As a CEO, your resume must encapsulate the breadth of your strategic leadership and commercial acumen.
It’s a tall order to condense such extensive experience into a few pages, but fret not, we’re here to guide you through it.
Dive into our CEO resume writing guide, complete with a CEO resume example to kick-start your executive level career move.
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CEO Resume Example
This CEO resume example demonstrates the ideal format and content for your application.
Its professional layout ensures that recruiters can quickly and efficiently digest the information.
Follow our detailed guide below to craft your own stand out CEO resume.
CEO resume structure & format
Resume structure
Resume structure is essential when it comes to convincing companies to interview you.
These are the sections that recruiters expect to see in your resume:
- Contact details: Your name and essential contact info.
- Resume summary: A short paragraph providing recruiters with a brief summary on your suitability for the job.
- Core skills: A bullet pointed list of your most in-demand CEO skills.
- Work experience: Your current and previous jobs, listed from newest to oldest.
- Education: Your relevant qualifications for Chief executive officer jobs.
- Additional info: Any further details that could boost your applications, such as languages or hobbies and interests.
How to format your CEO resume
To make a strong impression, your resume format must be both professionally stylish and easy for recruiters to read quickly.
Here are our vital formatting tips to make your resume both appealing and reader-friendly.
- Resume length: Keep your resume short and sweet, ideally around 1 to 2 pages, as recruiters have loads to get through daily and not much time to read each one.
- Font & colour scheme: Use a simple font which is easy to read and avoid elaborate ones which might make reading difficult. Go for black-text-on-white background, but feel free to add a splash of colour in the design to help your resume stand out.
- Page layout: Ensure your page is divided into clear sections with bold headings or borders, as this enables readers to quickly pinpoint the information they’re interested in.
- Break text up: Make use of bullet points and short paragraphs to breakup text, simplifying the info for busy recruiters to digest.
- Photos: Photos are not mandatory in Australia but you can add a small headshot to the top if you like.
Quick tip: Achieving a professional look for your resume can be difficult and time-consuming. If you want to create an attractive resume quickly, try our Resume Builder and use one of our eye-catching professional resume templates.
Contact Details
Being reachable and identifiable is essential for any job seeker which makes the contact details section a fundamental part of your resume. Although simple, it’s crucial to execute this section correctly.
Be sure to include these vital details clearly at the top of your resume, and be economical with the space you use:
- Your name and professional title: Adapt the title (e.g. Marketing Asssitant or Junior IT Manager) to suit the roles you’re aiming for.
- Email address: Use a professional-sounding email (e.g. shane-smith@gmail.com) and steer clear of nicknames or informal tags (e.g., shanzeybwoySmitho200@gmail.com).
- Phone number: Provide your mobile number for direct contact. Double-check to ensure it’s correct.
- Location: Include the general area you are targeting for work, such as Canberra, Brisbane.
You might also consider adding these optional details:
- Webpage links: Connect to a professional online presence such as a LinkedIn profile or a personal portfolio, making sure they are properly maintained and professional.
- Photograph: In creative sectors, a professional photo can be helpful, though it should not dominate your resume’s layout.
It’s advisable to omit personal information such as your date of birth, full home address, or gender from your resume as these do not enhance your job application and occupy precious space.
CEO Resume Summary
Your resume summary is a short introductory paragraph at the top of the page, designed to give recruiters a high-level overview of your suitability.
If you want to hook recruiters attention and encourage them to read more of your resume, do the following:
- Keep it short: Hiring managers won’t have time to read an essay-sized summary when dealing with hundreds of applications – keep it between 3 to 5 sentences.
- Tailor to target jobs: To stand out, align your summary closely with the skills and keywords found in your target job adverts, increasing the likelihood that recruiters will recognise your fit for the role.
- Avoid using cliches: Thinking about calling yourself a “hard working team player who thinks outside the box“? Don’t! These phrases are meaningless and don’t provide employers with the facts they want.
CEO resume summary example
What to include in your CEO resume summary
- Summary of your experience: Give an overview of the types of jobs that you’ve done, companies you’ve worked for, and how much experience you have.
- Relevant skills: Showcase your key skills, emphasising those tailored for CEO roles.
