The 5-Power-Play C-Suite Career Plan is designed to help you achieve career success in up or down markets:
- Become the CEO of company YOU
- Brand to land
- Get social
- Write tight
- New branded CareerCom (below)
- Why-Buy-ROI
- Power Pitch Resume/Profile
Reality check: With executive tenures shrinking to fewer than 3 years, every executive will need to be a chronic job seeker and a branded career builder. An effective CEO of Company YOU prioritizes career management as much as company management so scrambling to gain traction in job search is a non-issue…and driving career momentum is always top of mind.
Your Next Power Play: Write Tight (Part 1)
Old School Job Search Is Over.
Social media has changed everything. Traditional career documents--resumes, letters, and bios--are fast becoming second-tier supplements to your on-line identity. Today the resume is no longer a "first strike" document – by the time a recruiter or decision maker has seen the resume, they’ve already done a Google search, reviewed a LinkedIn in Profile, checked Facebook and Twitter, and more.
It's no longer critical (or even helpful) to have a three-page executive resume crammed with detail. In fact, many decision makers (perhaps even you) dread wading through traditional 10-point-type, margin-to-margin, detail-rich executive resumes.
Meet the Need for Speed!
In a market flooded with top talent, and crowded with boring resumes and overwhelmed decision-makers, today's mantra is "So What? Make me care! Do it fast!" (In fact, as an executive with hiring authority, you've probably had those very same thoughts as you plowed through a pile of resumes and cover letters.)
Today, Lean Beats Longwinded.
With an ever increasing number of people reading (and answering) email (with or without attachments) on smart phone screens; texting rather than calling; multitasking; and consulting the Web for most information, it's no wonder that decision makers and recruiters have limited patience for lengthy, dense documents. Think about what your day looks like – how much time do you want to give (vs. have to give) to reading resumes?
Move Over MarCom! Enter Branded CareerCom for the C-Suite.
Branded CareerCom (BCC for short) is MarCom for careers. It's today's answer to the "So What? Make me care! Do it fast!" mantra. Branded CareerCom delivers a consistent power-packed core value message of impact across multiple channels and documents – from the Web, to resumes, letters, and other career documents; to pitches; to video, and more – in the concise, magnetic short-form style increasingly preferred by busy hiring managers, recruiters, and networking contacts.
BCC doesn't replace the executive resume. It transforms it to become a more powerful and streamlined resume with a message that not only drives the resume but spans the organic web of influence every executive must nurture. It infuses all with authenticity and value. It adds a fresh, powerful dimension to disseminating value-driven career history, potential, and brand in a Web 2.0+ world.
Precision Is the New Paradigm.
As in any career marketing, to capture the attention of recruiters, senior hiring executives, and boards, it's critical that you do your homework, know what the market needs, and determine what you've done that proves potential to meet those needs. That hasn't changed. What has changed is the "how."
BCC for the C-Suite uses precision short-form writing and ruthless editing to strip away all but the most essential information so that your career communication clearly focuses on impact, brand, context, scope, and potential. Your goal is to grab attention in a crowded marketplace, meet the "need for speed," capture interest, and get connected. Without grabbing interest and connection, interviews just won't happen, or they won't go very far.
Wonder how to craft C-Suite style Branded CareerCom? Find out next month in Write Tight Part 2 – "Why-Buy-ROI.”
© Copyright, 2010, Deb Dib. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About this author: Deb Dib, Job-Hunt's Executive Job Search Expert, has been a careers-industry professional since 1989. For the last few years, Deb has focused on coaching CEO's and other C-suite executives in finding their next opportunities. Deb is the founder of Executive Power Brand, and co-author of best-selling Twitter Job Search Guide, Find Your Ideal Job and Build Your Career in Just 15 Minutes a Day (March 2010, JIST). Connect with Deb at her website at www.executivepowerbrand.com, on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/debdib, on Twitter at @CEOcoach, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DebDib, and via email at info at executivepowerbrand.com, or at 631-475-8513.
