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From initial search to creating an applicant pool and vetting them, here’s how to hire the best leadership CV writer. 

It’s always better to leave it to the professionals. It’s the reason a recent study indicates up to 68% of professionals who contract expert CV writers get a new position within 90 days. 

It’s the same reason you’re gunning for your next leadership role. Out there is a UK company with a vacant leadership position, hoping for a professional with the requisite skill set. 

It’s all about who has professional skills. Therefore, hiring a skilled leadership CV writer to revamp and improve your professional profile is the better option. 

But of course, that creates another problem, where do you find a leadership CV writer? And when you find a bunch of them, do you know how to choose the best professional CV writer for your specific needs? 

Lastly, you also have to consider the cost and financial implications attached. When you put all these factors together, it can get quite overwhelming.

That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help you find the best CV writer in the UK. Here are the simple details you need to know. 

Why You Should Hire a Professional Leadership CV Writer

In our experience, it helps to understand why you need something if you want to find the best version of it. For example, if you understand why you need good food, you’ll know what a great meal looks like and where to find it. 

The same applies when you want to hire a leadership CV writer. You must be clear on why you need to find the writer best suited to your needs. 

The first reason to find a CV writing service is the inability to undertake the task yourself. It isn’t that you aren’t competent enough or ready for the position. You’re only having difficulty compressing your experience and selling points into one or two pages. 

Conversely, a professional CV writer has the skill and experience to do that for you. For example, they can take the most complex representation of all your competencies and break it into bit-sized understandable nuggets. And you don’t have to worry about the info losing its relevance or desired effect.

For context, imagine a pro CV writer portraying all your years of experience in a few lines and still capturing the most crucial details. Essentially, they’ll use punchy, specialist writing to catch any hiring manager’s attention.

Also, hiring a pro CV writer will help you avoid common mistakes that can undermine your CV. The best leadership CV writers in the UK use modern standards to meet the recruiter’s expectations. Plus, they know the best format to maximise your chances for the interview and the job.

Lastly, letting someone else handle the task saves time and allows you to focus on other equally important things. Essentially, it affords you more time to work on yourself and put other things in place to become a more suitable candidate for your target leadership role. 

Where to Find Leadership CV Writers

It takes a writer with a comprehensive understanding of a leadership role’s requirements to craft a document that can aid your cause. Here’s where to find and hire a leadership writer who ticks this box. 

LinkedIn

There’s a popular opinion that a LinkedIn profile is the social media version of your CV.  What better place to find someone to help you create your CV than a platform where people market themselves with their “online CV”?

LinkedIn is one of the most accessible places to find top CV writers in 2022. In fact, if you want someone to review your CV free of charge, you have a better chance of finding them on LinkedIn. There are stories of random people reviewing LinkedIn profiles and giving unsolicited suggestions on improving them. 

LinkedIn is home to many professional leadership CV writers searching for their next client. And making a hiring choice is easier since CV writers can include recommendations and a portfolio on their LinkedIn profiles. 

Start your hiring process by entering the phrase “Leadership CV writer” in LinkedIn’s search bar. For more accurate results, enclose the query in quotation marks. Then, take your time to review the profiles of every individual in the search result.

Google Search

Executing a quick Google search is one of the most reliable ways to find anything online. Simply type key phrases like “best CV writer UK”, and you’ll have an exhaustive list within seconds. 

Using Google is straightforward, and you can always increase search result accuracy by making your queries more specific. For example, say you work in finance and need a leadership CV writer to help you land a target role in London. 

You can make your search queries more specific by typing “London leadership CV writer with finance experience”. 

But aside from that, everything else works similarly to a LinkedIn search. So, once the results return, you still need to take your time filtering through to choose the right CV writing service for the job.

Dedicated Platforms

Several platforms serve as dedicated marketplaces and hubs where people who need specific services can connect with expert providers. These marketplaces enable you to find freelancers for a quick task and are accessible within the UK. 

