By J.M. Auron ACRW. Expert IT Resume Writer—Providing Professional IT Resume Writing Services for More than 15 Years. First Published May 2023 / Updated December 2025
Here's how to build the best CTO resume possible.
As one of the world's leading CTO resume writers, I've worked with a lot of great Chief Technology Officers—both executives new to the role and seasoned leaders looking to move to even more challenging opportunities with greater scope and bigger responsibilities.
In this article, I'd like to distill several of the primary dos and don'ts that I've found are most critical for your CTO resume—and your broader IT executive career.
First, the CTO Resume "Dos"
1) Do: Demonstrate Business Value
As a CTO resume writer, the single most essential thing I can convey to you is the need to write your CTO resume with a business focus—rather than a primarily technical one. That's because you need to clearly demonstrate your business value to your future peers on the leadership team.
Of course, as a technology executive, you utilize your technical background, vision, and expertise every day. But one of the things that makes you different from tech leaders at a lower level in the organization is the way you leverage that depth and knowledge to drive those critical business results. Technology isn't an end in itself—it never is in today's highly competitive business landscape. Rather, tech is, and must be, a way to add clear value to the enterprise.
That's true for every technology professional and leader throughout the organization.
But as a senior technology executive, you're using tech to move the organization forward at a very high level.
I know this may seem obvious. You know, when you think about your career, that you're working to deliver for the business—and you have been doing that for a long time before you became a technology executive.
But I've often seen—somewhat surprisingly—it can be very easy to forget to include that business focus in your CTO resume. It's very easy to get lost in technical details—so it's worthwhile to keep this idea top of mind.
So think seriously about what you've provided to the business—and not just the technologies you've used. Think strategically—and think about the most dramatic changes you've directed—because that demonstrates that you're ready for the next big step in your technology executive career.
We'll talk more about this below when I discuss the importance of results in your CTO resume—and many other points will reinforce this. But I want to begin this article by stressing the need to keep business top of mind.
2) Do: Demonstrate That You Lead Transformation and Innovation
This point follows directly from my previous one.
Nothing in business or technology is static these days. The status quo just isn't good enough, and every organization that seeks to become more competitive recognizes the need for transformation and innovation.
That's why businesses seeking to transform turn to you to spearhead the technical and business aspects of that change. You have the vision, the knowledge, the team leadership, and the tools to lead important, lasting transformation across the enterprise.
That's why it's essential that your CTO resume shows that you're a full partner and leader in critical change—and that you're always looking months or years ahead to pilot your organization through a rapidly evolving tech and business landscape.
Proving that you're a transformational tech leader can go a long way to help you move into ever more challenging and interesting IT leadership opportunities—so focus on the big picture—where you're going, and not only where you've been. Show how the initiatives that you've led transformed all aspects of the enterprise.
3) Do: Demonstrate Your Strategic Vision
You're a strategic business leader and partner—you and your peers on the leadership team know that. But you have to make your strategic vision clear throughout your CTO resume.
That's not always an easy task—it's far easier to demonstrate tactical wins rather than strategic ones.
But when you're competing for an executive role, the leadership team will be looking for your strategic side. So as I mentioned above, be sure to show the big picture—and that includes long-term plans and initiatives—and all the many things you've done that have had a truly strategic impact on the business.
This is critical to prove that you deserve a seat at the big table—that as Chief Technology Officer you’re a full partner with your C-suite peers in creating enterprise strategy—and not just executing a strategy largely developed by others.
4) Do: Show That You're a Leader—and Not a Manager
This is important for all leaders—from director to the C-suite. But it's particularly critical when you're at the top of your career—and it's something I focus on as a CTO resume writer.
One simple fix for this is just tweaking your writing style. It's best to forget words like "manage" or "responsible for" and replace them with more active verbs like "direct" and "lead." That's fairly simple—but it makes a surprising difference in the impression your CV leaves with the reader.
Another aspect is to focus on CAR—Challenge, Actions, and Results. I wrote on this extensively, but I'll reiterate here.
A CTO resume that is too heavily focused on actions—and most are—gives the sense of someone simply doing their job. That gives the subliminal view of a manager, not a true strategic leader. But if you balance the actions you've taken—and they're important—with the business challenges you've addressed and the results you've delivered, your leadership will be much more clear to the reader.
It's also very valuable to talk about how you've built teams—how you coach and mentor your direct and indirect resources—and the leadership style that you use to ensure that your teams are always top performers.
5) Do: Communicate Your Unique Value Proposition
I've worked with a lot of C-level tech executives as I’ve provided professional IT resume writing services for more that 15 years. And one thing I've found is that they're not cookie cutter. Every Chief Technology Officer I've worked with is unique and addresses business and technology challenges in a unique way.
