Posted under Resumes on January 8th, 2008
Guess what? Today we’re going to do some new math.
I boldly suggest that when it comes to your resume, 2 + 2 needs to equal 5.
“Wait a minute,” you may say, “I have reached the executive level, and I did that with fabulous achievements, and a lot of them!”
Do your achievements read anything even slightly related to this?
“Generated revenue of $9 million the first year.”
“Launched this new product to achieve $2 million US revenue and $3.7 million abroad.”
“Reduced operational costs 24% within only 6 months.”
“Rightsized the organization, reducing the workforce by 7%, but raising productivity nearly 22%.”
“Captured a new account valued at $11 million.”
“Ranked 1st in new business development, building a $14 million portfolio.”
Et cetera. There could be 35 examples of achievements like those. I know because I’ve seen such exhaustive lists in executive resumes. But you know what? All of these accomplishments look disjointed. While the dollar figures and percentages look great, they don’t add up to a cohesive story or main message.
This is where the new math comes in: your executive resume needs to add up to more than the sum of its parts. Find a common thread across your achievements. Do you almost always come in and generate millions? Then your main message could be that your expertise is business development. Do you have repeated successes turning around distressed operations? Then your story is that you come in, identify inefficiencies, define new strategies, and execute.
Tie those accomplishments all together into a meaningful message. Then you’ll stand out.
Posted by Jewel Bracy DeMaio
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