CEO resume example

What recruiters look for

• The value story: revenue, EBITDA, margin and enterprise value from the day you started to now (or to exit). Investors think in multiples of invested capital.
• Fit with the mandate: growth, turnaround, buy-and-build, sale or IPO. Show you have done the one this board needs.
• Capital and the board: refinancing, acquisitions, how you work with investors and lenders.
• The team you built: who you hired into the C-suite and what happened after. Boards back CEOs who upgrade talent.
• Operating credibility: a path through operations, sales or finance that shows you know how the business makes money.
• Culture and safety: engagement, retention, injury rates. They tell a board what kind of leader you are.

Writing the summary

Say what kind of CEO you are: the industry, the size of business, the ownership (public, private equity, family, venture) and your best outcome in a single number. Avoid adjectives about vision. Boards read “returned 3.1x invested capital” faster than “visionary leader”.

Bullet points that work

Strong lines for this role, beyond the ones in the example. Borrow the shape and put in your own numbers.

• Took enterprise value from an estimated $260 million to $910 million in 5 years, leading to a sale at 13x EBITDA.
• Completed and integrated 6 add-on acquisitions worth $140 million, reaching 115% of the planned cost savings.
• Turned a $14 million operating loss into $22 million operating profit in 3 years by closing 2 plants and repricing the top 50 accounts.
• Grew international revenue from 8% to 27% of sales by entering Canada and Mexico through a distribution partnership.
• Prepared the company for a $1.2 billion IPO, adding 3 independent directors and an audit committee 18 months ahead.
• Cut working capital by $31 million in 12 months through inventory and payment-term programs, funding growth without new debt.
• Replaced 5 of 8 executive team members in the first 18 months; all 5 still in role three years later.
• Launched a direct-to-consumer channel that reached $45 million in sales and a 22% margin in its third year.
• Negotiated covenant relief with 4 lenders during a 2020 sales drop, avoiding a dilutive equity injection.
• Raised employee retention from 71% to 88% by introducing a profit-sharing plan for all 1,100 hourly staff.

Skills to list

Certifications and licenses worth listing

• None are required: boards hire CEOs on track record. Space is better spent on results.
• NACD Directorship Certification: worth a line if you also serve on boards or want to; it shows you know governance from the director’s side.
• Professional credentials from your path (CPA, PE licence, Six Sigma Black Belt) can stay in one line if they explain your operating strength.

Length and format

Two pages. Keep your current CEO role and its results on page one, with the previous CEO or COO role starting there too. Roles before your first general management job go into one or two lines. Add a short Board service section if you hold outside board seats; leave out memberships with no role.

Common mistakes

• A summary full of leadership adjectives and no numbers. The first sentence should place your business by size and ownership.
• Reporting revenue growth without margin or cash. Boards care about profitable growth and how it was funded.
• Including confidential figures a private owner has not published. Use percentages, ranges or multiples of invested capital.
• Giving ten bullets to a role from 2005. Your last two leadership roles are what a board reads.
• Leaving out how the role ended. If the company was sold, say so and how; if you left, a recruiter will ask, so have the answer ready.