{"id":122838,"date":"2026-02-17T04:29:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T04:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arielle.com.au\/?p=122838"},"modified":"2026-03-18T06:07:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T06:07:58","slug":"tailor-your-executive-resume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arielle.com.au\/tailor-your-executive-resume\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Tailor Your Executive Resume To An Executive Role"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Up to 80% of executive roles are filled without ever being advertised. No job board. No public hiring process. Just network taps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re approached for one of these roles, don\u2019t allow their attention to go to your head. You\u2019re not \u201cin.\u201d You\u2019re under scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not the moment to send a generic resume. At executive level, relevance wins. Your executive resume must do one thing: prove you are the solution to that business’ commercial challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That requires tailoring. Here\u2019s how to do it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Related: What Is The 7-Second Rule For Resumes?<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

1. Do Your Due Diligence.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t demonstrate that you\u2019re the best fit for the job if you don\u2019t actually know much about<\/em> the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re approached to submit your resume – whether it\u2019s by a recruiter, an industry colleague, a current company decision-maker, or anybody else – you’ll be tempted to send it off as soon as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You want to get your details into the right hands, after all. Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not unless it’s the right details.<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tamp down your sense of urgency – and get more details about the open role so you can create a document that makes a strongest possible impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dig into these 3 areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • What is the mandate?<\/strong> Request a position description if the person who approached you didn’t offer it. You need to understand what you’re walking into (is it a reinvention, crisis, accelerated growth or sustaining success situation?).<\/li>
  • What’s the company culture like?<\/strong> The more senior you are, the more you should care about culture fit. Take time to study the leadership team. Dig into the company’s history.<\/li>
  • What is the industry like?<\/strong> This is particularly important if you’re moving to a new industry. Is there an unusual amount of regulatory scrutiny? What political forces are at play? Look into recent M&A activity – it will tell you a lot about how insiders feel about the industry.<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n

    2. Study The Job Description.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Tailoring of your resume doesn\u2019t start with your resume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It starts with the job description. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Review it carefully. Pull out keywords, areas of experience, and competencies the employer is looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You’ll end up with a list of qualities and descriptive words that are important to the potential employer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/div>

    Important!<\/h3><\/div>

    This list serves as your roadmap as you stay focused on this single goal: Incorporating this information (honestly, of course) into your own document.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Here\u2019s an example job description that shows important keywords (highlighted in yellow) and key areas of experience (highlighted in red).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Above: Job description for a Director of Sales & Marketing at Accor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Summarising this information, you can see this company is looking for a candidate who:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • Has<\/strong> worked as a leader in sales and marketing, reporting directly to the GM<\/li>
    • Has<\/strong> led strategy development and execution<\/li>
    • Has<\/strong> worked in luxury, 5-star, branded hotel environments<\/li>
    • Has<\/strong> demonstrated experience driving growth with proven revenue improvement<\/li>
    • Is<\/strong> a leader and developer of people and teams<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      Other themes and keywords that bubble to the surface include innovation, excellence, inspiring, and uniqueness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/div>\n\n\n\n

      3. Tweak Your Resume’s Headline.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      With a better sense of exactly what the employer is looking for, it\u2019s time to turn your attention to your resume headline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This goes directly under your name on your resume. It must reflect not just the experience you\u2019ve already had but also the role you hope to fill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/div>

      Important!<\/h3><\/div>

      The headline 1) summaries your experience and 2) offers an insight into your aspirations.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      You don\u2019t want to misrepresent your experience here. But in most cases, you should be able to use the title of the open role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      It\u2019s a simple way to demonstrate an immediate match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For example, if your resume currently says \u201cHead of Sales and Marketing\u201d, you would change it to \u201cDirector of Sales and Marketing\u201d when submitting your information for this vacancy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      You could even go a step further and bring the luxury hotel experience directly into your headline. That might look like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Director of Sales and Marketing | Luxury Hotels<\/em><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      This seemingly small change can make a huge difference when catching the attention of the hiring decision-makers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/div>\n\n\n\n

      4. Customise Your Resume’s Profile.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Your profile (often also called your professional summary or your career summary) appears near the top of your resume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This is one of the first areas a potential employer will review. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/div>

      Important!<\/h3><\/div>

      It needs to be strong – and that\u2019s why you must spend time tweaking it to incorporate key aspects of the job description. <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      Revisit your highlighted text to see how you can swap in some of those details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Take a look at this before and after for some inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      We start with a fairly boilerplate, generic resume profile – <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      And by adding phases from the job description, we transform it into a profile that tells the recruiter you’re a match for the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
      <\/div>\n\n\n\n

      5. Refine Your Resume’s Key Assets.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Your resume’s front page must include either a skills chart or a bulleted list of your key assets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      You can apply a similar strategy to what you used for your profile here by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      • Change the wording<\/strong>. If your key assets originally referred to your general hospitality experience (to capture opportunities outside of hotels), include the specific word \u201chotels\u201d for this particular job opportunity – as that\u2019s what the employer is looking for.<\/li>
      • Check for relevance<\/strong>. If some of your existing key assets are a poor patch to this specific open role, remove them and replace them with more relevant achievements.<\/li>
      • Reshuffle the order<\/strong>. Your most impressive assets must appear at the top of the list.<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
        <\/div>\n\n\n\n

        6. Revisit The Professional Experience.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        I don’t recommend that you make substantial changes to the professional experience section of your resume without guidance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        If you had your resume professionally written, the writer made sure that your experience is aligned to the roles you discussed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        However, there is one small tweak you can make to sharpen this section\u2019s alignment: change the order of your bullet points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        As you did in your key asset section, you can move responsibilities and achievements that are particularly relevant toward the top of your work history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        This subtly changes your value proposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        In the example above, strategy development and team leadership are two crucial responsibilities. If you have evidence of these in your past position, move them up so they get the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        <\/div>\n\n\n\n

        Irene<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Reading Time: <\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>Up to 80% of executive roles are filled without ever being advertised. No job board. No public hiring process. Just<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-resume"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Tailor Your Executive Resume To An Executive Role<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tailoring your resume and cover letter for an executive role is non-negotiable. 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No job board. No public hiring process. 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