Marketplaces like Fiverr and Upwork boast several talents, and you’re sure to find competent CV writing service providers there.

However, you should exercise caution when you hire leadership CV writers from freelance platforms. These platforms are also home to several posers who are not as competent as they portray on their profiles.

Important Considerations Before You Hire a Leadership CV Writer

At this point, you should have an exhaustive list of CV writers and services available for hire. The next challenge is how to choose the best leadership CV writer. 

Here are the next steps to follow: 

Research and Understand how They Work

You must grasp how a CV writing service works before employing them. Particularly, you must be familiar with how a CV writing agency works — from the first contact point to eventual CV delivery. 

Disappointingly, several CV writers in the UK simply give out questionnaires to their clients and then churn out half-true documents at the end. They don’t take time to interview and get to know their clients before doing their “magic.”

But, the leadership CV writer you’ll hire must be willing to interview you personally and requests your involvement in the entire process. That means they should call and exchange emails with you as often as possible while creating your CV. 

In conclusion, it’s better to avoid any CV writer that simply gives you a questionnaire to fill out or doesn’t offer revisions.

Read Customer Reviews

You should check out their reviews, especially if your list of possible CV writing services is from a Google search. Read as many third-party and client reviews as possible about potential CV writing services. You can even go as far as checking popular review websites like Trustpilot and Yelp.

Furthermore, you want to be particularly careful of reviews you find on non-authority sites. People can pay money for good reviews on random websites even when they don’t deserve them. But, authority websites often provide more accurate, unbiased reviews.

Also, remember that it may be somewhat difficult to find reviews on individual freelance writers. So you’ll have a better chance of using this idea when dealing with agencies rather than individuals.

Look At the Writers and Not the Agency

Every agency is an entity or a business. However, some people work for and serve that agency’s interest. Hence, it’s better to look closely at the people before partnering with any agency.

So, research their employees before hiring an agency for your CV writing needs. Check for necessary competencies and proficiency among their ranks. The more qualified personnel a CV writing service has, the better your chances of getting a quality CV from them. 

You can simply check the company’s website for their team. If they don’t specify their team members on the website, check the company’s LinkedIn page to see if credible writers are working for them.

Compare the Cost to Benefit

Service costs are an important consideration in the bid to hire a leadership CV writer. Signing a losing deal makes no sense. Similarly, signing up with an agency delivering overpriced services not worth their fees sounds ridiculous. 

The paragraph above isn’t a licence to go for the cheapest writer you can find. Instead, consider all the agencies you have shortlisted, compare their costs and choose the CV writing service with the best cost-benefit rating. 

That way, you’ll get the most value for your money and increase your chances of getting an interview. 

Hiring a leadership CV Writer: What to Look for in a CV Writer or Writing Service

Earlier, we mentioned looking at the writers and not the agency before you hire them for your leadership CV. Here are the essential points to look for before choosing a CV writing service or writer.

Review Their Background Education and Other Credentials

The best leadership CV writers in the UK don’t just pop out from under a rock or some relative obscurity. They always have some history, qualifications and necessary experience enabling them to create efficient CVs regardless of the role. 

An excellent leadership writer will have experience as a career counsellor or in some recruiting capacity. At least, the individual will have sufficient HR hiring knowledge. These competencies form the basis for their leadership CV writing skills. So, your best bet is to hire writers or agencies with such portfolios.

You may also want to consider the CV writer’s academic degree and other qualifications before hiring them. 

For example, we recommend checking if they have a bachelor’s or master’s degree. Do they have other certifications relevant to CV writing? All these are also noteworthy considerations for selecting a CV writer.

English is the UK’s preferred degree qualification and language for CV writing. And while the writer probably didn’t learn CV writing as part of their school curriculum, a solid background in the English language helps. Therefore, English Literature or Journalism degrees are the most appropriate academic qualifications.

