Storytelling rules to communicate your value on your career documents

When it comes to writing your career documents- resume, LinkedIn & cover letter, professionals & job seekers should focus on connecting the dots & answering readers/decision maker’s key question- how he/she can help solve organisation’s pain point. As an executive resume coach, i help my clients communicate this by understanding the challenge /pain point & explaining the strategy, leadership & its execution in solving the problem.

For example as a CEO, did you increase market share & improved ARPU? As a CFO/Director-Finance, did you manage/mobilize funds &/or raised additional capital to finance growth acquisitions? Or did you relook at  the capital structure to optimize the cost of capital? My clients who got into C-suite were easily able to explain to decision makers how they solve the pain points &/or encashed untapped market opportunity to augment growth. Their resume portrayed the following skill sets/competencies:

1. They are leaders: They have taken up the burden of vital challenges & initiatives.
2. Strategic thinking: They are in a position to evaluate the impact of their efforts/decisions beyond the organisational function or particular business line.
3. Forge partnerships: They focus on collaborating with other leaders & stakeholders to meet the desired results.
4. End Result: Their efforts did result in tangible & measurable impact

The following storytelling strategies will help you communicate & translate your efforts into a tangible value to the decision makers:

1. Tell them what they want to know: Your LinkedIn profile & resume should have an executive summary to provide information that is in sync with what they have asked for. If you are not clear, prefer reviewing the job postings to showcase that you have all the requisite skill & expertise required for the target role. Never focus on using adjectives to describe yourself.
2. Show them how you created value/solved a problem in the past: Don’t tell them but show how you created value. Support your claims outlined in your summary section with measurable examples. For instance:  

An ok argument: Increased revenues.

A perfect way to communicate your value: Revisited distribution & promotion strategy to Increase sales by 20% in the last 15 months.

The last phrase communicates what action you took & quantifiable results you generated.

3. Use a format wisely: Your resume & LinkedIn should be easily skimmable irrespective of screen size. You can do so by:

• Limiting paragraph size to 1 to 2 lines
• Bold key points/achievements to help you stand out.
• Read your resume & LinkedIn on your mobile phone. Evaluate if you could easily recognise key points/achievements in 15 to 20 seconds.

The above mentioned strategies for how you can solve the problem showcasing value in a well written document can help reader answer the question “ Why they should hire you?”

As the founder and executive resume coach  at Sushant Kumar Ventures, I offer customized executive resume and LinkedIn profile writing services for modern day job seekers. Sign up here for our services/free consult.