As firms begin to adapt data-first methods, the function of chief knowledge officer is changing into more and more vital, particularly as companies search to capitalize on knowledge to realize a aggressive benefit. A job traditionally targeted on knowledge governance and compliance, the scope of tasks for CDOs has since grown, pushing them to turn into strategic enterprise leaders, in line with knowledge from IDC.
In keeping with the survey, 80% of the highest KPIs that CDOs report specializing in are enterprise oriented. The highest 5 KPIs for CDOs embrace operational effectivity, knowledge privateness and safety, productiveness and capability, innovation and income, and buyer satisfaction and success. And 87% of CXOs mentioned that “changing into a extra clever enterprise is their prime precedence by 2025,” with 52% of CDOs reporting to a enterprise chief.
In the event you’re seeking to embark on an government profession as a CDO, you’ll want a powerful resume. However you don’t have to really feel intimidated when writing your executive-level CV; you simply have to do some analysis. Listed below are suggestions from expertise resume specialists on learn how to write the best resume for chief knowledge officer positions, together with one shining instance.
1. Give attention to transformation
Information has turn into a prime precedence for companies giant and small, and whereas some firms have already established a digital technique, a lot of them are simply getting began. As CDO you’ll seemingly be tasked with some sort of digital or knowledge transformation, whether or not it’s an entire total of an organization’s knowledge practices, or serving to an organization enhance or advance their knowledge technique to the subsequent degree.
“When getting ready a resume for CDO roles, every candidate should think about their viewers, as completely different firms embrace a variety of duties into every function. Nonetheless, the flexibility to drive digital expertise transformation goes to be the main focus,” says Stephen Van Vreede, resume skilled at IT Tech Exec.
To exhibit your potential to guide knowledge transformations, you’ll wish to spotlight related expertise comparable to enterprise technique, strategic planning, enterprise operations, knowledge governance, aim alignment, knowledge safety, knowledge sourcing, expertise roadmap growth, change administration, communication, and workforce management.
Look to job listings that can assist you discover a focus or theme to your resume. Some positions will focus extra closely on safety or rising expertise, whereas others will focus extra on knowledge and analytics. For CDO roles which are targeted on transformation, you may make that the central theme of your resume and exhibit how your background, experience, and expertise make you a powerful match for the job.
Spotlight any expertise you will have with serving to firms construct or remodel their knowledge science and analytics methods. For instance, you need to embrace examples of any time you helped implement new knowledge or analytics applied sciences, assisted in sustaining or constructing databases, discovered new insights with knowledge, or knowledgeable the general knowledge and analytics technique in a previous function. It’s vital to exhibit that you know the way to efficiently assist or implement digital transformation, particularly because it applies to total enterprise targets.
2. Create a versatile resume
Your resume must be a versatile doc that you may shortly tweak to suit the job you’re making use of for. This may imply highlighting particular expertise or including in related experience that you just initially left off your resume. Van Vreede suggests making a “modular” resume that may be up to date to be a customized match for any job itemizing.
Your abstract ought to at all times describe the “worth add you convey to the group as a CDO,” he says. However be sure the abstract additionally consists of key phrases that align with the job itemizing. Add in key phrases that you just haven’t included or in case you phrased a ability or accomplishment differently, return into your resume and re-word it. Your expertise part may have a bulleted checklist of your achievements which may be re-ordered to “prioritize the issues that the corporate appears to care about probably the most based mostly on the posting,” Van Vreede says.
“If the posting emphasizes that the candidate should have expertise in digital product growth, then the primary achievements listed for every function ought to concentrate on digital product growth and supply. Nonetheless, if one other posting lists cloud expertise as the important thing requirement, then the bullet factors ought to prioritize cloud transformation initiatives,” he says.
Use job listings you’re serious about as a information for making a base resume that you may later customise based mostly off job listings. Cheryl Lynch Simpson, profession, job search, and LinkedIn coach and grasp resume author, suggests going by a dozen or extra job listings to create your base resume after which tailor it from there as wanted.
“Though resume tailoring shouldn’t take quite a lot of time, it must be thorough and embrace potential adjustments to the resume’s title, abstract, key phrases, place descriptions, achievements, and credentials. It’s best if the job seeker highlights key necessities, phrases, and tasks within the job postings after which seems for particular areas within the doc the place a lot of them may very well be included,” says Simpson.