Gauge the Experience Level in Years and Turnout Volume

You can quickly determine how much a CV writer knows by asking how long they’ve been doing it. For example, a leadership CV writer who’s been in it for five years should have more experience than a colleague who only started a year ago.

But, experience isn’t just a function of how many years a CV writer has spent writing. You should also consider the volume of work they spent those years doing. So, instead of simply looking at how long, you can also ask how many CVs they’ve delivered recently.

Interestingly, someone who has only been in the business for three years may have written more CVs than someone who has been doing it for five years. In that case, the former has more experience and offers a better chance of delivering stellar results. 

For a leadership CV, it’s better to look for someone with at least five years of consistent CV writing experience. We don’t mean to undermine the abilities of less experienced CV writers. But you stand a better chance with veteran CV writers because they have a wealth of experience to create just what you need.

Strong Writing Skills

We can’t emphasise this requirement enough. Choosing to hire a leadership CV writer with suspect writing abilities is a counter-productive move. 

High-quality writing is one of the attributes of an acceptable CV. And without it, stuffing a leadership CV with all your achievements will be meaningless.

It’s worth noting that 77% of recruiters disqualify candidates due to spelling mistakes and poor grammar. Therefore using this data as a reference, imagine when the stakes are high, as in the case of leadership job applications. 

Then again, strong writing skills don’t end with being able to write an error-free CV. The leadership CV writer must also know the right words to use. They must have an extensive vocabulary and the ability to use industry-correct phrases to portray client competencies. 

Additionally, persuasive writing skills are a plus as they make the work easier for you and the leadership CV writer. With such skills, the writer can create compelling CVs that’ll make your path to the leadership role easier.

By looking through their previous work, you can easily know how good a leadership CV writer is in this regard. If you can’t find a portfolio online, request samples from them to help you gauge their skill level.

Must Be Familiar With CV ATS Optimisation

Recruiters often get several CV entries for the average leadership position. But of course, you can’t expect them to spend precious time reviewing every single one of those CVs to shortlist a few for an interview. That’s why recruiters use applicant tracking software to sort and shortlist viable applicant CVs.

It’s worth noting that ATS systems reject up to 75% of CVs they check. Consequently, ensuring it passes ATS screening is a primary consideration when creating a leadership CV.

Unfortunately, you probably don’t know how to optimise your CV for ATS screening, and the average CV writer probably doesn’t. So you have to work with an expert who has been doing it for years.

2022’s top leadership CV writers always know the right power words for a CV, depending on the job description. They know the right keywords and the best places to insert them. So, you can rest assured of their ability to create a leadership CV that passes any ATS screening with flying colours.

Cost Considerations When Hiring Leadership CV Writers

Unfortunately, there’s no average price range for CV writing services. Firstly, the industry is so unregulated and diluted by freelancers that it’s challenging to establish a pattern of how CV writing agencies determine their fees. And more often than not, the amount you’ll pay for the service will come down to your bargaining skills. 

That said, 2022 market conditions dictate that you shouldn’t expect to pay any less than  £200 to hire a professional leadership CV writer in the UK. This means avoiding self-acclaimed leadership CV writers whose services cost way too low. Often, they only offer subpar results and only charge that low to lure unsuspecting clients.  

It’s possible to get a good deal on how much a new leadership CV costs. For instance, you can negotiate discount pricing if you get a new CV alongside a colleague. 

However, don’t always count on cheap services. Instead, look for a professional writer who may charge a premium but will provide top-quality writing for you.

FAQs About Hiring a CV Writer

What other questions do you have on how to hire a professional CV writer? Check the FAQs below for the answers to some of them.

Are CV Writing Services Worth the Money?

The decision to hire a professional leadership CV writer is worth the money. Generally, you should get a highly professional leadership CV when you hire veteran writers. This one-time payment for professional service is always worth 

Does a Professional CV Guarantee Employment?

The short answer is no. Professional CV writers only have better writing skills and an understanding of what recruiters want to see in a CV. 

