What is usually going wrong
Your CV is a career archive
Every role since the nineties, equal weight. The reader cannot find the last five years — the only part they are hiring — inside the museum of the rest.
Responsibilities instead of results
"Responsible for a team of 12" describes a job spec. Boards and recruiters hire outcomes: growth delivered, costs cut, organisations built.
You undersell scope
Budget size, headcount, P&L ownership, board exposure — the numbers that calibrate seniority are missing, so you read two levels junior to reality.
What actually moves the needle
- 1
Cut everything that no longer argues
Roles older than 12–15 years collapse to one line or vanish. Early career got you here; it will not get you the next role. Ruthless relevance reads as confidence.
- 2
Quantify scope in the header lines
"GM, €40M P&L, 120 FTE across 4 countries" in the first lines of each role. Seniority is calibrated in numbers before a single achievement is read.
- 3
Lead each role with three outcomes
Revenue moved, cost removed, capability built — with numbers. Duties belong to the job posting; your CV shows what changed because you were there.
Run the skim test
See what survives the six-second skim on your current CV — and whether your scope and outcomes land in the top third where senior readers look.
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Straight answers
How long should a senior or executive CV be?
Two pages for directors and above is accepted across most of Europe; one tightly-argued page also works. Length matters less than density — every line must carry scope or outcome.
Should I include roles from 20+ years ago?
Compress them into a single "Earlier career" line — company, title, dates. The detail earns nothing; the trajectory is all that matters at this level.
Is a photo or personal details expected at senior level?
Follow country norms, as ever — but at executive level, a strong summary and quantified scope do more than any photo. Where norms are ambiguous, skip it.