Career Management Alliance Blog

When you differentiate your value over and above other candidates competing for the same jobs, you greatly increase your chances to attract the attention you deserve. Along with precise, tight writing and formatting, develop and incorporate your leadership brand and value proposition in your executive resume.

Begin building your executive career brand and value proposition.

Answer the following questions to evaluate your unique market value and begin pinpointing your brand attributes:

Personal/Career Branding

~ Where do your greatest talents lie and how have you used them in your role as a visionary leader?
~ What are the attributes and characteristics of the best in your field? Do you possess all of them?

~ What do you most want prospective employers to know about you?
~ What makes you better than anyone else doing the same work?
~ What jazzes you the most about your work? What things would you relish doing, even if you weren’t paid for them?

ROI & Value Proposition

~ In what critical areas did you add value? What actions did you take to accomplish this? How did the company benefit?
~ What are the top things you did for past companies that wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t there?
~ For what information and expertise did the people you work with consistently rely on you?
~ How well did you embrace the company’s brand and vision?

Use these questions as a starting point, then dig deeper and come up with a full, vivid profile of the best you have to offer your next employer. This kind of information in your executive resume provides evidence of your value, positions you above others vying for the same job, and compels the reader to feel she already knows you. Supply hiring decision makers with the critical information they are looking for and improve your shot at landing the job you deserve.

Next time: Part 3 – Anatomy of a Branded Executive Resume

Meg Guiseppi

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All things Considered, NPR’s afternoon news show, featured this story today, April 7, 2008:

“Police in East Lansing, Mich., used tear gas to disperse thousands of out-of-hand partygoers near the Michigan State University campus at an event promoted as Cedar Fest on Facebook. Police are trying to determine whether the Facebook party organizers can be held accountable.”

How does this news jive with the advice of business bloggers like Bob Gourley, who recently suggested that Executives should use LinkedIn and Facebook?

What will this mean for the cohort of professionals who are streaming over to the interactive Facebook from more static networking forums, like LinkedIn.com?

Are the Facebook “natives” happy about the migration of more professional “immigrants” to the site that has been a place to plan parties, “poke” friends, and check-out fun connections?

Should Facebook friends feel compelled to clean-up their profiles so recruiters and other professionals can use this tool as yet another way to vet candidates? Should professionals be like rain, and go away….?

Will law enforcement authorities be able to hold Facebook members liable for the collateral damage and consequences of postings initiated through the social networking site? Will Facebook’s digital fingerprint and YouTube’s video record of the event put the kibosh on the partying? Will Facebook be able to “grow-up” without going to jail?

Posted by Karen P. Katz; cross-posted on Career Acceleration Notes 

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Over on the Microsoft JobsBlog, there is a post about thank you letters. The blogger states that no one expects you to write a thank you letter and you will never be offered or denied a position based on a thank you letter. Perhaps it is not the culture of Microsoft to expect a thank you letter following an interview, but I am sure that many employers still see value in them and here’s why:

• A thank you letter is a way to reconnect with the interviewer and express gratitude for their time. The letter deepens the relationship established during the interview and gives the employer a reason to continue the dialog.
• A thank you letter reminds the employer of your value add. A recruiter or hiring authority meets many candidates. By briefly reiterating your accomplishments and success stories, the thank you letter can help differentiate you from your competition, make you more memorable, and get you noticed.
• A thank you letter showcases your written communication skills. Employers want to hire people with strong writing skills and the ability to influence others through a persuasive writing style. A well-crafted and thoughtful letter can build a strong case for your ability to do just that.
• A thank you letter demonstrates good manners. Employers want to hire people who are gracious, show respect for others, and work well in teams. A thank you letter suggests a propensity to embrace these important traits.
• A thank you letter reminds the employer of your interest in the job. By reaching out to the person you interviewed with, you are letting them know that you want to contribute to their team and help them solve their problems.

I’ve certainly never heard a recruiter or hiring manager say “Ugggh! I can’t believe this person wrote me a thank you letter!” On the other hand, I have heard recruiters and hiring managers comment on the value of an authentic and well-written letter. While it’s true that some hiring authorities may view the letter as inconsequential, why take a chance?

Posted by Barbara Safani

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During Women’s Histrory Month, Single Ma, author of Fabulous Financials “the journey of a fabulous single mom pursuing financial independence,” wrote a wonderful series on career management and about what it means to be a professional woman.

The full series includes:

Part I: The Professional Woman

Part II: The Myth of Having it All and Being Assertive

Part III: Leadership Styles (participative vs. command & control)

Part IV: Developing Relationships (networking and mentoring)

Part V: Summary and Recommended Reading

We contributed to the discussion with some suggestions we included in the Career Management Alliance article, A Mentorship Roadmap For Your Clients. While mentoring is beneficial for everyone at all levels of the career continuum, research confirms that a strong core of advisors and mentors is more crucial for youth, women, people with disabilities and multicultural careerists. Mentors in your career board of directors can include:

• Formal and informal mentors
• Males and females
• From your ethnic group and other ethnic backgrounds
• Leaders in your company and industry
• Experts from cross-functional segments in your organization
• Peers or others with specialized skills and experiences that will be helpful to you
• Individuals, company based employee resource/affinity groups and external professional associations
• Formal company mentorship programs.
• Industry peers from outside your company.
• Knowledge experts.
• Academics
• Career, workplace, and life coaches. 

Remember to give back to your mentors and pay it forward by helping others achieve their career goals.

Posted by Murray A. Mann

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The standard achievement-focused executive resume we’ve come to accept isn’t cutting-edge anymore and doesn’t differentiate you the way it used to. New strategies have come to the forefront, so take advantage of them before they mainstream and everyone’s using them.

If you want to land at the top of decision makers’ lists, generate more quality leads, and incite more interest in you, consider how the following elements will improve your executive resume:

Put yourself in the reader’s place.

Too many executive job searchers fail to take into account the ever-changing needs of hiring decision makers reviewing their resumes. They want and need to see concise statements of value that immediately communicate who you are, what you have to offer, how you’ll improve bottom line, and whether you’ll be a good fit for the company. Make it easy for them to quickly access and digest what they need to know about you. When this information is supplied in a vivid, compelling way, it will capture the reader’s attention and encourage them to read the entire document. That can only increase your chances to be considered for the position they are trying to fill.

Keep it brief and value-driven.

Their need for brevity and precise writing is driven by a number of factors, including a lack of sufficient time to fully read every resume in front of them and the fact that more and more of them are reading resumes on BlackBerry-type devices, while they’re on the move. A tedious resume laced with repetitive lists of obvious responsibilities and densely-packed information can bog them down, or worse yet, bore them.

Position yourself above the rest with tight, brand-focused statements of value and ROI surrounded by enough white space to make each one stand out.

Next time: Part 2 – Start Building Your Personal Brand in Your Executive Resume

Meg Guiseppi

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