Their job is to structure your CV, so it interests the recruiter enough to request an interview or some other assessment form. Needless to say, that’s not enough to get you the job.

At the very least, you’ll still have to take and ace the interview to get the job. But by then, the CV writer and their write-up will be primarily out of the picture.

Overall, a professional CV may guarantee a sit-down with the recruiter, but it most likely won’t get you a leadership role immediately.

Hire the Right Leadership CV Writer

This blog proves there are many considerations to the question of how to hire a leadership CV writer. The best part is we’ve covered it all in comprehensive detail.

From finding viable applicants to assessing their skills and competencies, we’ve explored what to look for in a leadership CV writing service. After all, we’re a CV writing service that ticks all the boxes listed above. 

The CV Expert has reputable experience preparing bespoke CVs for directors, business leaders and specialists. Our patented writing process allows us to deliver stellar results in 48 hours.

Contact us to learn more! We’re always happy to discuss CVs and related issues.  

Below is an exhaustive guide to writing and formatting an executive CV to meet the requirements for a target role. 

Being a career professional with over five years of experience in the field is a fantastic feat. Undoubtedly, you must have made tremendous contributions to your firm and the industry within this timeframe. 

You’re likely targeting executive responsibilities at this point in your career. The only problem is communicating that readiness to a hiring board by writing an executive CV.

Of course, you may have prior report writing experience throughout your lengthy and illustrious career. But executive CV writing is a different ball game — one that many tend to drop. 

Jobscan says 98% of Fortune 500 companies use automated tracking systems to sort CVs before it reaches the hiring team. Your executive CV must pass ATS screening while also appealing to the hiring board. Hence, you’ll need all the help you can get writing and formatting an executive CV.

Our latest read is the answer to that need. Here, we’ll explore tips for formatting a CV for an executive role. The following sections will explore essential recommendations, the acceptable structure for an executive CV in the UK and common mistakes to avoid.

Must-Know Executive CV Writing Tips

Executive CV writing and formatting is geared toward standing out from the bunch. The executive in any company is a high-level professional displaying a considerable level of savviness. Your CV shouldn’t portray any less.

Lay the Groundwork 

CV writing and formatting requires adequate knowledge of the intended executive role. You must know the job requirements, demands, and what makes you fit for that position.

Laying the groundwork involves taking critical steps to build a solid foundation as your launch pad into the race for the role. And there are two things you must do to achieve that.

Targeting

For illustration, say you’re building your dream home. You likely have a picture of what you want it to look like in your mind. Targeting is the process of recreating that picture on a physical medium to make it clearer for yourself and others to understand. 

In executive CV writing, targeting involves setting and focusing on specific goals that contribute to your efforts at getting the role. While you may have a target role, it’s only in your head as an idea. It’s important to represent it with goals and objectives clearly. 

You may think all of these aren’t necessary, but they are! Executive roles are high stakes, so there are no margins for error, especially not on your CV.

Researching

Continuing from the previous analogy, the next step after putting a house plan on paper is researching the best materials for your specific design. Sure, you need cement, gravel, bricks, metal beams, and other essential materials for building a house. But what are the specific items necessary for the design you want? 

Similarly, what are the crucial hallmarks of a competent executive working in your target role? You need specific keywords and indicators to help you, especially if your CV writing skills aren’t the best on the block. 

Primarily, start by considering the requirements for executive-level employees in your field. Say, you work in a real estate company. You want to know the requirements for writing a CV befitting an executive role in the real estate industry.

Customise the CV For the Role

The previous point leads right into this one, as the prior groundwork is necessary to customise your CV to fit a target role. The whole point of researching the job role and your goals is to tailor-fit your CV to it. 

Customising your CV involves writing and adapting it to highlight the information most relevant to the target executive role. That means your executive CV must accentuate the skills, experience and other proficiencies expected of executive-level personnel working in that industry.

Also, an essential part of executive CV customisation involves using the ideal format. Recruiters sometimes prefer specific CV templates for particular job descriptions. In this instance, finding and using a recommended layout while formatting your CV will benefit you.

