The Executive Resume: A Slightly Different Set of Guidelines

Rosalinda works for a US-based global 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 some of her strategic ideas and suggestions with higher management. They liked what she had to say and lately opened up a new VP position that is ideally suited to her, especially since it would involve implementing the initiatives she suggested. She desires to try for the promotion, so we worked collectively to overtake her old resume. We took it from the mid-degree manager resume she used when she first obtained hired to 1 that displays the executive she’s change into during her time with the company.

Rosalinda (not her real name, after all) is transitioning her career upward as a «new» executive, so it’s no shock that she had so much to find out about how you can current herself in a new way through her resume. However, I’ve additionally worked with many seasoned executives who do not appear to know that for those who’re an executive, you should comply with a slightly totally different set of rules when growing your resume.

Beneath you will find three explicit reasons why the executive resume is so different from an everyday resume.

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

Length

For the individual contributor or the mid-stage manager, we expect to see a -page summarized resume that shows about 10-15 years of work history. Experience prior to 10-15 years ago can be displayed or not — it’s totally optional. However, for an executive, we wish to see the career progression in full. Except, of course, for the minor jobs you had early on — there’s no must show the job you had as a pizza delivery driver whenever you have been in school.

There’s also loads more data to be included on the first web page in the first part, which is the profile or summary section. On an everyday resume for a non-executive position, this section may be as quick as one or two sentences, or it could possibly be up to a half-web page long. On the other hand, for some executive resumes, particularly for c-degree and vice president candidates, the profile or summary section fills the whole first page.

Because of these two factors — more years of expertise and more information in the profile — the executive resume is normally three, generally even four, pages in length.

Executive Profile

As I just talked about, the profile or abstract part will, in most cases, take up your complete first web page of the resume, and the content of that web page is the second main reason why the executive resume is so completely different from a daily resume.

It doesn’t matter what degree your function — whether you are an executive or not — the summary or profile part wants to inform about and show proof of your worth proposition. In the event you’re an executive, you additionally need to add in something about your leadership model, as well as incorporate more language relating to your strategic business acumen.

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

The foremostity of resumes that I develop for shoppers embrace a career highlights section. On the standard resume, it’s a separate part that is sandwiched between the profile and the experience sections. Typically it shall be included as part of the profile part rather than be inserted as a stand-alone section. Nonetheless, with the executive resume, I always embrace it as part of the profile.

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