Preparing an effective executive résumé and cover letter requires the job seeker to successfully and concisely market themselves with imagination and originality.
Your executive résumé should be a strong statement of your skills, abilities, experiences and accomplishments presented in a strategic manner to capture the attention of executive recruiters and senior decision-makers. You résumé should motivate them to contact you to discuss employment opportunities.
Executive résumé writing and career marketing is highly subjective, there are few standardized guidelines for job seekers to help them in developing résumé s and cover letters, documents that have significant impact on their career success.
I have reviewed 1000s of executive résumé s during my 12 years of résumé writing and human resources management career and I have come to recognize the key mistakes that most executives make when writing their résumés. However, executives and senior management professionals make the same résumé writing mistakes as other job seekers, recruiters and hiring decision makers are less forgiving.
Here are some of the top executive résumé writing mistakes:
Duties vs. Accomplishments - Content without results
Recruiters and hiring decision-makers needs to see the results you achieved in each role that is relevant to the job you are targeting. Your executive résumé needs to demonstrate what you accomplished, the distinct value you added and how you made a difference to your past employers. Your unique successes should be measurable and quantifiable to build credibility. You should also briefly provide the context of your position such as the number of direct reports and the budget that you managed. You should never use words and phrases such as “Duties included,""Responsibilities," or "Responsible for” in an executive résumé. Instead, you should focus accomplishment using action verbs.
Unreadable quantitative data
As mentioned above, your contributions are the most critical component of your résumé. However, your résumé should focus on telling stories of your successes and your results and not just packed with numbers. An executive résumé filled with numbers will only serves to will your résumé’s readability and subsequently your job search success. Well-chosen words and phrases will better convey your message. |
Spelling errors, typos and grammatical flaws
It is cliché but you will not get a second chance to make a first impression. Many people are surprised that executive level résumé s contains spelling and grammatical errors, but they do. Poor spelling and grammar at an executive level will significantly hurt your job search. If you do not take care in writing a résumé that could help improve your personal circumstances, how would you treat documents with less personal significance?
The résumé is too general
When reviewing you résumé can a reader immediately tell you who are and your areas of expertise? Do they know instantly your most impressive career achievements? Many executives create broad résumé s so they do not limit themselves during their job search. Unfortunately, broad résumé s lack specific information that would help a recruiter determine if you are a fit for their role. Your executive résumé should tie your accomplishments to that specific employer’s needs.
Unclear layout, poor formatting and structure
Busy decision makers and recruits have short attention spans. Your executive résumé should be clear, concise and provide the relevant information to engage a potential employer to call you. Instead of clutter, focus on identifying and effectively conveying you are “Unique Selling Points” in format that is easy to read. A crowed résumé may turn of recruiters and hiring decision-makers and can be ineffective in your job search.
Contains lies and exaggerations
A survey by J. J. Keller & Associates of 161 surveyed HR professionals, 55% reported that applicants lied about their employment history, education, certifications and licences on their résumé s. This despite the plethora of media stories of high profile people who have lost impressive positives due to their lies and despite the increasing use of background checks conducted by employees, job seekers still laid on their résumé s. Résumé enhancements of any kind is not recommended. Do not lie, stretch the truth or misrepresent the facts. It does not take an official background check to discover lies. Remember Google. It is that that easy.
Review your résumé thoroughly to avoid the above mistakes. Ensure your executive résumé is concise, organized and compelling enough to gain attention in this crowed and competitive market.
Surranna Sandy is the President to Résumé Solutions, a Certified Résumé Writer and Certified Employment interview Professional and a leading Canadian expert in Career Management.
Sandy works with executive job seekers to develop powerful résumé s and related marketing documents and to craft efficient and effective job search strategies. She can be reached at 166-361-1290, http//:www.résumésolutions.ca or by email at info@résumésolutions.ca. |
