3 Ways to Sell Yourself in Your Executive Resume

3 Ways to Sell Yourself in Your Executive Resume 3 Ways to Sell Yourself in Your Executive Resume I see it all the time high-level, super-talented executives earningsix-figure salaries, leading large organizations, and making major financial impacts with mediocre (at best) resumes.Sigh.It doesnt have to be this way. Your resume should be just as impressive as your actual career. After all, it is a representation of your professional life.Mediocre resumes happen to the best of us especially if we never take time out of our professional journeys to reflect exactly on what makes us great.But thats no excuse, especially not for executives. Today, it is vital to have a branded executive resume that sells your value. The job market is definitely not what it was when you first started your career and worked your way up the corporate ladder. Itsa dog-eat-dog world out there.Okay, maybe Im being a bit dramatic but if you dont know how to play the game, youre dead in the water.There are a m ultitude of ways to brand your executive resume and really sell yourself. Here are a few tips on the topic from a certified resume expert1. Pinpoint Your UniquenessThink about it When youre hiring, yourelooking for someone special.You want that purple squirrel with aproven track record and a specific set of skills that will positively impact the business.Well, now the tables have turned. You need to be that someone special in a hiring managers life.Funny, isnt it?Start by taking inventory of what youve done for your past employers. Look for trends in your career history. Perhaps youre the go-to guy (or gal) for realigning and reenergizing disjointed kollektivs. Maybe youre thepartie who can integrate technology into business operations to maximize profits.Whatever it is, its your unique story. Once you figure it out, tie it back to what your future bosses will be looking for in a candidate. Then, infuse this message into your resume.Master this, and everything else should fall into place. Your resume will morph into a value-based, highly focused document that sells you like hot cakes2. Quantify Your AchievementsDont be afraid to add a few numbers here and there or, screw it, everywhereNo, seriously Try to incorporate performance metrics into every bullet.Tell the reader how much money you saved, how many new clients you secured, how much revenue you generated, how many team members you led, how much you improved productivity,how many states were in your territory, how many cups of coffee you drank every day oops. Sorry. I got carried away for a second.The point is, quantifying your achievements validates your claims of being agreat leader. Heres a quick example Instead of writing, Led team of engineers in the integration of multiple process-improvement initiatives, you can dig deeper and get more specific Led team of 60 engineers in the integration of 12 large-scale process-improvement initiatives with combined budget of $25M.This gives the readera better id ea of the scope of what you did while offering them an opportunity to determine if the position at hand is a good fit for you. Surely you wouldnt want to go from a team of 60 to a team of 5? You likely want to move upward and onward to increasingly challenging roles. This is a great way for the recruiter to understandyour level and how it aligns with the open position.3. Add a Graph or Chart That Highlights Your AccomplishmentsYou only have an average of six seconds to impress a recruiter with your resume. Whats the best way to grab their attention in such a short period of time?Recruiters arent going to dig through dense paragraphs to find your achievements. Why should they? They dont have the time to play detective and search through your resume to figure out why youre special. Make it crystal clear.A graph or chart that showcases how much you grew productivity or how you led sales to explode 300 percent in one year conveys the message much faster than a buried sentence could.Furt hermore, a chart or graph can break up the monotony for recruiters, who look at hundreds of resumes day in and day out. fruchtwein are pretty lackluster. Furtherdifferentiating yourself by putting forth a professional, butexciting document that makes you stand out thatis the name of the game.I know Your expertise is in generating revenue for your company, not writing about yourself. Still, these tips should help you get off to a good start. And if youre not sure that you can do this on your own, you can always look for help from a credentialed executive resume writer.Melanie L. Denny is president of Resume-Evolution.Master the art of closing deals and making placements. Take our Recruiter Certification Program today. Were SHRM certified. Learn at your own pace during this 12-week program. Access over 20 courses. Great for those who want to break into recruiting, or recruiters who want to further their career.

