Digital marketers take responsibility for promoting the company’s brand, products and services. A job-search can be compared to a marketing campaign in many ways. You promote your skills, experience and value to the company that needs to buy into you and invite you for an interview. As a marketer, you already know the importance of effective positioning. In this post, you will find some actionable tips that will help you create an eye-catching resume.
Benefit from cooperation with a marketing resume writer
If writing a CV seems confusing, don’t leave the success of your job search to a chance. A professional marketing resume writer can build your resume in line with employers’ requirements. If you order resume writing services, a writer will create your resume for a specific job, add relevant keywords and apply effective formatting. These services are tailored specifically to marketing and advertising professionals, so you can count on the great quality of writing.
10 tips to create a persuasive marketing resume
Most hiring managers spend under a minute on each resume. Here’s how to present your professional strengths within a short time frame:
Keep the resume to 1-2 pages
Recruiters are very busy, so they are unlikely to read a resume that takes multiple pages. The rule of thumb is to send a one-page document if you’re a beginning marketer and a two-page resume if you have 5+ years of diverse experience. If your resume takes longer, consider removing irrelevant or old jobs.
Use simple, ATS-friendly formatting
98% of Fortune 500 companies use applicant tracking software (ATS). If you add images, charts, tables, graphs or complex formatting, ATS might not read the document correctly or toss it. Use simple formatting, write in one column and avoid graphic content.
Be careful with templates
As a marketer, you might be tempted to impress the employer with the great design of your resume. However, it’s best to avoid resume builders and templates from the internet. Many of them cannot be read by ATS, which means that your resume will be tossed. Also, online templates have already been used by other job-seekers, and you don’t want to submit a resume that is identical to someone else’s.
Write a persuasive career summary
How to engage the recruiter to pay closer attention to your resume? You can achieve this goal with a strong summary of qualifications. Write 3-4 sentences that explain your strengths as a marketer, your biggest accomplishments and the value you can bring to the table. Avoid cliché words like go-getter, team player, leader, or result-oriented – it’s best to speak through specific examples.
Use 6-7 bullets for each job
Writing extensive job descriptions isn’t the best idea. Career experts recommend that you write no more than 7 bullets for each job. Make sure that you focus on specific highlights from your experience, not just list generic duties that every marketer can do. Also, avoid writing job descriptions in paragraphs – this is considered outdated and paragraphs are more difficult to skim through than brief and concise bullets.
Focus on achievements over job duties
When scanning resumes, hiring managers look for accomplishments in the first place. They expect to see measurable results, exceeded KPIs and other examples of excellent performance. So, add figures and percentages when it’s possible to demonstrate the results of your work. Examples of professional accomplishments for a marketer can be:
- Increased conversion rate
- Increased number of followers or subscribers
- Launching marketing campaigns successfully within budget
- Reduced cost per action
- Increased traffic, etc.
List job-related certifications and courses
An employer can overlook the fact that you don’t have a degree if you list some reputable courses and certifications. For example, a Google digital marketing certification, HubSpot content marketing and Harvard digital marketing strategy program are considered good for a marketer to have. If you have any other certifications or took online training in marketing, content management or advertising, be sure to list them as well.
Use relevant keywords
Key words and phrases are essential for getting your resume through the ATS and in front of the human recruiter. Read the job posting top to bottom and identify the skills, keywords and qualifications the employer is looking for. Then, add those keywords naturally to your resume. Here are some examples of keywords:
- Email marketing
- Digital strategy
- Content marketing
- Google analytics
- On-page SEO
- Social media marketing
- Market analysis
- Copywriting, etc.
Hint: if you add a Skills section, you can list many keywords there.
Proofread before applying
Most hiring managers have a negative attitude towards poor grammar, typos, and punctuation issues. So, check the resume for mistakes before sending it. Read the text aloud to ensure that all sentences are complete and make sense. Go through the document line by line to correct mechanical errors. Make sure the punctuation is consistent – if you’ve decided to use a period at the end of the bullets, do it everywhere in the document.
Show it to an expert
Unless you’re an HR professional, it would be helpful to consult with a professional about the quality of your resume. Oftentimes, highly qualified job-seekers make resume mistakes that reduce their chance to get an interview. A recruiter or an experienced resume writer can spot the weaknesses in your resume and suggest improvements that will get you hired faster.
