How to Write the Perfect Executive Resume for Managers and Senior-Level Positions

As an aspiring manager or senior executive, your resume’s
audience will be different from that of entry and junior-level employees. Other
managers, directors, executive recruiters, VPs, Board Members, and everyone
else in the C-suite will scrutinize your resume.

They’re all going to ask the same question:

“Can this person
solve our problems?”

Yes, it’s the same thing people ask when hiring junior-level
employees. But the stakes are higher.

In this tutorial, I’ll show
you how to write a persuasive executive resume to match the expectations that
comes with any senior-level job.

Main Differences Between a Junior and Executive-Level Resume

Let's first look at the difference between a regular resume and an
executive resume:

1. Resume Content Differences

2. Is It Written for a Specific Purpose?

You might get an interview with a generic resume for a lower-level position, but that
strategy will never work for managers and executives.

Both managers and executives are hired for a specific
reason, unlike regular positions where job ads are copied from the last hiring.
Sometimes that reason is to turn a department around, enter a new market,
create a new product, or build a winning team. If your resume doesn’t show the
skills they’re looking for, don’t expect a call.

Customize your resume for each job application. If you have a contact, see if you can get an
informational interview with a recruiter or anyone with information about the
job vacancy.

3. How You Approach Your Personal Branding

Do you think you’re the only manager that can build a
top-performing sales team? No.

Whatever your skill sets are, there are others that are even better than you.

That’s not meant to be demeaning—it’s only to show you the
importance of setting yourself apart from others.

As a soon-to-be manager or executive, it’s time you
establish a personal brand.

How Does a Personal Brand Look Like on a Resume?

Personal branding is such a buzzword nowadays that it’s hard
to find actionable advice on the subject, especially on resumes.

Branding experts agree that your personal brand should be
evident throughout your resume and other applicant marketing materials (e.g.
cover letters, LinkedIn, and thank you notes).

A personal branding statement, sometimes called a leadership
brand, is placed at the top of an executive resume, just below your name and
contact details. It combines the main qualities that make you ideal for a
position, and your personality as a leader.

5 Easy Steps to Write Your Personal Branding Statement

Kristen McAlister
of Cerius Executives shared this step-by-step guide:

"1. Write everything you’ve accomplished in your career
then find the underlying theme among these accomplishments.

2. Ask people you’ve worked with to describe the impact
you made while working with them. What words do they use to describe you?

3. What are the types of work situations are projects you
enjoy?

4. From the above three, what problems are you solving for
a potential employer?

Example: Let’s
say many of your accomplishments are related to training and motivating people.
The people you work with all say you’re accessible and not afraid to try new
teaching methods. You’re a risk-taker and forward-thinker.

Now ask yourself, if your current employer didn’t hire you,
what problems would they have? For this example, the problems an accessible and
forward-thinking manager can address are:

• Prevents the company’s training
  materials and teaching methods from getting outdated


• Helps new trainers improve their
  classroom management to ensure trainees or new employees listen to them


• Ensure the training of new
  employees translates to an ROI for the company

Here is the last, important step that Kristen McAlister recommends: 

5. Write your personal branding statement in the form
of a value proposition (I help [target audience] + [problem you solve]). 

Tips for Writing a
Personal Branding Statement

• Divide your accomplishments into different categories. Are they in training people, improving operations, developing
  new business, or is it in another business function?


• Look for the adjectives people use
  to describe you. Examples include: strategic thinker, resourceful,
  collaborative, and accessible.

Learn more about writing a great personal brand statement: 

• 
  Branding
  
  
  How to Write a Personal Brand Statement for Your Resume
  
  
  Julia Melymbrose

2 Examples of Top Personal Branding Statements (From Pro Executive Resume Writers)

1. From Jessica Hernandez of
Great Resumes Fast:

2. From
Michelle
Riklan of Riklan Resources LLC:

4. Your Emphasis on Core Proficiency or Specialty

Your executive resume should have a consistent message about
the skills you bring to the table. For instance, if you’re a regional manager
with years of experience in trimming production costs, that should be evident
in every section of your resume.

Here’s how:

• Write about your experience in
  optimizing production lines in your work history


• List leadership skills needed in
  optimizing manufacturing process, such as process re-engineering, improving
  supplier relationships, and workflow management.


• Include the savings in manpower
  and production costs achieved in your executive summary

CEOs and some high-level executives often have experience in
more than one function, because they need to know how different parts of the
company work together. Because of this, it’s advisable for them to have
multiple executive resumes, each one tailored to the core proficiency required in their target job (e.g. sales and new market development, or human
resources and change management).

Executive Resume Format: Chronological, Functional or Hybrid?

What's the best executive resume format you should use? 

A chronological resume works best to show your career
progression, but it has its limits. It makes the reader work twice as hard to
understand your value because your achievements are
buried in your career’s timeline.

A functional resume showcases your achievements and areas of
expertise, but it hides the narrative of your achievements. So it doesn’t say
if you managed to increase the product sales of the team you’re handling as a
manager, and five years later leveled up to increase the sales performance of
the State where you’re Regional Director.

A hybrid resume combines the two formats:

• Contact information


• Executive summary (a.k.a. key
  accomplishments)


• Achievements categorized into
  different skills or areas of expertise (skills)


• Employment history


• Education

All your qualifications are on the first half of the
document, and the skills section doubles as an organized list of achievements. A hybrid resume format is often the best one to use for an executive resume. 

Page Length and Use of Addenda

A resume’s space limitations restrict you from adding too much
detail. That doesn’t mean those details can’t be included in your
application.

For top performing managers and executives, their
achievements can be submitted as a follow-up to their resume in the form of an
addendum. You can either give it to the Hiring Manager during the initial
interview, or send it via email when you follow-up on your application.

