INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Top Executives positions are at a 8% growth rate, which is as fast as average. With that said, there are currently 2,704,400 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 209,500 to 2,913,900 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Top Executives jobs was $107,680 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $45,850, and the highest 10% more than $208,000.
Our conclusion? The Top Executives job market is wide open for candidates.
Top chief of staff sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write the perfect chief of staff resume experience section
Chief of staff resume's job experience checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Chief of Staff resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Embedded a business operating rhythm, and streamlined governance and reporting across three separately managed businesses in the group - Telstra China, Telstra International, CSL.
- Project director for key innovation and improvement initiatives, such as "Back in Black" (EOY revenue target), End User Computing, TIG Brand & Messaging Guide, and financial system consolidation projects.
- As Head of Corporate Communications I was also responsible for the management and implementation of international corporate affairs & communications: encompassing reputation management, external relations, employee engagement, public relations, crisis management, sustainability, change and integration management.
- Oversee business management functions - Financial Management, Portfolio Management, Risk & Quality Control and Change Management for an organization with $75-150MM budget. Chief of Staff for team of 700+ global resources.
- Performance/Financial Control
- Financial Reporting & Analytics. o Financial Budgeting & Forecasting. o Headcount, Consulting, Software and T&E Approvals, Tracking and Reporting. o Key Performance Indicator (KPI) / Scorecard Review Control Metrics.Vendor and 3rd party contract negotiation and management
- Worked with the CEO to grow business from $150m and 400 people to $600m and 2,500 people
- Worked with Marketing Director and CEO to build and grow a new global consulting brand
- Key member of the Global Leadership Team supporting the CEO and leadership team with special projects, strategy as well as day-to-day operations
- Special projects included managing first global people engagement survey as well as designing global incentive plan
- Architect and key leader of North America Transformation, a significant and successful restructuring effort
- Led successful and transparent agency RFP process for Selfcare business, resulting in unanimous choice of highly strategic and flexible, non-AOR partnership that delivered broad improvement in brand communications and meaningful financial savings
- Guided the shaping of a new and more effective NA Leadership Team, resulting in stronger end to end leadership of our businesses, a higher level of inclusiveness and diverse thinking, and improved credibility and followership among colleagues in the business
- Reports, plural and thematic analyses;
- Organization of High-level meetings (Mobile World Congress (Barcelona), SXSW (Austin), Bayer Corporation, European Commission);
- Internal & External communication;
- Strengthen of partnerships, MoU;
- collaborate with local and state agencies to solve real-world issues
- research and draft past, current, and future legislative initiatives
- give 10+public presentations on scientific and medical topics
- Hr management and Administration including recruitment of locally hired staff
- Operation Management; Presidential delegations coordination;
- Press and media relations.
- 8 direct reports.
- As the Chief of Staff for Justice Joaquim Falcão, who was appointed by the Brazilian senate, I managed more than 500 legal cases involving all Brazilian state and federal courts as well as judges’ associations (ANAMATRA, AJUFE, AMB).
- I was also involved in discussions and writing of federal rules prohibiting nepotism and setting salary cap for judges.
- This experience introduced me to Nelson Jobim, Ellen Gracie, Cezar Peluso, Eliana Calmon, and many others. Almost a decade after the first contact, I am still working with some of them in arbitrations and mediations, under NDAs.
- Responsible for preparing business reports to the Management Committee, Executive Committee, Board Risk Management, Audit & Compliance Committee, and the Board of Directors
- Assistant Corporate Secretary
- served as Chief of Staff and managed all adminstrative functions of the President & CEO
- Hired as staffer and quickly promoted to campaign manager; played key role in transforming first-time politician into viable, fast-rising candidate for Lt. Governor.
- Raised historically highest amount for Lt. Governor campaign, $700K, on healthcare-focused platform.
- Recruited by Dr. Cohen, to Quest Diagnostics, where he is now Senior Vice President and Group Executive.
- Administering the division’s goal planning efforts in coordination with the corporate goal and multi-year strategy process to ensure a clear line of sight from the enterprise vision down to the CMO’s strategic plans.
- Improved claims payment integrity and reduced the cost of care by over $3.5M annually by identifying and updating system codes
- Directed a matrixed committee of leaders from 19 key functions to review, analyze, and determine the implementation plans for A&B recommendations published by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
- Advised the founder in the establishment of the institution
- Drafted Liberia's Aid Policy and Ghana's Aid Strategy
- Led the development of a guide to engaging China for African policymakers
- Architect of strategy that grew company from 1mm to 25mm
- Conceived & implemented technology platform that tied global distribution network on a single trading and finance platform.
- Transformed cost structure by adopting outsourced logistics and transportation model.
- Built global reporting platform that provided real-time access to financial and operational data and reduced month end closing time by 75%.
- Coordinated M&A strategy that led to significant growth in adjacent market segments.
- Initiated and coordinated successful sale of business to Hong Kong based investor group.