- Qualifications: Remember to mention any qualifications applicable to CEO jobs, showcasing your suitability for the role.
- Benefits of hiring you: Why should a employer hire you? Will you save them money? Improve their productivity? Or get them more customers?
Quick tip: Choose from hundreds of pre-written summaries across all industries, and add one to your resume with one-click in our Resume Builder. All written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset and style.
Core skills section
To catch the eye of recruiters, include a core skills section on your resume.
This should be a bullet-pointed list showcasing your most sought-after skills specific to CEO roles.
Limit each skill to four words to ensure they stand out clearly to busy hiring managers.
Skills for your CEO resume
Strategic Visioning – Crafting and guiding the company’s long-term vision to steer business growth and market positioning.
Financial Acumen – Overseeing the financial health of the organisation, including P&L management, investment strategy, and revenue generation.
Leadership in Innovation – Championing innovation by leading the development of new products, services, and business models to maintain competitive advantage.
Corporate Governance – Ensuring company compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements while upholding ethical business practices.
Mergers and Acquisitions – Identifying and executing strategic acquisition and merger opportunities to expand business capabilities and market reach.
Operational Efficiency – Optimising operations to improve productivity, reduce costs, and enhance quality of service or product delivery.
Risk Management – Identifying, evaluating, and mitigating risks that could impact the organisation’s assets, earning capacity, or success.
Change Management – Leading organisational change initiatives to adapt to market shifts, internal restructuring, or technology integration.
International Business Operations – Managing and expanding business activities across different countries, navigating cultural differences, and international regulations.
Technology Leadership – Directing the adoption and integration of new technologies to drive innovation and improve business processes.
Quick tip: Our Resume Builder contains thousands of in-demand skills for every profession that can be added to your resume in seconds – saving you time and greatly improving your chances of landing job interviews and getting hired.
Work experience section
Use your work experience section to highlight the value you offer to employers.
Arrange your employment history in reverse chronological order, concentrating primarily on your experiences from the past 3-5 years.
Structuring your jobs
To ensure that recruiters can understand what you’ve done within each of your jobs, structure them the following way.
Outline
Introduce each job with a concise 1 to 2 line outline that covers the employer’s business, your role within the structure, and the key goals of your position.
Key responsibilities
Outline your primary duties in 5-8 bullet points, focusing on essential skills, tools, and expertise.
Ensure each point is succinct, indicating your interactions within the company and your contributions to its success.
Key achievements
Conclude each job description by detailing 1-3 major achievements that significantly benefited the employer, such as cost reductions or early project completions.
Aim to quantify these achievements with specific data to demonstrate their impact.
Example job for CEO resume
Outline
Work for a logistics and warehousing company that serves various retailers and manufacturers. Responsible for recruiting and supervising sales and marketing teams in the execution of assigned duties to achieve improved bottom-line performance.
Key Responsibilities
- Promoting continuous focus on operational excellence to strategically position the organisation to deliver sustainable and cost-effective expansion
- Strengthening local and regional presence via the well-informed management of a brand initiatives
- Overseeing the successful integration of new value-added services including new IT and CRM systems
- Cultivating robust relationships across several organisations to create long term value, and identify, shape and transform the commissioning and delivery of company services
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our Resume Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
Place your education section towards the end of your resume.
It should be formatted as a bullet-pointed list highlighting your qualifications and academic achievements, especially those pertinent to CEO roles.
Experienced candidates should keep this section concise, but if you have minimal experience you can elaborate on these qualifications to showcase your relevant skills and knowledge.
This section can include:
- University degrees
- Industry specific qualifications for CEO jobs
- Vocational education and training (VET) diplomas
- Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE)
Additional information (optional)
At the end of your resume, you can consider incorporating a section for additional information.
This part is suitable for hobbies, interests, awards, publications, or technical skills that could enhance your appeal to employers.
When adding content here, ensure it is either directly relevant to your profession or exceptionally impressive.
Avoid listing everyday activities like watching television or casual socialising, as they are unlikely to influence hiring decisions.
Crafting an effective CEO resume can be challenging, but adhering to these guidelines should enable you to develop a resume that attracts recruiter attention and secures numerous interview opportunities.
Always double-check your resume for errors and customise it for each job application to demonstrate your suitability.
Good luck with your job search!