When applying for C-Suite positions in today’s job search process, it is vital to use the space on your resume to market your abilities to the reader. Instead of exhausting critical areas on your resume for basic skills, it is important for any executive-level professional to focus on more important, high impact topics to discuss.
Here are 3 things that Employment BOOST executive resume writers avoid using when creating an impactful resume:
Soft Skills-
To have the ability to communicate, pay attention to detail, or the competence to multitask is typically assumed for those working and applying for positions at an executive level. In order to reach the executive level, professionals must already have interpersonal, or “people”, skills to lead teams, manage larger workloads, and pay attention to detail.
Executive resume writers conserve this space for relevant accomplishments that pertain directly to your past experiences that sets you apart from the rest of the candidates applying to the same position.
Overused General Skills-
Earlier this year, LinkedIn released a compilation of keywords that were found to be overused globally by job seekers. ]With the shift of using more skill and experience-driven keywords, executive resume writers consider using more career-specific terms to better suit your experiences and help you stand out against other candidates.
Similar to using redundant keywords, our executive resume writers avoid speaking to skills that are generally expected of candidates applying to c-suite positions. Skills such as basic Microsoft Office proficiency should not be highlighted but supplemented to a technical skills section if available.
Outdated Skills-
On a resume that has a plethora of technical skills, our executive resume writers bypass skills that are no longer relevant in today’s industry. With the considerable amount of advancement in today’s technologies and the use of Applicant Tracking Systems to filter out irrelevant resumes, it’s important to only highlight skills that are greatly sought after. In addition to capitalizing the space on your resume, expressing outdated skills has the possibility of subjecting you to age discrimination.