The Executive Resume: A Slightly Completely different Set of Guidelines

Rosalinda works for a US-based mostly world company. A number of years ago, she took over the Canadian division, which had been beforehand underperforming, and turned things around for the better. About six months ago, she seized an opportunity to share a few of her strategic ideas and options with higher management. They liked what she had to say and not too long ago opened up a new VP position that’s ideally suited to her, especially since it would contain implementing the initiatives she suggested. She desires to strive for the promotion, so we worked together to overhaul her old resume. We took it from the mid-level manager resume she used when she first acquired hired to at least one that reflects the executive she’s turn out to be during her time with the company.

Rosalinda (not her real name, in fact) is transitioning her career upward as a «new» executive, so it’s no shock that she had quite a bit to study the best way to current herself in a new way by her resume. However, I’ve also worked with many seasoned executives who don’t seem to know that in case you’re an executive, you need to observe a slightly totally different algorithm when developing your resume.

Below you may find three explicit reasons why the executive resume is so totally different from a regular resume.

By the way, I’m defining «executive» as executive directors, senior directors, vice presidents, c-level officers, board members, and anybody concentrating on a strategic leadership position of their career.

Length

For the person contributor or the mid-level manager, we expect to see a two-web page summarized resume that shows about 10-15 years of work history. Expertise previous to 10-15 years ago can be displayed or not — it’s totally optional. However, for an executive, we need to see the career progression in full. Besides, of course, for the minor jobs you had early on — there isn’t any have to show the job you had as a pizza delivery driver while you were in school.

There’s also plenty more info to be included on the primary web page within the first section, which is the profile or summary section. On a regular resume for a non-executive function, this part could also be as brief as one or sentences, or it could be up to a half-page long. On the other hand, for some executive resumes, particularly for c-stage and vice president candidates, the profile or summary part fills all the first page.

Because of these two factors — more years of experience and more information within the profile — the executive resume is usually three, typically even 4, pages in length.

Executive Profile

As I just talked about, the profile or summary part will, in most cases, take up all the first page of the resume, and the content of that page is the second major reason why the executive resume is so completely different from a regular resume.

No matter what degree your role — whether you’re an executive or not — the summary or profile section needs to inform about and show proof of your value proposition. When you’re an executive, you additionally need to add in something about your leadership type, as well as incorporate more language relating to your strategic business acumen.

The executive’s profile will include the standard: a succinct positioning assertion, industry-specific key words, and something about your distinctive worth proposition. However it will also embrace key words that reflect strategic-degree thinking and responsibilities — phrases like «P&L,» «investor relations,» and «business forecasting.»

The keyity of resumes that I develop for shoppers embrace a career highlights section. On the typical resume, it’s a separate section that is sandwiched between the profile and the expertise sections. Sometimes it shall be included as a part of the profile part rather than be inserted as a stand-alone section. However, with the executive resume, I always embody it as a part of the profile.

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