It's essential to convey that unique value proposition to show not only what you've done—but how you've done it.
Because culture fit is a major factor in C-suite hiring. So the executives reviewing your CTO resume need to see your leadership style, your approach to stakeholder communication, and particular business and tech strengths clearly to determine if you'll be able to fit into the leadership team seamlessly.
So think about what makes you stand out, what makes you unique—and convey that clearly in your CTO resume.
6) Do: Talk About Vision
As a technology executive, you're not hired to keep the lights on. You're hired to build and execute an enterprise-wide vision of technology—a vision of how technology can benefit the enterprise and enable consistent growth and competitiveness.
It's valuable, then, to take some time to think about and define your broad vision—though I realize this may be less straightforward than discussing specific accomplishments. But the dividends are very real—both in the quality of your CTO resume and your confidence during the interview process.
7) Do: Demonstrate Your Results
I touched on this earlier, but I can't stress it enough. Focus on results. When I'm interviewing clients in my IT resume service, the most frequent question I ask is, "What did that deliver?"
It seems obvious, of course. But many great CTOs—and other IT leaders—tend to think primarily about the actions they've taken, and not the results they've delivered.
But whether you've saved money, enabled new revenue, streamlined processes, or increased efficiency—be certain to highlight these achievements.
It's the results that people are looking for—the CEO and the board want to see what you've done in the past—so that they can predict what you'll do in the future.
So make certain to include the results you've delivered clearly—and format the results clearly, too. For example, I only bullet results to ensure that they "pop." It's a simple technique—but adds a great deal of clarity to the document.
Also, use numbers whenever you can. Every result doesn't have to be quantifiable—and not all are. But if you've saved millions of dollars, include that figure. If you've speeded up a process by 50%, make sure the reader sees that. Anything you can put a number on—if it's a significant figure—is worth quantifying.
8) Do: Show That You Can Contain Costs and Increase Efficiency
Containing costs isn't the whole of your job as a technology executive. But it's still an important component. Leveraging tech strategically to lower costs is a critical skill—so it's something you want to highlight—and you want to talk not only about your successes in cost containment, but also the methods you've used to reach those goals.
The more you can show that you keep costs under control—while delivering consistently superior results—the more compelling your CTO resume will look to the hiring team.
The same is true of efficiency. The broader enterprise looks to the CTO to make things as efficient as possible, to automate time-consuming manual tasks, and let employees do their jobs as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
So talk about the initiatives you've conceived and led that have greased the wheels and helped everything run more smoothly. It's something the reader wants to see in your CTO resume.
9) Do: show That You transform Tech into a business Partner—Not a Cost Center
This is absolutely critical. Now, happily, the days when IT was seen as a necessary evil are largely over—though that attitude still exists in some companies.
But most leadership teams recognize that you're not just there to execute. You're increasingly called upon to contribute to every aspect of business strategy and are (finally) seen as a full partner with your peers in the C-suite.
So make sure that's clear. Demonstrate that you're in at the beginning of every decision, that you're relied upon to contribute to strategies that drive competitiveness—today, tomorrow, and years down the line. Because if you show that you're a full partner in your current role, you're much more likely to be seen as one in your next opportunity.
10) Do: Demonstrate Your Communication Abilities
One of the key differentiators I've seen from the most successful clients I've helped in my professional IT resume writing services is their ability to communicate—and communicate effectively to a wide range of audiences.
That means—among other things—stressing more technical details with technical teams and stakeholders, and backing off on the technical detail and focusing primarily on business value with C-suite peers and business stakeholders. You probably do this—and do it naturally—or you wouldn't have made it to C-suite. But it's important to present your communication abilities—and your unique communication style—in your CTO resume.
I know that some IT resume writers advise against "soft skills." Well, there is some truth to that—you don't want to load the CV down with nothing but soft skills. However, communication and interpersonal abilities are so critical that I definitely believe in highlighting those abilities—both in the summary and the professional experience section.
11) Do: Show That You Work Collaboratively
Good IT leaders are consistently good collaborators—not lone wolves. They build relationships across the enterprise and create the partnerships that are crucial for any business to function optimally and efficiently.
We all know that silos are extremely destructive. That's why your ability to build collaboration and break down silos among disparate IT teams and between IT and the broader organization is a valuable quality to highlight.
Of course, this may not be as quantifiable as other achievements—though there may be measurable increases in efficiency. But with or without numbers, demonstrating your collaboration skills is an important strategy I use frequently in my professional IT resume writing services.
And Now, Here Are a Few CTO Resume "Don'ts":
1) Don't Get Lost in the Weeds
This is a really important point. As a CTO, you're being hired for your big-picture thinking and your ability to drive transformation across the enterprise—as I mentioned earlier in this article.