Be Specific and Articulate Your Value Concisely

Imagine yourself in an elevator with the chairman of your target company’s board with only 30 seconds to deliver a hiring pitch. The whole point of your CV is to highlight the value you’ll bring to the role if the recruiters select you. 

So, make it as concise as possible. And the best way to do that is to be specific. Go directly to the point and articulate your propositions well enough that they’ll make sense to the recruiter. 

The following tips will help you convey value while writing an executive CV. 

Write an Executive Summary

The executive summary is a taste of what to expect from the rest of your CV and should ideally come before your experience, qualifications and skills. 

It breaks the whole CV down into a few points for the hiring manager to quickly digest and decide if the rest of the document is worth their time. Needless to say, your executive summary must hit hard and position you as tailor-fit for the role you’re pursuing. 

It doesn’t matter how stacked your CV is. If your executive summary is bland, the recruiter will likely ditch your CV without exploring the value on offer. 

The executive summary is a small part of your CV that carries huge importance. So you must get it right. It must make the recruiter want to read the rest of your CV. 

Show Financial Impact

For most profit-driven organisations, recruiters love seeing figures and facts. They don’t care as much for your grammar and often prefer that results are quantified in numbers. 

The company wants to hire an executive to boost revenue performance, drive growth, optimise staff performance, and deliver on all fronts. They won’t settle for someone who doesn’t have a well-articulated record in that respect. Hence you’ll do yourself a world of good, accentuating your financial and business impacts in your CV.

We’re not downplaying the importance of qualitative results. They are also necessary for the recruiters to understand your persona. However, for executive roles, recruiters hold impacts at a premium. Simply being a great guy won’t land you the spot if you don’t have the numbers to back up stellar contributions.

Up to 40% of the UK’s workforce has admitted to lying on their CV. Therefore, you can be sure the hiring team is fact-checking your CV. 

Be the difference by leveraging verifiable data to make it instantly clear you can deliver results. If you don’t know how to present your previous financial impacts, create a section on your CV for your “Key Achievements.” Then, cite all those past achievements there.

Let It Tell Your Story

Don’t get too carried away with efforts to structure a CV to fit an executive role that you forget to talk about the most important entity — you.

Ultimately, you’re marketing yourself to the recruiters as the ideal candidate for the role. Therefore, write your CV focusing on why you’re executive material and the best fit for the position.

To do that, you must avoid using generic, unoriginal lines in your CV. Instead, personalise the content using the “I” word in essential places. It shows confidence and assuredness in your claims. For example, consider these two statements.

“I was a lead developer on project Coop Disk, which was a huge success and helped the company get 10X ROI in 6 months.”

“Was part of the team that developed Coop Disk, which was hugely successful and earned the company a lot of money”

The first statement personalised the achievement and clearly stated the candidate’s role. The second is largely amateurish and doesn’t do an excellent job convincing anyone the writer made worthwhile contributions.

Essentially, let your CV tell your story from your point of view. And make sure to give off every bit of confidence possible with your words.    

Use Personal Branding To your Advantage

A personal brand isn’t something you should ignore or downplay when running for an executive role. This brand is how people perceive you and the value on offer. 

Primarily, personal branding connects your passions, attributes, strengths and experience. A great personal brand helps your case when writing your CV for an executive role because it enables you to differentiate yourself from the competition. Then, by combining it with your value proposition, you can make a good impression on the recruiter.

Fortunately, presenting your brand doesn’t require more skills than you already have. Consider the tips below to brand yourself above other applicants for the same role.

• Start with your personal brand statement. This statement should demonstrate your value as an individual by balancing your personality with competencies using the right keywords.
• Next, follow up with a convincing review or quote from a recent performance or client.
• Lastly, include a few value-driven statements.

