The Executive Career Positioning Guide
The strategic framework Kerry Gustafson uses to help VPs and C-suite executives uncover accomplishments they didn’t know they had, and position them for roles they didn’t think they could land.
12+
Years of Executive Positioning
96%
Client Referral Rate
Top 1%
of Career Professionals
5x
Industry Certified
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6 chapters · Exercises included · PDF
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What’s inside the guide
This isn’t a resume template. It’s the strategic thinking process that comes before writing, the part most services skip entirely.
The Accomplishment Audit
A structured exercise that helps you uncover 30-50% more career achievements than you realized you had.
5 Executive Narrative Archetypes
Identify which career story archetype fits your experience: Turnaround Leader, Growth Architect, People Builder, Innovation Driver, or Operational Optimizer.
Target Role Alignment
Learn how to decode what hiring managers actually look for and position your narrative as the answer to their problem.
The 'Just Doing My Job' Test
The exercise that reveals the stories you've been dismissing, which are almost always the ones that win interviews.
Chapter preview
Why Most Executive Resumes Fail
The uncomfortable truth about why accomplished leaders struggle with their own career documents.
The Accomplishment Audit
A structured exercise for uncovering career achievements you've been overlooking or underselling.
Includes exerciseFinding Your Career Narrative
How to identify the strategic thread that connects your roles into a compelling, forward-looking story.
The Five Executive Narrative Archetypes
Identify which career story archetype fits your experience and how to position it for maximum impact.
Includes exercisePositioning for Your Target Role
How to align your narrative with what hiring managers and executive recruiters actually look for.
Includes exerciseWhat to Do Next
Turning this framework into action, whether you go it alone or bring in a strategist.
Why Most Executive Resumes Fail
Here's a pattern I've seen hundreds of times in 12 years of working with executives: a VP with a track record of transforming organizations, building teams, and delivering millions in revenue hands me a resume that reads like a job description. Responsibilities listed. Duties catalogued. Impact buried or missing entirely.
This isn't a writing problem. It's a proximity problem. When you're inside your own career, the extraordinary starts to feel ordinary. The $12 million territory expansion becomes 'managed sales operations.' The cultural transformation that saved a division becomes 'led organizational change initiatives.' You've been so close to your accomplishments for so long that they've become invisible to you.
Continue reading in the full guide...
Written by Kerry Gustafson
CERW · CPRW · CPCC · CIC · CDBS · PARWCC Elite Circle
Kerry has spent 12+ years helping executives see their careers the way a strategic hiring manager does. Her clients have landed roles at Cisco, Salesforce, UnitedHealth Group, and dozens of other organizations, with a 96% referral rate that speaks to the quality of her work. This guide distills the strategic framework behind every engagement.
Ready to see your career differently?
Download the guide and start uncovering the stories that will set you apart.
Or if you’re ready to skip ahead, book a free consultation with Kerry