As a senior-level candidate, you have a lot of experience to draw from, and because of this, your resume is in danger of becoming diluted. Writing a functional resume that focuses on your biggest career accomplishments is one solution.
If you've been in the same job for a number of years, most likely, you are a little rusty when it comes to applying for jobs. Consider hiring a professional to help you, and start reaching out to your network as early as possible.
Changing companies at this point in your career can be tough, but with a smart strategy you'll land the next opportunity smoothly. Here, professional coaches from Forbes Coaches Council offer their advice to help you submit a flawless resume.
Clockwise from top left: Bill Gardner, Christine Cavanaugh Simmons, Geoff Coon, Michael S. Seaver, Cherry Collier, Wendi Weiner, Jen Kelchner, Barbara Safani, Emily Kapit. All photos courtesy of the members.
1. Hire a Professional
A number of professionals make a living crafting resumes that pop. Gather all your relevant experience, identify professionals who do resume work, get samples of their output, and hire one. You're not applying for resume writing jobs so why spend time doing something you're not trained to do? After all, identifying qualified talent and effectively delegating is a skill which employers look. — Bill Gardner, Noetic Outcomes Consulting, LLC
2. Focus on the Most Important Career Events
Senior-level candidates have longer careers to leverage. So take the time to reflect on important career events as the plot line of a story. Ask, "What has my quest been?" Or, "If my career were a voyage, what events are key and how have I been changed them?" Your answer gives a unifying through line to your career which translates into a better statement of purpose on your resume. — Christine Cavanaugh Simmons, CCS Consulting, Inc.
3. Show Depth in Accomplishments
Executives must create a brand and market it to employers. For companies, the "why" behind the hire is just as important as the result you deliver, and employers often care about how you approach challenges. Dig beneath the surface result to demonstrate your value. It is one thing to say, "I moved a mountain" and another to say, "Here's how I moved it and why it was important to the company." — Geoff Coon, Resume Platform, LLC
4. Have Insiders Advocate for You
After you’ve updated your resume to display your key hard and soft skills, how you’ve driven quantitative and qualitative results, and customized it to the job description, reach out to people you know inside the organization. Having an internal network of three to five people willing to advocate for you will ensure you are top of mind with the hiring manager. Strong cultural fit occurs through referral. — Michael S. Seaver, Seaver Consulting, LLC
5. Highlight Your Leadership ROI
Establish how your leadership and management abilities directly contributed to measurable indicators of success: higher conversions, revenue and profits, less expenses and faster turnarounds. Where possible, directly tie it back to words in the mission, vision or value statement. — Dr. Cherry Collier, Personality Matters, INC.
6. Utilize a "Career Highlights" Section in Your Resume
Since the top third of the resume is the most important, senior-level candidates need to clearly establish and adequately communicate their enhanced value to an employer by way of leadership, business advancement and key achievements. One such method to ascertain this is to include a career highlights section in their resume that concentrates on accentuating these core areas with solid examples. — Wendi Weiner, JD, NCRW, CPRW, CCM, The Writing Guru
7. Create a Functional Resume
Create a functional resume that highlights your top three sweet spots and related successes. You may even choose to have a separate page with "Challenges and Results" for highlighting key wins. At a senior level, it should be assumed you can deliver on basic tasks related to a role, separating yourself as to why you, the person for the organization, are more valuable. — Jen Kelchner, Kelchner Advisory
8. Create a Clear Message of Value
Focus on your top successes and showcase the milestone achievements that contributed to these successes. This strategy helps you present a branded message of value and provides appropriate context behind your accomplishments. Additionally, it allows your key information to be easily found by a busy recruiter or hiring manager who does a quick scan of your resume. — Barbara Safani, Career Solvers
9. Focus on Results
Resumes are branding pieces and the product is you. Ask yourself this very important question: What have you done that would not have happened otherwise? In other words, how have you been integral to previous companies' and/or projects' success? Focus on these results in the documents to catch the eye of potential employers so they know you are the one to bring in for at least interview. — Emily Kapit, MS, MRW, ACRW, CPRW, ReFresh Your Step, LLC
