RESUME SAMPLES

VP of Business Development Resume

Jan was aiming to use this resume to move up within his current company as well as to present to companies that might want his consulting services. Although Jan is quite young, he has been a successful entrepreneur for many years and we wanted his energy and thought leadership to shine. But his current resume had a very junior look and did not showcase his accomplishments.

We chose to put Jan’s “Success Formula” at the top of the resume as an example of the forward thinking he brings to any organization. We also utilized supporting testimonials throughout to highlight Jan’s behavioral strengths. For Jan’s most recent work history, we presented him as an expert in business in this region with the header “Turnaround and Business Establishment Success in Norway / Nordics.” Graphs were used to display company growth in both percentages and revenues under Jan’s leadership at two different positions. His new resume clearly paints him as a senior executive with significant strengths to offer a successful growing company.
VP of Sales Resume Before
VP of Sales Resume After

Recent Graduate – Finance Resume

Karen is clearly a rising star. Yet she had been applying for competitive positions in large corporations’ training programs, many of them in Asia, and not getting calls for interviews. We worked to match her resume to the keywords in the job descriptions for those training programs, expanded her resume from a one-pager (crammed with 10.5pt Garamond) to two pages (clearly she was missing opportunities by fitting everything on one page!) and gave her a new, modern format. We also categorized her very impressive accomplishments and emphasized her trilingual capabilities and multiculturalism, which were hidden on her original resume and clearly important for programs in Asia.

Although Karen was applying for programs that were specifically recruiting for students, we did not want to paint her as just another student. We made her Ivy League education apparent by putting Ivy U in a line directly under the header, showcasing that important piece of her background. Instead of listing “Relevant Coursework” under the Education section, we integrated her courses in the Skills section, since these were areas in which she offered experience and expertise. And we used the recognition she had received at Moore College to boost her credentials as someone chosen to represent a school in China; the logic was that a company would see “China Distinction” and be persuaded that they wanted her in their Asia program as well.

Shortly after submitting her new resume, Karen began getting interviews and offers at companies including Coors, Burger King, HSBC and Capital One.

Recent Graduate – Finance Resume Before

Recent Graduate – Finance Resume After

Graphic Designer / Marketer Resume

Ofer’s original resume was basically a notepad document that included a long paragraph entitled “Background” written in the first person; an Objective statement; and bullets that were duty- rather than accomplishment-focused. As soon as I let Ofer know he could design his resume, a whole world opened up. I helped him with the words, and he crafted the format. We created a couple of categories for his achievements — “Successful Client Campaigns” and “Revamp of Company’s Digital Image” — that draw attention to two of his strengths. The other bullets show his success on both the artistic and strategic sides of marketing. Finally, Ofer made the unconventional and gutsy decision to include his photo in order to create a personal connection with the prospective employer. The final resume is evidence of Ofer’s capability to design an “out-of-the-box” identity for a client — in this case, himself.

Ofer used a text-based version of this resume for his on-line applications and succeeded in obtaining multiple interviews and ultimately a job with Aptima, an artificial intelligence company.

Graphic Designer / Marketer Resume Before

Graphic Designer / Marketer Resume After

Stay at Home Mom MBA Project Manager Resume

When Sara first came to us, she saw herself as a stay-at-home mom with a 10-year history of working on small projects that didn’t fully reflect her goals; her resume reflected that lack of confidence. To make Sara’s experience relevant to her target position as a lease manager/site developer at a large national company, we prioritized her project management experience and leveraged her architecture background. In the final product, her ten years of “not working” are almost indistinguishable from her other accomplishments; she paints herself as a powerful driver of projects for large multi-national companies who contributes to corporations like BIG BIZ and will be a valuable addition to her next company.

Stay at Home Mom MBA Project Manager Resume Before

Stay at Home Mom MBA Project Manager Resume After

Life Sciences Executive Resume

Life Sciences Executive Sample Resume

Health Care Executive Resume

Health Care Executive Resume

Business Insights Executive Resume

Business Insights Executive Resume

Global Benefits Executive

Global Benefits Executive Sample Resume Before
Global Benefits Executive Sample Resume After

Epic Project Manager & Consultant

Epic Project Manager & Consultant

Capital Project Management Executive – VP / Director

Seth had been sending out an old resume to his networks that was not achievement and metrics focused, and he was getting a lukewarm response. We loaded his resume with lots of numbers that would convey his value to his next employer.

