With that said, there are a number of great places to get your resume information out there so that if recruiters are looking. They can find out more about you without you having to attach a resume in an email. If you’re thinking of increasing the number of places that recruiters can find professional information about you, here are a few places to consider.

Visual CV

Visual CV is a site that is gaining a lot of recognition because it allows users to place not just their resume, but also their portfolio of professional marketing documents in one location. Your portfolio can include various samples of your work, graphs, and more–pretty much anything you can think of.

It’s easy to sign up for a new account, and it only takes a moment. Afterward, you get to piece your portfolio together into a comprehensive package. Through the site, you are able to share your new VisualCV with recruiters via email, as well as through your social networking sites. It’s also a secure website, as you have total control over who can see your profile.

Google Profile

Another way to get your professional information out to the public is through a Google profile. While the site is not exactly meant to have you create a professional-only profile, it works great for this purpose.

The way Google Profile works is that it allows you to determine just how you are viewed in the Google search engine. Your profile controls what recruiters see when they search for more info, and most recruiters use Google as a first resort when looking for info on a particular candidate.

Once you create a Google Profile account, you set up your profile. Use the “about me” section to list information about yourself, your title (or titles), your location, and even resume info. This makes it much easier for recruiters to find out what they need to know about you.

LinkedIn

Most professionals are already aware of LinkedIn and the benefits that it offers; however, it wouldn’t be right to not mention it as a great place to place your professional information. Here, you can build a resume and make valuable connections with professionals and even obtain references. It is the powerhouse of sites to help you build your online professional identity and is one you shouldn’t overlook.

Obtaining an executive position nowadays is often heavily reliant on your online activity. In other words, the more you do to increase you professional online presence, the more you increase your chances of being found by recruiters. If you have yet to get started, now’s the time to see what these three sites, as well as others out there, have to offer.

You’ve probably heard a ton of advice about ways to prepare for an interview, but just when you think you’ve heard it all, something jumps out that could actually work for you. The best tips in the world are some of the strangest, so here’s a look at some interesting ways to prepare for your executive job interview.

Prepare in an Office Space

While preparing for your interview, it doesn’t hurt to do so in a space that reminds you of a serious, office environment. For instance, if you have an office in your home, it’s good to organize your thoughts in this space. Occasionally, there’s nothing wrong with practicing for your interview with a TV blasting or your family vying for your attention, but a bit of practice in a more subdued, interview-like setting can get your mind prepared for an interview much more quickly.

Rehearse in Front of a Mirror

Another quirky, yet helpful, preparation tip is to consider rehearsing in front of a mirror. While you should have professional conversation down to a science, sometimes it’s good to be aware of the facial expressions you’re giving off, as well as how you hold your body during an interview. Very often, it’s difficult to know how the way that one holds his arms, sits, or looks around a room can affect the mesasge he’s trying to get across. Practice in front of the mirror helps you reign in your facial expressions and get rid of the nervous tics that might make an interviewer nervous or uncomfortable.

Talk in Front of Your Kids

A large aspect of interviewing at the executive level is being able to tell a good story about who you are and what you’ve accomplished while keeping the attention of everyone in the room. Children get bored very easily, which makes them perfect subjects for your story–try to get them interested and use clever word choice and other techniques, and if you can keep their attention, you’ll know that you’re doing quite well.

Don’t Rely On Your Resume

While you want to know what’s in your resume, executive biography and any other documents you’ve submitted, you don’t want the interviewer to feel as though you’re reading from them as you answer questions in your interview. If you do, the interview will not feel genuine. So as you practice, think about who you are, what you’ve accomplished, and what you’d like to accomplish on the job. A bit of confidence and honesty will help you a lot more in answering interview questions than a piece of paper.

You know the basics of preparing for your interview, so it’s always good to learn about those tips that may be a bit more quirky but could still work. Considering the above tips is a great way to get a step ahead of the competition in your job interview.

You’ve probably read numerous blogs in your time, but haven’t written your own. Some people use them for personal venting sessions while others showcase their professional expertise. If you’re trying to build your brand and enhance your executive job search, creating a blog is a good idea. However, if you’re unsure that it will work for you, here are four reasons to consider it as an option.

You Get to Share (and Grow) Your Expertise

One great aspect of writing blogs for your field is that you have the opportunity to share your wealth of expertise. Having been in your field for many years, you’ve seen it grow and can share your own comparative analysis, as well as offer insight into where you see your field heading.

Additionally, you get to conduct research for your blog that can help grow your knowledge. When working with a single company, you know the specifics of the job that you have and the goals and mission statement of that organization. Writing blogs is different, however, as your approach needs to be a bit more general in order to apply to all of the professionals that might be reading it.

You Can Increase Networking Opportunities

By writing a reputable blog for your field, you could eventually draw in members of your field who would like to comment on your writings and maybe even contact you directly. It helps if you have already set up a LinkedIn profile that you can link to from your blog. This way, interested parties who have already gotten a taste of your level of knowledge can look at additional accomplishments and know how to contact you if they’re looking to recruit.