Needless to say, this is a lot of information which may not fit right in your CV. So if you can’t find space for it on your CV, you can mention it in your cover letter. However, it’s better to note them on the CV because the recruiter may choose to go straight to your CV without reviewing the cover letter. 

Use Fewer Buzzwords

Resist the temptation to use cliches and buzzwords while writing and formatting an executive CV. When considering candidates for executive roles, most recruiters assume they’re recruiting professionals who don’t need to spam “CV cliches” to make their points. 

Hence, terms like “highly motivated,” “good communicator,” or “team player” make you sound generic and hiring managers don’t like to see that.

However, be careful not to mistake relevant keywords for buzzwords. Executive CV writing requires a delicate balance between avoiding buzzwords and incorporating keywords to pass ATS screening.

Keywords are essential, especially to pass the ATS screening. Additionally, recruiters look for specific keywords when perusing CVs and may disqualify candidates that don’t include them on their CVs. 

Everything about the CV Must Scream Executive Level Proficiency

You probably won’t get an interview invite if your CV sounds or feels like an entry-level CV — regardless of your experience and skills. So, all the elements and features on your CV must synergise into something that boldly spells “executive level material.” 

Including relevant leadership skills and experience helps a lot in this aspect. You must also use punchy and articulated phrases to present your value. Essentially, from the structure to the personal achievements and references, the contents of your executive must say the same thing — that you’re perfect for that role. 

The Ideal Executive CV Formatting Template & Structure 

Earlier, we mentioned the importance of using the proper structure when writing a CV for an executive position. But of course, it’s always easier said than done. 

If you’re having difficulties determining the best way to write an executive CV, use the template we outlined below.

CV Header

Your CV must start with a header bearing your name and the title of the role you’re pursuing in block letters.

Your name is essential information on the CV and should be the first thing the reviewer will see when they check the document. After your name, the role you’re pursuing should follow in the header. 

The company will likely have several managerial positions and may be looking to fill more than one at a time. So, it’s better to specify which executive role you’re submitting the CV for as part of your header. 

Other information you should put in the header includes contact details like mobile number, contact address, and email. Recruiters are also increasingly showing preference to see candidates’ LinkedIn profile links in executive CVs, so you should include it too. 

CV Summary

Most hiring managers quickly scan CVs during review and rarely take time to read through them carefully. Recent data show that recruiters only spend a few seconds on average on each CV. 

The best scenario is the recruiter spending those few seconds reading your strongest points. Hence, the best CV writers in the UK recommend highlighting your strongest points in a dedicated section with intentional placement to catch the recruiter’s eye. 

That’s what an executive summary is all about and why it must come right after the header. The executive summary contains only the crucial points to your value proposition. An excellent summary will influence how the recruiter will perceive the rest of your CV. So, when creating it, ensure it’s short, engaging and relevant to the role.

Relevant Experience Section

The ideal executive role aspirant is likely a career professional who’s been in the industry for over ten years. By now, you’re overflowing with experience and can’t wait to pour them all out for the recruiter to see. Well, this is the section for you to do that.

The experience section should come right after the executive summary in your CV. That’s because relevant experience speaks better of any competencies described in the executive summary. This placement indicates you not only have the capability but have put them to profitable use in the past. 

You can expect the recruiter to go through your experience several times during an extensive review. Therefore, don’t hold back. The relevant experience section should be comprehensive, containing relevant experience, with a numbers-backed description of your duties. 

Skill Section

Having spent over ten years in an industry, you should have accrued a wealth of skills. The skill section fits right after discussing your experiences, and it’s the best place to note your capabilities.

However, there’s a mistake several professionals with a long tenure in the industry often make. They have a lot of skills and often decide to include them all in their executive CV. But, unfortunately, the sheer number of your skills can diminish the impact behind each one. So, instead of writing them all down, prioritise the skills relevant to the role.

You can mention both soft and hard skills. However, consider the context and determine which skills category will be more appropriate to accentuate when writing your CV for a specific executive role.

