9 CEO CV Examples [& Templates]

9 CEO CV Examples [& Templates]

CEO

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As the chief executive officer, you’re someone who can grasp the overall vision while paying attention to the details that ensure operations run smoothly. The future direction of the company, including profitability, depends on you, so this means you’re an adept communicator and leader who can delegate, challenge, and guide others towards achieving the company’s objectives.

To tackle such a challenging task, create your CEO CV and create a cover letter with your ability to lead a company in mind. We’re here to assist you.

With our seven CEO CV samples and guide, you’ll be equipped to write an award-winning resume quickly, so you can secure your next job in 2025 and get back to what matters most—focusing on the operations and people that drive a business forward.


Why this CV works

  • Creating a CEO CV that truly delivers isn’t just about listing previous roles on a page. You want to portray a visionary leader who’s ready to steer through challenging times and guide the team to a wealth of success. Let’s draw inspiration from Christianne’s impressive CV to get those creative ideas flowing:
    • Highlights such as increasing international interns and employees by 48%, reducing onsite accidents by 11%, and improving by 16% with clearer, measurable objectives are textbook strategies to showcase your achievements with some impressive figures.

Why this CV works

  • Leading a healthcare organisation isn’t for the faint-hearted—it’s about balancing business acumen with patient care. So prove that you have what it takes to drive impact using quantified metrics.
    • Liora’s healthcare CEO CV is a good example to follow. She includes metrics like “achieved £47,441 cost reduction” and “boosted patient engagement scores by 6%,” which demonstrate she’s single-handedly managing the entire operation to help patients recover while also ensuring hospitals improve their financial performance.

Why this CV works

  • A tailored hospital CEO CV like Mia’s highlights your professional achievements and makes full use of action verbs, proven skills, and numbers to help you stand out from the competition.
    • Integrating your skills and expertise in industry-relevant software, such as IBM Watson Health, MedTrainer and Tableau, into your work history is a classic tip that demonstrates your competence and simplifies your job search.

Why this CV works

  • Step into the spotlight with a modern CEO CV that speaks volumes before you even get to the interview. This requires ensuring every bullet point makes an impact and firmly positions you as the visionary leader no recruiter wants to overlook.
    • Let’s face it, a CV without numbers just doesn’t cut it, which brings us to the need to make metrics your new best friends in your job search. See how phrases like “manage 520+ employees and expand the mission” and “attending 80% to lead, train, or capture takeaways” pop up in Malone’s CV.

Why this CV works

  • Creating an impressive startup CEO CV might seem like climbing a mountain, but it’s actually more like a stroll in the park when you know the ropes. Here are the basics: you’ll want to quantify your achievements. Include action verbs and numbers and highlight your skills. It’s that simple! Just take a cue from Lucas’ CV.
    • Including some figures can significantly enhance your achievements. Consider phrases like “improved employee productivity by 33%” and “resulting in a 60% increase in total product sales”. That’s the sort of detail that prompts the hiring manager to pay closer attention.

Construction CEO CV

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Construction CEO CV example with 8 years of experience

Why this CV works

  • Your construction CEO CV will need more compelling sentence beginnings than a generic “I was responsible for managing hard hat workers.” Ideally, it should demonstrate that you can take a project from start to finish independently.
    • Don’t just say you were responsible for a contract, write that you “Directed/Led” employers to create more accurate designs. In construction, it’s all about laying a foundation—and in your CV, that foundation is built with action-packed results and a touch of executive charm.

Estate Agency CEO CV

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Real estate CEO CV example with 15 years of experience

Why this CV works

  • A real estate CEO CV for this role without numbers or quantified achievements is downright dull. See “increasing client retention by 22%”, and “seeing an average ROI of 62%” in Emergarde’s piece?
    • Highlighting your major achievements is essential. However, instead of just doing that, demonstrate to the recruiter your contribution to creating those impacts.

