Really Give Them Something To Talk About

In the past year, I have had several clients request a Critical Leadership Initiatives document to use as part of their interview preparation and job search strategy.

This is how it works – you go to an interview, wow them with your top achievements (Career Success Stories), and sneakily (smile) use this strategically written one-pager that nicely highlights those same achievements in a Challenge-Action-Results format as your primary leave-behind document.

Why does this work? Well, the interviewers are left with a document that has YOUR name along with high-impact, hard-hitting career achievements that help them see how you add value.

The feedback that I have gotten from this method has been pretty positive….one of my best clients to date says:

“They were very impressed with my executive resume and the Critical Leadership Initiatives document you prepared for me. I just wanted to let you know that I accepted a new position as the Director of Technology Management at a $30 billion-dollar company with a $150,000 increase in my annual compensation.”

Here is a sample achievement from a critical leadership initiatives document written for a marketing executive:

Leadership Challenge: Revitalize a poor performing marketing department challenged with lackluster results, service underutilization and declining employee morale – VP of Corporate Marketing, ABC Business Corporation

Introduced company to new “market-driven” philosophy; revised existing marketing, branding and communication strategies; and instituted comprehensive public and community relations programs.

Bottom-line impact: Annual revenues surpassed $200 million goal in just two years and internal utilization of marketing department increased 200%.

Don’t walk away from your next interview beating yourself up about what you forgot to say, let the Critical Leadership Initiatives document do all the talking for you.

Abby M. Locke, Executive Director of Premier Writing Solutions (www.premierwriting.com), is a Nationally Certified Resume-Writer and Personal Brand Strategist who helps senior-level professionals and C-level executives achieve personal success with customized, branded executive resumes and career marketing documents. Her resume samples have been published in Top Notch Executive Resumes, Nail the Resume! Great Tips for Creating Dynamic Resumes, Same-Day Resumes, and Quick Resume and Cover Letter Handbook.