When seeking out your executive job, whether it be a position with a company as CEO, CFO, EVP, or at any other upper-echelon level with an organization, your first and most crucial step in achieving such a coveted position is in your resume. You can’t get to the interview portion of the process without this initial critical document. Your executive resume, in essence, acts as the gatekeeper to your chance at even getting a face-to-face meeting to discuss opportunities.

The potential candidate is typically in a successful venture at the moment and looking to make a move up the corporate ladder with another company, so time can be limited to prepare a worthy resume. There are also challenges and benefits that can be made for both preparing this critical document yourself and hiring an executive resume writing service. Much is at stake in the initial stages of your executive career search. There are three factors to consider when making such a decision:

1.) Information Gathering

While you can quickly obtain any article or book on crafting a successful resume, the crux of such a piece is centered around the content portion, including your career objectives, work history, achievements and successes, education, and other elements of personal and professional development. Obtaining all this information is quite a feat, particularly at the executive level, where there is so much more information. Hiring out your resume development will not get you out of these initial and extended stages of information gathering.

2.) Maintaining Flexibility and Change

At the executive level, there is typically no higher level of competition in the job market, and the competition is fierce, to say the least. There is a minute difference at this level between obtaining an interview and receiving a rejection letter, which is why the most successful prospects change and modify their executive resumes to fit the needs of each specific company they are applying to.

By crafting your own resume instead of hiring out, you will be able to easily update, change, and modify your resume to fit the needs of the companies you are applying to. Take this opportunity to strengthen your chances by presenting yourself in a different and more favorable light than the other candidates.

3.) Your Personal Voice

At this higher level, you need to make a strong connection with the people on the other end of the table, ultimately making the decisions. The person interviewing you would like to believe that you are the same person that is reflected in the voice of your resume. We tend to convey words, expressions, and our personality in our writing, and there is nothing worse or more embarrassing, especially at this level than getting caught where your resume does not sound like it came from you.

Take the time to strengthen your chances in your career search by taking the time to invest in yourself. Craft your own executive resume instead of using an executive resume writing service, and you will see it pay dividends in your career and professional growth.