Career Management Alliance Blog

You have all the information you need, you’ve identified your differentiating personal/leadership brand attributes, and you know what skills, qualifications, and personal qualities are required for the position you’re seeking. You’re ready to put it all together.

Pay close attention to the most important section of your resume.

The make-or-break area of your resume is the top of the first page, since it will be read first. Use it to your best advantage. This lead-in bite should introduce and encapsulate your personal brand and value proposition. It should be able to stand on its own to pre-qualify you for the position. Pack in as much critical information here as possible to draw in readers and compel them to consider you. It’s okay to bring forward select contributions that would chronologically land on the second page and place them in this eye-catching location.

Include a personal brand statement.

A stand-alone brand statement is still fairly cutting-edge so, in itself, will differentiate you. Of course, the unique and compelling content you deliver here will turn heads too. You may feel this isn’t right for your particular field or circumstances, or you may not be comfortable with such a bold statement. Your resume will still have great differentiating impact if you weave your unique combination of personal brand attributes throughout your resume and other career marketing documents.

Write from your own voice.

Cut the resume-speak. You’ve probably reviewed many resumes when recruiting new talent. You know how boring and lifeless they can be when riddled with trite catch phrases that don’t give any indication of who that person really is and what value they will bring to your company. Complement rich key word phrases with strategically placed colloquial phrases that echo your speaking voice and evidence your brand.

Limit your resume to 2 pages.

Pare down to the essentials. You need to include just enough to capture and hold the readers’ attention – you can do this in 2 pages. To provide deeper slices of standout contributions and further support your brand, supplement your resume with a suite of 1 to 2 page brand-focused, value-driven collateral documents – achievement or leadership initiatives summary, career biography, reference dossier, etc.

For the sake of brevity, in the “Professional Experience” section, there is no need to include repetitive lists of obvious responsibilities for each position you’ve held. And replace the overused phrase “responsible for” with robust action verbs – launched, pioneered, spearheaded, capitalized on, maximized, etc.

Always keep in mind that the purpose of your resume is to differentiate you from everyone else competing for the same jobs and to best generate interest in you as a candidate. Branding your resume and loading it with concise, vibrant content will help you make this happen.

Meg Guiseppi

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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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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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The profile (or summary or qualifications section) of your resume is going to make you or break you. So why am I repeatedly seeing resumes that start with “Results-driven…” “Experienced…” Skilled…” or some similar tired language?

The profile is where you must make the potential employer stand up and take notice. No one notices language that 150 other candidates also wrote on their resume. Everyone considers themselves to be results-driven, experienced and skilled. So let’s talk about how to make your profile specific to you and you alone.

1) What can you actually come into the organization and do? This requires long consideration. The potential employer doesn’t only want to see what you know; he wants to see if your knowledge will benefit his company.

2) What are you historically known for? Evaluate your successes over the arc of your career. Is there a pattern? Do you nearly always accomplish turnarounds? Have you led a series of good start-up operations?

3) What are your areas of expertise? Go above and beyond key words in this section. Your expertise has more to do with HOW you do what you do. That means your flair, your style and your approach.

Applying these 3 points will get you noticed in the critical first 30 seconds. Then the employer will be more likely to spend a few minutes reading the remainder of your resume. Make sure the career history you present includes multiple examples that support your statements in the profile.

By Jewel Bracy DeMaio

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I came across a question posted on a mailing list I receive and I was intrigued with the thread of conversation, as well as, comments from an acquaintence with years of professional experience working with job boards.  I wanted to pass it along and encourage you to comment from your own experience.

The question had to do with including a street address and home phone number as contact information across the top of the resume.  Several professional resume writers indicated they only include a candidate’s name, city, state, and zip code due to problems with identity theft.  There was also concern that HR reps use the address information to screen candidates based on “too long a commute”.  Since I include all contact information, and know there are several ways to obtain personal information on the web simply by having a name, I passed this question on to a professional who works with job boards daily in his work with a resume service.  His comments follow:

If currently employed and the search is a secret- you obviously post confidentially. Through my [resume] service, you choose confidential and you make sure to strip out anything on the pasted resume and cover letter that can identify you. If not through my service, you be even more careful and cover up anything that can give you away including company names, exact job descriptions as they’re written up by the company you work for, etc. If NOT currently employed - You don’t post confidentially.

It is FACT that those who post confidentially receive less hits. It’s human nature. If you have 5 candidates that look great on paper, and 3 have contact info. attached including a name, and 2 do not, the first three are contacted first. Those who use job boards [professionally] KNOW that recruiters plant “traps” on the boards in the form of confidential candidates. They’re fake candidates planted by the recruiter to create job orders. Hiring authority emails the “confidential searcher” and the next thing you know you hear back from a recruiter saying “Actually, I placed that person but have others just like him/her…lets talk”. Many are skeptical of confidential candidates who look too good to be true. often they are.  THAT SAID…it doesn’t mean confidential searchers will not be contacted…just not as much as the non-confidential. The point of using the boards is to maximize your chances of being contacted so unless your search is a secret, I see no reason to post  confidentially. 

