What Is a Good Board CV?

A productive board CV must effectively highlight your strengths, expertise, and values. All information must be displayed clearly. A CV should contain contact details, work experience, core competencies, major accomplishments, and academic qualifications.

A CV needs to be flexible and dynamic, changing depending on the position you are looking for. You can modify your CV to highlight the knowledge and abilities that are most pertinent to the board you aspire to join.

Most importantly, as you draft your CV put yourself in the shoes of the NRC members. Ask yourself: What would the reader be looking for?

What Is a Non-Executive CV? 

When you are applying for the position of independent director, you must remember what a company looks for in a suitable candidate. Companies want a ‘critical’ friend in an independent director appointee, a collaborator, and an influencer. In order to demonstrate that you are a skilled collaborator, include examples from your prior professional experience in your resume. Provide concrete instances to show off your problem-solving skills.

The CV should also indicate how you can make a business responsive. This is a sought-after quality in independent directors. Always include measurable outcomes rather than intangible qualities, commercial acumen, critical thinking skills, and leadership experience.

Remember: You should include the link to your LinkedIn page in your CV. Ideally one should make a LinkedIn profile before writing the CV.  This is important so that your LinkedIn profile reinforces the impression you are trying to create through the CV. The two should not look divergent and confuse a prospective job search firm or a board considering your candidature.

Before you begin drafting your CV, you must have the answer to these three questions.

1)    What does the company need?

Study the material available to you in the form of the Company website, annual reports, reviews, etc. Research the structure of the company’s organization. Find out who is on the board. How many members are on the board? What are their backgrounds or profiles? It goes without saying that you must research the position you are applying for. You can use the information you’ve gathered to assess your suitability for the job and the organisation. The skills and experience that will be the most relevant for the position should be highlighted throughout your CV.

Cultural fit is as important as how qualified you are for the position. For example, if the company is a family-run enterprise, you should emphasize your strong family values. In the same way, if the company has a strong professional ethos, your professionalism should be front and centre in your CV.

2)   What is it you are trying to sell?

Make sure your strengths are clear, easy to identify, and reinforced by examples. What is your USP, or unique selling proposition? Make sure your resume effectively highlights these.

3)   What Is the Common Ground?

The ideal CV will marry your selling points with the demands of the organisation. You need to be certain of your own worth. You must be aware of the aspects of the business to which you may contribute and how you can offer strategic advice to advance to new heights. To illustrate your accomplishments or abilities, use instances from your professional life. If they do not immediately relate to the position, frame them in a way that both you and the employer will find appealing.

4) Role of AI in filtering CVs

It is important for your CV to be shortlisted for consideration. The job of picking up relevant CVs is performed by computers these days. Your impressive profile is of no use if don’t make the cut during the first round itself. The computer can’t evaluate your quality so it relies on the keywords. The proper use of the right keywords will ensure that clear the first hurdle. Words such as “macroeconomic views,” “risk management,” “stakeholders relationship,” “CSR,” “ESG,” “Strategy,” “identify business prospects,” “monetising opportunities,” “collaboration,” “delegation,” and “hands-off attitude” are quite valuable when used in an independent director’s CV.

For data bank purposes a female candidate should say that I a woman independent director so that her CV gets shortlisted by someone looking for a female director. One should also avoid stylish fonts because the software may find it difficult to read them. It’s also important to use a bigger font size in your CV since it is reviewed by senior board members in their 60s and 70s. A minimum font size of 12 should be used to make it easy for them to read comfortably.

 

Note: Get support from Board Stewardship Inc. in designing your board CV.  We help you understand your needs and brief you on the relevant features of an effective board CV. Email us with the subject matter Good Board CV, and your phone number for a callback on info@boardstewardship.com