One of the issues we negotiated with Seth is that he wanted to market himself both as a capital projects executive and a sourcing/supply chain executive. While these two areas often intersect, there was potential to write different resumes for these two focal points. We ended up with three versions of his resume: this one (which was all-encompassing but through a capital projects lens), plus a version targeted for capital projects and another for sourcing. In the end, he ended up using this more complete version for the majority of his job search activities.

We mentioned the companies where Seth had worked in the top summary because BIGBIO is an extremely well-known large company and we also wanted him to come across as marketable to smaller companies.

Rather than have a Core Competencies section, we placed Seth’s 3 most important skills under his title, and, since they fit, put the rest of his key competencies in a bullet. We also used the top bullets to provide a sense of the range of industries and functions where he has experience/expertise.

For each of his positions, we chose an overarching accomplishment followed by bullets of how he achieved the larger project wins.

Seth had a huge uptick in the response he was getting from his networks. He obtained a position as Senior Director of Capital Project Management at a global engineering & consulting company in the biotech sphere.

Capital Project Management Executive – VP / Director Sample Resume

Executive Director

Patricia was very eager to transition out of her current position. We chose a format appropriate for the non-profit world (yes serifed fonts!) and emphasized her success with turnarounds, her mad fundraising skills, her bilingual capabilities, her passion for making a difference for children and families, and her strong connections with community and government institutions. We organized her bullets in sections based on her biggest accomplishments, followed by sub-bullets of how she reached those goals.

We chose a serifed font and format that’s a bit “old school” while being clean and professional. In my experience with non-profit executives, this format continues to be very successful. It was for Patricia.

Pat was extremely successful with this resume. She received several job offers within just a few weeks, and accepted a position she loves as a CEO at a Chicago non-profit.

Executive Director Sample Resume

Account Executive – Marketing & Sales Resume

Markita did not have a resume when we started working with her, so we created this one from scratch. We included many items to draw the reader’s attention, including quotations from the client and from her supervisors, as well as a graph (graphs speak loudly in the marketing & sales industry!) Markita was rapidly offered 7 interviews and 2 jobs using this resume.

Account Executive – Marketing & Sales Resume After

VP of Operations Resume

Brad was seeking a VP of Operations position in the construction industry, and was realistic that he might need to expand his search to other fields. We crafted his resume so that it would be effective both in his industry of choice and across related industries (he had the option of deleting “within construction industry” from his Summary).

The resume was originally in a very simplistic format, and the summary was essentially a list of keywords and clichéd language like “respected senior leader” and “proven track record.” We crafted a powerful branding statement, pulled Brad’s keywords into a clear list of Areas of Expertise, and gave him a format that spoke to his level of accomplishment. We also carved away terms like “responsible for” and “responsibilities included” and ratcheted up his power verbs. There were many accomplishments that Brad had not listed on his original resume. We identified them and categorized his achievements in a way that would be easily understandable to any reader.

Finally, we designed a chart that spoke to Brad’s three most impressive accomplishments, each of which was in a different unit of measurement. The common unit of measurement was the percentage increase! And we added a testimonial for a finishing touch. This resume was a genuine joint effort between the client and The Essay Expert. A true pleasure, start to finish.

VP of Operations Resume Before

VP of Operations Resume After

HR Director Resume

Mary’s original resume gave the reader nowhere to focus and had too little information about her current position. Although some significant accomplishments were listed, they were difficult to find due to the unwieldy format of the resume. We created a strong branding statement for Mary and crystallized and categorized each of her accomplishments. We also added a testimonial to support her impressive achievements. Mary used this resume to obtain a job in the Human Resources Department of the Employers Council in her region, a non-profit organization with 3,000 members and a staff of 160+ that partners with employers to maintain effective employer/employee relationships.

HR Director Resume Before

HR Director Resume After

Law Student – Clerkship Application Cover Letter

Law Student – Clerkship Application Cover Letter After

Architect Cover Letter

Architect Cover Letter Before

Architect Cover Letter After