Executive Resume Writing

Power resume words to use in your professional resume

In today’s society your resume is the most important document you have to get yourself an interview. Including power resume words will increase your chance of getting hired by 80%! When a hiring manager is seeing the same old resume time and time again which includes the cliché words and phrases such as “highly dedicated individual” or “great team player” you are guaranteeing yourself that your resume will be deleted.

Poorly chosen words and clichéd phrases can destroy the interest of the reader. Power words when chosen correctly can have the opposite effect of motivating and inspiring the reader

Power Resume Words will make help you stand out from your competition and increase your chances of getting hired!

Top 100 Power Resume Words!

Advanced, Assigned, Assessed, Absorbed, Accelerated, Attained, Attracted, Announced, Appraised, Budgeted, Bolstered, Balanced, Boosted, Bargained, Benefited, Beneficial, comply, Critiqued, Closed, Collaborated, Designed, Delegated, Demonstrated, Developed, Detected, Efficient, Enhanced, Excelled, Exceeded, Enriched, Fulfilled, Financed, Forecasted, Formulated, Generated, Guided, Granted, Helped, Hosted, Implemented, Investigated, Increased, Initiated, Influenced, Integrated, Innovated, Instituted, Justified, Listed, Logged, Maintained, Mentored Measured, Multiplied, Negotiated, Observed, Operated Obtained, Promoted, Presented Programmed Provided Projected, Qualified, Quantified, Quoted, Recommended, refine, revamp, reacted, Retained, Recovered, Reinstated, Rejected, Sustained, Skilled, Saved, Scheduled, Supported, Secured, Simplified, Screened, Segmented, Streamlined, Strengthened, Triumphed, Troubleshot, Taught, Tutored, Translated, Trained, Uncovered, United, Unified, Updated, Upgraded, Validated, Viewed, Worldwide, Witnessed

The best way to market your career for employment is through your resume. It is your first point of contact and first impression, and in today’s society first impressions count! If you want to get noticed and to leave an impact, your executive resume needs to be written perfectly and professionally. In accordance with the human resources experts, there are five basic concepts on how to write the executive resume.

An executive resume must be able to market your skills and highlight your qualifications and experience. As an executive, it is expected that you are able to perform the duties and responsibilities. It is also expected that you have the experience in this type of role, and therefore simply listing your basic duties is not enough to stand out as an executive. The executive resume must focus on the intangible skills that you can bring to the job and it needs to reflect your visions and skills.

Before you sit down to write your resume, imagine that you are the person reading it. So, this implies that you need to put yourself in the shoes of an employer. For every job application, your resume needs to be targeted and directly written towards the job you are applying for. If there is a great emphasis on leadership, then the executive resume needs to highlight leadership examples and areas of your past work history where you displayed leadership, supervision and managerial expertise to lead and guide employers. Using examples and quantifiable numbers will aid your resume.

Rather than a broad statement such as “exceeded sales targets on a monthly basis”, turn this statement into an accomplishment statement that uses evidence to back up the statement:

“Exceeded sales targets by 25% over a 12 month period while working in highly competitive markets, leading to an overall increase in expected revenue by $100,000”

The ten steps in drafting the perfect executive resume:

Step 1: The first step is to read through the job vacancy profile and begin to draft job objectives. Of course, they must be responsive to the position you are applying for

Step 2: Identify what knowledge, skills, and experiences will suit the job position best

Step 3: Create a shortlist of your qualifications and experiences that will reflect your suitability for the position

Step 4: Draw from your past experiences and search for accomplishments that prove you can effectively perform the job responsibilities

Step 5: Elaborate on your brief accomplishments that emphasize your abilities in handling the position you are applying for. It is also very important to emphasize how your work has benefited your previous employers

Step 6: Prepare your work history in chronological order, emphasizing your achievements. Concentrate on areas of how you added value to that positions (increased profit, reduced costs, implemented a new proposal, increased accuracy, project work, employee development, leadership initiatives, awards and recognition). Ensure that your work history is targeted towards the role you are applying for

Step 7: Don’t forget to list your educational qualifications, especially those that are relevant to the position. As an executive you have probably completed relevant training courses or leadership workshops that will further aid your resume application

Step 8: Presentation is crucial and the key is consistency!

