I received a phone call two days after what I considered a great interview for a Director of Analytics position. Now I do realize it is not common at lower levels to get a call, don’t get me wrong, you don’t get those calls for senior roles often either, but if you do, better get ready for a blunt feedback.
He said along the lines of “Your experience was impressive, but your resume told me you were not ready for this role before we even talked.”
No matter the level where you are in your career, that always hurts. I was a little bit confused. I tried adding all the projects I have been involved and quantified my achievements and highlighted my technical versatility.
“That is exactly your problem”, he said. “You spent the entire conversation talking about the technical deliverables you led. If you were truly senior enough for a director role, you would have already made the mental shift to focus on business impact, not technical implementation. Your resume screams ‘senior analyst’ and not ‘executive ready’”.
Since then, I changed the approach on how I create my resume but at the same time how I think about career advancement. And if you are thinking that is the case only for senior role, I believe same process can be followed early on in your career to be able to differentiate yourself among peers.
The Technical Skills Trap
The higher you climb, the less it is about your technical skills. And it is not because they are not important, but because they are basically the baseline and not a differentiator in any way.
When I see a resume for a VP level role that lists “Proficient in Python, SQL, Tableau,..”, I immediately know this person is not ready for VP level responsibilities. A real VP would never waste resume real estate on tool proficiency, they would be talking about ways to handle organizational transformation, team building and strategic impact.
The brutal truth is that listing programming languages on a senior level resume actually hurts your candidacy. It gives the signal that you still think like a technical contributor rather than a business leader.
What That Hiring Manager Taught Me
After the rejection I received like explained above, I completely rewrote my resume. Here’s a quick example of a change I made:
Old version:
“Built advanced SQL queries and Python scripts to automate data processing from monthly financial reporting, reducing processing time from 40 hours to 8 hours”
New version:
“Transformed monthly financial reporting process, enabling the finance team to shift 32 hours per month from data preparation to strategic analysis, directly supporting faster quarterly planning cycles”.
Same project but completely different framing. The old version tells you what I did. The new version tells you the business impact I had.
The Servant Leadership Principle
I did PMP (Project Management Professional) certification. Not necessarily because I want to be a Project Manager but at a certain point, most of the work you do as a data professional is basically handle work on projects basis. While there was a great content in there which is very applicable, the one that stuck with me was the concept of a servant leadership. If you read them for the first time, it does not make much sense. You are either a servant or a leader.
But as you get more senior in your career, you realize that being a great leader will be applying servant leadership, the idea that you will succeed by removing obstacles for your team rather than doing the work yourself. I use this concept both on how I approach leadership and resume writing.
Your job is no longer to be the best analyst in the room. Your job is to create an environment where your team can be their best. So your resume should capture that shift in mindset.
Instead of listing your technical expertise, highlight your ability to:
Influence without authority
Remove barriers for your team
Translate business needs into technical solutions (without getting lost in the technical weeds)
Build systems and processes that scale beyond your individual contribution
The Resume Evolution Framework
Your resume should evolve as you advance in career.
Junior Level (0-3 years): Technical skills are your primary currency
List programming languages, tools, and certifications
Highlight technical projects and learning agility
Include some business context, but technical competency is the main story
Mid-Level (3-7 years): Business impact with technical credibility
Lead with business outcomes, support with technical approach
Show progression from individual contributor to project leader
Demonstrate cross functional collaboration and stakeholder management
Senior Level (7-12 years): Strategic thinking and team leadership
Focus entirely on business transformation and team development
Remove individual technical accomplishments unless they are truly exceptional
Emphasize process improvement, change management, and organizational impact
Executive Level (12+ years): Vision, culture, and organizational results
No technical skills listed (assumption is you already have them)
Focus on business strategy, team building, and cultural transformation
Quantify organizational level impact: revenue growth, cost reduction, operational efficiency
The Delegation Mindset Shift
The most important career transition happens when you become comfortable not knowing the technical details of every solution your team delivers. This is terrifying for some people who built their careers on being the technical expert, but it is absolutely essential for advancement.
If your resume still focuses on your personal technical achievements, you are signaling that you have not made this mental transition yet.
The Hard Truth
Most data professionals never make this resume transition because they are afraid that removing technical details make them look less qualified. The opposite is true actually. At senior levels, technical details make you look stuck at a junior mindset.
That hiring manager did me a favor with his brutal honestly. Six months later, with a new resume written that focused on business impact and team leadership, I landed a VP role at a different company.
The technical skills that got you here will not get you there. Your resume should reflect where you are going and not where you have been.