Executive and Manager Resume Addenda Examples

They often include include: 

• Leadership initiatives: a list of
  projects or new policies you established


• Performance milestones: case
  studies of your notable accomplishments


• Publications: includes books and
  articles you authored


• Awards

Below is a screenshot of a technological addendum from Quintessential
Careers:  

Just remember, the addendum isn’t a place to list more
employers. Employment history should either be deleted if it’s not relevant to
the job, or condensed as in the example below.

How to Write an Executive Resume’s Most Critical Parts (With Examples)

1. Write Your Executive Summary

Start the executive summary with your personal branding or
leadership statement. Then list three points that show you as an expert in
solving the challenges your target employer is facing. You can also refer to
the achievements you wrote in Step 1 of writing a personal branding statement.

For example, if you’re applying for a CMO role in a bank
with aggressive expansion plans, you might want to position yourself as an
expert in launching new products, entering new markets, and optimizing reach to
different customer segments—individual customers, businesses, and investors.

2 Top Executive Summary Examples 

1. From Wendi Weiner of Writing Guru:

"I have a natural zest for leading teams to
achieve explosive sales for clinical diagnostic laboratory testing services.
The will to succeed is truly the most powerful tool in your personal kit." 

    - Market
Growth Champion: Intuitive business acumen in achieving $20M new market share
growth. 

   - Transformational
Business Leader: Forward-thinking business ideals to drastically reduce
contract costs by 45% and rally client retention by 92% 

  - Fearless
Game-Changer: Entrepreneurial spirit in growing team from ground-up with
startling sales wins and profits in less than 18 months."

2. From Jessica of Great
Resumes Fast:

2. Areas of Expertise (Skills Section)

Organize your skills based on the management function
required for the job, and then list it all under the executive summary. 

How to Handle Non-Leadership Skills

“If you have other technical
skills required for the job, but aren’t necessary for management, list them in
a standalone section (“Technical Skills”) after your employment history,”
suggests Joanne Munekawa of
Employment Boost.

Your talent in team management is important, but this alone
isn’t sufficient to get you hired. List other managerial and executive-level
skills in your arsenal. 

Skill Examples for
Executives

• Capital structure analysis


• Change management


• Creating and launching new
  initiatives


• Integrated Engagement Planning


• Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)


• New business development


• Policy development


• Profit and Loss (P&L)
  improvement


• Strategic planning

Skill Examples for Managers

• Delegation


• Employee development


• Project management


• Coaching employees


• Training new-hires

For combination resume formats, this includes a categorized
list of achievements. To add context, the company where those accomplishments
occurred are also listed.

Example of Areas of Expertise (Skills Section) in a Combination Resume Format

Learn more about listing skills on your resume in this helpful Envato Tuts+ tutorial: 

• 
  Resumes
  
  
  How to Effectively List Professional Skills on Your Resume
  
  
  Charley Mendoza

3. Executive Work History

Combination Format Employment
History

List the companies you’ve worked with and the corresponding
employment dates, followed by a brief description of the company (A) and the
scope of your work (B). Don’t forget to include:

• Job-specific keywords


• Your impact as a leader for the
  organization (business metrics)


• How your work affects other
  employees (soft skills as a leader)

After all, managers and executives aren’t merely top-performers.
They’re also accountable for their subordinates’ performance.

• 
  Resumes
  
  
  How to Make Your Resume Better With Keywords & Phrases
  
  
  Charley Mendoza

Most of your accomplishments would’ve already been listed at
the top half of your resume, in the areas of expertise section. 

In
some resumes, the scope of work isn’t even listed. Here’s
an example of a combination work history for a General
Counsel position:

Chronological Format
Employment History

In executive resumes that use a chronological format, the
work history section also includes a company description (A) and job
description (B). This differentiates you from other managers and executives
with the same title but a different job scope.

Accomplishments not included in the executive summary will
be listed below each employment entry, sometimes emphasized as “key achievements.”

4. Concise Education Section

The applicant’s Alma mater is still listed, but not their
graduation date. In some cases only their master’s degree or doctorate is
listed. Executive resumes also include continuing education and license
information. 

Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Executive Resumes

1. Do Add Company and Job Information

Executive Recruiters I talked to for this article
agree that adding information about the company and your role helps them gauge
if you’d be suited for a role. Helpful details include:

• Company size
  
  


• Number of employers


• Revenue information


• Public or private


• Industry information: products or
  services sold and target clientele

2. Do Use Action Words

Stay away from boring action words
that don’t adequately describe your efforts at work. I wrote extensively about
this here:

• 
  Resumes
  
  
  How to Best Use Resume Action Words (+117 Powerful Verbs)
  
  
  Charley Mendoza

Do Use the CAR Framework for Your Notable Contributions

Follow either the “Challenge - Actions - Results” or its
variation “Results - Action - Challenge" format to
come up with concise but effective accomplishment statements. Here are examples of each:

1. “Challenge - Actions - Results”

Re-purposed an over-budgeted and rarely
used CRM system for an inbound marketing campaign to recover 40% of
invested money in the form of new leads and deals

2. "Results - Action - Challenge" 

Generated $2M in sales after
implementing a regional sales and customer service refresher training
for all under-performing employees

It’s Only Difficult at First

Is all of this overwhelming for you? That’s normal because
you’re taking a huge leap in your career. You may not enjoy the writing
process, but avoiding it will cheat you out of wonderful career opportunities.

Write your executive resume one section at a time if you
have to. Just follow the steps in this tutorial and don’t be afraid to ask for
feedback. 

Find professional resume templates on GraphicRiver or browse through our curated selection of the best Microsoft word resume templates.