Step 9: Target your resume with relevant information that will aid you in getting the job. At the executive level, the hiring manager is looking at your overall history – the tangible and intangible elements that make you an executive who can lead the business forward in a positive way. As mentioned previously, employers are looking for more than just work history when making personnel decisions at the executive level

Step 10: Don’t forget to use strategic keywords throughout your resume and even include 10-12 keywords to highlight your key skills. Examples of strategic keywords include:

Strategic & Tactical Planning, Relationship Management, Employee Development, New Business Development, Team Building, Training and Mentoring, Client Vendor Relations, Account Retention, Lead Generation, Presentation & Negotiation

Executive Resume Writing Tips

A senior executive’s professional resume has one job, and that is to portray your value and significance that you can bring to the business. At the executive level it is expected that you have all the soft skills required to lead and manage teams, however the key is to focus on highlighting your value added skills and achievements that are directly related to what the organization is looking for. If the company is looking for a CEO with experience in turning around departments, raising equity or international expansion, then your resume needs to target these requirements and provide quantitative examples to back up your evidence.

Highlighting Your Resume:

90% of senior executives I have worked with include their past work histories on the majority of the resumes and often go back 20/30/40 years to when they first started out. The resumes are often too long, too wordy and fail to portray the skills that make them unique executives. When I read an executive resume I want to see confidence and a demonstration that this individual has the right skills and experience to fit the job.

Two fantastic ways of highlighting the resume are as follows:

Qualifications Profile / Career Summary:

Don’t waste time on your resume telling the reader what you are looking for. A hiring manager is not interested in this type of information. They want to know what you can do for them. Introducing a qualifications profile or career summary is a great way to sell yourself immediately on the resume. The most effective profile will provide exact answers to the job description. For example, if the role is looking for a person with change management experience, then you need to let the reader know within the first 10 seconds that you are the change management expert.

Achievement Section:

Creating an achievement section within your resume is the perfect way to highlight your past behaviors and to sell your value to the reader. Remember that numbers are more powerful than words, so don’t get too consumed with trying to explain your achievements in too much detail. Your achievement section should focus on your notable accomplishments and further provide answers to exactly what the job description is looking for in the perfect candidate.

Final Point:

Set up your LinkedIn profile. If you are an executive you need to be on LinkedIn. Not only is LinkedIn recognized as the leading networking tool for all executives, but developing an optimized LinkedIn profile will enable you to outrank other executives on executive searches, giving you the inside running for headhunting and career opportunities.

Graduate HR Resume Writing

Are you applying for internships or graduate jobs in HR? If so, it’s time to begin writing your brand new resume and cover letter. Before you sit down and begin writing, you need to understand the point of the resume and what you need to include in that resume to make it stand out. A generic and clichéd written resume using an old template you found on the internet will not only be a waste of your time but can actually be detrimental to your chances of finding success. With competition for internship and graduate jobs in such demand (Hiring Managers often receive up to 1000 resumes for a single position!), you need to ensure that your resume is written like a marketing document and presented accordingly that shows off all the outstanding value-added skills that you have to offer.

4 Tips to Writing an HR Resume:

Be Concise and Succinct:

Use bullet points to emphasize your skills and experience. Long drawn out sentences are boring to read and when a hiring manager is staring at a table full of resumes, they do not want to read long winded sentences. Statistically a hiring manager will spend no more than 20 seconds initially reading your resume. You need to ensure that you are able to catch the reader’s attention immediately and portray the professional image that is required from an HR intern or graduate.

Introduce a Qualifications Profile or Summary:

Does your current resume have an objective statement or something similar? If so, it is time to delete this section and introduce a more targeted summary that portrays you as an innovative individual and highlights your value-added skills and qualifications. At the end of the day, the hiring manager does not want to know that you are seeking to begin your career within HR. This goes without saying. They are interested in what skills and qualifications you are able to bring to this particular role.

Keyword Rich:

Many times recruiters or hiring managers will often skim over the resume looking for keywords or use software programs to find key words. These key words need to be included in your resume and can be easily changed depending on the requirements of the job. Before you begin to stress out about what keywords to use, all you need to do is simply read the job description, see what the company is looking for and make sure your resume is full of these keywords!

Tailor the resume towards the role:

Just as you need to use strategic keywords to highlight your resume, you need to ensure that your resume (and cover letter) is tailored specifically towards that job. An experienced hiring manager will easily be able to tell a generic resume that has been used to apply for every job around town and a specific/targeted resume that has been written for this specific role. Your qualifications profile is a great place to add this personal touch. Not only is the first thing the hiring manager will read but a well worded profile will create a fantastic first impression.

