What are the most effective ways to visually enhance your resume for senior executives?

Resume consists of 2 components: Content and Presentation. Content, it's crucial to include only the skills and qualifications that truly belong to us, which may encompass degrees, certificates, and extracurricular activities, without unnecessary details. Instead of constantly tweaking resume to match specific job positions, structuring resume in a manner to emphasizes solutions we contributed to, our business insights, our professional profile should address requirements of various positions. Presentation: Maintaining a consistent design and layout is of utmost importance. It's essential to be mindful of font to ensure the doc's readability and maintain a concise length, typically limiting to 2 or 3 pages.

In my years of Resume/CV writing, I have realized that the layout of your document will set the initial tone in making an impression, visually, on your CV/Resume, enticing the reader to peruse further. At first glance, headings, paragraphs, visual arrangement, flow, and margins/borders will make your document visually appealing to the reader. If you can add a little bit of color (non-flashy), it all adds to the aesthetic appeal. Make sure the design and layout you use are consistent throughout the whole document. Depending on how much detail you want to have in the CV/Resume, proper use of fonts will definitely help in limiting the pages to a maximum of 2 or 3, if you are experienced.

Senior executives need to convey their vision, values, strategy and scale that have enabled them to build departments, businesses, brands, etc. At senior level the matches are made based on organizational cultural/business fit considering execution is a given(industry will know you or not). Allow resume to give you room to elaborate when a face to face meeting occurs.Too much info around transactions weaken the profile and position you more as a manager rather than a leader. Keep it simple, keep it direct.

I recently trialled using taller font in the same sentence, making it bold and highlighting the background section red. I used it with number of clients with success. This approach is often seen on YouTube video grab where important part of the text is highlighted in red background such as : I increased sales by 25%. Another way is to approach it from a social media infographic perspective and do a resume like an infographic. Bold move but this type of attraction is used in marketing.

I prefer to adopt a straightforward layout with only essential visual elements. Based on my experience with leadership profiles, candidates often struggle to connect with elaborate color schemes & graphic elements, which can overshadow their unique personalities ?? Choose a neat design, use a simple font & make sure everything looks the same. ?? Make important parts stand out by using bold titles. This helps people find what they're looking for quickly. ?? You can add small design touches like lines/shading to separate different parts. Just don't overdo it. ?? Stick to professional colors that go well together. Avoid using really bright/flashy colors - they can be distracting.

In my experience, senior executives should tread carefully when it comes to charts and graphs. Despite being visually appealing, they are not optimized for ATS, which may result in CVs being screened out before an actual human has had the chance to read them. It is important to remember that any relevant data, including accomplishments and quantifiable results, can always be illustrated in a text format, which tends to be a more concise, clear, and objective alternative.

You can certainly consider a "fancier" resume, implementing charts, graphs, or icons to showcase your results. Side note: It is important to consider the ATS when choosing these fancy additions. However, these visual elements can make a significant impact, particularly when showcasing quantitative results or complex data. Ensure that the charts and icons align with the overall design and branding of your resume, maintaining a polished and professional appearance that complements your qualifications and experience. This approach can help your resume stand out and make a compelling impression on senior executive readers.

For a senior executive profile, you can demonstrate their growth and their contribution towards the company by using relevant graphs, charts or diagrams. However, make sure they don't make the resume look fancy or graphics loaded. The same can be projected by quantifying the graphics which how much sales they made in $, revenue growth, how much cost is reduced, etc. On that other hand, you should also make sure that the resume is ATS compliant by not including major keywords inside those graphical elements.

Actually, I disagree with all the statements about ATS, especially at the level of a senior executive. If you are not getting your resume in the hands of a hiring manager, not HR, then you are not setting yourself up for success. Teaching clients how to network, research, and bypass “ATS” screening is extremely important, especially at the senior executive and C-Suite level.

Tailor the visual elements you use to your industry and the job role you're targeting. How? 1. Investigate the common design and formatting preferences within the specific industry you're targeting. 2. Choose icons or symbols that are relevant to the industry. e.g. those in social media need different icons from those in the healthcare sector. 3. Align your color palette with industry standards or the branding of companies in the sector.

I am on board with a brand statement or executive summary. This brief overview of what you have accomplished and the value you can bring to the role should compel the hiring manager to read further. On the other hand I am not in favor of a photo. It is not common or customary and opens you to unconscious bias. Skip the picture and focus on content that tells a compelling story.

I've reviewed probably 200 resumes in the last 90 days for a few open reqs that I am hiring for and can attest that no one submitted a resume with a photo. Which is ideal. I find photos on resumes uncomfortable. I like to be objective when reviewing content. Do not include a photo. Keep that on Linkedin! I like a splash of color, on the top, bottom and to separate areas of a resume, especially when the content is long. Videos are great as well but only when a candidate is moved into a review process and already been contacted.

