Executive Resume Checklist
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Be sure your resume meets all these criteria so that you can stand out in a competitive field of applicants.



Your career brand and your value proposition





1. The reader can grasp a "reason to hire you" inside of 3 seconds.



2. The recruiter or hiring authority can get a sense of your career brand, that is, what makes you YOU professionally and distinguishes your from the competition.



3. The recruiter or hiring authority can find out precisely what your value proposition is - of supreme importance to the company.



4. Any other credentials such as certifications, multiple languages, global experience, big awards etc. should be mentioned here.



5. You use a headline rather than a career objective unless you are targeting a significantly different career.


6. You customize your resume to the position you are targeting.



7. You match your career brand and value proposition to the needs of the organization you are sending your resume to.



8. You include any really unusual and impressive outside activities, community contributions, or non-work-related skills, because perceived performance excellence in one area transfers to the work arena.



Proving your value proposition




9. Your accomplishments are expressed, as much as possible, in quantifiable terms in the body of the resume.



10. Your accomplishments are presented in context, so their proper significance can be understood.



11. Your 5 to 7 chief accomplishments over the last decade stand out visually, with the sub-accomplishments under each of them.



Get the formatting right




12. Your resume can be read easily across media, including on paper, on a laptop or desktop, on a tablet device, and on a smart phone.



13. Your resume uses the appropriate keywords for your function and your industry...and the obscure and rarer keywords customized to the position you are targeting.



14. You use common headings for the resume sections so that applicant tracking software will correctly read what's under them.



15. You have different versions of your resume for electronic and for human processing.