Writing A Specialized Marketing Resume

With competition for marketing jobs in such demand, writing an effective marketing resume and cover letter is essential for the marketing graduate. No longer is it good enough to use an old generic resume template and fill in your job experience, your education and a few clichéd bits of information that will add no value to your application. In a recent report, it is suggested that a hiring manager will spend no more than 15-20 seconds before deciding to either read on or delete the resume. With the potential for a hiring manager to receive in excess of 500 resumes per job application, employers are more interested in eliminating the wrong candidates before they begin their pursuit of finding the perfect candidate.

When it comes to resume writing first impressions count! Your resume is a marketing document – it’s your marketing tool to sell yourself. No matter how good your grades or how terrific your skills, if you are unable to successfully market yourself, it is unlikely that you will get the job.

Marketing Keywords:

A well written marketing resume will include the use of strategic keywords. Many times recruiters or hiring managers will often skim over the resume looking for keywords or use software programs to find key words. These key words can be changed depending on the job you are applying for. A keyword rich resume will help highlight your resume and cover letter.

Demonstrate Flexibility, Adaptability and Innovation:

You don’t need to have the best grades to get the job. In my experience employers want to hire graduates who can demonstrate flexibility, adaptability and innovation as well as a passion for wanting to gain knowledge and experience. Think about extra-curricular activities, work experience, community service or volunteer work that you have performed and exhibited skills of flexibility, adaptability and innovation. Remember that an employer wants to know that you are going to bring value to the organization. Marketing duties change constantly and you need to be able to demonstrate that you are a forward-thinking self-starter with vision and desire to implement innovative solutions to any problem that may arise.

Focus on Achievements:

Does your resume show off all the wonderful skills and talents that you have to offer? If you were the hiring manager would you want to employ yourself? If the answer is no, it’s time to have a serious think about rewriting your resume. If you wouldn’t hire yourself then why would a hiring manager hire you? Turn your resume from a boring resume into an achievement based resume focusing on highlighting achievement based examples. From a hiring manager’s perspective, would you rather read “strong communication skills” or read this statement backed up by an example. “Strong communication skills capable of projecting a strong, credible, articulate and engaging personal presence with experience in producing and creating PowerPoint presentations”.

Resume Writing for Banking & Finance Professionals

Within the past 10 years, demand for investment banking jobs has increased while the supply for jobs has decreased. The interview stage is more rigorous than ever before and getting a foot in the door is no easy task. Reports suggest that a hiring manager will spend no more than 10-20 seconds reading your resume before deciding to either read on or press delete.

It is an undisputed fact that if a hiring manager has two finance resumes sitting on the table, they are instinctively going to be drawn to the resume that is professionally presented and formatted in the correct way. No matter what the resume has to say, the first impression is already made. If both candidates share similar finance skills, education and experience, just take a guess at which resume the hiring manager is going to choose.

When you sit down to write your resume, remember one thing. Your resume is a marketing document. This document is all you have to prove to the hiring manager that you are the right person for the job. Present a professional picture and make sure that you stand out above your competition.

Investment Banking Resume Writing

Resume Writing for Investment Banking Students

Getting your foot in the door as an investment banking student is not easy. Competition for jobs is fierce and supply of front office positions is limited. Writing an investment banking resume is not about reinventing the wheel, it is about creating a marketing document that adequately highlights your skills, experience and education and presents this to the reader in a clear and easy to read document.

As a potential investment banker, focus your resume on your leadership abilities and achievements to guarantee that your resume stands out from the crowd. If your academic grades are not “outstanding” emphasize other areas you can highlight such as your community service involvement, volunteer work, extra-curricular activities or awards etc. Remember that the key is providing examples of your achievements as opposed to just listing the duties you performed. Also there is always an option to buy resume online on the Internet's trustful websites.

Tips to writing an Investment Banking Resume:

Creating a Banking Qualifications Profile:

Too often students waste time with a generic objective statement “…. I want to utilize my skills I have gained throughout my university degree and gain experience with a large organization. ” This general opening statement adds no value to your resume and in fact can have a detrimental effect on your application. Replace this objective statement with a qualifications profile or summary. Rather than telling the reader what you want, use this space to tell the reader what you can bring to this role.

Financial Keywords:

A well written finance resume will include the use of strategic keywords. Recent reports suggest that hiring managers will spend no more than 15-20 seconds reading through a job candidates resume. For a front office banking position, hiring managers can receive hundreds of resumes not just domestically but internationally as well. Not only, are you competing against students who you sat next to in class, but you’re competing against students from all over the world. As such, recruiters and hiring managers will often skim over the resume looking for keywords or use software programs to find key words. These key words can be changed depending on the job you are applying for. A keyword rich resume will help highlight your resume and cover letter and ensure that it passes the first stage of selection.