Why this CV works

  • So, you want to secure that lucrative leading role. Here’s the deal: a bespoke founder and CEO CV that showcases your skills, highlights your achievements with impressive figures, and is filled with strong action verbs is your golden ticket.
    • Truth bomb: you’ve got a mere 7-second window to impress that hiring manager. That’s fast, right? Make it count with metrics that jump off the page—something like “increase web traffic by 400% over 3 years” or “reducing the cost of production by 19%”

Why this CV works

  • A job-winning non-profit CEO CV should, at the very least, convince recruiters of your remarkable ability to drive results. Wondering how to do that? Follow Danika’s lead; combine metrics, action words, and skills to tailor your CV.
    • For the finishing touch, tailor your piece to the job advert. Perhaps, like Danika, you can talk about meeting with the board of advisers a couple of times and ensuring brand consistency in events and campaigns.

How Do I Write a Good CEO CV?

Two colleagues collaborate on career documents presented in background

As the CEO of an organisation, you already know you’re modestly acknowledging that you’re quite significant. You’re the visionary, the one everyone turns to for creating a strategy and a route to success. However, being the top executive doesn’t mean you’re just there to enjoy the accolades. You became a CEO because you know how to put in the hard graft, and you’re held to a high standard. Your CV is, too. Let’s explore these essential ways you should build your CV to highlight your strengths and capture the attention of any hiring manager:

  • CEO skills
  • Formatting your CEO CV
  • Measuring your previous impact
  • Customising your CV for each job

What skills should a CEO have on a CV?

As a current or aspiring CEO, you understand that competition in the job market is fierce. In fact, when you submit your application for a job advert, there may be over 100 other candidates applying. Increasingly, hiring managers are using Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software to filter out candidates whose CVs don’t contain enough of the desired keywords.

Including a skills section on your resume can be the difference between Applicant Tracking System software being your best friend or your worst nightmare. That’s because, without a skills section, you’re unlikely to include the keywords ATS is searching for.

It turns out you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to work out what the right skills are for the CEO position you’re interested in. Just have a look at the job description. Simple!

The example below shows keyword skills the candidate likely extracted from a company’s job description:

CEO CV skills section

Ensure your CEO CV format is effective

A 1.15-page CV is enough of a formatting error to disturb some hiring managers. We don’t make the rules, but one of the most important formatting “DOs” is to ensure your CV is exactly one page. Though most people know this rule, some of the other important resume formatting ones go unnoticed.

CV formatting tips for ensuring ATS and hiring managers are happy:

  • The One-page Rule: As we already mentioned, this rule is important. Hiring managers want the highlights, not your entire life history.
  • Bullet Points: Bullet points break up chunks of text in your work experience, making them easier to read and more visually appealing.
  • Avoid Icons/Images: Pictures, as lovely as they may be, don’t work for ATS and should be avoided.
  • Job Title: List the job title you want at the top of your CV, not the one you currently have.
  • Decide: Should you add a CV objective or summary?

CV Summary

  • This is a highlight reel of your work experience and relevant skills. A summary could benefit you if:
    • You have many years of experience (preferably more than ten years)
    • You have specific, relevant achievements that effectively highlight your work contributions

This summary example gives you a good idea of how detailed and customised yours should be:

An example of a CV summary from a programmer's CV

On certain occasions, you might want to consider adding a resume objective or summary statement to your CEO CV. They’re both short, two to four-sentence paragraphs, but the objective is most effective for individuals with limited work experience or those changing careers (possibly relevant to you!).

The summary, on the other hand, is for seasoned professionals who have over 10 years of experience in the field. It offers you an opportunity to elaborate on your career history, your achievements, and the skills you’ve developed.

Weak and strong objectives

  • Weak Resume Objective: Executive with experience in leading people. Looking to continue climbing the corporate ladder and making decisions for an organization. 
    • Why it’s weak: Vague, doesn’t mention specific skills, a job title, metrics, or how the applicant would benefit the organisation.
  • Strong Resume Objective: CFO for 3+ years with Pearsons Co. Seeking a change of career as the CEO at CoreOps, where my background in financial analysis and strategic decision-making would strengthen the company’s long-term fiscal trajectory and develop a greater sense of accountability from within the organization. 
    • Why it’s strong: Specific, with a target company and position explicitly mentioned. The skill set of the applicant is highlighted, as well as how those skills make them a valuable candidate.