Education and Qualifications Section

Your experience and skills will do the bulk of the work in convincing the recruiter to invite you for an interview. However, including your education and academic qualifications on your CV won’t hurt. 

Of course, it’s inconceivable that you would be a corporate career professional for over ten years without at least a bachelor’s degree. And over the years, you must have added more qualifications and certifications to your portfolio. This section is the best place to mention all the ones relevant to the executive role.

Achievement/Career Highlights Section

This section is primarily for highlighting your career highs and your best successes. It should include industry awards, volunteer work, NGO roles, peer recognition and relevant memberships. 

Ideally, you shouldn’t hesitate to add career highlights to your executive CV. However, you may leave it out if it makes your CV too cumbersome. You don’t want the sheer volume of your CV to discourage the recruiter before they even have a chance to read its contents.

Mistakes to Avoid While Writing an Executive CV

Having executive-level experience and skills doesn’t mean you can’t make mistakes when writing your CV. But, of course, executives’ role requirements have zero margins for error. 

Here are a few common mistakes you should watch out for.

Amateur Mistakes 

Writing and submitting an executive CV with typos and grammatical errors is a major deal breaker, as your position requires you to exude perfection. Moreover, recruiters will most likely punish you for amateur errors because they believe you should know better. 

Using the Wrong Format

The best format for an executive CV is a chronological layout which prioritises your relevant leadership experiences. Recruiters typically expect you to use this template to structure your executive CV. And they may consider any other format as unacceptable for the role.

Not Stating A Clear Job Target

You’d agree with us that it makes no sense to submit a CV without clearly defining the role you’re applying for in it. But at an executive level, such errors are practically unacceptable. 

At this stage in your career and going for an executive position, you shouldn’t be submitting CVs that look like templates. Employers like to see that you’re sure of the role you intend to take on.

Final Thoughts

Keep in mind that there’s no one “best way to write an executive CV”. The perfect executive comprises numerous moving parts that combine to represent your skills and competencies best. 

It can be tough to keep up with these moving parts while writing and formatting your executive. That’s why we’ve provided the exhaustive guide above to ensure you get it right. 

We can also go one step further by taking on the writing responsibility. The CV Expert team will grill you to understand your career path, skills, competencies and the best way to represent them. 

Up to 26% of our previous CV writing clients enjoy a salary increase. You too can join the statistic. Contact us today to get your new executive CV in 48 hours. 

We know what it takes to get hired in an ever more competitive jobs market

Leadership capabilities are the primary factors hiring managers consider when evaluating prospects. Even if the role you’re applying for isn’t a leadership position, the ability to take charge when needed certainly offers an edge.

There’s hardly any role that doesn’t necessitate leadership competencies. At the very least, you must be able to take responsibility and lead yourself!

But the stakes are higher when you’re a seasoned career professional looking to land your next leadership role as a director, team lead or senior manager. In this case, highlighting leadership skills in your resume is crucial to a successful job hunting experience.

Up to 82% of companies make the wrong decision while hiring top managerial talent. Therefore, the scrutiny of applicants for leadership roles is higher than ever.

Not only will a well-crafted CV maximise your marketability, but it’ll also showcase your skills that fit the job. So you should take the opportunity to display your leadership competencies in your CV or Resume.

But, you need to adequately understand your various leadership skills to highlight them on your CV accurately. Here, we’ll consider all the crucial competencies you should include in your resume and how to showcase them confidently.

Why it’s Important to Highlight Leadership Skills on Your CV

Your CV is your first point of contact with hiring managers. So, it’ll influence your prospecting journey. Sometimes, you may meet the recruiter or employer before submitting your resume. However, employers will always peruse your CV before calling you for an interview.

Yes, soft skills qualify you for the job, but leadership competencies make you stand out from the crowd. Hiring managers will always look out for leadership qualities in prospectives. They believe people with dynamic leadership capabilities tend to stay longer in jobs, display more loyalty, and are often more motivated to get to the next milestone.

