Executive Resume Example

As a C-suite executive, you’ll be directly responsible for the future of the business. Whether you’re the CEO, CIO, or CTO, the direction the company takes and whether it succeeds or not will largely depend on your decisions.

As an applicant for an executive-level role, you’ll be up against extremely tough competition. Your competitors will possess deep expertise in their field, and they’ll have had plenty of time to hone their skills throughout their career.

To bring attention to the skills and qualities that make you the best candidate for the job, use our professional executive resume examples and writing tips for inspiration when you create your own resume.

1. Use a resume format that highlights your qualifications

As an applicant with years of relevant experience in your field, you should choose a resume format that shows off your professional qualifications.

A chronological resume is a solid choice because it emphasizes your work experience by listing your job titles from most recent to least recent. However, to truly make your resume stand out, opt for a combination resume.

A combination resume places your core competencies front and center, immediately commanding the attention of search committee members. It also includes a large work experience section, giving you plenty of space to expand upon your most impressive accomplishments as an executive.

The education section on a combination resume takes up the least space, which is ideal if you’re applying for C-suite positions because a college degree is likely the least relevant part of your background.

2. Write an eye-catching executive resume profile

A resume profile is a type of resume introduction that’s used to catch the reader’s attention and convince them to read the rest of your resume.

Your executive resume profile should provide a compelling, informative, and concise snapshot of your career, as well as give HR directors, majority shareholders, and the Board of Directors insight into why you’re the best candidate to take on a leadership position within the company.

Here’s a good example of a convincing resume profile for an executive:

This resume profile is effective because it achieves three objectives:

1. It demonstrates the candidate’s ability to build successful companies over a 20-year career
2. It showcases their expertise in the tech industry
3. It highlights their business acumen

3. Quantify your achievements

Companies looking to hire a new executive want to see that you can deliver results and achieve success.

One of the best ways to demonstrate that you’re capable of delivering tangible results is by providing examples of your previous successes in a “Key Achievements” section on your resume. Additionally, you should quantify your past achievements using hard numbers.

This can be done by following the simple formula below:

• [action verb] + [area of business]  + [quantifiable metric/result]

Here are two good examples of what quantified resume bullet points should look like:

When it comes to resume writing, it’s always better to show than tell. Using numbers and percentages to back up your claims proves that you’re able to drive results, a key quality that the most successful business executives possess.

4. Highlight your core competencies in a separate section

Listing core competencies on your resume is key to making a good first impression and complements your resume profile by emphasizing your most marketable skills.

Place your core competencies section at the top of your resume for maximum impact, like this candidate does:

The candidate in the example above also uses strategic resume keywords that spotlight the abilities that’ll help them succeed in a leadership role at their target company.

Additionally, incorporating keywords is also a good way of ensuring that your resume is ATS friendly and bypasses the software that some large companies use to scan through job applications.

Executive resume examples for 2023

Here are two additional executive resume examples for you to download and use as a guide when your write your own:

CIO resume example

Here’s an example of a CIO resume:

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CTO resume example

The following is an example of a professional-looking CTO resume:

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