According to a group of 46 chief executives and business leaders who were surveyed in a recent study by the Marketing Society, there is a clear list of eight strengths that are key to executive success. Some of the UK’s top business leaders were interviewed for the report, including easyJet chief Carolyn McCall, McDonald’s UK boss, Jill McDonald and Neil Berkett, credited with turning round Virgin Media. How can these strengths best be illustrated and highlighted when you’re writing an executive CV?
- Giving a clear sense of direction.
Knowing where you’re going and keeping others in the loop is the most important skill a business leader has, apparently. Reflect this on the resume with the use of examples; think of a strategy or business improvement project that you initiated and ask yourself how you overcame challenges, and how you ensured key stakeholders were kept up to date.
- Bring the customer into the boardroom
Organisations need to work harder to focus on customer needs and deliver on corporation promises, chief executives said, as not all companies are customer-centric. Make sure your resume focuses extensively on customer satisfaction, feedback scores and other measurable outcomes that make it clear that’s where your focus was. A great place to analyse customer opinion is on social media, particularly Twitter; consider including examples of this strategy when you’re writing your resume or LinkedIn profile.
- Communicate clearly – inside and out
Illustrate this skill with a well-written, succinct and impactful executive Resume, LinkedIn profile and professional cover letter. You can ensure a positive impression by using a professional resume writing service like City CV, with a persuasive, eloquent HR expert representing your communication skills in the best possible light.
- Be flexible but not floppy
Alan Brown, chief executive of Rentokil, said: “Being flexible is vital and the only way for a business to succeed, but sometimes a little rigidity and inertia can stop an organization lurching off on a short-lived fad.” To come up with a good example for the Resume, think about how you’ve overcome obstacles or challenges in the past through agility, flexibility or compromise.
- Take risks but don’t bet the corporation
A careful balancing act is required in the CV; companies are increasingly nervous about the use of the word risk in any sense except mitigation or compliance. That said, examples of well-calibrated management of probability and risk / reward ratios, particularly if they were underpinned with some sort of safety mechanism, make excellent ‘hooks’ to go in a resume – they’re the kind of success stories interviewers will want to hear about.
There is no doubt that writing your own resume is time-consuming and it can be incredibly difficult to be objective about yourself. So why not employ the resume writing experts at City CV to do it for you? City CV’s professional resume writers have the knowledge and experience to help senior level professionals, executives and board members across all industries. For more information on our resume writing services, call us on +44 20 7100 6656 or email enquiries@citycv.com.