6 CV mistakes senior leaders still make

Most senior CVs we review still look like job descriptions.

Long lists of responsibilities. Leadership language that sounds impressive but says very little. Buzzwords nobody really believes anymore.

And then people wonder why they're not getting traction.

Last week I reviewed a CV from a highly experienced Port Director. Fifteen years running complex operations across West Africa. The CV read like a job spec. Nine pages. Not a single outcome.

At senior level, your CV isn't a career history. It's evidence.

Evidence that you can lead, solve problems, and actually deliver results.

Here's what I see going wrong most often:

1. It's not tailored. And it shows.

A generic CV sent to ten different roles rarely lands.

Senior leadership hiring is specific. A Country Manager role in Lagos is not the same as one in Rotterdam. Different pressures. Different operating environments. Different expectations.

Your CV should reflect the role you're applying for, not everything you've ever done.

2. Responsibilities don't differentiate you. Outcomes do.

"Managed operations across multiple regions."

Fine. But what changed?

Revenue growth. Cost reduction. Market expansion. Team turnaround. Operational improvement.

Specifics create credibility. Generic responsibilities don't.

One thing that helps: add context to the achievement.

“Joined as Regional Director of a loss-making freight business across four West African markets. Took it from a $2m loss to a $3m profit within three years.”

Context matters. Achievements mean more when people understand the scale or complexity behind them.

3. Most leadership language is meaningless without evidence.

Almost every senior CV mentions strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and driving results. Very few demonstrate any of it.

The best executive CVs don't just claim these things. They explain the challenge, what you did, and what changed as a result. That's the difference between a CV that gets read and one that gets forgotten.

4. Your CV and LinkedIn profile need to match.

The number of times dates, job titles, and roles don't align between the two would surprise you.

Recruiters check both. Interviewers check both. Discrepancies create doubt, and doubt is hard to recover from, even if the explanation is innocent.

5. Your profile section usually says nothing.

"Results-driven leader with a proven track record…"

Nobody remembers that.

Your profile should explain what you're known for, what environments you work best in, and what problems you solve well.

Something like: "Container Terminal CEO with 18 years across Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Led turnarounds across three underperforming terminals, reducing vessel delays by 34% and restoring profitability within 12 months."

Simple and specific beats corporate language every time.

6. Presentation matters more than people admit.

Most CV advice says two pages. Most of that advice isn't written for senior leaders.

If you've spent 20 years operating across multiple markets and sectors, two pages probably isn't enough. Three or four is usually the right range. The question isn't length, it's whether every line is doing useful work.

As a rule, experience beyond 15 to 20 years rarely needs full detail. A line with the dates, company, and job title is usually enough. The further back you go, the less it needs to say.

And proofread it properly. Better still, get someone else to read it.

Spelling mistakes, inconsistent formatting, strange spacing... people notice. Especially at senior level.

Fair or unfair, presentation affects perception.

Nobody gets hired purely because of a CV. But a strong CV gets you in the room. And at senior level, that matters.