Recruiters spend an average of 6 seconds on a resume before deciding yes or no.

For senior and executive candidates, that's brutal — because your career is complex. You've led teams, driven revenue, launched initiatives. But if your resume reads like a job description instead of a results story, it gets passed over.

Here are the 3 most common mistakes I see on executive resumes:

1. Leading with responsibilities instead of impact

"Managed a team of 15" tells me nothing. "Built and scaled a 15-person engineering team that shipped 3 products in 18 months, generating $4M in new ARR" tells me everything. Every bullet should answer: so what?

2. A generic summary that fits any candidate

Hiring managers read hundreds of summaries that say "results-driven leader with 15+ years of experience." It's noise. Your summary should be a sharp 3-line pitch that positions you for ONE specific type of role.

3. Not writing for ATS

Most companies run resumes through applicant tracking systems before a human ever sees them. If your formatting, fonts, or keyword choices aren't ATS-compatible, your resume is invisible — no matter how strong your background is.

The fix? Treat your resume like a sales document, not a biography. Your target role is the product. You are the solution.

If you're actively looking or planning your next move, I'd be happy to take a look at where your resume stands.