Christopher Johnson
Chief Growth Officer
New C-suite position
Christopher reported that the resume writing and career guidance played a pivotal role in helping him secure a new C-suite position.
For Directors, VPs & senior leaders starting an unexpected job search
You Spent Years Building Senior-Level Experience. Don’t Let Your Resume Make You Look Ordinary.
If your position was recently eliminated, the natural instinct is to update the last role and start applying.
But the resume you used before may no longer show the leadership scope, business impact, and level you need the next employer to see.
But the resume you used before may no longer show the leadership scope, business impact, and level you need the next employer to see.
Before you put it into the market, send it to me. I’ll review it FREE and tell you where I believe it is helping you—and where it may be underselling you.
SEND MY RESUME FOR A FREE EVALUATIONNo payment for the initial FREE evaluation. If the resume only needs a few changes, I’ll tell you that too.
Since 2003Resume writing experience
219LinkedIn recommendations + five-star reviews
#1Current LinkedIn Services Marketplace ranking for Resume Writing
Before you start applying
Updating the last job is not the same as repositioning the career.
The natural response when a position ends is to open the resume, add the most recent role, change a few dates, and start applying.
Sometimes that is enough.
But if the resume was built years ago, grew around one employer, or was written for a different level of role, the document may still be telling an old story.
A resume can explain where you have been and still make the next move harder to see.
What matters now is whether someone seeing you for the first time can quickly understand:
- the level at which you have operated
- the scale and complexity you have handled
- the problems you were trusted to solve
- the results that separate you from people with similar titles
- why your background makes sense for the roles you are pursuing now
Your last employer already knew what you could do. The next one does not.
Does the resume you have now make the case for the role you want next?
What changes the first impression
The experience may already be there. The resume may be making the reader work too hard to see it.
At senior level, the problem is often not a lack of experience. It is that the strongest evidence is buried under broad summaries, routine responsibilities, internal language, or details that mattered more to the last employer than they will to the next one.
What weakens the first impression
Broad claims such as “results-driven,” “strategic leader,” or “proven track record” appear before the reader sees the evidence that would make those claims believable.
What I look for
What does the reader need to understand before reaching the first job?
Target role. Operating level. Scale. Business problems handled. Results. Career progression. The strongest evidence should not require detective work.
What a stronger opening does
It gives the reader enough context to understand the level at which you have operated and the kind of problems you are equipped to handle.
Then the experience section proves it.
Same career. Different first impression.
Why trust my judgment?
I’ve been writing resumes since 2003. Before that, I was reading them from the other side.
Earlier in my career, I worked in HR and corporate recruiting, including Amazon. Since transitioning into resume writing, I have written resumes for more than 3,000 professionals.
I am also a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW).
Twenty-three years does something useful. You see enough careers to notice when the document and the person behind it are operating at two different levels.
But you do not have to rely only on what I say about the service.
219
145 written LinkedIn recommendations
+
74 five-star LinkedIn Service Page reviews
+
74 five-star LinkedIn Service Page reviews
Currently ranked #1 for Resume Writing on LinkedIn Services Marketplace.
Client results
What clients reported after putting the new resume into the market.
Amanda Prothero
Chief Development Officer
First application. CDO offer.
Amanda reported receiving a Chief Development Officer offer from the first application she submitted using the new materials.
Jason Rizzetta
Finance & Transformation Leader
More interviews than the previous year
Jason reported more interview requests than during the previous year and a new position within a couple of months.
Individual results vary. A resume is one part of a job search, and no specific hiring outcome is guaranteed.
Initial FREE evaluation
Before you rewrite anything, find out whether the resume is ready for the search you’re about to run.
Send me the resume you have now. I will read it myself with the direction you are pursuing next in mind.
- whether the opening positions you for the level you want now
- whether your scope, progression, and strongest results are easy to see
- what may be buried, missing, or taking up space it has not earned
- whether a long tenure or internal progression is clear to an outside reader
- whether the document supports the target role you are pursuing
Sometimes the answer is a substantial rebuild. Sometimes it is a narrower set of changes.
If I believe the resume is already doing its job, I will tell you. If I believe it is carrying the wrong story into your next search, I will show you where and explain what I would change.
You can read the evaluation and decide for yourself.
Now look at yours
The resume has to face forward.
What role are you trying to land now?
Does the opening of the resume point toward that role, or mostly summarize the one you just left?
If you spent many years with one company, is the progression clear to an outsider?
Are internal titles, acronyms, and company-specific language doing too much of the explaining?
Can someone see the scale of your responsibility without already knowing your former employer?
Do your strongest results receive the most space?
And if you are considering more than one direction, are those directions actually close enough for one resume to support them credibly?
Want to see how the finished writing is handled?
Sales & Commercial Growth
Multi-Location Retail
Supply Chain & Logistics
COO / Manufacturing / Distribution
Chief Compliance Officer / Financial Services
If you decide to proceed
Here is what happens next.
01
Send the resume you have now.
I review it and send you the initial FREE evaluation.
02
I tell you what I recommend.
If I believe a paid rewrite is warranted, I explain the scope and fee. You decide whether to continue.
03
You provide the information I need.
You complete my comprehensive questionnaire and can provide up to two job postings aligned with your target direction.
04
I rebuild the resume around the next move.
The typical executive resume is two pages, with a third page used when the career genuinely requires it.
05
You review the draft.
Unlimited edits are included during the draft cycle.
A few questions
Before you send the resume.
Do I need to put the position elimination on my resume?
Usually the resume can stay focused on your role, scope, achievements, and dates. If the circumstances of departure need to be addressed later in the process, they can be handled factually in the appropriate context. The evaluation will focus on whether the resume is making the strongest case for what comes next.
What if my resume was already updated recently?
That is fine. The question is not how recently it was edited. It is whether the current version supports the roles you are pursuing now. If it already does that well, I should be able to tell you.
What if I am considering several different types of roles?
Tell me the directions you are considering. Sometimes one positioning strategy can support closely related roles. Sometimes the targets are different enough that trying to serve all of them with one resume weakens the message. I will tell you what I see.
What if I spent a long time with one employer?
Long tenure can be a strength when the progression, increasing scope, difficult assignments, and results are clear. The problem is when years of internal history become difficult for an outside reader to interpret.
Will the resume be ATS-friendly?
Yes. The resume needs to function in screening systems and still make sense to the human being who reads it next.
One decision
Before you put the resume into the market, find out what it is saying about you.
Your last role ending is one event in a much longer career. The resume still has to make the case for the experience, judgment, scope, and results you bring to the next one.
Send me the resume. I’ll read it and tell you what I see.
SEND MY RESUME FOR A FREE EVALUATIONInitial evaluation: FREE · Writing resumes since 2003 · 145 LinkedIn recommendations · 74 five-star Service Page reviews