Leadership abilities are also a testament to having what it takes to commit to a goal for an extended duration. Leaders can build and function in a team. They also know how to manage people and the resources at their disposal. These competencies also include excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Filling your CV with these skills will improve your chances with the hiring managers. According to the Jobvite 2019 Recruiting Benchmark Report, an average of 29 people apply for the same position. That means the recruiter has to review 28 other CVs apart from yours. So you have to get it right to stand a chance. This is even more important if you’re applying for a leadership position.

How to Highlight Leadership Skills on Your Resume

The following are essential considerations you should put in mind when creating your resume.

Know Your Skills, Areas of Expertise and Shortcomings.

One of the attributes of a competent leader is constant and accurate self-evaluation. Great leaders are often self-conscious, staying well aware of their capabilities and shortcomings.

Once you achieve superior awareness of your capabilities, transfer and reflect that in your CV. In other words, highlight your strong leadership skills and core technical abilities in your CV. Of course, you shouldn’t forget to use confident words to accentuate your strengths.

Accentuate the Core Relevant Skills

It’s good practice never to omit any of your skills in your resume. However, when applying for a leadership position, you want to focus more on the leadership skills relevant to that role.

The average hiring manager takes about 7 seconds to review your CV. With such a small window, you want to avoid making them lose interest by citing irrelevant information in your CV.

It’s better to structure your CV to make your core competencies relevant to the role. Furthermore, make your skills easy to find on the page; don’t make the reviewer check the CV for long before determining what you have to offer.

And finally, use powerful words to accentuate and present your skills confidently.

Your Relevant Experiences Testify To Your Skills

Skills are essential for any job, but experience delivers social proof. Of course, you may obtain relevant leadership skills by attending classes and seminars, but your experiences matter.

Employers prefer when you apply the leadership skills mentioned to appropriate IRL situations. That means you not only have theoretical knowledge but also know how to use it.

Experience proves you have the skills and know how to apply them. The competencies are no longer just in your head; they’re also evident in your results.

When you highlight your leadership skills in your CV, be sure to include the relevant experience along with them.

We understand that not everyone may have had opportunities to build relevant experience. For example, say you’re considering a mid-career switch and haven’t had any extended leadership roles.

In such situations, you want to highlight ways you can demonstrate your potential. Or better still, sign up for activities that let you practice your leadership skills and indicate them in your CV.

You can volunteer for a project, offer to chair a local committee or head a community. These activities will not only give you opportunities to accrue relevant experiences, but you’ll also get to network and meet people. You may also pick up a few new skills along the way.

Other Examples of Sentences and Phrases that Indicate Leadership Skills

It’s easy to find yourself lost for ideas while expressing how you’ve applied your skills in a leadership position. Below are some examples to give you ideas on how to show your leadership skills on your resume without being too clumsy.

• It’s easy to find yourself lost for ideas while expressing how you’ve applied your skills in a leadership position. Below are some examples to give you ideas on how to show your leadership skills on your resume without being too clumsy.
• Spearheaded a fundraiser that helped us garner millions of dollars in seed capital for a project and also supervised the project’s execution.
• Increased operational efficiency by reviewing and revamping workflow processes in the department.
• Managed a team of 2000 plus Gen Zs and brand ambassadors across the various university campuses in the country.
• Developed a team of newbie sales reps into the most successful sales team in the organisation’s history at OPQ. Over 70% of them have also headed their separate groups and replicated our results.

Write that Job-Winning Leadership CV Today

Leadership skills are some of the core competencies hiring managers love to see on CVs. So you should highlight them as clearly as possible in your application.

Above, we’ve done the hard work of compiling a list of important leadership skills to include in your new resume. More importantly, we’ve provided examples of how to illustrate these core leadership competencies in the best light.

Still need help crafting that leadership resume? Our specialist leadership CV writers at The CV Expert have a track record for delivering impressive results.

Book an appointment with us to discuss your experience and target roles. We’ll do the rest!