Weak and strong summaries

  • Weak Resume Summary: CEO who’s been in the industry for years, many of which resulted in growth for companies. Motivated to become the CEO of your company and help it grow. 
    • Why it’s weak: Non-specific, vague, lacks metrics, and a general waste of valuable CV space.
  • Strong Resume Summary: Seasoned CEO with 15+ years of executive experience. Specialized in improving long-term financial outlooks, enabling InkStaple to maintain 2020 performance despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Managed companies with over 1.5K employees, strengthening brand buy-in and work output from the ground up. Motivated to lead strategic vision changes for Fisco Supplies to improve public and staff perception and support. 
    • Why it’s strong: It’s specific, mentioning job titles, number of years of experience, relevant skills, and how they’ve benefited companies throughout their career.

Quantify your achievements as a Managing Director

You’re a CEO. You know everything always comes back to those pesky numbers. As much as it may pain you to crunch more numbers to put on your CV, trust us when we say it’s worth it. Not only do numbers demonstrate your performance but also catch the eyes of hiring managers and encourage them to keep reading.

Make use of metrics, as in the example below, to demonstrate the following:

  • How recruitment policies and training improved under your leadership
  • Improvements in long-term company forecasts and ROI
CEO CV skills section

Tailor your CV for each CEO role

Let’s be honest—would you rather hire the person who’s passionate about the company and has been interested in working with you for years or the person who’s probably sending out their CV to your company and 50 others just to see who they can negotiate with to get the highest salary?

As much as it can be annoying to customise your CEO CV, we suggest you do it.

So, how do you customise your CV?

  • The objective/summary: If you include one of these sections on your CV, make sure to mention a specific job title, company name, and skills that are particularly relevant to the role (hint: read the job description).
  • Skills: Read the job description to create a fully customised skills section according to the keywords found.
  • Work experience bullet points: Is the company hoping you’ll make its name more relevant in the eyes of consumers? Then you should highlight times you’ve worked as the public face of the business or approved funding for popular campaigns on social media. If they need stronger internal leadership, reshape your bullet points to highlight your related experience.

Key Takeaways for Your CEO CV

Job seeker stands with hands in air, questioning how to fill out job materials

We understand that updating your CV can be a task that involves plenty of groaning, furious keyboard typing, and sighing. However, you’ve already taken a significant step in the right direction by preparing. You now know the secret formula for a successful CV: good formatting, personalisation, key skills, and quantification.

Parsing your resume is a great next step to see how your application stands up to the ATS.


CEO CV FAQs

Formatting FAQs
What should a CEO’s CV look like?

Your CEO CV must demonstrate your leadership experience and ability to manage and be responsible for projects and teams. You must show high accountability and ownership of whatever you’re doing to convince employers that you’re worth considering for the top-level position.

What does a chief executive officer do on a CV?

A CEO manages a company’s resources and processes and provides the overall direction for all human resources towards meeting set goals and objectives. In doing so, you must demonstrate your leadership and management skills and use relevant tools to fulfil the responsibilities of this senior role.

What is an example of a winning CEO CV?

It demonstrates the ability to lead, manage, and organise all the aspects of a company to drive success in every area. As such, a CEO CV must emphasise leadership, management, and organisational skills. Moreover, it should include work experiences with metrics to show the impact of similar high-ranking roles.

How do I write a first-time CEO CV?

Your employment history should include transferable skills from other senior-level positions. Additionally, highlight your proven track record of excelling at such high levels. You want to earn the trust of recruiters, and you can only achieve this by demonstrating the value you bring in leading, managing, and making decisions to successfully drive companies forward.

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