Perhaps in the middle of revamping your executive resume story, you land a new role. If this is you, I would strongly encourage you keep the momentum going and complete your resume to tell a full story of your value.
After all, you never know when you might need it again. Whether you experience job loss, or an internal opportunity arises for which you want to throw your hat in the ring, a current and value-laden career narrative will equip you with both the stories and courage to propel forward amid opportunities of change.
The job loss could be the result of …
- Corporate Rightsizing. Your company ‘suddenly’ rightsizes and you are one of many employees who are given the heave ho.
- Culture Clash. A difficult situation, disagreement with your boss or mis-match between you and the corporate culture spurs you to part ways with them (or, they with you).
- Low-Level Role. It is not uncommon to accept a role that is a lower salary or position level (or both) than desired. Accepting a subpar opportunity can happen when you are in need of the next paycheck and/or feel that there may not be another offer coming, so the “bird in the hand” philosophy kicks in.
- Intolerable Stress. You find yourself so stressed in the role that you can no longer tolerate another day engaging with the customers, your boss, your colleagues, etc.; so, you resign.
- Promises Not Kept. During job interviews and negotiations, you were promised big returns for your investment of time, energy and intellectual capital but those returns never materialized. At some point, you decide the juice is no longer worth the squeeze, and you choose to leave.
A current resume also is useful — and most of the time necessary — for internal promotions as well. These might include a …
- Newly Opened Role. Out of the blue, you see a new internal job posting that is a perfect fit for your skills and experience; or, perhaps word gets out that another department, division, business unit, etc. is expanding and will soon be recruiting for someone like you.
- Vacancy Due to Your Boss’ Sudden Exit. We don’t always have advance notice of our direct supervisor’s intentions to leave. However, a storied overview of the successes you’ve achieved in collaboration with your boss will go a long way in quickly proving you can take the reins, not just as a stop gap but more so as a long-term permanent solution following your boss’ departure.
- Ongoing Internal Opportunities That Intersect With Your Expanding Skillsets: When you realize you are performing the job of a more advanced manager, leader and/or executive, and decide to apply for that next-level gig, a well articulated and persuasive resume story will support your goals. In some instances, it will even seal the deal.
Moreover, maintaining an executive resume story reflective of where you are today versus where you were 6 months, 1 year, or even 5 or 10 years ago, helps ensure your arrow is aiming at the right goal. Otherwise–because you have articulated achievements stories that relate to your older skills and abilities–you might invest an inordinate amount of time interviewing and negotiating for a job that never quite fits your next-level goals.
In sum, landing a job and then ditching your executive resume process can result in outdated personal branding that hamstrings future goals. Your dusty narrative will promote an expired value proposition and position you for work for which you are now overqualified.
Conversely, maintaining a modern, updated storied approach that weaves in your current and uniquely colorful threads will wrap itself around the needs of your targeted opportunities, enabling you a swifter and smoother job transition process.
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I am Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, 1 of only 50 certified master resume writers and owner, CareerTrend.net. Email jacqui@careertrend.net for information about the Exec Starter Kit to dip your toes in the water of my deep-dive resume process.
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