How to execute the perfect senior executive CV

Your CV is a physical manifestation of your qualifications, lifelong experiences and career highlights. It is the very first impression companies will have of you if you decide to look for a new role, so it’s important to ensure the document you create is a true reflection of your seniority.

Primarily, the emphasis of your CV should be on quality, not quantity.  Although you will have picked up numerous skills over the years, it’s vital to only show the most relevant information. That paper-round you had as a kid may have helped to mould you into the person you are today, but will your interviewer want to read about it?

Your CV should only be a maximum of two pages. When describing your working history, only detail your most recent and relevant roles. Older roles, even if they are within the same industry as the position you are applying for, should be summarised as succinctly as possible – one or two lines at most.

When creating a presentation your audience wants to hear cold, hard facts. Evidence. Quantifiable results. Think of your CV as a presentation about you and provide as much data as you can to demonstrate the impact you have had on the companies you have worked for. Think of it this way: would you rather hire someone who said they had boosted sales, or someone who said they had boosted sales by 85% in 6 months?

Ultimately a CV is an advertisement for your abilities to a company, so think of yourself as a brand. What are your unique qualities that make you better than the competition? What message are you trying to get across? Why would someone want to invest their money and time into you? If someone were to invest in you, what exactly would they get? Add as much personality with as little words as you can by using specific turns of phrase and having an ambitious, confident tone of voice.

Now that the fundamental information is on paper, it’s time to think about your executive summary. This should only be about four or five bullet points, but they are your main selling points. Don’t repeat what is already on your CV or use meaningless corporate buzzwords. Be concise, interesting and memorable.

Finally, it’s time to make your CV look great. The layout is just as important as the content for functional as well as aesthetic purposes. Your interviewer may want to scan through it initially to see if you have specific qualifications that are relevant to the job before they have a proper read through, but if they aren’t able to differentiate one section from another they may not bother trawling through the rest of it. Think about it from your audience’s perspective: they will have seen many, many CVs in order to find the perfect candidate. Their ideal CV will be easy to read and striking. Use a minimalist, functional layout. There are plenty of templates on the internet that you can look through to get ideas from if you’re unsure.

Now that your CV is a worthy reflection of your senior executive role, you’re ready to apply for some exciting new opportunities. To find out the latest roles available at Carbon60, click here.