Careers Slideshow:
Executive Resumes: The Top 5 Mistakes and How to Fix Them

If you're a CIO-in-transition, or simply looking for new opportunities, having a top-notch resume can make the difference between finding a great new career opportunity and being buried in an avalanche of applicants. "When the recruiter is coming after you, when you're the known commodity and they've targeted you, having a good resume that tells a strong story is important. But it's not as important as when you're trying to go to them," says Howard Seidel, Ed.D., J.D., and partner at Essex Partners, a career management and transition consultancy for senior executives. If you're between positions, or you've heard of an interesting opportunity for which you've not been actively recruited, a top-notch resume can make all the difference. What are some traits of the very best resumes Seidel has seen? "It's like reading an outline. You want people to see the company, the title, the core responsibility of the role and you want them to see the key achievements of the role," Seidel says. The very best resume focuses a recruiter like a laser on your talents and the legacy you've left behind with previous employers. It says "this is why those companies are better now than they were when I got there," he says. "People can go long periods of time without a very strong resume. But a resume is one of those things that, when you do need one, you need a good one. For that reason, it's important that if you're going to build it, to build it with these principles in mind." Here are the five most-common mistakes on executive resumes, and how to fix them.