Top Notch Executive Resumes: Creating Flawless Resumes for Managers, Executives, and CEOs [Paperback]

Katharine Hansen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2008

Branded resumes that illuminate the candidate's unique value proposition and ROI are a must in today's quest for the executive suite. Top Notch Executive Resumes not only explains how to integrate branding into career-marketing communication, but also how to craft resumes that address your fit with the organization's mission and meet an employer's specific business needs. Hansen instructs high-level professionals in framing past accomplishments so that the employer can visualize the executive's strategic vision and industry insights, as well as what he or she can contribute.

Highlights of the book include:
* A huge collection of resume samples in cutting-edge formats, organized by profession for easy navigability.
* Examples of a wide variety of complementary documents--including leadership profiles and executive bios--that top-level professionals need to round out their executive portfolios.
* Special additional features, including the preferences and peeves of hiring decision-makers, guidelines for working with recruiters, frequently asked questions, and case studies detailing complete job-search marketing campaigns.

Let Top Notch Executive Resumes get you into that corner office!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Katharine Hansen is an instructor and creative director of Quintessential Careers, one of the most popular job-search sites. She holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior and the certifications Master Resume Writer and Credentialed Career Master from Career Masters Institute/The Career Management Alliance. Hansen owned and served as chief writer for a resume-writing service for five years and was previously writer-editor at numerous newspapers, magazines, and nonprofit organizations. Hansen has published several books on cover letters, networking, and writing skills.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Career Press (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564149897
• ISBN-13: 978-1564149893
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Quintessential Careers' Creative Director Katharine Hansen is an author and instructor, in addition to being a career expert. Her books include Dynamic Cover Letters (more than 100,000 copies sold) and Write Your Way to a Higher GPA, written with Dr. Randall S. Hansen, as well as Dynamic Cover Letters for New Graduates (12,000+ copies sold) and most recently, A Foot in the Door: Networking Your Way into the Hidden Job Market, all published by Ten Speed Press.

Katharine (Kathy) has completed a rigorous credentialing process to become a Master Resume Writer, as approved by Career Masters Institute (CMI).



Katharine also holds the Career Masters Institute's Credentialed Career Master (CCM) designation.


In her sixth year as lecturer in business communication at Stetson University, DeLand, FL, Katharine has taught the writing of resumes and cover letters and critiqued the job-search correspondence of countless college students. Katharine also is editor of QuintZine, a free career and job-hunting newsletter filled with timely and topical tips for springboarding careers.

Katharine is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in organizational communication from Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, OH.

Katharine was writer-editor at numerous newspapers, magazines and nonprofit organizations, and she served as speechwriter for the first woman elected to the Florida Cabinet. Katharine, who earned her bachelor of arts degree in humanities from Stetson University, lives in DeLand with her writing partner, Randall, and children, Mary and John.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, Basic Executive Resume Advice, April 20, 2010

By 

William Corsair "Will" (Leavenworth County, KS USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Top Notch Executive Resumes: Creating Flawless Resumes for Managers, Executives, and CEOs (Paperback)

The book is well laid out, has lots of useful information, and numerous examples of resumes and formatting layouts, cover letters, positioning statements, etc. The feature I found extremely helpful is the Appendix, which has numerous questions to jump start your thinking about what makes you unique. In the end, it's up to you to sell yourself.

There's not much here that's new: much of the information has been around for years. But it's packaged and consolidated in one place, which I found valuable.

A colleague and I both voluntarily left the same organization within a month of each other because we were looking for new opportunities. He and his recruiter both recommended this book and the author's Top Notch Executive Interviews title.

I'm at a stage in my career where I've had senior leadership and CEO positions, and I'm not sure that I want to go back to work in another corporate office setting. Interestingly enough, the book cites an ExecuNet study that showed executive job dissatisfaction began as early as 10 months into the job and and peaked at 14 months, and that average tenure was 3 years. That's pretty close to my own experience.

This book is helping me think through how to better position and market my contract work examples, and what makes my experience and accomplishments invaluable to potential clients. While the book is aimed at those who want to be on salary, its shortcoming is not offering targeted help to those who want to consult and do contract work. That kind of writing is different, in my experience. In my case, I'm looking at some lucrative non-traditional opportunities that give me much more freedom and flexibility than would a corporate position.

All in all, good stuff here.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical résumé-writing tips for executives, March 8, 2010

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Top Notch Executive Resumes: Creating Flawless Resumes for Managers, Executives, and CEOs (Paperback)

The most essential component of any job search is, and has always been, the résumé. In this book, résumé specialist Katharine Hansen covers the basics and intricacies of résumé writing for candidates seeking executive positions. She explains, with thoroughness and an up-to-date sensibility, if not originality, that today's executive résumé must be more than a listing of positions and responsibilities. It must detail the candidate's challenges and accomplishments while defining his or her "unique value proposition" and creating a personal brand. Hansen explains how to do this and offers numerous examples, samples and case studies. She describes how to create a portfolio of marketing tools in addition to your résumé. getAbstract recommends this thorough, comprehensive reference as a valuable resource for anyone seeking an executive position, right up to the C-level.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Kindle version is terrible, July 12, 2011

By 

nickyzon - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Top Notch Executive Resumes: Creating Flawless Resumes for Managers, Executives, and CEOs (Paperback)

This is a review for the KINDLE VERSION only. I bought the book mainly because I wanted to have a few good examples of resumes. But on the Kindle version, the resumes are almost impossible to read. I tried to read them on : iPad2, Mac, Kindle - but the formatting is terrible on all devices. DON'T BUY the KINDLE version.