So make sure that your CTO resume isn't bogged down with too much detail. Of course, some detail is critical for context—that goes without saying—but as in much of life, it's a matter of balance.
Too many details will lead the reader to think that you're "lost in the weeds"—that you can't focus on the big picture, because you're too overwhelmed with details.
And that can be the kiss of death for a technology executive career.
So hone the details ruthlessly. Make sure that every detail directly addresses your value proposition and shows what you can deliver. If the detail is small or just seems interesting? It's really better to omit it. You can always discuss other points as the interview process evolves.
2) Don't Look Like An IT Manager
Years ago, I had a client, a Chief Technology Officer, who was in a C-suite meeting. The projector wouldn't work. His first instinct was to jump up and fix it.
But he thought, "Wait. I'm the CTO. This isn't my job anymore."
And he called one of his team members.
Now, happily, the days when the Chief Technology Officer was a second-class citizen in the C-suite are long past. But it's still critical to show that you're not just jumping in to write code or lay cable—you're building and leading the teams that do that.
This can be a problem with technology executives who've—basically—been using the same IT resume for a really long time. So the language is stale. It's too action focused (not results-focused) and conveys the impression of someone significantly below your pay grade.
One simple approach to this is to just omit the phrase "hands-on."—which can be of value for other IT leadership resumes. That can mean, of course, that you like to lead your team directly, that you're involved in what they do. But it can come across as though you're jumping in—micromanaging—instead of delegating effectively.
But more broadly, be absolutely certain that your CTO resume conveys a sense of "executive gravitas." For you to be taken seriously, your CV has to be taken seriously first.
3) Don't Overemphasize Technologies and Certifications
This point is related to my last one. When you were starting out, putting in the technologies you used—either in a separate section or divided job by job—made sense. Hiring authorities wanted to know your skills.
But, unfortunately, as many technology professionals advance to leadership roles, they don't reduce the amount of space and emphasis on technologies or certs. Some technology executives may take the view that including this detail adds credibility. Unfortunately, it's far more likely to make you look low-level and not ready for prime time. A good architect or manager, maybe, but not a CTO.
Clearly, that's not the impression you want your CTO resume to leave with the reader. So, unless some technology or tool is absolutely cutting-edge? it's probably better to omit it. The added information can, surprisingly, do more harm than good.
4) Don't Go Too Far Back in Your Career
This is true, actually, for every job seeker. Hiring authorities are, in general, concerned about most recent accomplishments—so the bulk of your CTO resume should focus on your current role and perhaps one or two roles before.
But there's absolutely no need to go too far back in your career in any detail. Yes, it's valuable to point out that you worked your way up from the trenches—but too much early career detail takes valuable space from your current accomplishments, waters down your executive presence, and can lead to age discrimination—which is, unfortunately, still a very real problem.
As a CTO resume writer, I don't include anything more than 10-15 years in detail. Before that, I just use a simple line like, "Previous professional experience includes Engineering Director with Widget Company and Software Developer with John Doe Inc." That's really enough to show career progression—in most cases—without overwhelming the reader on risking age discrimination issues.
December 2025 Update—2 more CTO resume "dos" for the new year
As I review this post, I stand behind everything I've written earlier—I think it's valid and (I hope) useful) for CTOs and other technology executives. But I'd like to add in a couple of new "dos" to round out the picture and bring this article up to date.
1) Do talk about how you've led multi-regional and remote teams
This is very important these days—and will continue to be, in 2026 and beyond. IT teams are now widely disbursed.
But I'd suggest going beyond "Led a global team of 200." If you've led teams in a range of business cultures—the US, Poland, India, and China, for example—I'd definitely call that out, and here's the reason.
On a practical level, this shows that you can lead across a number of time zones—that's not trivial. Being able to switch between end of the day in China to afternoon in Europe, to morning in America is a critical leadership skill—because you're bringing your team together and radically different parts of their work day and across different energy levels.
Additionally, different business cultures work differently, and can benefit from different leadership styles. So highlighting this can show your flexibility and adaptability in your CTO resume.
2) Do talk about how you're AI strategies
AI is everywhere—and I think we're all getting a little tired of the relentless, apocalyptic AI scenarios. But AI is a new tool in the toolbox, and showing that you use AI intelligently adds value to your CTO resume. That's a matter of showing that you're integrating AI into workflows in a strategic way, and using AI to help the people who it can help the most. That's very different than the companies that are (unfortunately) mass firing talent and believe that AI can just take over the workload.
Final Thoughts on your CTO Resume
I hope you've found this interesting and useful—and I do hope you've walked away with a few strategies about how to best craft your CTO resume.
If you'd like to learn more about me, my IT resume service, and how I write the best CTO resumes in the business, get in touch with any questions, or discuss how I may be able to help accelerate your technology executive career, please don't hesitate to send a message.