Introduction
Management and executive resumes are similar in that they both have the goal of getting you to the next stage of your career. The main difference between them is that management resumes focus on teamwork, while executive resumes focus on strategy.
A management resume focuses on your ability to lead a team.
A management resume focuses on your ability to lead a team. In the business world, there are many different types of managers, each with their own responsibilities. At their core, however, all of these positions require one thing: the ability to motivate and inspire employees.
Some companies prefer to hire candidates who have years of experience managing other people. Others will take candidates who don't have as much experience but show promise for growth in that area. Regardless of where you fall on this spectrum, it's important to highlight your abilities as an effective leader when crafting your resume and cover letter.
Executive resumes are focused on short and long term goals.
Executive resumes are more focused on long-term goals and objectives, while management resumes tend to be more about the present.
In an executive resume, you will be highlighting your achievements and past work experience. You can also include some short-term goals that you have set for yourself if they're relevant to your career and if they help paint a picture of who you are as a professional (examples: "I want to increase my sales by 25% in the next year" or "I want to achieve 100% employee satisfaction").
In a management resume, it's typically best not to include anything too far into the future—or even anything outside of the present day!
Executives are expected to think strategically.
In many ways, a management and executive resume differ more in style than substance. But there are some important differences to keep in mind when preparing your resume for a leadership role:
Executive resumes should focus more on long-term goals and thinking strategically. An executive is expected to think about the big picture, strategizing about how to achieve her goals and making decisions that will impact the company’s success over an extended period of time.
Executives are not expected to have as much “nitty gritty” experience as managers or specialists do — they may even lack direct experience in their field if they come from outside organizations with different cultures or training programs that differ from those of their new employer(s). Instead, executives need to demonstrate that their education, knowledge and experience make them qualified leaders who can bring new ideas into play while also leading teams effectively.
Management resumes highlight teamwork.
If you're applying for a management position, it's important to emphasize your ability to work with others. If the job description calls for someone who can lead a team and communicate effectively with clients, be sure to include examples of how you have done so in the past. If you're applying to be an administrator or supervisor at a company, highlight your time spent leading projects or delegating tasks while working on previous projects.
In addition, make sure that all of your resume's content is geared towards teamwork. In other words, if one section talks about how well you worked with another person (or group), make sure that the next section talks about another person (or group) whom you've worked well with before. The point here is not necessarily showing off how many different types of people there are; rather, it's showing that even though each experience required some sort of teamwork effort from everyone involved--and perhaps some form of leadership from yourself--your ability to work well as part of a team has remained consistent throughout these experiences
Management resumes highlight success stories.
Success stories are a great way to show that you have a track record of success in your field. They're basically little anecdotes where you highlight your accomplishments and what you've achieved.
Resumes can be difficult to write, especially if you're not sure what they're looking for or how to write them. Success stories can help make your resume stand out because they're personal—they show who you are as an individual, rather than just listing off your experience and education.
Success stories should be structured around three key elements: the situation/problem, your actions (what did you do?), and the result/outcome (what was the outcome?).
Executives have more technical experience than managers.
A resume for an executive should be more technical than a resume for a manager. Executives are expected to know everything about their field, and they're expected to be able to perform at the highest level in their jobs. They should also have more specialized skills than managers, as well as a better understanding of strategic direction and organizational behavior.
The way that executives make decisions is different from the way managers make decisions: executives are responsible for making decisions based on data, while managers are responsible for making decisions based on people's needs and wants. Managers may have less experience or less expertise when compared with executives, but they can still succeed because they're good at understanding others' wants and needs—and finding solutions that work best for everyone involved.
Executive resumes tend to be longer.
Executive resumes are longer than management resumes.
The length of an executive resume depends on the number of years you’ve been in your industry and how much experience you have; however, most executive resumes run from 1 to 4 pages long. The lengthier your resume is, the better it will stand out from other applicants’ work samples in a pile on someone's desk.
Executive resumes tend to be more detailed than management ones.
Executive-level candidates need to demonstrate that they're able to take charge and make decisions quickly—and this means providing more specific details about their accomplishments than a manager might provide in a similar situation. This can include quantifying results or giving concrete examples of situations where they were able to be innovative, think outside the box, or overcome obstacles through creative solutions (for example: “In order to improve productivity at our branch offices…”).
Conclusion
The difference between an executive resume and a management resume is that executives are expected to think strategically. They have more technical experience than managers, but they also need to be able to lead teams effectively. A good executive should have both leadership skills and technical knowhow, which makes them ideal candidates for higher positions within companies that require these skillsets.