Making the leap from business owner to executive? Construct your resume carefully

If you've heard the siren call of business ownership, only to find that the economy has affected your clients or business, you might be facing an executive job search that comes with an extra hurdle--that of transitioning your executive resume from an entrepreneurial mindset.

What's the best way to show employers that you're serious about this move--and that you truly deserve that top executive spot?

Like any complex change, you'll find that the outcome of your entrepreneur-to-executive job search will depend upon the strategy that you've put in place--as well as the way you present your leadership experience on your resume.

The challenge is to look at the skills that you've used as a business owner, and then translate these qualifications in a way that resonates with employers' needs.

Here are some key points to follow for your transition:

1 - Develop tunnel vision--to a point.

Most business owners have trouble quantifying exactly what it is that they do well, especially since they wear many hats to run their operations.

Here's a case where it's important to focus intently on what qualifies you for a single role, while using the rest of your competencies as backup. You can always create another version of your executive resume if you decide to focus on a different leadership goal.

For example, if you've developed a history of marketing success and plan to pursue a job as Marketing Director, you'll need to pull out quantifiable data from your career that focuses on campaign development, promotions, and the like.

Then, using the following suggestions as a guide, maintain the emphasis on this same set of skills within your resume.

2 - Give your resume a meaningful title.

If your goal is a position as Executive Director of Sales, for example, the best resume strategy is to spell out your goal, using a resume title or heading that appears at the beginning of the document.

In this case, you could add titles such as Sales Executive, Sales Director, or even Sales Leader (which allows more latitude) to the resume. By adding this heading, you are demonstrating a clear focus on a single job goal, which is essential for hiring authorities to see on your executive resume.

Don't skip out on this step and expect employers to figure it out for you!

3 - Keep the connection alive.

Continue to add relevant information to your resume in a way that shows you know what you're doing.

Using the previous example, you could provide a section on the first page of your executive resume entitled "Sales Leadership Highlights" that contains a sampling of the results you've achieved in your business.

In this section, I recommend adding quantifiable accomplishments that demonstrate your fitness as a sales leader, including any sales management duties that you assumed, in addition to sales force training or other related data.

These achievements don't have to be internally focused! You may have developed sales teams for your clients, and can point to this expertise as proof of your proficiency.

4 - Look at your role with fresh eyes.

While many business owners are proud to take the title of Founder and President, these terms can cast your experience in a different light and make it difficult for employers to see the relationship to their needs.

If your goal is a position as Chief Operating Officer, for example, the best way to do this is to show that your position as company principal was a combination of operations leader and business owner.

I recommend carefully examining your role to determine if you can add a descriptive title to the resume for your entrepreneurial "job" that closely resembles the role you seek.

Be careful to add, NOT replace your original title! In these examples, your business ownership role would appear as Principal and Marketing Manager, or President / COO.

If you decide to use this strategy, just be sure that you can back up your title with concrete examples of your contributions.

5 - Don't forget the keywords.

You'll need to mine your career for expertise that demonstrates the kind of fit needed for the job you want.

Examine job descriptions for your desired executive role, taking note of the commonalities between different job postings for the skills (which are keywords) that are required for at least several different executive jobs.

Next, insert these skills into a table or list in your executive resume to reinforce the point that you possess adequate qualifications for the role you seek.

In summary, these steps are the crucial ones to make on paper before you can make your case in person.

Use these resume strategies to paint a clear picture of yourself as an executive and potential employee--giving employers a true picture of your value proposition and fit for their company.

The Top 8 Career Sites that You Didn't Know About

It always surprises me that job seekers aren't on the receiving end of some of the best advice for their career search--especially when it's FREE and updated continually by respected career experts.

