Who You Should (and Shouldn’t) Turn to For Executive Resume Writing Tips

Showing your executive resume around to get feedback? Doing so can be a career-killer, especially if you’re blindly seeking resume tips from resources that are unfamiliar with effective resume-writing practices for today’s competitive job market.

Here are 5 groups you might seek out for an honest, effective perspective on your leadership resume–including some resources that you should skip if you really want to win more interviews:

1- Personal Contacts (Friends, Family, etc.)

Unless they are familiar with your career accomplishments and the stature that you’ve attained in your executive career, this group can only be mildly helpful. You might want to ask if they’ve cracked open a resume book in some time if they start to dispense tips on formatting or fonts.

Otherwise, they know you best, and may be able to point out some high points of your leadership background that you’ve missed on your resume.

2 – Executive Recruiters.

Most headhunters who are familiar with your field can give insight into the skills employers are seeking (and the competencies missing from your resume).

Most, though, are not well-versed in design concepts. If your self-written leadership resume lacks pizazz from a messaging standpoint, they’ll tell you, and this is great advice to heed.

However, if you’re being instructed in old-school tactics such as using a Microsoft Word template or adding an objective to your executive resume, run the other way.

3 – Hiring Managers.

While this is obviously the group you want to please, remember that each person has formatting preferences that may not appeal to other employers. Therefore, don’t rush to redo the resume based on just a single opinion.

If it seems that you’re receiving recommendations on a total revamp (especially after putting significant thought and content into your executive resume), seek a second opinion and tips from other sources, such as independent recruiters.

Of course, an across-the-board consensus on your resume can certainly indicate that it needs revisions or even a complete overhaul.

4 – Career Professionals.

Asking a professional career coach or executive resume writer can be an effective way to gain feedback—-or it can turn out to be a horrendous experience.

Be wary of anyone who instantly tells you that your executive resume is awful. No one, not even someone who sees resumes all day long, can judge your content without getting to know you and your leadership career first.

In addition, beware the offer of a “free” resume critique. Some large resume writing companies will issue the same tips to every candidate, regardless of the differences in each executive career.

Tips on fonts and formatting techniques make sense for most people, and even a few pointers on how to boost your message can help, but a truly helpful “resume review” is close to impossible without the full story of your background and achievements. Therefore, you’ll want to have an in-depth discussion centered on your executive goals, rather than just a quick overview, with a career professional.

Be sure to seek out executive resume writers or career coaches with an extensive recruiting or corporate background, in order to obtain a real-world perspective on your resume.

5 – Anyone Else.

There’s a saying in the resume industry that if you show your resume to any 10 people, you’ll receive 10 different opinions!

Therefore, those who don’t know you well or have a career in a different field (such as your former colleague, your hairdresser, or your friend in IT) will not be your best source of feedback.

In summary, you’ll want to ensure that your executive resume is in top-notch shape to take on today’s aggressive market. Just be sure to seek out-—and leverage—-resume writing tips from the best, most knowledgeable sources.