Coming up with a marketing plan at the beginning a job search can sound a little intimidating, even for professionals and executives. It sounds like it would involve an extensive process that would take a lot of time away from the search itself. However, any top rated resume writing services will tell you not to underestimate the value of a job search marketing plan. It’s much better to learn and understand today’s job search techniques before you get started, rather than just trying different things until something works. Here are the important concepts of a job search marketing plan.
Know How to Distinguish Yourself
If you’re going to advertise yourself, you need to know what different companies and recruiters are looking for. Any executive knows the importance of c-level personal branding, so you need to know how to brand yourself to fit the current market. How you portrayed yourself a decade ago is likely much different in today’s job market. Figuring out what characteristics leads to a successful job search is the first part of developing a good marketing plan.
Figure Out What Your Job Search Will Entail
When writing a professional resume, it’s better to be specific and target certain companies or industries rather than being too general. This just means you need to do a little homework upfront before you even start crafting your resume. You may need to do some online research, attend networking events or even visit some companies to get more information. Come up with a plan of what you’re willing to do and what you need to do based on your resources.
Develop a Plan and Stick With it
When you come up with a plan, you need to stick with it. Your plan is obviously to succeed, so adjustments may need to be made along the way in order to achieve your goals. To improve your c-level personal branding, this could mean attending one networking event each week. It could also mean you need to send out one resume to a different company every day after you’ve done your research on them. Set aside time every day to work on the plan you set in place and stick with it religiously. Professional Resume Services is one of the top rated resume writing services to help you develop a job search marketing plan. If you need any assistance with creating your perfect plan, feel free to contact us at any step along the way.
Five Excellent Ways to Kick off Your New Year’s Job Search!
Many people put their job search on hold throughout the holiday season, and that’s ok! With the New Year here, now is the time to revamp your job search and kick it off the right way to set yourself up for a great 2017. No matter what stage you’re in with your job search, it’s never too late to get started. In fact, the tips we provide here are great for anyone, whether you’re just considering a new job or if you’re ready to send resumes to different companies.
1. Attend Networking Events
Even the best resume writing services will tell you the best way to put your resume to use is to network with other professionals. As an executive, your name has to be known in the industry to have any kind of credibility. So go out and make it a point to meet new people every week to kick start your job search!
2. Set Achievable Goals
Setting unrealistic goals can put a damper on your job search because it’s easier to get discouraged. If one of your goals is to grow your network, get in touch with an executive LinkedIn profile writer to help set you on the path of success.
3. Update Your Executive Resume
If you don’t have the skills for writing a professional resume, you’re not alone. That’s why many executives use the best resume writing services when it’s time to update their resume. There’s never a better time than the present to update your skills and accomplishments, so make it a priority to start the year.
4. Revamp Your Social Networking Profile
LinkedIn is one of the best tools to help you kick off your New Year’s job search. However, if it’s not developed properly, it could actually hurt your chances of landing the job you desire. If you need to, hire an executive LinkedIn profile writer to ensure everything you need to have on your page is there.
5. Be Open to Change
It’s easy to have tunnel vision when looking for a new job, but try to be as open-minded as possible. New career opportunities can come from anywhere, so if you have a closed mind you may end up missing out on a great new job. The New Year is a great time to start your job search on the right note. If you need any more hints or help along the way, feel free to contact us.
Five Big Job Hunting Mistakes You’ll Want to Fix This New Year
If you take the time to speak with any executive level job-seeker, you are likely going to hear a few words of wisdom about how to find the perfect executive position. However, many of these individuals are full of misguided tips that are going to hinder, rather than help, your job hunt. To avoid falling for these common job hunting mistakes, use the information here.
Not Knowing What Your Personal Market Value Is
Prior to attending even one interview, take some time to assess your value in the open market. If you don’t know your professional worth, there is a good chance you will undersell your experience and knowledge, which will hurt your negotiating power. There are tools to help with this. For example, compensation benchmarking can help you determine what your market value is based on your geographic location, experience, skills, etc.
