Even at the CIO or executive level, many candidates struggle to position their accomplishments in a way that will grab the attention of recruiters and hiring managers. John Chavner had an exceptional career and most recently held a number of contract positions consulting for CIOs, but the structure of his resume read "senior IT project guy" and not the "executive IT leader" he truly was.
"While I have always had positive feedback on my resume, this makeover process for me was about getting the presentation of the content positioned for today's marketplace. A favorite saying I once heard rings true in this case, 'Presentation will dictate response'," says Chavner.
"When I first saw John's old resume, I could tell that he had great experience and solid achievements, but he didn't seem to meet the expectations that companies have for senior technology leaders or CIOs. I had to spend more time reading through it than most decision-makers do on the initial pass, and infer some of the things that weren't addressed in the resume, but that are important to companies today," says Stephen Van Vreede, personal brand strategist and job search agent for IT, Technical and STEM careers with ITTechExec and job search coach and employment blogger at NoddlePlace. Van Vreede is also the co-author of the upcoming book, "Uncommon: Common Sense but Uncommon Knowledge From Today's Leading Entrepreneurs and Professionals to Help You Lead an Extraordinary Life of Health, Wealth and Success."
