This article for CEOs has been written by Paul, our head writer. Paul and his colleagues, Sylvia and Natalie all have vast experience creating genuine top-quality CVs (we stress genuine as there are many that aren’t). For 20+ years discerning CEOs from all around the world have been coming to us for help – frequently by word-of-mouth recommendation.
If you want to be able to write a real top CEO CV then paradoxically, the first starting point is to critically scrutinise all the typical advice on offer from the likes of books, websites, headhunters, recruiters, CV companies, and career services. At the start of his career, Paul did exactly that, and was surprised at what he found. Please discover more about this on our Executive CV Service story page.
A lot of the advice you’ll find in books, online and with typical advisors is pretty similar. Part of this is because a lot of it is reworked content from other sources (some of whom probably rehashed it from elsewhere). Most advice isn’t original, and while some of it is sound, some of it does not makes sense, and some of it is contradictory or even nonsensical. Little wonder then that many CEOs have CVs that don’t hit the mark and that are flawed on multiple fronts.
The aim of this help page is to help CEOs understand, not only where their CV is lacking, but also things they can do to improve it. For that we’ll include an example that’s fairly typical of CEO CVs.
Some people and advisors make out that CEO CVs are very different to other CVs. It’s quite a generalisation. While it’s true that some CEOs have CVs that look and feel different to those of the masses, it’s also true that an awful lot of CEOs have CVs that look, feel and read very similar to those further down the career ladder.
A lot of the time it is down to where they got their CV and how the company they got it from operates. Most people, from below managerial level to senior managers, executives, directors and CEOs get their CVs from a handful of self-styled top CV firms who tend to have teams of writers mass-producing lots of CVs, almost in factory fashion.
If you are a CEO and got your CV from one of these places, then the likelihood is that it will have a lot more similarities to that of e.g. a manager in your employ, than it will with e.g. one of our CEO CVs here at ExecutiveCVServices (as ours are far more select, as well as more unique).
Well, a lot of it boils down to ability, time and profits.
We are quality-focussed. Our methods are more demanding and take more time, creativity and expertise. We are also more original. We rewrite every CV and it’s all bespoke, depending on you, your circumstances and your goals. For example, in addition to different wording and content, not all of our CVs even have the same sections. We are flexible and do what’s best for you the client, rather than what is easiest for us.
Judging by many of the CEO CVs we are regularly sent to fix, the same can’t be said elsewhere. Indeed, with some professional CVs, it seems more a matter of the writer having a static template with a few staple phrases, then banging square pegs into round holes.
If you really do want a standout CEO CV, then one immediate tip is to look at your current CV and ask yourself, does it standout? Is it similar to the CVs of some other members of your staff? Does it look the part?
It sounds like such an obvious thing to do, but since many CEOs come to us with failing CVs that look dated and feel standard, it’s clear that many leaders don’t ask themselves such questions.
First let’s make a distinction. Many people place the emphasis on how their CV looks. And to be fair, some CV formats do look great and do give great first impressions.
There’s only one problem with this, but it’s a big one! – namely that employers don’t make decisions solely on how a CV looks, but primarily on what it says, how it says it, and how it sells you over and above your C-level competitors.
Some flashy formats look great, but as you can read in our CV format article, they aren’t usually conducive to great content and slick messaging.
As it happens, most CEOs tend to stay clear of the flashy formats with little substance, and instead tend to favour more traditional formats like the sample below. However, those don’t stand out either. This is partly because lots of other CEOs have similar CVs, and partly because they tend to be flawed on multiple fronts. For example, many are dated, too long, too cluttered and too complex.
At CEO level, you need to strike the right balance between professional presentation, first impressions, visuals, legibility and compelling, pertinent and powerful content.
In 20+ years, we’ve never once received a CEO CV that ticked all those boxes. It’s one reason why, by necessity, we rip up all ‘professional’ CEO CVs from other firms and rewrite them properly from scratch.
The importance of length is underestimated by most people (and most CV companies come to that).
If you really want to stand out in the competitive CEO job market, then your CV should be standout too. Bog-standard 2-page CVs, blend in rather than stand out, and tend not to be the ideal vehicle to getting you noticed. Conversely, well-written one-page CVs are becoming increasingly popular with CEOs – and for good reason. But they need to be very well-written (and very few one-page CVs are very well written)!
Please click to discover more on the best CV length for CEOs
As far as visuals are concerned then, you should be aiming for concise, presentable, legible, with great horizontal and vertical words-to-space ratios. Most typical CEO CVs are anything but concise, presentable, legible, with great horizontal and vertical words-to-space ratios. Indeed, the norm is just the opposite.
Please see the sample below.
Please also don’t just look at it, but also read the body of the example for advice on why many typical CEO CVs are unsound. You can refer to this as a guide when creating your own CV.
The above sample is similar to formats produced by some CV companies, but different firms have various formats. The format your CV will be in usually depends, not on what is best for you, but more on just whichever format the CV firm happens to use. Please note, many CV firms chose format, not on sales and marketing grounds, but on what is easier for them to write. It’s one reason why most firms tend not to even attempt concise single line bullets – let alone pull them off!
There are lots of formats out there. Some examples are below.
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Please view our CEO CV example
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If you read the text on the CV, rather than just look at it, then this should help explain the logic behind our popular format (and why it has been designed with sales and marketing principles in mind to boost your CEO job prospects).
Most CEOs have heard of applicant tracking systems (ATS), but ATS is not quite what some CV firms would have you believe.
Discover more about ATS here.
We help CEOs from the UK and all around the world.
Definitely, and almost certainly dramatically.
Most CEOs are stunned at how a real top writer can radically transform their CV.
The advice in this guide indicates some key aspects of creating a CEO CV. As established, some things that firms, books, advisors and writers promote don’t always make sense. It’s one reason why most CEO CVs are flawed, and by consequence, can be greatly improved in most respects – including better alignment with sales and marketing principles.
You can’t create a top-quality CEO CV by tweaking a flawed existing one. You need to improve everything from presentation, first impressions and legibility, to phrasing, pitching and powerful sales messaging. This can only be done by ripping things up and starting properly again from scratch. It’s a big job, and a very specialist skill.
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If you would like our unique assistance, then we would be happy to help you.