Executive resume writing

The resume that gets you
in the room.

For SES, C-suite and board-level appointments where ATS keywords matter less than the first thirty seconds a director spends with your document.

SES
to C-suite
27%
salary uplift typical
90 day
employment guarantee
Sample C-suite executive resume by The Resume Writers
Our methodology

Three axes. One executive narrative.

Most executive resumes fail because they're written along one axis: experience. We write along three — and the document only works when all three align.

01

Capability

What you actually do at executive depth — strategic vision, operational mastery, financial acumen, cultural stewardship, board engagement.

Pitched at the level a Chair or CEO assesses, not at the level a recruiter screens.

02

Industry

The sector context — listed financial services, professional services, healthcare, infrastructure, government, resources — and the language each one expects.

A CFO resume for a Big Four bank reads differently from one for a mining major. We write the difference.

03

Level

EL2, SES Band 1, SES Band 2, MD, GM, C-suite, Chair. The classification dictates scope, complexity, and the language of accountability.

An EL2 example won't carry an SES Band 1 application. We pitch every example at the level of the role.

"When all three axes align, the resume becomes the shortest path to the conversation that matters."

Marc Cayzer

Lead executive writer

Your writer

Working with someone who reads at executive level.

Most resume writers can describe leadership work. Marc has lived inside the documents that drive it — change management, regulatory reform, government frameworks, board-ready briefs.

He brings background as a researcher, change manager, service delivery leader and project manager — and writes selection criteria, executive resumes and cover letters that stand up to the scrutiny of Chairs, Boards and CEOs.

01

Reads at level. Marc has interpreted government frameworks, executive briefs and Cabinet-level submissions. The reading is the writing.

02

Writes the difference. A resume isn't a pitch isn't a board paper. Marc treats them as separate documents and writes each to its own audience.

03

Confidential. Senior career moves are sensitive. Every engagement is handled with the discretion the appointment requires.

The architecture

Page one earns the rest.

At executive level, your resume is read in three passes — a 30-second scan, a 90-second review, and a deeper read only if the first two land. We write each pass deliberately.

i

Overview

Your personal brand distilled into 2–3 sentences. Sets the frame for everything that follows.

The 30-second pass.

ii

Page one

A strategic snapshot — the six executive capabilities that matter most, anchored to your strongest evidence and outcomes.

The 90-second review.

iii

The evidence

From page two onwards — each accomplishment proves the page-one claim. Selective, deliberate, never padded.

The deep read.

A note on the difference between a resume and a pitch. Your resume is a precise account of your career. A pitch document — a one-page strategic narrative for a specific role — is something else entirely. We write both, but we never collapse them into one.

From the boardroom
Marc didn't just write my resume — he interrogated my career. Two weeks of careful questions, then a document that read like the version of me I'd been trying to articulate for years. I walked into the final interview already knowing how to answer the hard questions, because we'd answered them on the page first.
P

Paige L.

Specialist Program Appointment · Top 2.5% of applicants

2.5%
acceptance rate of the program Paige's application won
4.8★
Google rating across all engagements
2016
trading since
Common questions

Before you reach out.

How confidential is this?

Completely. We routinely work with executives who are still in role, exploring opportunities discreetly, or moving between competitor organisations. Nothing leaves our team. We don't use client documents in marketing, don't name clients without permission, and won't reference your engagement in any public material.

What does an executive engagement cost?

Every executive engagement is bespoke — pricing depends on level, complexity, the documents required, and turnaround. We'll provide a custom quote after the discovery call. As context, executive engagements typically include a resume, a one-page pitch, a LinkedIn profile, and sometimes a tailored selection criteria response.

How long does it take?

Two weeks from discovery call to final draft is typical for an executive engagement. The first hour is the deepest interview most clients have ever had about their career. Drafts come back within a week, and we revise iteratively until the document reads exactly the way you'd want a Chair to read it.

Do you write for board appointments?

Yes — non-executive director roles, advisory board appointments, and chair positions. The document for a board candidacy reads differently from an executive resume; the emphasis shifts from operational accomplishment to governance contribution, sector judgement, and the value you bring to deliberation.

What if we're not the right fit?

We'll tell you. If your role calls for sector expertise we don't have, or your timeline doesn't fit our capacity, we say so on the discovery call. Our work depends on doing every engagement properly — taking on the wrong one helps nobody.

Do you use AI?

No. AI writes resume copy that screens well and reads flat — exactly the wrong combination at executive level. Our work is written by human writers based in Australia, end to end. We don't outsource and we don't ghost-feed AI tools.

Begin

A confidential conversation, first.

Every executive engagement begins with a discovery call between you and Marc. Tell us about the role, the level, and the timing. We'll tell you whether we're the right fit — and what it would take to do this properly.

Discovery call within 48 hours · Custom quote — every engagement is bespoke · Discreet handling, always