In difficult times the employment market is extremely competitive; especially when you are trying to catch the attention of an executive recruiter. These tips will help you get the interview you are looking for regardless if you have been downsized;

• Relevant Experience – if your experience has varied but you have great exposure to what a specific job is looking for HIGHLIGHT that experience or more importantly move it to the first few bullets on your resume.

• Recent Successes – employers want high impact players that make a difference and your success needs to be clearly written on your resume. Briefly describe what you have accomplished and the impact it had on the business.

• Reasons for Changes – Often we see resumes with multiple jobs in a few years or some job seekers that have not been employed for a few months. This has become more common in this market. The assumption is always negative so take that out of the equation by letting potential employers know about those situations on your resume.

• Tailor your Career Highlights or Summary – If you have a Highlights or Summary section on your resume tailor it for the job you are applying for. I have seen people apply to a job and their highlights have little to do with the job that they applied for. This will not open many doors.

• Format – make sure that your resume is easy to read or easy to scan. The odds of your resume being read in its entirety are slim. When resumes are received they are visually scanned and people look for key words, titles and previous employers. People need to see a clear professional document. Resumes with bullet points are much easier to read that those written in paragraphs. Always make sure your font style and size is the consistent throughout.

• Spelling and Grammar – This is obvious but so important. Make sure you spell check your resume and always have someone else proofread your resume.

Remember the purpose of your resume is to get you in front of an executive recruiter and eventually an employer. Your resume does not (and should not) tell everything about you but it needs to tell them why you will be an asset. It should be a clear representation of who you are and what you bring to the table. It will open doors to executive recruiters and then it is up to you to sell yourself.

Executive level positions are among the hardest positions to fill. Unfortunately they are also among the most important to fill quickly and efficiently. There is a high demand for qualified individuals which means the competition for attaining this level of talent is high. How can you make your executive search a successful one, ensuring that you find the best person for the job? There are several routes you can take, such as internal sourcing, referrals and job boards, however the growing trend is to hire an executive search recruiting team to help with the process.

Executive search recruitment agencies help move the hiring process along quickly because they have access to the top talent in the job seeking field. They actively seek out the best executives for placement within in their clients’ companies and maintain a database of all available talent. These individuals are sought out based on the strength of their resumes and given subsequent interviews to evaluate their level of expertise. References are called and background checks are performed. When recruiters present your company with potential candidates, you can rest assured that they are the complete package. If they don’t have the right person available in their database, then they will seek out the right person to fill your requirements. Executive search recruiting takes care of the many steps of the hiring process so that your company can focus on the daily demands of the workplace instead of expending resources finding executives.

Many companies, large and small, are realizing that trusting recruiters to help with the hiring process is a valuable resource to have worked into their budgets. The benefits of using a recruiting service outweigh the costs, especially when it comes to filling executive positions. Executives are simply in too high of demand to rely on other sources of hiring.

The importance of a good reference can vary from company to company. For many employers a weak reference may not cost you the job but won’t put you at the top either while a strong one can help you nail it. Usually by the time hiring managers get this phase they’ve already formed an opinion about how you’d perform at the job and are merely seeking verification of their opinions.

Be prepared with two to three stellar references. Prospective employers usually don’t contact them all, and you never know which they’ll reach out to. The best references you can provide are your current or former bosses and potentially someone who conducted your regular performance evaluations (if different than your boss). That’s because prospective employers want to know about your strengths and weaknesses, your work ethic, whether you’re easy to work with and how you deal with adversity.

Avoid surprises by asking your former bosses if they’re sure they’ll feel comfortable serving as references. That’s particularly important because a growing number of companies have policies that their employees can’t do more than confirm that someone worked there and what their title was. They do this to avoid any chance of getting sued.

Some people tell hiring managers that they’re allowed only to give neutral references, and that their reticence mustn’t be taken as positive or negative. The most common questions asked: Was the person aware of his weaknesses, and how did he handle them? Can you tell me about her work style? What was working with her like?

Send your references a copy of the specific job description or even the job advertisement, so they can understand the position you’re in the running for. Give them some feedback about the interview you had as well so they are prepared for any random questions.

Smart candidates out there are open to jobs offers from executive recruiters.

REPLY: Top-notch executives are not job hunting nor are they distributing their resume. They are not going to job sites searching for jobs and they probably will not submit their resume in common places.

However; they have made their profile available through Social media. They have subscribed to job feeds; they know that those who are keen to recruit them will prefer reaching out to them. These candidates are most smart & will surely be productive.

So ask yourself how can you reach these smart candidates who are tech savvy, socially active online & available? Through Web 2.0.

REPLY: Reach out to them by having your jobs available for them in their social network, book marks, personal pages and other places they visit. Let them know about your jobs at their place of comfort. If they feel they fit in to your requirement & the position will enhance their career prospect, they will make available their candidature.