- Chief of Staff to Air Sector Group Managing Director. A Sector with multibillion revenue and c.23,000 employees across 6 key markets
- Supporting the Group Managing Director and the wider Air Board in discharging both the day to day operations but also strategic planning and direction of the sector.
- Working with the functions to deliver sector business reporting and governance (financial and operational) thus ensuring sector compliance to corporate mandated process and governance.
- Support to internal and external senior level engagements, through generating presentations, briefs, speeches as required
- Acting as the interface between the GMD and the Air Board, facilitating communication, awareness and effectiveness.
- Acted as the sector interface into the corporate centre including the Office of the CFO, CEO and Chairman
- Helped Ambassador's election campaign to be head of UNESCO
- Strengthened diplomatic & bilateral relations w/ 100+ stakeholders
- Researched and drafted policies for the campaign platform & speeches
- Managing global re-branding campaign + all global marketing activities.
- Launching new customer experience/loyalty program with 80+ accounts, resulting in $100M in new revenue + brand/customer loyalty.
- As the Chief of Staff, working closely with executive team, managing strategic initiatives + programs + processes + communications, in support of company strategy.
- Facilitating development of sales pipeline, forecasting and growth.
- Providing guidance on department priorities, operations, and measurable results.
- Collaborating with global sales, ensuring all goals and targets are met.
- Leading a global team of 80 people + contractors + agencies.
- Launching + successfully managing new Customer Marketing/Relations Program, including communications (internal/external), engagements (300+ exec level meetings/year) + events/trade-shows + marketing materials, resulting in more loyal customers and $150M in new revenue.
- As Chief of Staff, providing strategic executive support, creating new effective operational processes + driving communications for the executive team + facilitating overall productivity and effectiveness of global initiatives and programs.
- Identifying areas of improvement while providing actionable solutions, with measurable results.
PRO TIP
The person reading your Chief of Staff resume will be busy, make sure you never waste their time with fluff.
Action verbs for your chief of staff resume
Recommended reads:
Chief of Staff Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
The ultimate chief of staff skills section checklist:
- Balance between all kinds of hard skills – technical, analytical, etc.
- When it comes to technical skills, match them to the job description;
- Add keywords present in the job advert to pass ATS;
- Don’t forget to list transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, work ethic, and presentation skills.
Top skills for your chief of staff resume
Financial Planning
Investment Management
Performance Reporting
Data Analysis
VBA
NetSuite
Organisation
Communication
confidentiality
Time management
Team work
Adaptability
PRO TIP
Add a Talent Section to your resume, where you can pick your top 3 soft skills and describe how you used them to complete a project or balance departmental communication.
Chief of staff resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your chief of staff resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Chief of Staff resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
Chief of staff resume summary best practices
Checklist: What to include in your chief of staff resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Your summary should act as an elevator speech, briefly promoting how you will benefit the employer if hired. Pitch your strengths in the summary and expand on them in your Chief of Staff experience section. Give examples like how your work benefited each employer.
Recommended reads:
Highlighting education, courses, and certifications in your chief of staff resume
Education section checklist:
- What? Where? What’s the result? Answer these questions when mentioning education and courses on your resume;
- Give preference to courses and degrees that are relevant to the job position;
- Be honest! Some recruiters love checking with colleges and universities to see if you’ve really been enrolled in them;
- Share more about certifications that have helped you turn into a professional, and mention the bodies that have issued them.
Top certifications for your chief of staff resume
Become a Chief Collaboration Officer | Team, Partner and Win
Winning Collaboration in R&D, Technology Transfer, Join Venture, Franchising, Distributorship, Marketing Agency, etc.
Managing Staff with Challenging Behavior
Transforming the pain of managing staff into gain
How to become a CISO (Chief Information Security Officer)
8000+ enrollments | Learn the exact skills, qualifications and experience you need to become a CISO in any organization.
Chief Financial Officer Leadership Program
An ever expanding program of courses helping financial professionals aspire to the top levels of financial leadership
Agile Crash Course: Agile Project Management; Agile Delivery
Get Agile Certified & Learn about the key and most important concepts and tools of Agile Project Management (Scrum)
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Chief of Staff. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
Chief of staff resume: Additional writing & formatting tips
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Chief of staff resume summary best practices
Don’t miss our resume format checklist:
- Go for a traditional easy-to-read resume font sized 10-12p;
- Don’t risk it: choose standard 1-inch resume margins;
- Make sure your Chief Of Staff resume fits in one to two pages;
- Save your resume in PDF to avoid having it edited by someone else.
Looking for more tips? Check out our job-winning guide for crafting a resume that gets you remembered!
Recommended reads.":
PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Chief of Staff resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Other sections for your chief of staff resume
If the position you’re applying for allows for that, you can include some non-traditional sections in your resume. This will add a bit more depth to your application and will also give the hiring manager a better idea of who you are as a person.
Some ideas include:
Chief of staff resume: How to make yours more creative & stand out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Chief of Staff resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What makes a great chief of staff resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