To accelerate your search and maximize the ROI of your efforts, tap into the best of the best! I highly recommend becoming familiar with these 8 resources NOW if you haven't done so already:

http://www.job-hunt.org/. Job-Hunt.org is my most often-recommended site. Why? Because not only does it cover EVERY subject you (and I) have ever thought of on career transition, it sources information from true experts in the field. Read it here first--and believe what they say.

http://www.secretsofthejobhunt.org/. Chris Russell has done an outstanding job of ensuring that professionals can tap into the thoughts, advice, and how-to instructions from a wealth of career experts. I'm NOT just recommending this site because of my affiliation, either. Check it out and you'll see why.

http://www.fttresearch.com/. Barbara Safani has tapped into a key method for finding your next role; namely, that of directly contacting those who stand the best chance of appreciating your skills. Talking directly to hiring managers is the optimum search method! Don't worry about finding these companies - that's what FTT Research does for you. Hone in on your parameters, including geography, title, type of company, financial status, etc. first to get your results, then prepare to get a jump on your competition.

http://www.careerrocketeer.com/. Although new to the blogosphere, the MBA Highway LinkedIn group has founded an immensely useful portal for career advice. Topics include everything from being outplaced, search techniques, and establishing a true career marketing campaign.

http://www.zoominfo.com/. I'll just bet that YOU are on this business information search engine. With 37+ million profiles of companies and employees, you're bound to find a) yourself; b) hiring managers in your target companies; c) former employees of your target companies (my personal favorite for getting the inside scoop); d) all of the above. Please refer to answer "d".

http://www.simplyhired.com/. Don't just hunt down your next job on the "big" boards--choose an aggregator like this one or http://www.indeed.com/. When they say "one search, all jobs" on indeed, they MEAN it. Quit wasting time searching all the boards when you can look at just one.

http://www.linkedin.com/. No list of job resources would be complete without this powerhouse. Quick, name one site where you can present your brand, be directly hired by a recruiter, post to forums that establish your credibility, create new business relationships, apply Search Engine Optimzation techniques to your profile, and keep others updated on your professional status. Move over, Twitter.

http://www.examiner.com/. Yes, I know it's a site for news and entertainment updates, much like a cyber newspaper or blog. (and yes, I am an Examiner) However, if you haven't tapped into the Careers and Workplace section, you're missing much more than just yours truly. Ben Eubanks, Heather Huhman, Liz Ryan, Miriam Salpeter, and lots of others hang out there, too.

No list would be complete without noting http://www.jibberjobber.com/, http://www.execunet.com/, http://www.bluesteps.com/, and others.

What would YOU add to this list? Post your comments below.

Avoiding the "should's" of executive resume writing

As you might imagine, I see hundreds of executive resumes on a regular basis, sent to me with the same accompanying verbiage:

• "I've sent this out many times, and have yet to receive a call - what am I doing wrong?"


• "I engaged a professional resume writer to create this for me, but it still doesn't work. I'm not sure what to do."


• "After writing this, I'm not sure it represents me, and I'm reluctant to send it out as is-- please help!"

What I find most often by reading through these documents is that the candidate's real value is buried somewhere... usually between the lines of various accomplishments, in too much detail crammed into the resume, or in vague statements that really don't describe the performance.

There are plenty of resume writing books (including one by yours truly) that will lead you, step by step, through the process of what to do/what to avoid.

You can also find tons of executive resume samples that give you a sharper visual of what an effective leadership resume looks like. And last, but certainly not least, you can nail down plenty of advice on resume writing from nearly every corner of the Internet.

Here's what I find in nearly every case--with the understandable intent of doing it the right way, your executive resume is written using an over-abundance of should's:

• I "should" use these phrases


• The recruiter "should" be able to see what I mean--even if I don't fully describe it


• I "should" copy this idea


• My friends said I "should" tweak the resume this way


• The other resume service said this "should" work

My take? Start over! Take "should" out of your vocabulary, and aim instead at defining your value and brand before writing a single word.

After all, your career can't be summed up with what others say is relevant, but with what YOU'VE achieved that already has relevance.

Resume power tip: sharpen your message to 3 main points

When it comes to a job hunt, it isn't just the content of your resume that will make a difference--it's the speed at which it can be read and digested that determines which candidate makes the cut.

If you've been struggling to capture ALL of your experience and qualifications on paper, this might just be the problem! Stop trying to load your resume with too many details, and zero in on your main qualifications.

Ask yourself what your top 3 qualifiers are--then write directly to them. What do you REALLY want an employer to know about you?

