– Contributed by Daniela McVicker
Daniela McVicker is a career coach and a contributor to Essayguard.

She’s also a business communication coach, helping future job applicants to write business emails to help them achieve success on their career paths.

6 Best Ways to Identify Your Key Achievements on an Executive Resume

Applying for any job can be stressful and challenging. Applying for a senior position comes with the added pressure and more responsibility. Writing an executive resume is, therefore, a highly complex task that you need to take very seriously if you want to stand out from the rest. The key to writing your resume is to highlight your achievements in the right way.

If you need to write an executive resume but aren’t sure how to handle it, don’t worry. This article’s got you covered. Here are the 6 best ways to help you identify your key achievements on your executive resume.

Let’s break it down together.

1.       Open With an Executive Summary

When you’re writing your executive resume, you have to think things through before you start. The most important question you need to ask yourself is:

• What makes me unique and valuable as an employee?

Understanding your core strengths and your professional value will help you write a killer executive summary for the opening part of your executive resume.

But, what’s an executive summary? Here’s what you need to know:

• it’s 4-5 sentences long
• it briefly summarizes your professional value
• it describes your experience, achievements, and goals
• it states why you’re suitable for the job you’re applying for

When writing your executive summary, you have to stay away from cliché phrases that every executive resume will have:

• I’m a self-driven, skilled professional, looking for an opportunity to showcase my skills and make use of years of experience I’ve gained in the field.

Generic messages such as this one won’t stick to the person reading, and your resume will be tossed aside. Instead, here’s what you should do:

• focus on the facts that will resonate with the person reading
• create a direct link between your previous experience and the opening job position
• point out to the results you’ve made in the past with self-assurance

Writing a killer executive summary will buy you more time, and will inspire recruiters to keep reading your resume. This will give you the additional space you need to identify your key achievements.

2.       Focus on Leadership

You may be thinking that an executive resume is not much different from a regular resume you send out for any other job position. But, you’re wrong.

The main difference between the executive and the regular summary is the focus.

A regular resume would list all of your professional accomplishments and academic achievements related to the target job. However, an executive resume needs to shift the focus from general to specific.

The specific focus of an executive resume is on leadership. That means that you’ll list and write about:

• your leadership capacity
• your achievements as a leader, not as a team member
• the management skills you’ve proven to have

So, don’t waste time on writing all your professional achievements. Just choose the ones that speak for you as the leader you are and can be.

3.       Show Your Progress

Every resume needs to have a work history section. It’s no different for an executive resume. However, you do have to focus on the way you’re formulating it.

Your work history needs to, once again, speak for you as a leader.

A true leader is the one who’s hardworking, knowledgeable, and focused on self-improvement. That is exactly what your work history needs to show.

Make sure that your work history has the following elements:

• it clearly shows your progress from junior positions to senior ones
• it highlights your career turning points
• it shows hard work and dedication
• it focuses on the relevant job positions you’ve held

You must show how long you’ve been in the business, and what obstacles you’ve had to cross to get where you are.

Naturally, if you’ve already held an executive position, you need to pay special attention to this as well. Make a section about this experience and write about:

• your achievements in your executive roles
• the numbers and progress you’ve made
• specific projects you’ve handled

Make sure it’s clear to everyone reading that you know what you’re doing and you’ve made a significant impact on your previous executive positions.

4.       Customize For Each Application

As we’ve already mentioned, generic resumes can’t take you where you want to be and are one of the biggest resume mistakes you can make. This is especially the case if you’re applying for a senior executive position.

This means that for every new opening position and job application, you need to customize your executive resume.

That includes the following:

• thoroughly reading the job opening description
• understanding the main requirements of the job opening
• identifying your key skills, qualifications, and achievements necessary for that specific job
• highlighting them in your resume

It is crucial that your resume speaks for a specific job opening. You can’t send the same resume to 5 different job openings and expect success. You need to be more detail-oriented.

So, if the company is looking for an executive to increase their sales, tell them specifically how you can do it. If they need someone to turn help them enter a new market, be specific about your qualifications for handling this exact project.

This will draw attention to your resume and get you that follow up call that you desire.

5.       Show Your Impact

When you want to identify your key achievements, you sometimes need to spell it out for those reading your executive resume.

They care about your impact, and what you did for the previous companies you’ve worked for. Therefore, show them the numbers and assure them you’ve got what it takes:

• you increased sales by 15% in 6 months on your previous job
• you helped your previous company introduce their products to the Japanese market and expand their customer base by 17%
• you reduced the costs of production by 5% in 12 months

They need to see you’ve had your fair share of executive or leadership accomplishments and understand the value you’ll bring to their company if they hire you.

6.       Accuracy

Finally, there’s one last piece of the puzzle that’s going to make your executive resume perfect. You need to pay special attention to the accuracy of your writing.

No one wants a sloppy executive. Your resume needs to speak for your professionalism and attention to detail.

That means you mustn’t allow for any of the following to happen:

• spelling mistakes
• grammar errors
• inconsistent style
• improper vocabulary

To make sure your resume is impeccable, proofread it several times before sending it out. In case you need help with editing or proofreading, you can use a reliable writing service to help you out.

It’s crucial that your resume is written without any mistakes or weak spots.

Final Thoughts

When you’re writing your executive resume, you’re getting ready to swim with the big fish. That means you need to think your every step through and write only the facts and information that will make you stand out from the rest.

Follow the 6 tips we’ve listed above and start writing, or re-writing your executive resume.

Once you have it done, don’t hesitate in pursuing your career goals.