If you’re trying to make a name for yourself in any industry, spending a significant time focusing on your c-level personal branding is critical. It can take years to build your personal brand to the level you want it to be at, but avoiding some common mistakes along the way can help accelerate the process and prevent it from having the opposite impact. You’re going to spend a lot of time shaping your brand anyway, so you might as well do it right the first time. Here are a few of the most common mistakes executives make when creating their personal brand.
Being Fake
People can see right through a person when they aren’t authentic. You can optimize your LinkedIn profile to make yourself sound like an expert at everything, but that will only get you so far. You have to be able to back up everything you say on your profile when you make connections in person. Not only will being fake limit your opportunities, but it could cause permanent damage to your c-level personal branding efforts.
Not Making Your Message Clear
In order to make your message clear, you have to know what you’re trying to say. The presentation of your appearance and overall demeanor either online or in-person must match. So when you optimize your LinkedIn profile, make sure your profile picture is a professional headshot rather than a more casual photo. Complete alignment with your overall message is critical to create the strongest personal brand.
Not Targeting Your Audience
It doesn’t do your brand or company a lot of good if you don’t know whom to market your brand to. When it comes to personal branding for senior level managers, you have to be able to connect with your audience in order to make a name for yourself or your company. When your audience can make a personal connection with you, then you’ll be able to effectively cater your brand toward them.
Only Focusing on Certain Aspects of Your Brand
An overlooked aspect of c-level personal branding is not aligning your business brand with your personal brand. If people don’t agree with your personal brand, then your business brand will take a significant hit. The best way to earn and keep business today is through trust, and if a consumer’s trust wavers, then your brand will not be very strong. Professional Resume Services is here to help executives not only craft the perfect resume, but also develop their c-level personal branding. There are many aspects to creating a personal brand, and we will help you throughout the process to ensure all bases are covered. If you ever need assistance or advice about your personal or business brand, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
When you first sit down to write your resume from scratch, it’s normal to sit there for several minutes before you write your first word. Where to begin writing an effective resume is difficult, especially in today’s competitive world. But even if you have a resume you’ve used in the past, chances are some significant adjustments need to be made if you’re searching for a new job. This brings up the point of targeting your resume to match the specific job description you’re looking at. You probably have heard from an executive resume service that it’s important to do so, but in what ways are you supposed to match them? Here are some tips to consider when writing your resume.
Focus on Keywords in The Job Description
The best professional resume writers will print out a job description, grab a highlighter and mark each keyword they can find. These keywords should describe the particular candidate the employer is looking for, as well as the strengths and skills you possess. Once you identify them all, plug them into your resume as high on the page as possible. Include as many keywords as you can, but be careful not to stuff too many of them in to make it sound unnatural.
Think About How A Potential Employer Reads Your Resume
It’s easy to talk about your past experiences and accomplishments. The biggest mistake professionals make is talking about previous achievements that aren’t relevant to the job they are applying for. When writing an effective resume, you have to write it while thinking about how a potential employer will read it. They want to see what value you bring to the table specifically for their company, and don’t necessarily care about anything else. By looking closely at the job description, the best professional resume writers can identify what’s appropriate to mention and what should be avoided.
Discover What You Truly Want From A Job
A common misconception about writing an effective resume is it should be more general instead of focused. The idea is the more general your resume is, the better your chances are of landing another open position, even if you don’t qualify for the one you really want. This can lead to a sloppy resume and an unfocused job search effort. Taking the time to truly discover what you want from a job, from a salary standpoint, cultural standpoint, work/life balance and more will help you target your resume. Professional Resume Services is an executive resume service that helps professionals write resumes that stand out. We will always ask for the job description of any job you are interested in and tailor your resume to match it. Our professional resume writers have experience in many different industries, so never hesitate to contact us if you need assistance with yours.
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.
The First Month is Critical for Any New Executive Job
You’ve worked so hard on your job search to find a perfect fit for your career and it’s finally paid off. Now that you’re at your new job, what are you supposed to do? Depending on the nature of the job, you may be thrown right into the fire and be slammed with work right away. However, most employers will ease in a new executive and allow them to get a feel for their new position, their co-workers and the overall culture in general. The first month of your new job is critical for setting the standard of your work and becoming familiar with systems and processes you can’t develop or learn through a LinkedIn profile. Here are some things to do during the first month of your new job.
Fit In With The Culture
You likely did some research about the culture of your new company during the job search. It was important to learn about the culture while writing an executive bio, and the professional resume writing service you used likely took the culture into consideration as they crafted your resume as well. However, there’s nothing like getting first-hand knowledge and experience to learn how people operate on a daily basis. You should have a basic knowledge of the company’s culture before you even begin your first day, but taking further steps to ensure you fit in as much as possible will benefit you as well.
