What are common mistakes to avoid when crafting your resume as an emerging board director? Some include AI-generated, overly long cover letters and a failure to identify transferable executive skills, according to board chairs and executive search companies.
In her 12 years as chair of Beyond Bank Australia and roles on other boards, Sandra (Sam) Andersen FAICD has reviewed hundreds of first-time and experienced board director CVs.
She says a lot of people don’t realise a NED role is very different to an executive role. “Even though they inherently understand it at its highest level, they still imagine everything that happened in their executive lives is absolutely relevant and pertinent.”
Often, she says, this results in too much execution focus and a failure to identify transferable skills. Highlighting these skills would help them to understand how what they did in an executive career can add value to strategy and risk management in the boardroom.
Common mistakes in board resumes
- Using form letters or AI-generated cover letters
- Overly complex and lengthy cover letters
- Executive narrative for NED role
- Failure to succinctly articulate a board-level value proposition
- Grammatical errors and typos
Executive search firm Johnson Partners sees up to 2000 resumes from seasoned and emerging NEDs each year.
Founder and CEO Jason Johnson agrees it’s a fault that often “trips up” aspiring board directors.
“The transition from executive to non-executive director is nuanced, but using executive type language in the context of NED roles signals they’re not mature or ready — or have not done the requisite work to better understand what the difference is between quality contribution on a board versus their executive careers.”
He describes this as “over-indexing operational detail”.
Work on the narrative
Andersen says getting the narrative right often comes down to “proof points”.
“You can’t just say, ‘Gee, I’m really good at data’ or ‘I’m a really good strategic mind’. You actually have to put some proof points against it. In particular, how did it add value?”
If you have a newly minted ESG or AI qualification, then you can point to the fact that you are re-educating yourself and getting up to speed with emerging governance matters. Johnson says the narrative has to be compelling.
READ MORE: How to secure your first paid board role
“It should be a coherent story of strategic leadership, of ethical decision-making. I always ask what strategic lens you’ll bring to the boardroom. What’s the value you’ll bring? If they can’t succinctly answer those two questions, they haven’t done the requisite work to frame their experience.”
Be candid about your experience
René Johnson MAICD, founder and managing director of Pacific Search Partners, says aspiring directors shouldn’t be put off by a perceived lack of board experience.
“The parallels are there, it’s just that people think: ’I was on the school fundraising committee, that doesn’t count’. Well, it does — the school or not-for-profit charity, they all count. Put them in, because it tells the reader, the nominations committee, the chair or me that you’ve been part of a collective. You’ve had to discuss things as a collective, come up with a decision and all live with that decision.”
He encourages aspiring board directors to be candid in their CVs.
“What I don’t want is people to hide stuff on their CV. If they’ve been in a bum situation, put it in the CV because it’ll create a debate and a conversation — and the candidate can talk about what they learned. Nothing’s out of bounds in my books. It’s how you package it.”
Andersen believes challenging career experiences such as an organisational transformation or crisis management adds weight to a board CV.
“You don’t want someone whose CV looks like they’ve had a charmed life. You’d like them to have had some experience, because you don’t want them to have to strap on a sick bag when it gets a bit turbulent in the boardroom.”
Ensure you have the right skillset
Pilbara Minerals chair Kathleen Conlon FAICD says understanding the skills the board is seeking is part and parcel of having a board CV that’s fit for purpose.
“A mistake that gets made is when somebody says, ‘I’m focused on governance’. General governance is not a skill I’m looking for. There’s always a skill the board is looking for — how well [the candidate] understands how a board thinks about skills and if they can draw that out in their board summary.”
In addition to a relevant CV, Conlon says it helps if aspiring board directors have known references. This reduces the risk and makes them more likely to be included on an executive search company’s list of contenders.
“You’ve got to be crystal-clear what your message is for search firms, because they put people in boxes very quickly. So if you come across in a wishy-washy way, you don’t get put in any box — well, you get put in the too-hard box.”
Be wary of reliance on AI
Conlon believes AI-generated CVs do not provide the required precision.
“The problem with AI-written anything is you have to tailor your pitch for each recruitment, which is very individual. Having an AI-written CV means it’s probably going to be generic. Board positions aren’t (usually) advertised, so what data are you using to write the CV — as opposed to really understanding?”
Further to this, Andersen says grammatical errors and typos often occur in board CVs that have been repurposed for multiple roles.
“You just need that diligence of nailing the brief for the process you’re actually in and making sure you align to what they need without errors or omissions.”
Conlon’s final word of advice is not to send unsolicited CVs to board chairs.
“They just go into Never Never Land. But if they come through a network, the resume is most likely to be reviewed to see if it actually fits the skillset.”
READ MORE: How to find the right boardroom mentor
Practice resources — supporting good governance
- Directorship Opportunities - Subscribe to our leading board online recruitment platform to find board roles.
- AICD Director Remuneration Report 2025
- Director Self-assessment Tool
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