CIO/CTO Branding Strategies: 3 Primary Differentiators for the Executive IT Resume

For IT leaders looking to distinguish themselves in today's job market to capture the attention of executive technical recruiters and CEOs, it's important to communicate a personal brand. The personal brand must be several things:

1. It needs to communicate something of value
2. It must be specific and focused
3. It must resonate with your audience
4. It absolutely must be substantiated by your experience and accomplishments

I read a lot of articles from career services professionals talking about personal branding (whether you like the term "branding" or not, it simply means the manner in which you are positioning yourself in the job market). Most posts neglect to tell the reader about the importance of being able to put some meat behind your claims.

Perception "seems" to be reality, but eventually frauds get exposed. So I don't recommend trying to make yourself something you are not. Branding is about bringing out the unique you for people to see, not creating an illusion.

Let's take a closer look at #1 listed above, as it's effectiveness will drive #2 and #3 as well. For IT Directors, VPs, and Senior-Level Managers, you're going to need to deliver a message that is not a 1:1 correlation with your present job duties. In all likelihood, you are now more "hands-on" than you will need to be in a CIO role. For current CIOs or CTOs, you've been removed from the "hands-on" stuff for a period of time. So the question is, how do you focus your resume or profile to communicate this value to the reader?

You should have 3 main areas of focus in the following order of priority:

1. IT & Business Transformation
2. Revenue Growth
3. Productivity & Cost Savings

Leveraging technology systems, services, and new business models to fuel revenue growth and reduce operating costs is important too. There is a renewed focus on using technology to generate top-line growth, so projects with revenue generation at the core should be more important than cost-cutting solutions.

Transformation is the most difficult to achieve, as you must work across the enterprise to drive systemic change. If you've been involved in business transformation initiatives, you know that many are highly resistant to change, especially other senior leaders. Finding IT executives with this ability in abundance is rare, so if you have it, tout it! It's the best approach you can take to build an effective brand image and prepare you for a competitive job market.

Stephen is the ITtechExec, a "Go To" Personal Branding Strategist for IT, engineering, manufacturing, telecommunications, call center, medical device, and other STEM/technical specialty professionals. By translating technical activities and leadership achievements into a clear, consistent message that's meaningful to business executives and recruiters, Stephen generates at least a 5x return on investment on job seeker resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and other online platforms. The ITtechExec offers a proprietary job search lifecycle management approach to guide technical candidates through brand strategy development, documentation, interviewing preparation, job search strategy development, and online brand management. Contact Stephen today at (866) 755-9800, http://www.ittechexec.com/, or stephen@ittechexec.com.

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How to Create a Standout Personal Branding Statement for Your Resume

Many job seekers don't understand just how important their personal brand is when trying to outline their capabilities as a candidate. Your personal brand, if clearly defined, tells an amazing story of what you've accomplished in your career - and what you can hope to accomplish in the future.

There are a number of ways to go about branding yourself, including giving yourself a title, creating online profiles with LinkedIn and other social networking sites, and even starting an industry-centered blog. But in your resume, you can showcase your brand by creating a 2- to 3-sentence personal branding statement that acknowledges the benefits you can bring to a company.

So how can you create a standout personal branding statement on your resume?

Pinpoint Your Greatest Career Moments

As a professional, you have not only completed day-to-day tasks but probably have had some very impressive moments that you would love to brag about. Your personal branding statement is the perfect place to let your moments shine.

For instance, if you are a journalist/reporter, you could share skills that make you a viable candidate-while throwing in some accomplishments that other candidates may not be able to share. Here is an example of a journalist's personal branding statement:

"Award-winning journalist with 10 years of experience covering fiscal budgets at the national level while working with affiliates and bureaus in state investigations.

Of course, this personal statement highlights a person who has had amazing accomplishments in his career. But your own accomplishments can sound great - if expressed properly.

Think About What the Employer Wants

Keep in mind, pulling together all of your greatness won't mean very much if you end up branding yourself in a way that doesn't relate to the job for which you're applying. This is why it's important to take a good look at what the company wants in a candidate.

Explore the job posting thoroughly to see which qualifications and requirements the employer wants. Then take it a step further by contacting human resources (if possible) to learn more about the position. Learning more about the job can help you sculpt a branding statement that meshes perfectly with the employer's hopes for a qualified candidate.

Remember, your personal branding statement is all about making the right first impression, so pack at least three great highlights into the description. When complete, it should not only accurately define who you are as a professional but encourage the hiring manager to strongly consider you as a candidate.

Jessica M Holbrook, expert resume writer, is a nationally-recognized resume authority and former HR Manager who has achieved over a 99% success rate securing interviews with prestigious organizations through exclusive, personal branding strategies. The President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast, she and her team partner with professional- and executive-level candidates.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jessica_M_Holbrook

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Struggling to Write Your Executive Resume? Try These Branding Tips

If your idea of writing an executive resume is trying to list all your tasks and group them under each job title, you're in for quite a surprise.

The information that actually makes employers want to call you is quite different than just the descriptions of your previous jobs, as it involves creating a personal brand message with a clear, unmistakable promise of leadership value.

In this market, your job search is almost guaranteed to take longer if your resume doesn't reflect your specific strengths and the impact of your work for your employers.

However, don't despair! There are quick, real-life branding exercises that you can undertake in the executive resume writing process that will get the response you deserve.

