The higher you climb in your career, the more competitive it becomes. So, in a crowded executive job market, how will your resume set you apart, showcase your value and get you through to the next stage of candidacy?

While some executive trends remind consistent over the years, there are some immerging resume trends that top candidates need to be aware of before submitting their career documents.

If you are an executive job seeker or looking to boost your personal brand, here are 10 resume tips to keep in mind for 2019:

1. Customize Your Resume for Each New Opportunity

While this might appear to be a time-consuming endeavour, the more focused and relevant your resume appears, the greater your chances are of success. It can be tempting to, once you feel you have perfected your resume, fire it off to recruiters and new opportunities as they appear, but taking time to ensure that your resume reflects the desired candidate criteria, demonstrates how you can add value to your potential new employer and indicates a good cultural fit will definitely pay off.

2. The 10-Second Rule

With the ease of online job applications increasing the number of candidates for each new role, recruiters and potential employers are limited to the amount of time they are able to spend reviewing each resume. So, while your resume may have taken days, weeks or even months to perfect, it's likely that at the initial stage, a recruiter will spend around 6-10 seconds on your resume. Rather than feeling disheartened, candidates should be encouraged to ensure that they make those 10 seconds count by increasing the clarity of their documents, highlighting important information and making them more impactful. Using clear language, easy-to-view layouts and distinct headings can all add to the clarity of your document and help your reader take in more information in that allotted time, while leaving enough intrigue to make them want to invite you for that interview. Other techniques that could be used include graphs, bullet points, and company summaries with clear dates.

3. Showcase Success Data

It's not enough to tell someone that you are great at something, you need to prove it. When conveying your professional accomplishments, be sure to use metrics to highlight and give context to your success. Showcasing your achievements in this way can give weight to your resume and help you stand out above your competition.

4. Be Concise

With the wealth of experience you have amassed during your career, it can be difficult to condense your career history to one or two pages. But recruiters and potential employers are often deterred by overly lengthy resumes so less is often more. Remove experience over 10 years ago that is no longer relevant to your career story and make sure each section is carefully crafted and succinct.

5. Optimize Your Resume with Keywords

You need to understand the keywords within the position you are applying for and ensure that they are featured throughout your resume. Understand and utilize the terminology within the job description and make sure your resume syncs up.

6. Be Consistent and Create Continuity Between Your Career Tools: If you are considered as a candidate, it is highly likely that any hiring organization or recruiter will not only review your resume, but also your LinkedIn profile as part of candidate research. If your resume and LinkedIn profile have inconsistency regarding experience, dates of employment, employers, titles or skills, it could place your application in jeopardy. Furthermore, a LinkedIn profile is a great way to elaborate on key areas from your resume, without the constraints of 1-2 pages. Make the most of this additional platform and ensure you utilize it to its full potential. Other candidates will!

7. Ask for Feedback: Once you have finished writing your resume, share it with a few trusted friends, family members or advisors to gather their feedback on potential edits, typos and other suggestions. Having a fresh perspective will help you improve the quality of your resume and increase the clarity or the overall document.

If you are in the process of writing your professional resume, listen in to this month’s webinar “Expert Tips for Executive Resumes” where a team of world-class executive resume writers and strategists share their knowledge on how to boost the performance of your resume. Register Now >>