Published on: Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Will this Résumé Open Doors for Me?
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Recently, a former colleague emailed me his résumé and asked me for my thoughts. When you work in an organization like ExecuNet, this is a familiar request. I started to open the attachment but stopped. After all, what I was about to do was give some sort of subjective feedback to someone who now works in a field I'm barely familiar with. I'm pretty sure he didn't really want to know what I especially liked or didn't like about his résumé.
What he really wanted to know was if this résumé was going to open doors and get meetings for him to move on to a new C-suite leadership role in a new organization.
So I did exactly what no recruiter or HR person has time to do. I called him. After 15 minutes of catching up on news about the kids and a few more spent on the moves of others, he told me what he liked doing and what he wanted to do. Thirty minutes later, I had a good idea of what he wanted to communicate.
None of it was in his résumé. Sure, he had the requisite job history, the overused designation as a "seasoned leader" and some nice metrics on results. But that's it. No powerful language, no clear positioning, no value statements. No passion. Nothing that reflected the person I knew was an outstanding performer in M&A, turnarounds and building successful organizations.
I'd invested an hour — about 150 percent more time than the average executive recruiter — and I'd come up empty-handed. Like most professionals, my friend was clear on what he had done but not on what he might do solving other organizations' needs.
He needed the support of someone who could be objective and who could partner with him to assess the market he was about to enter, articulate his value clearly and distinctly and then present that information in a way that generates confidence and attracts return calls. My friend welcomed a referral to one of our personal marketing strategists, and he'll soon have some great marketing materials including a résumé that will position him for a role he'll thrive in. Even more, he'll have a go-to-market plan they've created together to put those materials and messages to work.
I love days like that!
Lauryn Franzoni
Lauryn Franzoni is vice president and executive director of ExecuNet’s membership, leading the group’s proprietary research initiatives, website and publication content, membership and customer acquisition, executive career management resources, and the building of mutually beneficial communities of interest. By harnessing the power of the collective experience of our members, we assist business leaders in connecting with each other, with new ideas and opportunities, and we provide them the expert insights, education and pragmatic assistance they need to further their careers and help their organizations grow.
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