Incorporating a personal brand statement could definitely be an interesting addition to senior executives' resumes. Adapting it according to the industry or position would make it much more compelling, especially if you focus on the problem you will be solving or the impact you can make in a particular role. When it comes to including a photo, it will definitely depend on the country, as there seem to be no international standards for it. In Canada, where I'm based, adding a photo is considered improper, as it may lead to bias and discrimination during the selection process.

Under anti-discrimination laws, Including photo in your resume can get you rejected. Photo creates a personal bias. If an employer is interested in your appearance, they can easily find your professional photo on LinkedIn or other platforms. However, your resume should primarily showcase your skills and experiences.

Globally there are different expectations for resumes/CVs. In the United States, be cautious with including a photo. Some companies have their software filter out resumes with photos to protect themselves from discrimination lawsuits. As far as a Brand Statement, you are better off pointing out how your Brand aligns with their organizational values rather than making a big brand statement and forcing them to make the connections.

I see so many clients make mistakes when using color. Color should not be used as an aesthetic. You don't use color to make things look pretty. You use color and other contrasts to draw the eyes of the reader where you want them to go. Which is your accomplishments. One thing I would caution against is using the underline feature too much on the resume as it can make it very hard to scan. Instead, use bold or italics to draw the eyes where you want them to go.

Infographic Elements: Create infographics to visually represent achievements, skills, or career progression. Ensure that infographics are clear, relevant, and enhance rather than distract.

I like color in a resume - top bar of the resume, middle, end. Use color to separate sections. Drive the reader to a certain area such as education, summary etc. I always like to see the name in bold. Makes it easy to read. Phone number, email please in every submission. Be careful that some websites actually converts your email to their own and it becomes very hard to contact someone from their resume when this happens.

Strategic use of color can be an important addition to your executive resume - but be careful when choosing and leveraging color so that it accurately conveys your value proposition. For example, executives in conservative fields can benefit from using a touch of blue or an elegant shade of beige to emphasize key strengths. However, a technology innovator or marketing executive can use more vivid tones to describe groundbreaking achievements. If you're not accustomed to using color on your resume, run an online search to see examples of executive resumes in your industry. You can also research color psychology to identify appropriate tones that reinforce specific strengths (leadership, financial acumen, technology aptitude, and others).

Your skills section is a great opportunity to further keyword your resume. A good exercise is to read through a job description, write down the keywords that stand out to you, and then add them to your skills section. An example of the importance: if you're in Customer Success and the job description keeps saying "Customer Service," you want to match up with the job description is saying. Be careful not to put too many skills in the skills section because it can look like you're keyword stuffing. Lastly, make sure your skills are actually skills. If you're not actually good at something, it doesn't belong in your skills section.

Attention to detail matters—especially with bullet points and keywords. Bullet points aren't just filler; they're miniature stories of your accomplishments. Stick to one line per bullet, 10-18 words to be precise, to drive your point home. Have more than 8 bullets for a job? Divide them into context-based sections for better readability. As for keywords, use them but don't let them use you. Over-relying can harm your personal brand narrative. Pick keywords that naturally align with your solid achievements. In summary, it's about strategy and storytelling. Your resume isn't just a document—it's a direct reflection of your brand. Take a step back and ask yourself: "Does this look executive?" Let that be your North Star.

Absolutely, numbers matter, but context is king. Saying you increased sales by 300% means little if we don’t know the base figure. Was it from $100 to $300 or $30M to $90M? Context matters. Keep explanations for interviews. Use one-liners in your bullet points to demonstrate your excellence. Pair this with a strong profile section to satisfy both human and digital audiences. Knowing your objective is crucial. You're solving a problem or creating an opportunity. Tailor your resume to speak directly to your unique contributions in those areas. In the end, your resume is a targeted proposition that should make hiring managers think, “This person is the exact solution we’ve been looking for.” Make every character count toward that goal.

Creating a visually enhanced resume as a senior executive often means featuring well-designed infographics to showcase key achievements, milestones, or a visual timeline of your career. These visuals can be attention-grabbing and provide a quick overview of your accomplishments. Your resume will also appear leading-edge if you feature a QR Code that links to video testimonials or online portfolio items. This adds an extra dimension to your resume and enables employers to learn more about you.

Executives need you to ?????? ???? ?????? ??????????... and ????????! If you are fortunate enough that an Exec is looking at your resume, you need to do ONE THING... You need to SOLVE her problems! Period! Accomplishment-based bullet points that are relevant to the job for which you are applying will do just that! When your bullet points says, "?????????????????? ?????????? ???? 35% ???? ?????? ?????????????? ?????????? ???????????????? ?????????? 43%..." This tells the Exec that YOU will SOLVE similar problems... No pictures... no charts... no graphs... this is not a Quarterly Executive Summary about the fall campaign... it's a resume whose only purpose is to get their attention and keep it!

I think it is noteworthy to mention that it isn’t necessary to put your picture on your resume. You want to be recognized as top talent based upon your accomplishments and professional achievements not what you offer visually. Plus you can bet if a corporation wants to consider you as a candidate for one of their roles, they have reviewed your LinkedIn profile and other social media platforms.