Take out a piece of paper and jot down your 3 strongest qualifications for the job. For example, this could be a recent degree that is sought-after in your field, your leadership tendencies that achieve on-time project success, or your ability to bring in new business.

Now, write your resume AROUND these points, taking into consideration that the document should give a clear picture of your overall background as well.

Not sure what strengths to highlight? Conduct a little real-world research (my favorite strategy, as it tells you what employers REALLY look for in a candidate).

Spend some time on www.indeed.com for keyword mining - and print out a job description from your search. Next, circle some areas that match your expertise. Focus your thinking around these requirements, and the skills needed to meet them.

The result? A targeted resume that precisely describes your fitness, strengths, and unique qualifications for that particular job type.

3 'tests' that you can use to ensure your resume hits the mark

In the rush to get your resume in front of employers, stop for a minute (or a few hours) and consider whether you're giving an accurate picture of your capabilities.

All too often, candidates unload a mixed bag of skills, job duties, and meaningless phrases (take "self-motivated team player" - please) on employers, and then wonder why they're still job hunting months later.

It's important to map out a resume strategy BEFORE writing anything! Get a clear picture of your goal, the skills you plan to market, and the audience you're targeting.

Then, run your document past these critical tests to ensure that it produces results:

1 - Are you making employers read a book?

In my recruiting days, we simply tossed resumes that were 4 or 5 pages long--especially when they began with long, self-important paragraphs that took up half of the first page.

What happens for many executives and seasoned professionals is this: they've kept up with their careers by creating a basic resume, then adding to it throughout the years. Pretty soon, it resembles a novel.

If your strategy for updating your resume has always been to add your latest job, and then add the next, and the next... it's time to STOP.

Hiring authorities don't have the time to wade through pages of your career to find out the relevance to their requirements.

Summarize your credentials up front, and then chop-ruthlessly-from the back, until you've narrowed it to 2 or 3 pages at the most.

2 - Are you thinking like a recruiter?

Hold every word up to scrutiny--and I mean EVERY. Does it have relevance to the job you are pursuing? Does it show the level of leadership accomplishment that you want to sell to employers?

You'll know the answers to these questions if you've done your homework. Peruse job ads, not just to apply, but to see if your content matches what employers are seeking.

Think about it: if you're trying to hire an operations manager, do you really want to see a list of college coursework for engineering on a resume? Probably not.

Conversely, that list of process analysis, efficiency improvement, and performance metrics evaluation skills should be front and center - within the top half of the first page, if possible. This is the kind of information that catches the attention of most recruiters.

Employers are interested in your tendencies, work style, and the pattern of achievement you bring to the table. The more you can articulate (yes, on paper!) what those patterns and contributions look like, the more captivated and interested your audience will be.

3 - Are you still using an outdated presentation--from your college days?

Job hunters who want to get hired in the aggressive market of 2009 have learned to skip objective statements, tiny fonts, and outdated, 1-page formats.

They gain key information on what a masterpiece resume looks like by visiting reputable websites that contain cutting-edge, current resume samples.

A Google search for resume examples can turn up a surprising array of styles and provide you with great starting points (NOT phrases to copy) for your own resume.

Presentation, as I have stated before, is a critical piece of marketing yourself. Be aware that the style and tone of a document speak volumes as to the qualifications and business savvy of the candidate it presents.

Therefore, move outside classic fonts like Times New Roman and Arial, and experiment a little. Try out Book Antiqua or Garamond to shake things up a bit and help your qualifications stand out.

Overall, the best way to get attention during your job search is to throw out the colored paper, lengthy tomes about your career, and worn-out phrases.

Instead, focus on what employers need when they hire a new candidate, and how you can market THOSE capabilities using a fresh, direct approach.

Got references? Maybe it's time for some coaching

Interesting article from CareerJournal on the care and feeding of those who not only endorse you, but can make or break your search -- Bulletproofing Your References.

Cultivating a solid list takes time and effort, along with some coaching and timely updating for EACH job search.

References, after all, might be the last stop on an employer's timetable, but should be one of the FIRST stops on yours.