7 Key Components of a Successful Executive Resume

Resume advice from the best executive resume writer service

Senior-level leaders and executives face stronger competition than mid-level professionals when looking for the next employment. Probably, you have a degree from a prestigious university and a track record of impressive achievements under your belt, but your competitors have them as well. Thus, your new executive resume has to be truly distinctive if you want to land a lucrative leadership role. The executive resume writers of our company are going to share the essential elements of an executive resume. Consider adding them to give your resume a competitive edge.

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Executive candidates are picked and selected more carefully than at the lower levels of the corporate hierarchy. The company’s success and finances are at stake, so your resume should instantly prove your exceptional qualifications. That’s why adding to your old resume won’t work: such a resume will look weak compared to the branded and polished application of other executives.

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7 key components of a successful resume cover letter for executive position

1. An executive summary

As an essential component of an executive resume, the summary is meant to explain what distinguishes you from other candidates. Experts recommend seeing the summary as an elevator pitch: concentrate the most significant accomplishments and capabilities you have to offer there. No clichés and vague statements like “thought leader” and “energetic professional” – only facts that you will prove in the rest of your resume. Below, we’ll take a look at the sample of an executive summary section.  

2. Core competencies section

An analogue of Skills section in professional resumes, core competencies section is used to list your relevant skills. Let’s say you are a financial executive who has a track record of cost reduction. In this case, the Core Competencies section should include budgeting, cost management, cost analysis and strategic planning skills. Also, mention your team leadership, training and performance improvement abilities. Avoid using general and obvious skills such as MS Office, financial reporting, etc.
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3. Personal branding

A personal brand is your value proposition that is evident through your resume and other application materials. The ideal place to put it is the resume summary. If you haven’t identified your unique brand yet, write down all the accomplishments you are proud of and highlight what these achievements have in common. Then, ask the people you worked with to describe your qualities and the impact you’ve made. Let’s say you’ve identified that most of your achievements are connected with process improvement and increasing profits. Use it as a branding statement and highlight this idea throughout the resume.

4. Metrics-driven accomplishments

Executives should stay away from focusing on their daily tasks and concentrate on accomplishments instead. Your resume needs to be rich in specific figures that prove the impact you’ve made – quantifiable results, number of people you managed, budget, and other relevant details. Don’t tell you’ve dramatically improved sales – show that the team exceeded sales goal by 245% under your supervision. However, avoid exaggerating on resume – all facts are easy to check, and a little lie can damage your professional reputation.

5. An eye-catching presentation

The resume design should complement the content and guide the reader’s eye, focusing their attention on significant career milestones. Both submitting the black-and-white document and going to great length to make it look fancy and bright aren’t good ideas. Given the audience, consider using deep, calm colors. Use them strategically to highlight the important details such as accomplishment, the name of the prestigious university you graduated from, or a professional certification.

6. An abridged content

It’s hardly possible to squeeze over 20 years of your progressive career history into a 2-3-page resume. In fact, you shouldn’t – an executive resume needs to contain the most relevant and important facts only. You can mention only the titles and company names of your earlier jobs or leave out all the jobs you had 15 years ago. As for the most recent positions, focus on achievements over job duties – at this level, executive recruiters are only interested in your quantifiable contribution.
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7. Testimonials

Feedback from people respected in your industry is one of the key components of an executive resume. Adding 2-3 quotes from well-placed people you worked with will automatically improve your value for the recruiters. Make sure these testimonials are brief (no longer than 3-4 sentences) yet informative. These quotes should advocate for your specific skills, accomplishments or personality traits.
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Executive summary resume sample

A good executive summary should communicate your brand, your strengths and business impact in a glance. Otherwise, picky recruiters might not want to continue reading the rest of your resume. Be sure to use high-impact language and action verbs, give context to your accomplishments, and prove the results with figures. Here are the examples of successful executive summaries:

• Senior-level finance executive with an extensive track record providing financial strategy and reducing costs by 17% for a leading company in the energy industry.
• IT executive leading world-class technology product development initiatives. Maximized team productivity by 22% by implementing new leadership practices and contributed to exceeding product sales target by 27%.

Should you use C-level resume template samples?

The purpose of an executive resume is to communicate the track record of your achievements, strengths and market you for the position. Given the competition for the executive roles and the fact that your competitors are equally (or more) qualified, this goal can be achieved only by showing what makes you unique and what differentiates you from others. This philosophy has nothing to do with using online resume templates that everyone else is using. Resume templates are not very effective at all career levels. However, at the executive level you’ll want to be 100% sure that the design of your resume is one of its kind. By the way, our experts assist with this too – the design of your resume is created by the writer uniquely for you.

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Are you an accomplished leader but feel that your resume undersells your strengths and value? Then, contact us and say “Help me with writing resume”. We have been providing personal resume writing help for over 10 years, and are willing to take your executive resume to the next level, maximizing your interview chances.

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Your executive resume will be completed by one of our experienced American resume writers with a Bachelor’s degree or above and relevant experience. The writer will take all your requirement into account and work on your application until you are satisfied. Our prices are highly affordable either: unlike many other resume companies, we don’t apply an extra fee for executive resume writing.