Your Resume Gives All the Details of Your Past Work Experience
It is important to remember, the purpose of a resume is to help you receive a call for an interview. You don’t have to create an extremely detailed autobiography of your entire professional history. If you are having a difficult time consolidating the information on your resume, consider using executive resume writing services.
Trying to Match Your Resume to the Keywords in the Job Posting
HR managers and personnel have to review hundreds of resumes for every position. If they are all full of keywords from the job posting, they are going to have a difficult time finding someone who stands out. Instead of “stuffing” the resume with keywords, fill it with information that describes you, as well as the unique expertise you have. Professional executive resume writers can help capture all the characteristics that help you stand out as a great candidate.
Assuming You Need More Certifications or Schooling to Get the Job You Want
You don’t have to acquire an MBA or a large selection of certifications to find the right executive role. Remember, two of the wealthiest executives that ever lived, Carlos Slim and Bill Gates, don’t have these credentials. The important thing is to utilize your skills and abilities to demonstrate your professional experience and expertise.
Ruling Out Opportunities Carelessly
Don’t overthink the job description you read. Treat the ad as an ideal. In many cases, the description is a wish list of what businesses want in a new executive, but there are only a few requirements that are absolutely essential. Don’t take yourself out of the running without evaluating the situation carefully. Once you know the specifics, you can begin writing a professional resume that targets these desired traits. Executive resume writing services can help you create a resume to highlight your unique skills and abilities. Using these professional services can help you stand out from other candidates seeking the same executive level position.
The Best Ways to Tweak Your Resume to Match a Position
Professional executive resume writers can help you tweak your resume.
Hidden inside every job listing is key information about the position. There are some useful points in a job posting you can use when writing a professional resumeand cover letter. In fact, you can use the information the company provides to make resumes that get you hired by matching it up with precisely what they are looking for. Here are some tips for tweaking your resume to match the position you are trying to obtain.
Match Your Skills to What They Are Looking For
You’ll find most professional job listings to be inclusive of all the skills needed to perform the job properly. First of all, remember you most likely don’t need to have mastered all of the skills they are seeking. Don’t disqualify yourself if you don’t have all of the ones listed. Think about your skills versus the ones they are looking for and ask yourself these questions:
Do I have most of the hard and soft skills mentioned?
Do you have the experience or knowledge needed to do the job?
What is your success rate and experience with the skills in the past?
What other complementary skills do you possess?
Many skills can fall under broader categories so you can compare your present skills and level of experience to what the company needs. When you are writing a professional resume, include the skills related to what is listed, as well as your skills sets and experiences that are complementary to what they are looking for.
Match Your Characteristics with Their Job Description
Many times a job posting will contain attributes they would like to see in a candidate. They may use words like self-starter, ambitious, team player or organized. As you are reading the job description, think about the characteristics they listed and which ones may be applicable for you. Can you think of examples in your work history that are demonstrations of these specific attributes? The point is to make a connection with the company between what they want and what you have to offer. Use the attributes from the job listing on your cover letter and resume, if applicable.
Match Specific “Buzz” Words with Their Listing
Watch for words you see over and over in the job listing. These might be skills or other keywords they use. For instance, do they consider themselves a business? An organization? A company? Make sure you or your professional executive resume writersuse these terms when drawing up a resume and cover letter. Resumes that get you hired will have the same tone and terminology the hiring agent uses in their descriptions of the job and qualifications they provide. You can learn a lot about the company by the tone they use in the description and you’ll get a sense of being a good fit for the position. Using the same language they use will demonstrate to them you are the perfect match.
Whether you are writing your own or hiring professional executive resume writers, it’s beneficial to know how to use your resume to show how well you match the position.
Consider Some of These Important Elements While Writing Your Resume
Writing a professional resume requires certain elements.
There are many common mistakes job seekers make throughout their searching process, especially where resumes are concerned. One of the most common is using the exact same resume for every position you apply for. Despite popular belief, your tactics for a job hunt cannot be one size fits all. Depending on the industry you’re in and the types of positions you’re seeking, you may have to adapt your resume to fit. This may mean having several copies for different purposes. Furthermore, there are many key elements to include while you’re writing a professional resume. Read on to find out just what they are.
