CV Strategy

Your pitch - A strong executive resume or CV is structured, concise, and easy to navigate. It presents your education, experience, and achievements as a clear case for appointment, not a chronological account of your career.

Relevance matters - Every executive application must be built for the role being targeted. If your experience does not align with the employer’s priorities and selection criteria, it is unlikely to pass ATS screening or reach decision makers.

Evidence and scale - Senior CVs must demonstrate measurable outcomes and the scale at which you operate. Decision makers look for revenue impact, operational responsibility, transformation initiatives, and the complexity of environments you have led.

Competitive edge - Executive roles attract strong competition. An effective resume highlights leadership judgement, organisational impact, and the problems you solve, making it clear why you represent a stronger proposition than other well qualified candidates.

Why accomplishments matter in an executive CV

Evidence of adding value - A strong executive CV must demonstrate outcomes. Leading with achievements shows how you added value, not simply what you were responsible for. Many senior applications still over emphasise duties at the expense of impact.

Demonstrating results - An achievement led CV presents you as results driven. At senior level, boards and hiring committees expect evidence of delivery, leadership judgement, and commercial impact, not broad claims.

Scale and leadership judgement - Decision makers also look for the scale at which you operate. This may include program size, revenue impact, organisational complexity, or the scope of change you have led.

Positioning your achievements - We align your CV to the employer’s priorities and selection criteria. Clear examples show how you think and operate, such as where you generated revenue, reduced cost, mitigated risk, or improved productivity. Quantified Problem, Action, Result examples strengthen credibility and make your impact easy to assess. See the accomplishment checklist.

Understanding the ATS - Most organisations use Applicant Tracking Systems as the first screening stage. These systems operate like a search engine, filtering applications that do not align closely enough with the role requirements before a human reviewer becomes involved.

Structure and alignment - We ensure your CV is structured so ATS software can read it accurately. Content is aligned with the employer’s priorities and selection criteria so relevance is clear to both automated screening and senior decision makers.

Using the employer’s language - Keywords and phrases drawn directly from the job description signal alignment with the role. Used properly, they reinforce credibility and increase the likelihood that your application is recognised as a strong match.

A note for senior candidates - Even very senior applicants are screened through digital recruitment systems. A generic executive CV or board biography may look impressive but still fail the initial screening if it does not reflect the employer’s language, priorities, and selection criteria.

Understanding selection criteria - these criteria define the qualifications, experience, judgement, and leadership attributes an employer uses to decide who progresses to interview. For senior appointments they signal more than capability. They reflect strategic priorities, leadership expectations, and organisational fit.

Some selection criteria are clearly stated, particularly in public sector roles. Others must be inferred. Job advertisements rarely capture the full expectations of a board, chief executive, or hiring committee, so research is essential.

These criteria usually combine essential and desirable elements, such as:

• Leadership capability – Experience leading teams, functions, or complex stakeholder environments.
• Depth of experience – Relevant qualifications and a track record in comparable roles or sectors.
• Strategic judgement – The ability to make sound decisions in complex or uncertain environments.
• Sector insight – Industry knowledge, regulatory awareness, or international exposure where relevant.
• Evidence of delivery – Achievements that demonstrate measurable organisational impact.

Selection criteria may also appear as position requirements, role specifications, or competency frameworks. Whatever the label, they form the benchmark against which executive candidates are compared and ranked.

Do not rely solely on what is written in the advertisement. Job descriptions are often maintained by HR or remuneration teams and may lag behind the realities of the role. The most effective applicants research the organisation, speak with recruiters or trusted contacts, and test their assumptions through professional networks to understand what decision makers actually value.

Selection Criteria Statements

In Australia, many public sector roles require applicants to address selection criteria in a stand alone statement. These documents form part of the formal assessment process and are used to determine whether candidates progress to interview.

Roles that frequently require selection criteria statements include:

• Government positions – Administrative, policy, programme, and project roles across federal, state, and local government.
• Public service roles – Health, education, social services, and regulatory bodies.
• Education sector – Universities, TAFEs, and other institutions, particularly for academic, leadership, and senior professional roles.
• Healthcare sector – Public hospitals and community health services.
• Non profit and community organisations – Especially those funded through government programmes.

Addressing selection criteria requires specific, relevant examples that demonstrate how you meet each requirement. Done well, these statements provide clear evidence of capability, judgement, and organisational fit rather than broad claims or career summaries.

Board and executive advisory experience - My work with board level and C-suite candidates is grounded in an understanding of how boards assess judgement, capability, and risk. I advise executives operating across regulated, commercial, and mission driven environments where governance, stakeholder scrutiny, and strategic clarity matter as much as operational performance.

Cross-sector governance insight - I regularly support senior leaders and board aspirants across sectors including resources, infrastructure, health, education, technology, professional services, and not-for-profit. This includes roles spanning listed and private companies, government entities, statutory authorities, and charities, each with distinct governance expectations and decision making dynamics.