In the process, you'll also be able to turn around your perspective of resume writing, gaining a valuable lesson in how to self-market and promote your unique leadership background.

To jumpstart the process of executive resume-writing and related brand analysis, try these 3 tips to make your task easier, before writing a single word:

1 - Ask others for feedback.

This may seem like a backwards step, but if you discuss your job search and resume purpose with trusted colleagues or friends before putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), you'll actually have a better vision of the end goal.

Specifically, most people around you can clearly see your value in ways that you cannot, because they have likely benefited from your leadership qualities, organization skill, and technical proficiency.

Here are some great questions to ask your network, which will help generate resume ideas:

* What reasons would you have for recommending my work to my next employer?

* What company-level problems did you believe I was able to solve when we worked together?

* How you believe I'll be able to add value as a leader in my next job?

* What did you see as my top 3 contributions to profit, employee performance, or cost savings in my last job?

Next, you'll want to keep these ideas in a list next to you during the leadership resume-writing process. Use them to add color to your resume profile and flesh them out in more detail in your executive work history.

2 - Make a list of career wins.

Right off the bat, make a list of your top achievements over the course of your career - including everything from leading a challenging project to success to turning around a non-profitable company division.

Give yourself permission to remember (and savor) the highlights of what you've been able to do that brought you kudos from others. Don't forget that the impact might have been external to the company, as many executives often garner praise from industry insiders or analysts, as well as from their teams.

You'll want to create success stories from each of these accomplishments, and then put them in the classic Challenge-Action-Result format for your resume writing efforts. Describe the Challenge or situation first, then the Action that you took, and most importantly, the Result of each project or achievement.

These stories will now become the foundation for accomplishment stories in your executive resume, and can be used to replace what would usually be the classic list of tasks performed at each job.

In addition, you'll want to add more facets to each story during the resume-writing process, supplying employers with more proof of your leadership performance as you recall the details.

3 - Inject some personality into the process.

Give some thought to the role you are seeking. What type of qualities does the perfect candidate for this job display? What are his or her professional attributes?

This isn't hard to picture: for example, a COO might be extremely analytical or improvement-focused, while the ideal IT Director would tend to challenge the status quo and take a firm stance with vendors.

Now, tie these qualities back to your own experience. In what situations did you display these attributes and what were the results of your leadership at the time?

What's important about this exercise? It allows you to start with an employer-side view of the ideal executive leader, giving you the same perspective they'll have when scouring your resume for proof of these qualities.

As a result, you have some goals around which to center your leadership resume, rather than just starting with a list of mundane tasks that everyone performs in your field.

In summary, you'll need to transform your perception of executive resume writing from what you've been led to believe, and start the writing process from a standpoint of brand value that can help you differentiate your experience - a solid first step toward capturing a better response for your leadership skills.

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Executive Resume Branding

By Erin Kennedy Erin Kennedy
Level: Platinum

Erin Kennedy, CPRW, CERW, BS/HR, is a Certified Professional Resume Writer/Career Consultant, and the President of Professional Resume Services, Inc. She is a nationally published ...

If you aren't living under a rock, you have been hearing lots of buzz about "branding". So, what exactly IS branding and how will it help my executive resume? What will it do for me? With the tight job market today, and thousands of qualified senior level candidates, employers can afford to be picky. How do you get to the top of the pile? How are you going to stand out? Your brand.

Your personal brand is the promise of the value you bring to the company. Your unique-ness. What makes you, you. Think "Heinz". When I say that, what immediately comes to mind? Ketchup. You know exactly what it will look like, taste like, smell like, etc. Heinz' brand offers the promise of tomatoe-y goodness on a french fry or hot dog, right? It's more about action, rather than words. What you can do for the company? I talk to my clients about that all the time. In promoting your executive brand on your resume, you are stating to the company, "This is who I am, these are what my strengths are, and this is what I can do for you." You have to uncover your assets and cultivate them in order to drive credibility and increase your professional/executive presence.

There is so much to be gained from branding your executive resume for the job search. One of the main reasons I like branding resumes is because there is no guesswork involved in what the person does, what their strengths are, and what they are recognized for. Any recruiter out there would agree- there is nothing worse than getting a resume that has no identifiable statements at first glance of what they do- you have to read line by line halfway down the page to figure out, "Ohhhhh, they are Senior VP at the firm, OK."

I will get more into executive branding in future posts- how it can help you: increase your visibility and online presence, differentiate you from your peers, help you achieve professional success, realize how people will be drawn to you, want to follow/listen to you, and more. So, in the mean time, dig deep, discover what makes you tick- your strengths, drive, and interests- and start building your brand.

Erin Kennedy, CPRW, CERW, BS/HR, is a Certified Professional & Executive Resume Writer/Career Consultant and President of Professional Resume Services, Inc. She is a nationally published writer and contributor of 9+ best-selling career books. She has achieved international recognition following yearly nominations of the prestigious T.O.R.I. (Toast of the Resume Industry) Award. Erin has written thousands of resumes for executives and professionals.

As a proud member of PARW, CDI, AORCP, Erin also sits on CDI's Credentialing Committee for new certification candidates and serves as a Mentor for CDI's Member Mentoring Committee. She also is a featured blogger on several well-known career sites. Reuse of this article is encouraged but must include a link to http://exclusive-executive-resumes.com/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erin_Kennedy

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Article Submitted On: November 21, 2010

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