6 Tips for Negotiating Your First Job Offer

6 Tips for Negotiating Your First Job Offer6 Tips for Negotiating Your First Job OfferEven if youre tempted to say yes automatically, its so worth your while to step back and look before you leap. You may worry that in todays competitive market the job offer will be retracted if you negotiate salary and benefits. But the key is to have a deft negotiation strategy once the job is on the table.Still hesitant about negotiating your first job offer? Consider this if you departure out at a lower salary, the cumulative cost over the course of your career could be astounding. As noted in this Forbes article, a salary difference of $5,000 in your 20s could add up to to a million dollars or more by the time you retire. Bottom line dont shy away from negotiating, even if this is your first job offer ever.Study up on these sixtips for negotiating your first job offer1. Know your value in the marketplace.Heres where your research about the company, the job, and the industry will be essential. A major goal in negotiating is not to sell yourself short by quickly accepting a lowball offer because youre simply so happy to get the job.However, you also dont want to go overboard and price yourself out of the position. If you fully understand what your skills and education are worth in the industry marketplace, youll be on firm ground during salary negotiations.2. Dont play hardball.While you want to be definite during the negotiations, avoid a hard-nosed approach, which could lead employers to think youre difficult and not a team player. Be reasonable or you could lose the offer.Negotiating your first job offer requires walking a fine line, but its important tomake any requests known now. Many employers actually expect some level of negotiation at this stage, even from younger professionals in their first job.3. Be clear on job responsibilities. Exactly what does your new job entail? What are the hours and goals? Setting expectations now will queue you up to do great work that m eets or succeeds your potential employers needs. Its also good to know whatyour job titlewill be.If youre stepping into a position where the title has been determined beforehand you may be happy with that. If not, research companies for jobs with similar duties and explore what job titles they use.4. Figure out jobflexibility going in.If youre looking for job flexibility- for example, the ability to work remotely some or perhaps all of the time- start the discussion now. If younegotiate flexible work optionswhen the job offer is made both you and your employer will start off on the same page, especially if work flexibility is a top priority for you. If you wait until you start the job, you may find it difficult to backtrack and ask for job flexibility after the fact.5. Find out about tools and training.What technical and other support does your potential new employer provide new employees? If the job involves remote work, what platforms does the company use and how you will you acce ss them?If youre just setting up a home office, offers home office and tech tips that may facilitate youraccess to both internal and external communications the company uses. Ask what support the employer may offer, and dont hesitate to take it.6. Dont be afraid to say no.This may be the scariest thing of all, but dont be afraid to say no if the job offer just doesnt measure up to your expectations. Be professional, of course, if youve weighed the job offer and decide to respectfully decline.Just as you would after a job interview, sending a thank-you notefor the job offer is always a good idea.Looking to get better at interviewing? Check out our job interviewing tips category.

Are You Making These Common Resume Mistakes

Are You Making These Common Resume Mistakes Are You Making These Common Resume Mistakes As a certified professional resume writer, Ive leidiced that one of the most common mistakes people make when writing their resumes is trying to include everything. While it is important that your resume contains pertinent details, qualifications, and achievements, you dont have tolist every little thing about your work experience.This may sound counterintuitive, butincluding less information on your resume may be better than oversharing. You dont want to end up with a bland and unimpressive resume, but whenyou have held many similar jobs throughout the course of your career, youll start to repeat yourself. The same responsibilities willpop up under each position.This is not the kind of resume that catches eyes. If anything, itll make recruiters space out as they skim over your repetitive document.The goal of a resume is to impress the reader with your skills and entice them to want to learn mor a about you preferably through an interview.Stop Repeating YourselfIf you continue to repeat the same job duties under each position listed on your resume, the reader will likely find your document uncreative and boring. Worse, theyll probably assume that you yourself are also uncreative and boring because you made this resume. If that happens, the recruiter or hiring manager is definitely going to go with another candidate maybe even someone who presented the same qualifications in a more interesting resume.Not sure what I mean by repeating yourself? Lets use an administrative assistant as an example. Often, admin. assistants have very similar job duties in each position they hold. The trick is to usedifferent wording and phrasing even if you are talking about similar duties to make your resume stand out.For example- Office manager handling in- and outbound phone calls, serving as first point of contact undertaking client inquiries, and resolving minor disputes.and- Client rela tions specialist serving to engage clients over the phone, answer any questions, resolve problems, and direct calls to the correct point of contact.These two examples are describing essentially the same job duties, but the different words and phrases make the two descriptions seem different. Try not to repeat job duties acrossmultiple jobs, and if you do have the same responsibilities, try to word them differently.Including Too Much InformationAnother thing to understand is that you do not need to list out every single responsibility you held at each job. List only the responsibilities thatcorrespond with thejob to which you are applying. If that starts to get repetitive, then focus on the duties that make you stand out.Lets look at the admin. assistant again. It is a common knowledge that admin. assistants help answer phones, file paperwork, maintain orderly offices, and so on. Now, if you went above and beyond in your role maybe you managed social media accounts, planned events, or helped with the hiring of new employees then those are duties you want to emphasize in your resume.The TakeawayWhen you are writing your resume, remember that less is often more. You dont have to include everything on your resume. When it comes down to it, no one is looking at your resume to find out if youre a nice person.The goal of a resume is to highlight your qualifications and show potential employers your achievements throughout your career.Michele Lando is a certified professional resume writer and the founder of Write Styles.Master the art of closing deals and making placements. Take our Recruiter Certification Program today. Were SHRM certified. Learn at your own pace during this 12-week program. Access over 20 courses. Great for those who want to break into recruiting, or recruiters who want to further their career.