Looking For An Executive Job?

If you are planning to secure a better executive position in this job market, you need to project yourself as a 'must-have' applicant to today's cautious and risk-averse employers.

To do this successfully, it is important to anticipate what companies are looking for and persuasively communicate why you are more valuable than other candidates with similar career credentials.

By far, the easiest and most logical way to get attention of hiring decision makers is with your executive resume. This is the starting point of your executive search. There is a lot of confusion about executive resumes as so much information seems contradictory. As a result, many executive job seekers don't know where to start when it comes to preparing their resume and end up with a mediocre document.

Forget everything you've read about resumes for a minute. Let's clarify the confusion and look at what really works.

Did you know that there are basically just two types of executive resumes? They are ME-FOCUSED and EMPLOYER-FOCUSED resumes. Obviously, the latter is what you want to aim for, as it will get you considerably superior results. In fact, surveys show that Employer-Focused resumes are up to 12 times more effective than Me-Focused presentations.

So what are the real differences between a Me-Focused and an Employer-Focused executive resume? Let us take a closer look:

A TYPICAL ME-FOCUSED RESUME:

- Provides lengthy descriptions of responsibilities, challenges and achievements that were significant to previous employers, months or years ago;

- Assumes that new employers are going to read between the lines and somehow realize future benefits they can derive based on your prior functions and results;

- Uses boring language that does not effectively articulate executive differentiation but instead tries to follow a predictable format.

IN CONTRAST, AN EMPLOYER-FOCUSED RESUME:

- Sounds more like a succinct executive proposal than old news, and is written in a 'here is what this means to you' style instead of 'here is what I did for someone else' (in other words, it is employer-friendly, not merely past-focused and self-congratulatory);

- Summarizes key knowledge you gained through past experience and then explicitly articulates how it can be valuable to your new employers (i.e. it demonstrates specific benefits employers can gain from hiring you);

- Has contemporary, well-integrated and industry-relevant keywords that show your competence and leadership potential, and avoids superfluous jargon that diminishes your professionalism (i.e. it is current and not boring!).

Why is having an Employer-Focused resume is a good idea? For one, it boosts your professional image and helps you present yourself as a more worthwhile and clearly above-average executive candidate. And this, in turn, leads to quality interviews and better executive job offers.

In summary: Before you start your job search, ask yourself: Is my resume written to promote my past or to help new employers realize their goals? Then fine-tune your resume to make sure that it is employer-focused. This will help you get ahead and stay ahead in the new executive job market. Best of success!

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