Issue 28: How to Write a Chief of Staff Resume
What skills do you highlight? Do you stick to one page? Is AI reading my resume?
Welcome back, aspiring and current Chiefs of Staff!
This week’s issue is brought to you by Athena. Athena sets you up with an amazing (yet very affordable) full-time executive assistant that helps you manage everything from email, creating SOPs, recruiting and more. My EA helps me organize workshop events: she creates the event pages, invites all community members, writes the follow up emails, and edits the workshop recordings so that members can play them back when they want to watch. And that’s just one of a hundred things she helps me with!
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We’re excited to welcome back John Quayle as the guest author for this week’s issue! John Quayle is a graphic designer turned operations specialist with over 13 years of experience in marketing, business operations, and entrepreneurship. He currently serves as the Chief of Staff for an AgTech industrial automation robotics company. In his previous tours of work, he has been a founder, a COO, and has spent time as a consultant.
How Do I Write a Chief of Staff Resume?
One of the most common requests we get in the Ask a Chief of Staff community is around resume writing:
1️⃣ If you’re an aspiring Chief of Staff, how do you translate your prior work experience to fit a Chief of Staff job description?
2️⃣ If you’re a current Chief of Staff, how do you condense all your different work experience into a one page document?
Whether you're seeking fresh opportunities in 2024 or striving to stay at the forefront of your career, writing (or updating) your resume can become a pivotal project that can assist us in taking our careers further.
In this week’s issue, guest author, John Quayle, walks us through the process of writing a Chief of Staff resume and how to better position yourself for a Chief of Staff opportunity.
🧠 Before You Start Writing
Frequently, as a Chief of Staff, we become deeply engrossed in our responsibilities, sometimes overlooking industry shifts. The skills required at the onset of our current role may differ from today's market demands. Therefore, before we embark on revising our resume, it's vital to undertake research to assess the changes in today's Chief of Staff job market.
Allocate the necessary time to gather and evaluate several Chief of Staff job listings. You can locate most of these positions on renowned job search platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed. Additionally, explore venture capital portfolio job boards if you're seeking CoS roles within early-stage companies. Some Chief of Staff specific job boards include:
Start by thinking carefully asking yourself the following:
What skills do employers frequently request of their future Chief of Staff?
Who is the principal to whom this individual will report, and how does it influence the job responsibilities?
How do my experiences and accomplishments align with these open positions?
When you’re evaluating these Chief of Staff job postings, don’t forget to get narrow and specific here too. It won’t serve you much if you just pick the first 5 job postings that show up in your search. Instead, make sure the company posting the role aligns with your interests in where you want to be a Chief of Staff.
Soon, you'll identify trends based on the industry, company type, and the principal to whom these Chiefs of Staff report. The more narrow you are in your search, the better trends and patterns you’ll be able to deduce. Your experiences may align with exciting opportunities, or you might consider brushing up on unfamiliar skills. If you are missing particular skills, you can look into learning platforms like The Commons to help you add some of these skill sets in your repertoire.
🧙♀️ Decoding the Modern Resume Structure
With your newfound expertise, you're now prepared to personalize your resume using a blend of your background while adapting it to what is currently sought after, especially since resume assessments might incorporate artificial intelligence as the initial screening process for any official resume evaluation.
Start with essential contact information at the top of your resume to enable hiring managers to reach out appropriately. This should include:
Email Address
This one goes without saying but pick a “professional” email address. Don’t use your first high school email ever created. I think it’s safe to say that if your email is something like pokemonprincess@hotmail.com, you might just get screened out.
Phone Number
Though it doesn’t happen often, some recruiters may still prefer to hop on a call with you. Having this easily accessible makes it that much easier for a recruiter to reach out out to you.
Website or Social Profile
Having a website or an updated LinkedIn profile provides social proof and it makes it easier for recruiters to find you, leading to more job opportunities.
Geographic Location (city and country only)
You can leave out personal addresses since almost all offer letters come by email now and not snail mail.
In any Chief of Staff resume, your goal is to make it easy for a recruiter, or anyone reading your resume, to understand that you’re looking for a Chief of Staff role. We like to recommend that you write a brief header after your personal contact information to highlight some key experiences that are directly relevant to the Chief of Staff roles that you’re interested in. This is a great opportunity to use ChatGPT if you’re facing a bit of blank page terror. Here are a few that we generated with some relevant candidate experience (don’t copy these verbatim! They could definitely use more nuance and detail, but it’s at least a place to start):
A results-driven management consultant with over 7 years of experience in strategy and operations, I am well-versed in leading cross-functional teams, driving operational excellence, and delivering strategic initiatives that optimize organizational performance. I am now eager to bring my expertise to a Chief of Staff role, leveraging my background in consulting and start-up environments to provide invaluable support to executive leadership.