Formatting Your Resume
The majority of the time, your resume is the first interaction a recruiter will have with you. You have to make it count. Poor formatting is one of the quickest ways to make your resume less effective. Unfortunately, it is also one of the easiest elements to forget about when you’re writing a professional resume. We recommend keeping these tips in mind:
Keep your resume brief. We recommend no more than three pages maximum for senior level employees. It isn’t necessary to detail all of your experiences throughout your career. Just the most relevant information will do.
Always save your resume as a PDF file. Everyone can view PDF files. There are few formatting differences between PDF reading programs, meaning your resume will stay uniform, no matter what computer has opened it. The same cannot be said for Microsoft Word files, where a number of factors can affect the appearance of your resume.
Use the right email address. It’s always best to use your professional email address, but one that is maintained by you and you alone. Listing a company email address can create poor implications.
Additionally, certain pieces of information must be covered with respect to your previous positions. Be sure to include the name of the company or organization you’ve worked for, an explanation of what they do, the name of your position, the dates of when you started and ended working with the company, your specific responsibilities, any achievements and personal contributions you made and your professional reputation among your coworkers, supervisors and others.
Showcasing Your Best Attributes
Presenting what you can bring to a company is just as important to your resume as including prior experiences within your field. It’s an excellent way of introducing yourself in a positive manner. However, there’s also an art to personal branding for senior level managers.
Be sure to research the companies you’re applying to prior to composing your resume. Adapt your industry knowledge and your past contributions in a way that shows you can match what your prospective employer is looking for. You should always try to make your resume as pertinent to the position as possible.
If you need further advice, reach out to one of the many executive resume writing services available. They can make sure you’re including all the information you need and none of what you don’t!
Writing a professional resume requires looking at yourself in a new light.
Resumes have one sole objective: to illustrate to a recruiter or hiring manager how you’re the best person to serve the company you want to work for. If you’re in the process of writing a professional resume, you should keep the concept of selling yourself to an employer in mind. Think about the desires an employer seeks in a potential employee as you describe yourself and how you are the best person available. Of course, this can be trickier than it sounds. To learn how to do this, we have a few handy pieces of advice for you. Here is some of the best information you can include on your resume to help yourself stand out.
Talk About Your Skills
Including a section that specifically highlights your ‘Core Competencies’ (and is titled as such) will help you bypass the automation that sorts through applicants and gets hiring managers to give you a closer look. Use the job listing you originally found as your guide by paraphrasing some of the requirements listed there. Apply them to your own previous work experiences by discussing how you’ve fulfilled these duties at your old workplaces.
Describe Some of Your Achievements
As the classic writing advice goes, “show, don’t tell.” Rather than talking about how you’re the best, use facts to explain. Talk about what you’ve achieved over the years and how this has helped the companies you’ve previously worked for. You can do this through several means, such as elaborating on awards you’ve won in the past.
We also recommend including a section detailing the highlights of your career when following the best executive resume format. In this section, you can add information about the most notable accomplishments you’ve achieved while working for a company, using numbers and other data to explain this. You should only do this if you’ve been especially successful in the past because this will work to your advantage by catching an employer’s eye and making them curious. As with the rest of your resume, stay concise.
Write a Summary About Yourself
This is just one vital element of the best executive resume format. You should add it underneath your contact details. Lend yourself a title that aligns with what you believe an employer desires. Again, keep this portion of your resume to-the-point. Ideal summaries are short—about only four lines at the most—and talk about how you can be of benefit to the company you want to work for, as well as the attributes you can lend. This will help you stand out.
We hope these tips will serve as a valuable resource for introducing yourself to employers in a meaningful and productive way. However, these are only a few great ways to make writing a professional resume an easier process. For more information and resources, consider contacting executive resume writing services.
A professional resume writing service can help you find the perfect new job.
With the start of the new year, job hunting may be more important to you than ever, whether you’re on the lookout for a change or just beginning. One of the most helpful things you can do is to start polishing your search methods as soon as possible—so you can dive into the 2016 job listings with a rejuvenated attitude. We at Professional Resume Services have compiled an assortment of handy pointers for job hunting and writing a professional resume to start your new job search.
