sure how to optimize your LinkedIn profile in order to improve your “How You Rank” score, the best way to do so is by joining groups and being active in them. There are thousands of LinkedIn groups available, so find a handful of relevant ones and start connecting with the group members. The more active you are in groups, the more your profile will be viewed, and the higher your “How You Rank” score will climb.
Enhance Original Content With The Publishing Platform
Creating original content is another great way to improve your LinkedIn profile development. Now LinkedIn has a tool to allow you to publish your content under your profile photo, the header and at the top of your profile. This feature makes it easier than ever before to share your insightful content to anyone who views your profile. Now all you have to do is go to work to write the content, and the LinkedIn publishing platform will help you easily distribute it within your network. Professional Resume Services helps executives with LinkedIn profile development every day. LinkedIn is one of the most valuable tools for job seekers, but it also has to be used properly in order to be effective. If you aren’t sure how to optimize your LinkedIn profile, or would like more tips about how to best use it effectively, contact us at any time for a consultation.
Make the Most Out of Your Executive Career This Year
Investing in your career is one of the most important investments you can make. Setting clear and achievable goals will help guide you where you need to be, and improving personal branding for senior level managers may happen naturally throughout the year. There’s no time like the present to start setting aggressive, yet attainable, goals to help you boost your career where you want it to be. Once you’ve developed your short-term and long-term goals, your mindset can shift to working toward them every single day. Here’s how to make the most out of your executive career this year.
Set Clear Goals
It’s impossible to get where you want to be if you don’t know where you’re going to begin. While it’s important to set yearly goals, you can also set monthly or quarterly goals to help you stay on track. If you’re in line for a promotion this year, think about what you can do to ensure you get it rather than get overlooked. If boosting personal branding for senior level managers is a goal, then you know you must attend networking events and make your name widely known throughout your industry. Clear goals will help you figure out what actions you need to take to reach them.
Make A Point to Network
Connecting with your network isn’t just reserved for when you’re looking for a job. Even the top rated resume writing services suggest to network as much as possible. This doesn’t mean you have to attend an event every night, but at the very least you can update your LinkedIn profile and check in with your connections frequently. Get advice from other professionals whom you look up to, and you may be able to develop a similar path to success. Plus, you never know when a new opportunity will arise, so you don’t want to miss out by not connecting with other professionals.
Create New Opportunities
Just because you’re happy and comfortable in your role doesn’t mean you can’t be proactive about new opportunities. Always do anything you can to improve your executive resume biography. This doesn’t mean simply changing the words. It means to accomplish more tasks in your current role in order to beef up your profile with relevant and meaningful accomplishments. By excelling in your current role, you can create new opportunities for yourself within the same company or be put in a better position to pursue other opportunities if you choose. Professional Resume Services is more than just one of the top rated resume writing services. We take a personal interest with each of our clients and we want to help you make the most out of your executive career in any way we can. Feel free to reach out to us at any time to learn more about how we can help you set goals to reach new career heights this year.
Executive Job Searching is More Than a Perfect Resume
One of the most common misconceptions about an executive job search is thinking a flawless resume will guarantee you a job. It will definitely help your chances if you use one of the top resume writing services to perfect your resume, but there are many more components to a successful job search. The strategy you develop for your search and how you interact with people are two of the biggest pieces of the job searching puzzle, along with your written resume and cover letter. Here are some important points to keep in mind during your job search.
Network
Networking is a critical part of being an executive and promoting your brand, and it’s even more important when searching for a job. The first thing to do is optimize your LinkedIn profile so you can easily be discovered and your connections will know who you are and what you bring to the table. LinkedIn is usually one of the top resources other executives and hiring managers use to search for candidates, so taking the time to update yours is well worth the effort.
Develop A Job Search Strategy
Using an online job board to submit applications has never been a recommended job search strategy. The sheer amount of applicants to these postings make it virtually impossible for you to stand out. Modernize your approach by attending networking events and shaping up your resume with one of the top resume writing services. Refocusing your efforts by utilizing LinkedIn and ensuring your executive profile is in great shape will make you more recognizable.
Perfect Your Cover Letter
Your cover letter gives you the opportunity to introduce yourself, similar to your LinkedIn profile. The only difference is your cover letter is usually presented to a potential employer at the same time as your resume. So if your cover letter doesn’t earn enough interest from the reader, then they may not even look at your resume or LinkedIn profile at all. The top resume writing services can help with all three of these aspects.
Practice Interviewing
Your people skills in groups can help you earn an interview, but you also have to master the one-on-one communication. Ask a friend or family member to help you by doing a mock interview. The tougher the questions are in your mock interview, the better prepared you’ll be for your real interview. Interviews are all about confidence and how you present yourself. You may be the most qualified candidate, but if you appear hesitant to answer questions or lack confidence, your chances of getting the job will diminish. Professional Resume Services is here to help you throughout your job searching process. Whether it’s developing a quality executive profile, optimizing your LinkedIn profile or providing basic resume writing tips, our main goal is to help you achieve your goals. Feel free to contact us at any time for tips about the executive job searching process, writing resumes and much more.
Top 3 Ways to Succeed at an Executive Networking Event
Attending a networking event is one thing, but succeeding at it is another. Everyone defines success differently when it comes to networking events. You may be attending with the goal of finding your next employer or you may simply be attending to build your c-level personal branding. Whatever your reason is, there are things you should and shouldn’t do at these events to give you the best chance to succeed. Here are our top three suggestions to help you succeed at your next networking event.
Prepare in Advance
Depending on the event, you may choose to bring executive resume biographies instead of business cards or vice versa. Do your homework on the type of event it is so you don’t appear to be unprepared. Update your LinkedIn profile with any relevant information prior to attending the event. If you hand out a business card or biography, you should have a link to your profile included. You want to be sure your profile is in the best shape possible for when people view it.
Move Around Frequently
When you’re actually at the event, don’t linger around in one area for too long. People don’t generally gravitate toward people who are stationary, so make it a point to walk around the room throughout the event. It’s tempting to engage in long conversations when you find an interesting person to talk to, but the reality is those people are at the event to make as many connections as possible as well. Instead of boosting your c-level personal branding by talking to one person, spread the wealth to as many people as you can.
Master Your Elevator Speech
The size of the networking event can determine how long you have to make an impression. You want to master your two-minute elevator speech so it’s persuasive and piques the interest of the other person. Deliver your speech in a natural way so you don’t sound like a salesperson, but still clearly demonstrate your value to your listener. A quality elevator speech can give an immediate boost to your c-level personal branding. Professional Resume Services is here to help you develop your LinkedIn profile, your executive resume biographies or anything else to help you succeed at your next networking event. Preparation for these events takes time, but the time investment is well worth it in the end. Feel free to contact us at any time if you need extra assistance preparing for your next networking event.
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.
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