Presentation and Format:

Your resume is the first impression a hiring manager will make about you. A well-presented and structured resume that is written in a clean font will portray your resume in a professional manner and immediately give your resume application a higher ranking. Alternatively, a resume application that has spelling and grammar errors, different sized fonts, long sentences (as opposed to bullet points) and a lack of headings will not portray a positive image to the reader. Remember that when applying for a banking position the hiring manager demands to see professionalism. Just like you would show up to the interview in a suit, your resume needs to portray this professional image.

Resume Writing for Government Jobs

Are you applying for employment within the Local, State or Federal Government? Jobs within the public sector are in large demand and in order to stand out from your competition you need to ensure that your new resume is written, formatted and presented in the correct way. Listing your education, qualifications and work experience is no longer good enough to get you an interview. Every resume you send out needs to be targeted towards that specific role. Use keywords to highlight your resume and also ensure that your resume is picked up by software programs. Remember that an experienced hiring manager can spot a generic resume within seconds of opening it. In order to stand out from your competition your skills and achievements need to match the requirements of the employer:

3 Tips to writing an effective Government Resume:

Highlight Achievements and Value Added Information:

Your resume is your marketing document and as such you need to ensure that you market all of your achievements and accomplishments throughout the resume. Don’t worry if you have limited work experience. Employers are more interested that you are the type of person who would be a good fit in their organization and they can train you up accordingly. Examples of things you can highlight throughout your resume include: Awards, Memberships, Affiliations, Certifications, Publications and Presentations.

Create a Qualifications Profile:

A great way to begin the resume (and show off your skills) is by creating a 2-3 sentence qualifications profile. Rather than an objective statement (telling the reader what type of job you want), focus on creating a powerful profile that highlights your value-added skills and qualifications. A hiring manager is interested in the value-added skills you are able to bring to this particular role as opposed to being told about the type of job you want.

Selection Criteria Writing:

Part of the application for Government Jobs often involves completing a selection criteria and correctly answering the criteria is often an extremely tricky task to do. In order to successfully complete a Selection Criteria the most important aspect is responding exactly to what the employer is looking for. No matter how good your grades were at university or your previous work experience and skills, if you cannot present them accordingly to meet each selection criterion then it is likely that your resume and cover letter are not even going to be read.

In a recent survey of Government hiring managers, results found that only 10% of applicants are chosen for an interview. 31% of applicants were not chosen for an interview because they did not submit a correct application including resume, cover letter and selection criteria.

Tips On How To Make Your Accounting Resume Stand Out

How to make your accounting resume stand out from the crowd:

With student internship season and graduation just around the corner, now is the time for students to focus on writing and putting together the most targeted and achievement-based accounting resumes to give them the edge to stand out above the competition.

The most common questions I receive from accounting students are “what do I do if my accounting grades are not fantastic?” and “what can I include in my resume that will make it stand out?” The first thing to remember is that most organizations are looking for students and graduates who are willing to learn, are able to be innovative and who work well in a team environment that is important to notice in the internship resume.

My advice for students that don’t have distinction average marks is to focus on highlighting other areas where you can add value to an organization. Just like the major accounting firms are instant recognizable brands, as a graduate you need to think of yourself as a brand that you are trying to sell to a hiring manager. Think about what makes you unique and how you can sell yourself to that particular organization. When a hiring manager reads an accounting resume, he or she presumes that all candidates share relatively the same type of skills. In order to stand out, you need to market yourself effectively.

How to Make Your Accounting Resume Stand Out:

Include Accounting Keywords:

With the demand for accounting internships and graduate jobs so high, graduate hiring managers can often receive upwards of 500 – 1000 resumes. As such, many firms now use software programs as a way of performing “first round interviews”. Using selected accounting keywords will ensure that your resume passes the first stage of selection and will not be deleted before a hiring manager has even had a chance to read your application. The best way to find these keywords is by simply reading the job positions. See what the company is looking for and make sure your resume is full of these keywords!

Provide Specific Accounting Examples:

Hiring managers hate to read clichéd resumes. It’s boring and adds no value to your resume. Use examples as much as possible to highlight your examples and the value-added skills that you can bring to the job.

Target the Position that you are applying for:

As a graduate (or soon to be graduate), everything you include in your resume needs to reinforce the message to the reader that you are the right candidate for the position. Don’t waste time on information that doesn’t reflect your suitability for this particular position. Being a good skier and having an interest in tennis is not relevant to an accounting job. Although you may not have relevant job experience, you can still highlight relevant skills that you have acquired throughout your university career and target these skills toward the role you are applying for.