As a seasoned professional with a strong background in strategy and operations, I offer a unique blend of skills developed over 7+ years in the field. My experience spans from leading high-impact projects as a management consultant to driving efficiency and innovation within startup environments. I am now seeking a Chief of Staff position to apply my strategic insights and operational acumen to help organizations reach new heights.
With a proven track record in both management consulting and startup ventures, I bring a wealth of experience to the table. Having successfully led teams, executed business strategies, and fostered a culture of growth, I am well-prepared to assume the role of Chief of Staff. I am committed to enhancing executive effectiveness and overall organizational performance through my strong analytical, leadership, and operational skills.
Then, start listing your work experience chronologically, starting with your most recent role, and list out the projects and skill sets that are most directly relevant to a Chief of Staff role. One common mistake we see a lot of candidates run into is that they write their resume as if they were applying for a role in their previous function. For example, here’s what the “before” resume of a marketer who wants to become a Chief of Staff might look like:
If this person was looking to continue to grow their marketing career, this would be great! It shows a lot of great marketing experience. But to be applying for a Chief of Staff role, it would leave a recruiter with a lot of question marks.
Instead, we would recommend highlighting experiences like the collaboration between cross functional teams. Talk about the decision making process on choosing new automation tools. Showcase how you’re able to take ideas from inception to execution.
For a comprehensive demonstration of how to effectively incorporate a display of one's skills and impact, refer to Jonathan Javier's illustrative breakdown of his own resume. Additional resume resources can also be found in our Ask a Chief of Staff community where we’ve linked out templates and best practices when it comes to resume writing.
Venturing Beyond the Resume for 2024
Fortunately or unfortunately, the modern resume extends far beyond the concise one-page document we traditionally use to present our qualifications for prospective job roles. It's a common contention that a mere piece of paper cannot fully depict an individual.
Considering the pivotal role that a Chief of Staff plays, we must transcend the boundaries of the resume to convey our character, work approach, and potential to a prospective organization. This is why numerous Chief of Staff colleagues have devoted time, effort, and resources to establish personal brands through media assets like websites or significantly expanded their LinkedIn profiles, encompassing all their roles, degrees, and certifications.
However, there is still more to be done! Some fellow Chiefs of Staff enhance their online presence to bolster their first impressions, heavily leveraging articles they've authored, podcast appearances, and collaborative video projects. Check out John’s website showcasing his Chief of Staff experiences as an example!
The additional time invested in shaping our resume enables us to exhibit our multifaceted skills, making us valuable contributors in any role we undertake. This proactive approach also facilitates an evaluation of the compatibility between the Chief of Staff and the Principal. How you present yourself on the page is also an indicator of your communication skills - a must have for any Chief of Staff.
Crafting a Better Resume through Community Ties
Thankfully, creating or updating your resume shouldn’t be a project that you tackle alone. The most effective approach to align with market trends and receive personalized guidance is by finding others also in similar stages of their job search. One way to do so is by becoming part of the Ask a Chief of Staff Community! Working on your job search with others and soliciting peer feedback will encourage you to think analytically about your resume construction, expanding beyond the one-page format, and alleviating the stress that often accompanies this process. It’s also always helpful to get another pair of eyes on your resume to get a fresh perspective after you’ve spent 3 hours staring at the same words on the page.
At the end of this month, the AaCoS community will be running a Resume Review Workshop, led by Sam Chai, a current Chief of Staff, former recruiter, and author of this must read article: How to Write A Resume and Get Interviews. Sam will be giving tips and tricks to our members on how to update their resumes for a Chief of Staff role. This workshop is open only to our members. More information on the Ask a Chief of Staff community down below.
If you're not ready to join our community yet, you can still partake in a more casual peer-to-peer interaction by connecting with fellow CoS professionals on social platforms. Informational interviews are a great way to make this happen!
Hope you found the latest issue of this newsletter helpful. We’re looking to you for future newsletter topics! If you have any questions around being a Chief of Staff, tactical takeaways that you can apply, or other curiosities about the Chief of Staff role, submit a question below and we’ll answer it in a future newsletter issue:
It’s our birthday! October marks the one year anniversary of Ask a Chief of Staff and we couldn’t be more proud to celebrate this milestone. Our anniversary month will also be the last month we’re accepting new members to join our community so if you’re thinking about joining us, don’t hesitate!
Join 2️⃣ 0️⃣ 0️⃣ ➕ aspiring and current Chiefs of Staff in our Ask a Chief of Staff community where members share best practices, network with peers, and grow in their Chief of Staff journeys. Members get access to:
✅ Dedicated Slack workspace to ask questions, participate in upcoming events, and connect with peers
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✅ In person networking events and happy hours
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Applications will close on October 31st and will not open again until January 2024 where pricing will go up for both our Aspiring and Current Chief of Staff membership tiers 💸
Additional Chief of Staff Related Reads:
Hail to the Chiefs: Why Every Company at Scale Should have a Chief of Staff
How to Write a Chief of Staff Resume in 2022 with 5+ Samples
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👋🏼 Until the next issue,
Clara
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