Reshaping your CV for a leadership role

With competition for roles high, busy HR teams, and the rise of AI in recruitment to deal with, it is never a bad idea to review the essentials for writing a great CV. Maybe you’re looking to move into a leadership role for the first time, or perhaps it’s just been a long time since you’ve updated your CV.  Here are our top tips for crafting a compelling leadership CV that highlights your experience and potential.

Write your CV for the job that you want, not the job you have.

When it comes to writing your leadership CV, day to day responsibilities are less relevant than your measurable achievements. And the important achievements to highlight are ones aligned with your new target role. Make sure to cover your:

• Strategic impact
• Executive presence
• Leadership skills

Top CV tip: Yes, you do need to tailor your CV for the (type of) role in question! Bringing in relevant keywords that relate to the specific requirements from the job posting will help you match for the role, whether your CV is screened by an ATS or a person. Make sure to use them  naturally in your CV.

Showcase your leadership skills

Highlight your leadership philosophy, core competencies, and key accomplishments. Leadership comes in many forms, so you can cover off:

• Team leadership, onboarding new employees, mentoring and coaching
• Processes you have developed and implemented with their impact
• Key areas where you are subject matter expert or thought leader for your team.

Top CV tip: Start your CV with a concise summary that provides a snapshot of your leadership journey and sets the tone for the rest of the CV.

Highlight strategy, not tasks

Position yourself as a leader, whose work ties into larger business goals. Think about the overall business goals your tasks and priorities support, as well as the key results your work achieved.

Top CV tip: Action verbs like "spearheaded," "transformed," and "orchestrated" can help show your role and drive. But avoid overusing adjectives: they can weaken your points!

Qualify and quantify your impact

Always show results in numbers if you can. Otherwise qualify them, how did you improve performance, boost metrics, save time or reduce costs?

Top CV tip: Being specific with results showcases your effectiveness and demonstrates a results-driven mindset.

A final thought: your CV formatting does matter

Whether it will be by a person or an ATS, your CV will be screened. Here are some steps you can take to help your CV get through the application process more easily.

1. Stick to two pages - prioritise what matters, minimise the rest.
2. Use clear layout, straightforward section headers (e.g. "Work Experience," "Education," and "Skills”) and spell out acronyms in full the first time. Easier for the ATS (or a rushed recruiter) to review accurately!
3. Use the right document format. .pdf and .docx are generally the best, unless the job post specifies anything else!

‍
These are just some of our top tips for crafting a leadership CV. For more help finding your next leadership opportunity, join Hirehoot today!