Make Internal Connections
Connect with anyone you can within the office during your first month. You may have seen some of your coworkers’ LinkedIn profiles, but stop by and have a short conversation whenever you have a chance. This goes for anyone outside of your department as well. Connect with them on a work level and a personal level as appropriate so they will get a sense of who you are and you will establish your reputation along the way.
Build Your Credibility To Set The Standard
Your professional resume writing service helped you build credibility in your resume, but now it’s time to show it. Go above and beyond the job duties given to you during the first month. Building this credibility right away will help set the standard and give others the impression they can rely on you to get the job done.
Don’t Be Overly Ambitious
Just be careful about being too ambitious, since you don’t want to show up anyone during your first month. This goes for questioning internal policies and procedures as well. It’s ok to make suggestions at times, but it’s also important to understand every company operates differently and some of these things need to be accepted without rocking the boat. Professional Resume Services is here to help you throughout your job search process and beyond. While we are known as a professional resume writing service, we are well rounded in our experience working with executives throughout their career. To learn more about how we can help you at any stage of your career, feel free to contact us at any time.
How to Balance Your Job Search and Your Current Job
One of the main benefits of looking for a new job while currently employed is you will generally be more attractive to employers. However, one of the risk includes someone finding out that leads to you getting fired or damaging your reputation. Balance is key when going through a situation like this. Even your LinkedIn profile development has to be done with caution so you don’t tip anyone off at your current workplace. Here are some tips to consider for balancing your job search and your current job.
Time Your Job Search Perfectly
Minimizing the amount of competition you have is always beneficial. Try holding off on your job search until the late summer months, since there are typically fewer applicants for jobs during that time frame. You don’t want a job search to drag out very long when you already have a job, so timing is critical to make the process go as quickly as possible.
Keep Your Search Confidential
It’s usually not the best idea to let your boss or anyone else in your organization know you’re searching for a job. However, you also don’t want to lie to your boss. When you work with the best resume writing service, your visits will be confidential and you won’t have to worry about your job search being leaked. Just do whatever you can to keep your search confidential and you won’t have to answer any tough questions.
Network Outside of Work
Attending networking events is a great way to expedite any job search. Having morning coffee meetings or evening social gatherings can go a long way in developing relationships, while not having to worry about someone from your current job seeing you. Throughout your LinkedIn profile development, you may consider joining groups that can lead you to some valuable events to attend.
Be Careful With Social Media
Although you may want to find a new job as quickly as possible, it’s not the best idea to announce it on social media. That is one nearly guaranteed way you can get in trouble with your current job, and potentially damage your job search as well. Keep your actions private throughout your LinkedIn profile development as well, so you won’t inadvertently announce your intentions to your connections who may currently work with you.
Be Selective With Who Receives Your Resume
An executive resume writer will always tell you to be selective with who you give your resume to. Tailoring your resume to a particular employer is a great way to be noticed and will also better ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. It’s also important to tell the recipient that your job search is confidential, so they don’t contact your current employer. Professional Resume Services is here to help you with any aspect of your job search. We take pride in being the best resume writing service for executives, but we also enjoy being involved with your searching and networking efforts. If there’s anything we can help you with along the way, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time.
How to Make Your Executive LinkedIn Profile Stand Out
Utilizing LinkedIn to its fullest extent is important for professionals at any level. Whether you’re looking for a new job actively or if you simply want to boost your brand, seeking assistance from a LinkedIn profile writing service is never a bad idea. Most executives today have a LinkedIn profile, but not all of them know how to optimize it to make it stand out among the rest. You have to be careful with what you include and how you present yourself online, as you would on your resume or anywhere else. Here are some great tips on how to make your executive LinkedIn profile stand out.
Align Your LinkedIn Profile With Your Online Brand
Any recruiter, hiring manager or even a colleague will look at your LinkedIn profile as well as any other social media outlets, blogs or websites to get an idea of your brand. If you aren’t sure what your online brand currently is, now is a good time to search for your name in a search engine and look at the results. A good LinkedIn profile writing service will help match the contents of your profile to your online brand so there are no discrepancies. This alignment is critical in how you are perceived to other executives, employers or recruiters.
Fill Out Your Profile Page Completely
Having a LinkedIn profile isn’t enough today. Be sure to fill out every section as much as possible and keep it updated. It’s especially important to focus on the summary section, as this is the first thing people will see when they visit your profile. This section is a great opportunity to summarize your brand in just a couple sentences, and it could be the difference between someone viewing the rest of your profile or moving on to someone else.
