Why You Shouldn’t Start Your Job Search by Sending a Resume

The executive job market runs on connections, insight and trust. Yet many candidates still begin their search with the old playbook: create a resume, send it to potential employers and wait for the phone to ring.

It rarely does.

The issue isn’t that resumes are inherently bad. They’re not. They’re useful tools at the right time and in the right context. The problem is where and how they’re used.

Starting a job search by firing off a resume before engaging with the hiring leader and understanding their challenges is a deeply flawed strategy.

When you lead with a resume, you make assumptions about what matters most to the hiring leader. Without a clear understanding of their priorities and challenges, the chances of your resume hitting the mark are slim, and you're not in the room to persuade them otherwise.

To win in today's market, you need to reverse the process.

Your resume should follow the conversation, not precede it. By beginning your job search with a resume, you are putting the cart before the horse, relying on a generic document to speak for you in a process that requires alignment and context.

Why Resumes Are a Weak Opening Play

Resumes are inherently backward-looking. They document your past, listing the roles you’ve held, the achievements you’ve delivered and the credentials you’ve earned. While this history is important, it doesn’t address the most pressing question on a hiring leader’s mind: what can you do for us now?

Leadership roles are about solving problems and driving outcomes. A resume, sent blindly, cannot capture the nuances of what an organization truly needs. Without a deeper understanding of the role, the organization and its challenges, any resume becomes generic - irrelevant at best and misaligned at worst.

Starting with a resume also places the focus on the wrong thing: you.

It’s an implicit request for attention, rather than an offer of value.

The Real Starting Point: Conversations

Leaders are hired to navigate challenges, drive transformation and deliver results. These needs can’t be understood or addressed without first engaging directly with the decision-maker.

Before you even think about submitting a resume, you need to have a conversation with the hiring leader or someone close to them. These discussions give you insight into the organization's priorities, challenges and goals. They reveal the context and allow you to tailor your messaging accordingly.

A resume-first approach says, “Here’s what I’ve done - are you interested?” By contrast, starting with conversations allows you to focus on the organization’s needs. It shifts the narrative to: “Here’s what you’re trying to achieve - here’s how I'll get you there.” There's a big difference.

When you understand the specifics, you can position yourself not as just another candidate, but as the candidate - someone uniquely suited to meet their needs and deliver impact.

The Resume’s Role in the Process

To be clear, resumes aren’t obsolete. They’re an important part of the hiring process, but their role is secondary.

By the time a decision-maker reads your resume, they should already know who you are, what you bring to the table and why you’re a fit for the role. At this point, you're creating a customized resume that aligns your experience with their goals. It's no longer generic.

The Bottom Line

Executive hiring is about building trust, demonstrating alignment and articulating value. These qualities can’t be captured in a generic document. The best roles are earned by those who think strategically, engage meaningfully and deliver solutions.

The way to do that is by running your job search as a consultative sales process. Get the strategy here.

Resumes have their place, but they’re not the starting point.