Accomplishment-Driven Resumes: Making Your Best Executive Moments Shine

Posted by in Career Advice


One of the most important pieces of an executive job search is creating a resume that zeroes in on accomplishments.  As an executive, it’s critical that you take steps to showcase your true expertise and leadership qualities.

Your resume’s branding statement does an amazing job of luring readers in with a summary of your greatest assets, but it’s up to the rest of the document to highlight per-job accomplishments.

Utilizing accomplishment-based bullet points in your employment history can help you highlight what has made you valuable in every role you’ve assumed.  As you develop these bullet points for previous employers, keep the following tips in mind that will make your best accomplishments shine.

Showcase Leadership

Your first goal as an executive candidate is to showcase your leadership.  You are relied upon to guide and direct, so it’s critical that you prove your ability to lead a team, entire department, or even a large sector of a company.

The best way to showcase leadership is to mention all of your top initiatives that steered former employers in new and exciting directions.  Conduct a little research on prospective employers to discover their weaknesses, then mention what you’ve done for other companies that you know could benefit a new employer.

Focus on Quantitative Results

When mentioning your prior experience, be sure to place numbers with your examples to help employers visualize your efforts.  In other words, don’t just say you saved the company money; specify the dollar amount.  Or if you once created an innovation that earned an employer a lot of revenue, share the percentage gained to show the difference your vision can make.

Highlight Your Most Impactful Moments

Of course, you always want to highlight the moments in your career that had the greatest impact on any company you’ve worked for.  Mention top accomplishments that helped you win industry awards or landed you major promotions.  Don’t leave your ability to shine up to interpretation—clarify just how important you were to every company you’ve worked for.

When writing your employment history, each bullet point you add should make you feel excited about your accomplishments.  By maintaining this level of energy when writing, you’re bound to create a resume that knocks the socks off of every decision maker who touches it.

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