Resume Writer Matthew Greene, M.Phil.
Why Executive Resumes Are
Not Effective:
|
| Since 1984, Matthew Greene has written (or edited or critiqued) about 6,000 executive and managerial resumes. The vast majority of these have been very successful. Greene is a resume writing expert and consultant, job search maven, and author of the best-selling book, Winning Resumes --"Sure-Hire" Tactics.... (Penguin), a selection of the Fortune (now Money) Book Club. [Visit WINNING RESUMES BLOG at: http://winning-resumes-blog-mattgreene.blogspot.com/ ] |
Let's critique and evaluate your senior executive or senior management resume. Will it work for
you in this recession which some are describing as the Great Recession of 2009? If not, what may be some of the likely reasons for this?
The resumes of a Director, Owner, President, V.P., CEO, COO, CFO, CIO,
Senior Sales/Marketing Executive, Regional Manager or Senior Engineer may be
quite well written and even neatly formatted. But will they also be EFFECTIVE? Does yours seem to be working? Is it generating the job interviews you need? If not, don't think twice about getting professional help. Read the newspapers. Time is NOT on your side.
In dozens of executive and management resumes that I review and evaluate, the vast majority
DON'T work as well as they should or could -- or not at all! Why? The awful reality
is that most executives and managers are NOT good at marketing
themselves and their accomplishments on paper -- effectively. That is NOT a criticism but a statement of fact!
Every executive resume expert will confirm this. It is painfully true of many executive and management resumes in the current recession and needs to be addressed.
How well are you addressing the SPECIFIC needs of your target audience?
Are you demonstrating your ability to do what they need to be done in 2009? Can
they readily see the VALUE of having you on board? Probably not. This is
why, in my view, most executive and management resumes need to be critiqued and also
revamped to make them work better. This is urgent in today's recession which is turning into the Great Recession of 2009
"What VALUE does this executive bring to the table?" Recruiters and
employers will usually ask such questions when they first scan any senior
executive or management resume. After all, why should they be willing to pay a salary of
$100,000 to $250,000 or more to hire you?
Sadly, many executive and management resumes fail to address crucial questions UP FRONT
such as: "What have you already achieved for others that should persuade
us to hire you now?" and "What can and will you do for us?" Related
questions are: "Do you have vision?" "Can you think 'outside the box'?"
"Can you think strategically and execute tactically?" These are legitimate
concerns because employers want to take you on board in a leadership
and/or visionary role.
To make any resume more effective, any indepth analysis or critique or
evaluation will focus on a crucial aspect of the resume: Is there a clear, well-written and
convincing VALUE PROPOSITION or value statement or personal branding statement up front -- in the first few
lines? Is the Summary or Profile section in your resume as strong as it could be? In most
cases it will be lacking and could be much, much better.
Past performance will usually provide the best clues to your present
value. What have you accomplished to date? Is it one or more successful
turnarounds or launching one or more successful startups or achieving
business process improvements or dramatic increases in profitability or
efficiency or productivity or cost reductions? Do you have an impressive track record of expanding global sales or
achieving increased market penetration, or whatever? Such items should be the "meat" of your value
statement.
Your main resume writing problem in competing successfully for a good position in 2009 will be: How and where should your value
proposition, accomplishments, and keywords be presented for maximum
effect?
It will take an experienced professional writer many hours to develop a
truly effective executive resume or marketing tool for you. By contrast,
your own writing efforts may cost you valuable time and money and often
result in a long and frustrating job search. In this recession, time is NOT on your side.
14 Ways To Make Executive Resumes More Effective
"How would you make my resume more effective?" How would you improve it? I am often asked these questions by senior executives and managers who have posted their resume on internet job sites without getting even a nibble of interest. Some have not had a single job interview in 12 months or even two years.
Executive resume writing is a highly specialized field. It requires a high level of analysis, marketing expertise, and a constellation of skills. That's why very few executives are able to write a good VALUE STATEMENT for 2009.
The awful reality is that most executive and management resumes contain serious omissions and/or mistakes. Here are a few:
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The crucial value proposition or value statement or personal branding statement is either poorly worded or unclear or weak or has been omitted. Thus, your main selling message or value statement will be unimpressive or confusing or missing. Nowadays, that could be fatal.
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The resume is NOT audience-focused and fails to address the employer's specific needs in this recession.
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The language of the resume is too "literary" such as "stellar" accomplishments.
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The template used is elegant but NOT effective for making a presentation to today's super-picky recruiters.
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The length of the resume is either too short or too long. In fact, an executive or consulting resume can be 2-6 pages long! Times have changed. Longer resumes have become more acceptable.
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The Job Objective has been omitted or is poorly stated. Today’s job objectives for executives are specific and marketing oriented.
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The Summary Statement or Profile is poorly worded. It may also include amateurish statements like "Highly motivated".
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The statement about your track record may NOT impress.
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Job titles may need to be adjusted to back up or support your Objective. Such titles may define you in the absence of a well written qualifications statement.
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Strategic keywords or phrases or names or figures or percentages are NOT properly highlighted or emphasized in the resume.
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Accomplishments are poorly worded (by omitting crucial "numbers") or lie buried in the text or are not properly bulleted and/or indented or highlighted.
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In many executive resumes there are either nobullets (because some executives are uncomfortable with attention-getters) or too many. Bullets must be few in number but STRATEGIC and not merely decorative.
-
The resume is not easily scannable because nothing "jumps out" at the reader. It is long and gray and boring -- like mashed potatoes!
-
Copying and pasting your Word resume on-line will results in a very unattractive resume with the format disturbed -- an ASCII or Notepad layout that is all over the place. Your MS Word document will first need to be carefully restructured and made presentable -- before submitting it on-line. (For this detailed conversion, most services will charge $50-75. This writer includes it as a "freebie".)
"You Are Your Own Best Investment"
Writing executive level resumes is seldom easy. Developing your value proposition or value statement or personal branding statement will require strong analytical and presentation skills.
To hire a highly skilled executive resume-writing professional has become a necessity in 2009. He or she will compose an effective value statement to give your resume a competitive edge. You need that in the Recession of 2009.
Experienced professional writers will usually charge $300 to $895 (or more) per resume depending on the length and complexity of the task.
A note of caution:
Many internet job sites require your resume information to be presented in
their own form or style. By complying, much of your "sizzle" will be
lost in the process!
And "headhunters"
will quickly place an unattractive price tag on your head and/or circulate your resume to hundreds of possible employers who might not be too willing to pay their commission of $30,000 to $100,000! Why should they when hundreds of executives are available at no cost on internet job boards? (Please read John Lucht's "Rites of Passage at $100,000+ for guidance on when to use a headhunter.)
To hire an
experienced executive resume-writing professional would be a very smart
move. He or she will increase your chances of being hired in 2009 and also shorten
the time your job search takes. Moreover, the process of interacting
with someone who has already assisted many others in similar situations,
will usually benefit you in many ways. All in all, it may be one of the
best and most profitable decisions you will ever make!
Austin Kiplinger, publisher of the Kiplinger Magazine, agrees about the
importance of making an investment in your own career: "Look at your career
as your primary investment. Keep your earning power at its highest level.
The money you spend doing this will return more to you than all other
investments you are likely to make. You are your own best investment!"
[Visit WINNING RESUMES BLOG for valuable recession "tips".]
mattgreene@aol.com
Tel.: 1-718-436-3504
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