1. Multiple fonts and colors
2. Headers and footers
3. Tables, text boxes, and divider bars
4. Multiple columns
5. Page borders
6. Backgrounds
7. Photos, videos, logos or images
8. Hobbies, interests or activities
9. Page breaks mentioning “continued” or “resume continued next page”
10. Providing just a web-link instead of a Word document

A well written resume with good content will draw attention to your resume showing you are; knowledgeable, easy to work with, able to follow direction and most important, a top candidate for the position.

1. MS Word doc only

2. List your resume reverse chronologically – recent positions on top

3. One font throughout your resume – Arial, Times New Roman, Georgia and Garamond are best

4. Black font color only

5. 10pt, 11pt or 12pt font size only. Choose one and be consistent throughout your resume

6. Resume should be 2-3 pages for 10+ year’s experience, 1-2 pages for 5-9 years experience, 1 page for less than 5 years

7. List all start and end dates for your positions in the following order: Month, Year

8. Optimize your resume content by including as many keywords relating to your skills, experiences, and technologies you have worked with

9. Proofread for typos and grammatical errors

10. Links to your professional blog or Twitter page to promote your personal brand

Companies and executive recruitment firms use Applicant Tracking Systems as part of the resume screening process. The ATS uses Boolean search strings and keyword matching technologies to score how well your resume matches specific search criteria set for a particular position. A human recruiter can scan your resume in 5-10 seconds and make a decision based on what they see. Your resume may be screened by a combination of computer and human. Be prepared for both.

• Career history containing your last 2-3 jobs, dates of employment, job titles and responsibilities

• Your education background including additional certifications received

• A quick snapshot of your skills, experiences and awards

Before launching your search to an executive recruiter for a senior-level be sure your company has considered the answer to these questions.

- What is this employee meant to accomplish?
- What are the roles and responsibilities of this position?
- What personality will be the best fit for this position?
- Which departments will be communicating with and through this individual?
- What are the business goals of this position, and how will this person’s performance be evaluated?

Once your company has the answers to these questions, finding the ideal candidate can be quick and easy. Your hiring team will know exactly what skills the employee must have and what accomplishments you are looking for in an individual.

Your company’s personality will be clearly defined for the prospective candidate as well. During the interview process both your company and the prospect can determine if both parties are a fit past the work skills. The candidate can also focus on the challenges of the position and if he/she is willing to take these on for long-term employment within your company

1) In a down economy, many companies are not as likely to agree to pay relocation fees, especially if they can find talent already living in their area. If you’re seeking employment out of town or overseas, be willing to pay your own relocation and interviewing costs and be up front about it with potential employers. One way to do this is by stating in your cover letter that you won’t need the company to cover relocation costs. If you don’t have a home to sell, that is another important point to note in the cover letter, particularly if you’re looking to move to a state that has been affected by real estate problems. You can also include in your cover letter: “I will be in your area next Friday and would like the opportunity to have an informational interview with you, which suggests that the employer will not have to pay to fly you out. Also, Renters are often times seen as ‘local’ candidates, even if they currently live across the country. If done tactfully, this information can also be placed briefly under the header on your resume.

2) Relocation in many cases has been seen as a deterrent to hiring (when considering large metropolitan cities, i.e. New York, Chicago, LA, etc.) If you have to move to one particular city for personal reasons, you may need to be living in the city where you seek employment before you actually land the job, unless you’re interviewing for a more senior-level position (typically companies will offer relocation money for senior level roles, but home buy-outs are still rare). If you cannot physically make the move before you secure a job, you may want to use a temporary address (as long as it’s not misleading) on your resume – for example, a friend or relative living in the area.

3) Of course, be sure to connect with both local and national recruiters to help with your job search. It’s not always necessary to connect only with headhunters who are based in the city where you’re seeking employment. Often times, recruiters will live in one area, but recruit for people and companies across the country. As you probably understand, recruiters are receiving a great deal of resumes these days, so make sure yours stands out and do your best to make a personal connection so your resume rises to the top.

4) Be sure you’re utilizing new web-based resources during your long-distance job search. Sites like LinkedIn, Jigsaw and Facebook are becoming more and more popular with job seekers and the companies that are still hiring. These tools can provide a great way to find accurate contact information and to grow your network. Ensuring that your profile is up-to-date on these sites is an important step towards getting the message out that you’re looking for work. And, joining groups on both LinkedIn and Facebook that are related to the job you seek can help get you in front of the right people.

1. Know specifically who are emailing, verify the spelling of their name and email address. Do not send your email to multiple people within the same company or blind email anyone. If you cannot find a specific person do not send it to “info”@thecompany.com; instead call the company stating your intent and request a person to work with.

2. Do your homework on the recruiting company. Visit their website prior to sending your resume and learn what the specific recruitment company has to offer. Do they cover your industry? Do they target the city you are wishing to work in? Do they place the level position you are looking for?

3. Your cover email is your lifeline to the recruiter. Make it clear and concise what position you are looking for, the industry and level. Include a short paragraph highlighting your strongest achievements using statistics when possible.

4. Attach your resume in the exact format requested. Do not include multiple versions.