It is always interesting when executives ask me how to make their résumés more compelling. Now, I recognize that most executives aren't expected to be experts in résumé writing, but what occurs to me is that most of them are experts of a sort in résumé READING.

Most executives have been on the hiring side for years, having reviewed and evaluated hundreds, if not thousands, of résumé. They've sat across the desk from candidates with résumés in hand, and they've stared at résumés on a computer screen with the candidate on the other end of the phone. As a résumé reader, surely they know what they did, and did not, like. They know what got their attention. They know what made them want to get the candidate in for an interview right away. They know what made them click and drag the document into the recycle bin.

So one tip I give executives who are seeking assistance with writing their résumés is to generalize their own experience and make their own determinations about how to make their own document most effective, based on what THEY liked and didn't like when they were evaluating others. Maybe that's easier said than done. When we're out of work, or on the selling side of the equation rather than the buying side, it's unfamiliar territory. Perhaps we lose some confidence. Maybe our ability to rely on our own instincts and judgment fades. It's harder to maintain the broader perspective.

We at ExecuNet are in the business of helping executives get hired through effective personal marketing, and we have a pretty strict set of techniques, tenets and principles that we use in developing personal marketing materials, based in part on what surveys show are the preferences of recruiters and HR folks, as well as automated scanning systems. Then we add our own special formula for creating uniquely compelling materials.

There is lots of advice about résumé writing in the bookstores, and Google will turn up thousands of sites and blogs on the topic. So while there are some important guidelines and principles relative to résumé content and structure, it is still to a large degree a subjective matter.

If you are in the job market, or thinking about getting into it, and are wanting to improve your résumé, think back over the documents that have captured YOUR attention, and remember that you made an assessment based on your very personal and unique criterion for what you wanted to see, and how you wanted to see it. Trust your own experience, and remember that the person reviewing your documents will have their own very personal likes and dislikes. It's akin to deciding what to wear to the interview...surely there are some parameters to keep in mind, but there's also room for your own flair and personality to come through. And no one else will look the same as you will in that blue suit of yours.

Be true to who you are. Capture the authenticity of your experience and expertise. Trust your instincts, because you have to walk in the door behind that document. Keep in mind, when it comes to how to present yourself, you probably know more than you think.

David Topus
David Topus leads ExecuNet's personal marketing services group, and is a nationally-recognized consultant and trainer who turns reputations into revenue by helping individuals and companies articulate their value propositions more effectively. He has been cited in national media for his communication and networking techniques.

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