Board and executive perspective - At board and executive level, appointments are rarely about career chronology. They turn on judgement, credibility, alignment with organisational purpose, and the ability to contribute at the right altitude. My role is to help you articulate that value clearly and credibly in language that resonates with chairs, directors, search firms, and nomination committees.

Governance aware positioning - I understand how selection decisions are shaped by governance frameworks, risk profiles, funding models, and public accountability. This informs how your experience is framed, what is emphasised, and what is deliberately left in the background, particularly for board, committee, and senior statutory appointments.

Board level applications demand clarity, restraint, and relevance. The objective is not to tell your whole story, but to present the right evidence of judgement, influence, and strategic contribution.

My CV development process

My advisory approach is collaborative and iterative. We refine your narrative together, align it with the realities of board and executive decision making, and ensure your documents withstand both formal assessment and informal scrutiny.

My process, bespoke in practice, outlines a structured pathway for executives seeking progression. It goes beyond securing a role; it focuses on shaping a coherent narrative and positioning you for the level of responsibility you are targeting.

The more generic, the less effective Each client’s circumstances differ. This outline illustrates core principles only. Where no specific role is targeted, sector-level criteria may be used as a proxy, although this approach is inherently less effective for senior appointments.

Sectors and organisations

My consulting work and previous employment spans a broad mix of public and private organisations, including power utilities, universities, police services, zoos, major mining and resources companies, state government bodies, information services providers, and biotech and pharmaceutical firms. I regularly work across sectors such as:

• Mining and resources CVs or resumes, including oil and gas
• Pharmaceutical, health, and nursing CVs or resumes
• Primary, secondary, and tertiary education CVs or resumes, including leadership roles
• Corporate management and C suite CVs or resumes, including international roles
• Political, chief of staff, and party pre selection CVs or resumes
• Government CVs or resumes at local, state, and federal level
• Franchisee and commercial operator CVs and applications
• Capability statement CVs for professionals and contractors
• Marketing and sales leadership CVs or resumes
• IT, AI, and digital leadership CVs or resumes
• ADF and former ADF CVs or resumes

My clients include regular folk as well as FTSE100 and ASX directors, distinguished individuals with KBE, OBE, AO, and MBE honours, politicians, and high-profile business professionals.

Certification and Memberships

I am a founder member of the UK based CVRA, an organisation dedicated to the professional certification and ongoing education of CV and resume writers worldwide.

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Corporate engagements

I have delivered resume writing seminars and outplacement workshops for employees of Australian state and local governments, as well as universities.

To improve your chances of being shortlisted, focus on a resume that is clear, relevant to the role, and structured to work with ATS screening rather than against it.

Many applications fall over for these key reasons:

Ignoring the ATS - Applicant Tracking Systems are the first screening stage for most roles. Many resumes are filtered out because they do not align closely enough with the employer’s requirements or selection criteria. Generic resumes are usually the first to be excluded.

The generic resume trap - Submitting the same resume for every role is a common mistake. Each application must be tailored to the position, demonstrating clear relevance between your experience and the organisation’s priorities.

Missing the real requirements - If your resume does not reflect the skills, outcomes, and leadership capability described in the role specification, it is unlikely to progress. Employers expect a visible match between your experience and their needs.

Weak positioning - Many executive resumes read as career inventories rather than a clear proposition. Decision makers should quickly understand the level you operate at and the type of mandate you are suited for, whether growth, transformation, turnaround, or governance leadership.

Weak evidence of results - Phrases such as “responsible for” or “involved in” carry little weight. Executive appointments rely on clear evidence of commercial impact, risk management, and strategic delivery supported by measurable outcomes.

The obvious AI application - Over reliance on generative AI can weaken senior applications. While AI can accelerate drafting and tidy language, it often misses nuance, judgement, and context. The result is content that feels generic, skirts the real criteria, and overlooks cultural fit, all critical at executive level.

Too much history - Senior candidates often include decades of operational detail. Excessive history can dilute strategic impact. Boards and search firms are usually looking for evidence of judgement, leadership outcomes, and organisational influence rather than a long chronology.

Misjudging the audience - Executive applications are rarely reviewed by one person. Recruiters, hiring executives, and board members may all assess the material. If the document reads like an HR form rather than a leadership case for appointment, credibility can suffer quickly.

Over designed resumes - Highly stylised resumes may look impressive but often fail in practice. Complex layouts, columns, graphics, and colour schemes can confuse ATS software and trigger rejection. Many organisations also discourage photographs to reduce bias concerns.

Ignoring professional reputation - At senior level, many opportunities never reach the open market. Your resume should reinforce a reputation already forming through networks, search firms, and industry visibility, not operate in isolation.