Walking into Barnes and Noble or browsing Amazon, you’ll find any number of books offering advice on résumé writing. While the opinions in these books sometimes vary, most of them advise the same thing: keep it short, sweet, and full of buzzwords that a computer will pick up on. The simple fact, however, is that this advice is geared toward the masses. A quality executive-level résumé looks very different.
“Forget about the applicant tracking system. Forget about the buzzwords,” said Jeff Ketchum, President of the executive search firm, Automotive Recruiters International, Inc. “Be genuine. Be authentic. Be who you are.” While his advice seems counterintuitive to some of the books, the goal at the executive level is to get an interview rather than stand out to a computer.
According to Ketchum, the craft of résumé writing is really very simplistic, though despite its importance, many people mess it up. Even people who spend upwards of $1,000 to have their résumés professionally written often end up with something lackluster. “Out of hundreds,” Ketchum said, “there’s usually only one or two in which someone used their brain and made themselves noticed.”
The following are some tips to help you write the strongest executive-level résumé possible:
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