Figure Out What You Want the Most
If you aren’t yet sure what type of job you’re looking for, your search will only prove to be complicated and confusing. Try to think about the job that best suits you or your best talents and how they fit into the job market. Think about why you’re searching for a new career. Consider whether you want to change who you work for or what your work is entirely. Evaluate everything about your work experiences and desires thus far, including the benefits and disadvantages of your present job and what you want from a future job. Then you can begin to take the next step forward.
Create a Profile on LinkedIn
If you don’t already have a profile in LinkedIn, it’s a good idea to create one. LinkedIn is a valuable tool when it comes to job searching and can put you in contact with recruiters from companies across the country. Whether you’re setting up your profile for the first time or need to revamp it, it always helps to get as specific as possible. Tag your profile with keywords pertaining to the industry you want to work in. This helps recruiters locate you, meaning they can see what you can offer their companies.
Start or Improve a Resume
Writing a professional resume is one of the main keys to a successful job search. If you can afford it, consider hiring a professional resume writing service to help you out, either by writing your resume for you or giving you advice on how to improve it (and thus improve your chances of landing a great job). For even better chances, you can write separate resumes for each company you’re interested in to better cater to what they’re looking for in an employee. This will help you stand out to hiring managers.
Go After Your Dream Companies
Getting acquainted with individuals who are already working for the same company you want are considering will only serve to help your cause. Get to know as many people aligned with the company as possible. This will help you get your foot in the door with recruiters because you’ll have a larger number of people able and willing to put in good word for you.
Landing a great job is not an easy task, but these steps should help you get started on the right path. If you need a little extra help with any of these steps, consider enlisting the help of a professional resume writing service or a job counselor. As one of the top resume writing services around, our team at Professional Resume Services wants to see you succeed.
Will a General Resume Work for Your Executive Job Search?
A general resume is exactly that – general. When seeking an executive position, your resume needs to be a focused presentation of relevant skills. You need to be able to demonstrate how you can benefit your target company in an executive capacity. The types of resumes that get you hired are polished, concise and tightly targeted. Writing a professional resume highlighting core executive talents is a must. If you aren’t confident in your ability to market yourself and your specific strengths successfully, hire the best executive resume writing service you can.
Targeted and Concise
In today’s human resources department, your resume is quite likely to be ‘read’ by applicant tracking systems or software before it is seen by HR personnel. Due to this, industry-related keywords are an essential part of resumes that get you hired. Without those keywords in a natural, correct concentration, your resume isn’t likely to make it past the applicant tracking program. Using a general resume almost guarantees a company using this hiring tool will pass over your resume completely.
Once your resume gets in front of human eyes, industry experts estimate it has about 10 seconds to capture the attention and interest of a hiring manager. One of the best executive resume writing service skills is the concise, direct presentation of the most relevant information, the information the reader uses to decide if it is worth reading any further. That alone is worth considering professional executive resume preparation.
Don’t Stray from the Purpose
While who you are, what you’ve done and how much you know all have value, resumes that get you hired are not quite so “I”-focused. Instead, that information is relayed in the context of what specifically you can do for that company should you garner that executive position. That is what potential employers are interested in: how choosing you will benefit their company in real, concrete terms. Your general resume simply can’t accomplish that.
The Art of Presentation
Another of the best executive resume writing service advantages has to do with how responsible and professional it makes you appear. That is more than your education, work history, skills and talents. A polished, professional executive resume has no spelling or grammar errors. It is professional and efficient in style, adhering to formal executive business communication norms. These things communicate information, letting potential employers know what they can expect in your professional demeanor and executive style.
Don’t Waste Time and Effort
In this competitive job market, a general resume, especially when seeking an executive position, is a waste of time. It is unlikely to yield the results you hope for and can actually harm your chances of landing the position you want. Instead, invest time and effort in crafting targeted, professional resumes that get you hired. If you aren’t up-to-date with the latest in successful resume writing, invest in having your executive resume professionally written for you.