3. Maintain ATS in thoughts
Applicant monitoring methods (ATS) automate a part of the hiring course of by filtering out resumes that hit particular key phrases related to the job itemizing. This helps recruiters and hiring managers kind by giant stacks of resumes to shortly discover certified candidates. But when your resume isn’t set as much as be ATS-friendly, you may run the chance of it going unnoticed by the automated system.
An ATS compares your resume to the content material within the itemizing’s necessities, and it’ll depend the variety of occasions key phrases seem, in line with Simpson. Resumes are then ranked utilizing this “scoring course of” so recruiters know which candidates to have a look at first.
“Applicant monitoring methods are quite common and may journey up any candidate. However I’ve discovered that these methods make C-level candidates in expertise very annoyed, as a result of it usually filters out actually good individuals,” says Van Vreede.
One of many greatest issues for job seekers is that your resume is transformed to a plain textual content file as soon as it’s uploaded to an ATS system, which may take away any particular formatting. In case your resume makes use of quite a lot of particular formatting, comparable to headers or pictures, it would be best to create a model with easier formatting. It can save you your formatted resume to ship on to your C-level contacts and use the simplified model for making use of to jobs on-line.
“It’s additionally essential to grasp that in lots of circumstances recruiters will embrace an quantity or vary of required expertise within the job posting. This quantity or vary is then used as a filter to remove candidates who don’t match the necessities,” says Simpson.
If a job itemizing asks for 15 to 18 years’ expertise, the ATS will scan your resume and attempt to decide what number of years of expertise you will have. Meaning individuals with much less or extra expertise will mechanically get kicked out by the system, so it’s vital to “experience-proof” your resume in order that it matches the job you’re on the lookout for, says Simpson.
4. Spotlight your delicate expertise
On the management degree, there’s much less of a spotlight in your laborious expertise and a stronger concentrate on the delicate expertise required for efficient management. When you’ve reached the purpose in your profession the place you’re being thought-about for an executive-level place as CDO, it’s anticipated that you’ve the technical data and background. When you make the transfer into management, there’s a completely new skillset that you just’ll have to spotlight that isn’t essentially discovered in additional technical roles.
In keeping with a survey from MIT and Accenture, the highest six expertise required for CDOs to achieve success are being a change agent (67%), evangelist (47%), translator (34%), networker (34%), innovator (29%), and having an inquisitive thoughts (27%). You’ll need your resume to replicate these delicate expertise that focus extra on individuals administration and transformational management. As you attain the chief degree, you wish to emphasize that you’ve the suitable expertise and skill to guide individuals, fairly than the abilities to deal with day-to-day applied sciences.
It’s a task that requires interpersonal and communication expertise, particularly within the face of the extra frequent challenges CDOs face. In keeping with the survey, CDO’s face a expertise scarcity (53%), inside tradition clashes and delayed adoption charges (47%), restricted funding to assist digital transformation (44%), and siloed infrastructure (37%), amongst different challenges. To fight these potential points within the office, CDOs want the suitable expertise to navigate probably advanced inside dynamics and company cultures to allow digital transformation.
5. Keep away from being too tactical
One resume mistake Van Vreede and Simpson each see CDO candidates repeatedly make is to write down a resume that’s too “tactical.” A tactical resume is one which merely provides info with none context that connects your expertise to your profession targets.
It’s tempting in technical jobs to only write out a “laundry checklist” of your expertise, achievements and expertise based mostly off your present degree. As an alternative, you need to attempt to exhibit related expertise and accomplishments that may qualify you for a C-level place. For instance, in case you’re at the moment on the VP or senior director degree, concentrate on writing a resume for an executive-level place and together with the abilities and experience that translate to the CDO function.
“In technical fields, even on the C-suite it’s tempting to make the resume tactical fairly than emphasizing the design and execution of information technique. It isn’t sufficient for a resume to emphasize strategic planning expertise; it should additionally exhibit expertise in designing knowledge methods and main their execution by the inclusion of measurable achievements that present, not inform, his or her proficiency,” says Simpson.
CDO resume instance
We just lately paired up Van Vreede with an aspiring CDO to overhaul her resume for an executive-level place. As a part of that course of, Van Vreede helped the candidate, whose id has been modified within the beneath closing resume, remodel her resume from a prolonged historical past of her profession with knowledge and analytics to a vivid image of how her expertise and expertise lead inevitably to the CDO function.
- CDO resume instance: Reworking a profession autopsy right into a C-suite future