If the job seeker is still not comfortable with it, even if not employed, then I can see them giving a fake street address…but the moment you give a fake phone number, you just eliminated those hiring authorities who are more inclined to pick up the phone and call over email. In a stack of 20 people they like, they simply may not email each one. They’ll call quickly and see if they can schedule an interview. I wouldn’t doctor names or phone numbers if your search is not secret. Maybe you change the company names on the resume to “Confidential” but  don’t change phone number and eliminate potential interested parties in reaching you.  

Your experiences?

Faith Sheaffer-Thornberry

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Are you onto this craze about “The Secret,” which says if you visualize, prepare and communicate, then what your heart truly wants will come to you? I think it would be beneficial to apply these concepts to resumes, the job search and interviewing.

I had a client recently who had a long, solid, high-level history in technology. He started his own consulting firm a few years ago, and was looking to re-enter corporate America. My recommendation was that while his history contained broad expertise and the foundation for excellent accomplishments, the existing resume failed to carry the impact required.

The response was a barrage of negativity, at himself, but voiced to me. “I’m too old; they’re going to see that.” “I’ve been out the job market for too long.” “What if they think I want to come in and take over?” “They’re going to assume the salary I want is too much.” And the client went on with more.

Whoa! Listen, half this battle is you have to have a solid work history. The other half is you need to present that in a stand-out resume. And the other, extra half is attitude, attitude, attitude.

The fact is, the client’s age issue can be easily handled in a resume so he’s positioned as experienced, not old. The right tone in a resume can readily communicate the candidate does not need to be the “top dog,” with the high salary associated with that. And as far as being out of the job market, the candidate could present several successful, strategic engagements from his most recent consulting experience.

So what to do about this attitude?  That’s the secret. There’s no room for negativity in the secret. Visualize the position you want to be in; that doesn’t mean just saying to yourself, “I want X.” It means internalizing your goal in your core. Prepare: a good resume, and strong interviewing skills. Communicate: put the resume out there, network, renew relationships, leverage existing relationships. Exude that positive energy, and there’s a much better chance that good things will happen.

By Jewel Bracy DeMaio

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Quick! Raise your hand if:

You are “highly accomplished.”

Raise your other hand if you are “results-oriented.”

Stand up if you have “solid communications skills.”

Congratulations! Now your resume officially looks just like everyone else’s!

Can we turn this situation around please? I want you to present to the employer who you really, truly, actually, authentically are, and what that means you can come in and do for the employer’s organization. Amazingly enough, this has little to nothing to do with being profit-focused, goal-driven, or any similar resume-speak.

This has to do with you and you alone. A client this week told me she went on an archeological dig. She’s not an archeologist, anthropoligist, or any kind of researcher. In fact, she’s a middle school educator. She took her students out of the classroom and literally required them to dig deeper.

So, in deciding what the primary message is that you want your resume to communicate, dig deeper. What are your areas of expertise? If you were called on for a consulting assignment, what could you consult about? What have you developed a reputation for being known for over the course of your career? What’s your perspective on your industry that makes the way you do things that much better?

Replace that resume fluff with the real you, and you’ll really have a marketing document that will get you the results you need.

Posted by Jewel Bracy DeMaio.

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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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A potential client emailed me someone else’s resume today, and essentially said, “I want my resume to look like this.” We all know the old adage, “The customer is always right.” But you know what? I just wasn’t hearing that today.

Executives, you can not and should not submit a resume for any position that looks exactly like someone else’s. Think about what this really says about you: you’re not innovative, creative, or forward-thinking. In short, you’re not unique. Certainly this can’t be the professional brand you want to communicate.

So let’s steer away from the formulaic formats and focus instead on how we can showcase the unique you. The goal is to deliver a document that makes the potential employer literally stand up and say, “Who IS this guy? Get him in here immediately!”

At the six-figure level and above, you are not competing against the masses. You are competing against a select few, and an even shorter list once you reach round 2 of the interview stage. Do you know what makes you stand out?

YOU. What is your strategy? Your approach? Your style? Everyone on the short list has numerous accomplishments and achievements, backed by verifiable dollar figures and percentages. The ONLY differentiating factor is how you do what you do, what you think about your approach, and how you think your style can positively affect Mr. Future Employer.

None of these elements can be effectively communicated if your resume looks like your friend’s. Please let’s all make a promise to each other: don’t ask me to copy somebody else’s resume for you, and I’ll give you a marketing piece that is an individual as a fingerprint. Deal? Deal.

Posted by Jewel Bracy Demaio 

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