Join Groups and Be Active
When you join LinkedIn groups, those groups will be displayed on your profile page. It may be tempting to join dozens of groups, but it’s actually a better strategy to only stick with a handful and be more active in those. The more active you are, the more people will look at your LinkedIn profile. As such, it may be best to work with a LinkedIn profile writing service before you get too active to be sure yours stands out when people view it. At Professional Resume Services, we pride ourselves on being more than just a team of professional executive resume writers. We enjoy helping professionals with various aspects of their job search, including developing their LinkedIn and overall online presence. Never hesitate to reach out to us for assistance with a job search, developing your online brand or for resume writing.
ATS Myths You Shouldn’t Believe When Job Searching
If it’s been a while since your last job search, you may have been introduced to a new tool to look out for called Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). These systems help employers filter through resumes easier by identifying specific keywords and phrases and eliminating the ones that don’t have them. This makes utilizing top rated resume writing services even more important, since they can identify ATS terms you need to use and ones you need to avoid. The more research you do on ATS, the more misinformation you could potentially read. Here are some of the most common myths we’ve seen and you shouldn’t believe.
Length Makes A Difference
The best executive resume format may suggest keeping your resume to no more than two pages, but the length actually has no impact on ATS. The hiring manager may not want to read a long resume, however. Having a long resume won’t hurt your chances of passing through ATS, but be careful with the length since it will eventually be read by an actual person.
Only Certain File Types Are Acceptable
Most of the newer Applicant Tracking Systems can read resumes and cover letters in various formats. Your goal should be to create a version which is easily readable for humans and another computer-friendly version. The good news is when you submit a resume electronically, the system will prompt you to upload the preferred file type so you can convert it accordingly.
Keywords Can Never Be Overused
You never know which keywords an employer is looking for in a resume. However, one thing you shouldn’t do is stuff it with the keywords you think are most relevant. Incorporating a mix of keywords into your resumes and cover letters is more effective than having a high density of one particular keyword. Keywords can definitely be overused and will make your resume sound unnatural as a result.
Capitalization or Various Fonts Can’t Be Used
ATS generally doesn’t recognize or penalize you for using capitalization, various fonts or styles. Your goal is to make your resume stand out without going overboard, and one strategy is to use these different features. If this is your strategy, then you can proceed accordingly without worrying about not passing ATS. Professional Resume Services is one of the top rated resume writing services because of our well-rounded expertise. We stay on top of all the latest trends when it comes to job searching, and ATS is definitely one of them. We focus our efforts on helping job candidates format their resumes appropriately so they can be ready for any obstacle. For assistance at any point in your job search, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Executives have to take advantage of any opportunities they can get when it comes to their job search. With so much competition, standing out can be challenging. Visiting professional resume writing services is generally the best place to start, but you also have to take it a few steps further. One of the most effective ways to make yourself known is by communicating directly with the hiring manager at the company you’re interested in working at. Of course, this can be easier said than done, but it is entirely possible with diligent effort and research. Here are some tips to consider.
Find Out Who The Hiring Manager Is
Many times you won’t know the name of the hiring manager, and that’s ok. Unless the hiring manager absolutely doesn’t want to be known, chances are you can find them. By doing an online search, utilizing your network, checking the company website or looking at the LinkedIn profile of various members of the organization, you may find some tips as to who is responsible for hiring candidates. You could also be bold and simply contact the company by phone and ask for the name of the hiring manager. Once you have the name, you can communicate directly with the person.
Do Some Research On The Hiring Manager
A LinkedIn profile generally tells you a lot about the person from a professional standpoint. If you reach out to them through your LinkedIn profile, it gives you the chance to have your name seen prior to sending in your resume and cover letter. Many times the hiring manager may not respond to your LinkedIn message for various reasons, but at least your name will be recognized when you do send in your resume. Any way you can connect with them will help your cause and make your name recognizable.
Be Proactive Without Being Pushy
There’s a big difference between being proactive and being annoying or pushy. Many executive resume writers will tell you to send in your resume and wait one week or so before following up. When you reach out to them every day to check on the status of your application, you will most likely be thrown out of the pool of candidates. No one likes to work with a pushy person, so know your limits and contact the hiring manager when appropriate. Professional Resume Services wants to help get your resume in the best possible shape to set you up for success. Our executive resume writers will use the right keywords and phrases to boost your chances of getting noticed, so your efforts of connecting with the hiring manager will not be wasted. For assistance with any part of the job search process, feel free to contact us at any time.