It’s a Great Resume Builder

Another great reason to blog is that you can build on the accomplishments already on your resume. Since most resumes are shipped off in electronic formats, you can post a link to your blog when you apply for jobs. You’ll come out ahead in the eyes of any employer who’s looking at a few final applicants for an executive position, as they’ll see that the knowledge and expertise displayed on your blog clearly show a better, more focused candidate for the position.

You Might Eventually Guest Blog

There’s something very special about having someone ask you to guest blog for their site. When another blogger is saying that his or her readers want to hear your expert’s viewpoint, it’s a huge honor, and implies that you’ve really got a foothold in your field. As you develop your own footprint in the blogging world and expand your professional brand, you might find that some will come to you for your expert opinion. You can certainly get some major employment opportunities from a guest blog spot, so if you get an offer, take the time to do it, and be sure to give it all of your effort.

Some say that the idea of blogging being a benefit to a job search is a moot concept because so many people can do it without a professional background. However, many of the major blogs are written by well-respected, well branded professionals. Why not give it a good try, and see if you can build your name as a brand and improve your executive job search?

It’s not always your fault when you can’t get an executive level job; it may be the economy or a number of other things. But it’s also a good idea to look at your own actions throughout the process to see if you may be sabotaging your own efforts. Here are a few ways to help avoid this from happening …

Create a Quality Resume

At the executive level, creating a quality resume requires more than just writing one that is action-driven, you need to prove that you’ve made a true impact on your previous employers. By showing in numbers what types of profits you’ve helped the company make, as well as any types of initiatives you’ve started and followed through on, it’s important for companies to see through your resume that you would be a great return on their investment.

Spend Time with Forward-Thinking People

When you want to make big moves in life, you have to think big. Try to find and stay and contact with anyone who has the same big goals that you have. It’s important to be able to share ideas and information that can benefit everyone as you all progress through your careers. But it’s even more important that you keep company with people who feel confident and positive about their futures, not those who feel “stuck” and believe there’s nothing good to look forward to.

Don’t Worry about Being Perfect

You may feel that you simply can’t send out a resume or contact a lead because you haven’t come up with the “right” things to write are say. While it’s not a bad idea to be concise and clear in your communication, perfection is something you can never achieve. While it may be possible to improve certain wording, you’ve also got to make sure that it’s out there–even the best written resume and cover letters won’t do you any good if they’re just sitting on your desk.

Get Organized

When you’re in the midst of a job search, it’s critical that you successfully follow up on your leads, interviews, etc. Getting organized during your job search essentially means keeping track of who you’ve talked to, who you plan to talk to, what you’ve discussed (or want to discuss), etc. Make a spreadsheet to keep track of these kinds of data.

Step Away from the Computer

With blogging, networking and researching capabilities right at your fingertips, it’s not uncommon to want to spend the majority of your job search behind the computer. For executives, face to face networking functions are more important than any online job searching. The Internet and computers can certainly be helpful for some job searches, but nothing will help an executive more than face-to-face contact with prospective employers.

If you can keep these ideas in mind when conducting your executive job search, you may find that the process will move a lot smoother than expected. What’s the worst that could happen if you change your approach to incorporate a bit of common sense?

However, at the executive level, there is more to consider than your accomplishments. You also need to explore your vision, personal integrity, and even your level of self control. You can add these types of elements to your resume in very effective ways. Here’s a look at a few ideas to incorporate.

Sell the Idea that You’re a Visionary

When writing your executive-level resume, you want to make sure to show employers that you’re able to create and follow through on a vision that matches the goals of the company. You want to show that you’re an “idea person” that challenges ways of conducting business.

Companies love the thought of shifting their business in new and innovative directions. So if you can illustrate in your resume that your accomplishments include moments of strategy, motivation to your direct reports, and the ability to act tactically when having come up with new concepts and values, employers will better understand how you could do the same for them.

Let Employers Know You Trust Yourself and Have Self Control

At the executive level, you are relied upon to make some pretty heavy decisions, many of which offer no blueprint for guidance. You’ve had to make gut-level decisions, likely on many occasions. Be sure to show that you’ve got superior instincts in your executive resume, and focus on how you’ve got sufficient self control to keep everything together in tough situations.

One way to get this done is by listing one or more instances where you were faced with a major challenge and overcame it. Whether you had to locate additional resources (money, workers) where there seemed to be none, or had to corral other execs to sit down and do some grunt work to accomplish a goal, if you succeeded in the end, you should definitely make mention of it in your resume. It’s still considered an accomplishment, you’re just explaining what you had to go through for that accomplishment.

Showcase Personal Integrity

When employers are looking for new prospects at the executive level, they want to make sure that the choice candidate is a person of personal integrity. Companies want an ethical businessperson that can be trusted, and who will be accountable for everything that happens under their leadership. They don’t want to worry about whether you will make side deals to stuff your own pockets, or work out business deals that benefit you more than the company. Your personal integrity is thus extremely important, and you can show it by listing awards and upper-level recommendations that you’ve received that give a good sense of your personal worth.

Executive resumes can be a bit tricky to write at times because you have to showcase so much more than with a standard entry-level or mid-career resume. The good news is that you undoubtedly have plenty of stories to tell, so as long as you focus on more than your accomplishments, you’ll be able to create a great executive resume.