Marketing resume templates are great if you’re just getting started in the business world, but they can become ineffective once you’ve honed your skills and gained some years of experience under your belt. 

So, what do you do then? How do you update your resume to make sure it highlights your best skills and accomplishments? And how do you make sure your resume gets read in the first place? 

The answer is to create a marketing resume that showcases the specific skills and knowledge that hiring managers are looking for. We’ve put together 10 tips to help you build a strong marketing resume that will land you a job!

1. Do Not Include Personal Info

While it’s normal to want to write everything about you, if possible, keep it simple. Do not talk about anything too personal. You want to highlight your skills and experience that are relevant to the job you are applying for.

Below are some things to include and not to include in your resume:

• Never include personal information on your resume. This includes your home address, email address, and phone number. 
• If you have an online portfolio or blog, make sure to list the URL so that potential employers can easily find it. 
• Be sure to list any relevant coursework you have taken, especially if it pertains to marketing or communications. 
• List any internships or jobs you have had in the past, even if they are not directly related to marketing. 
• If you have any relevant skills, such as copywriting or social media management, be sure to list them prominently on your resume.

2. Take Your Time

It can be tempting to hurry through the resume creation process, especially if you’re eager to start your job search. However, taking the time to craft a well-written, targeted resume will pay off in the long run.  

The first step is ensuring that your resume includes all of the relevant information about yourself and your skills. Include at least one or two sentences describing what each position entailed and how you contributed to company success during this time. 

The next step is making sure that it’s presented as professionally as possible. Remember that it should not include: typos, grammatical errors, or unnecessary information that doesn’t contribute to demonstrating experience or skills (such as personal interests). 

And finally, always have someone else proofread it before submitting for an interview – another set of eyes never hurts! We’ll talk more about this below.

3. List Awards

Throughout your career, you may have been given awards that can give you an edge over others who are vying for the role. So, include them in your resume, too.

Awards are great ways to show off some creativity or originality – if you have one or two, be sure to mention them at the beginning of your resume so that hiring managers see them right away! Remember that an award doesn’t necessarily need to be tangible – anything from an Employee of the Month plaque on your desk at work to a certificate from a workshop can count as an award worth mentioning on your resume! 

When listing your awards, start by making a list of both professional and personal awards you have received. Include the name of the award, the organization that gave it to you, and the year you received it. If you have any awards related to marketing or communications, be sure to include those. Also, include any awards you’ve received for your writing or creative work.

If you have any honors or distinctions from your time in school, be sure to list those as well. Any awards related to your public speaking skills or presentation abilities would be relevant here as well. 

And finally, don’t forget to include any awards related to your work in customer service or sales. Many people don’t think about these categories, but they can definitely help you stand out on your resume. 

If you’re still not sure what counts as an award, ask yourself this question: What accomplishment am I most proud of? That’s probably something worth including on your resume! 

4. Mention Non-Marketing Experiences

Even if your prior work experience is in a different field, you can still highlight skills and accomplishments that are relevant to marketing. 

For example, if you managed a team of people, you can talk about how you successfully led and motivated them. If you increased sales at your previous job, mention the strategies you used to do so. transferable skills are key when building a marketing resume. 

Show off your leadership abilities and include quantifiable results from any past work or volunteer experience on your resume. Demonstrate success by highlighting achievements such as increases in sales, reductions in costs, improved customer satisfaction ratings, or increases in production. 

Don’t be afraid to take some risks with jobs outside of marketing; emphasize what makes it related!

5. Let Your Personality Shine Through

In the marketing world, it’s all about being able to stand out from the rest. So, when you’re creating your resume, make sure to let your personality shine through!  

When you’re applying for a job in the marketing field, there are so many applicants that need one job – so how can they choose? By getting to know their applicants and seeing who they would be best suited for by reading their resumes. The more unique your resume is, the more likely you are to be picked as an applicant of choice. 

One way to do this is by adding personal touches like designing your own cover letter template or including pictures from your past accomplishments. Another great way to show personality on your resume is also by telling a story about yourself in your cover letter, whether it’s about what you studied in school or some other experience where you were working with people. 

If you have an online resume like on LinkedIn, you can still show some personality on it! Your LinkedIn profile should not only have information on what type of job you’re looking for but also include personal interests outside of work like hobbies or what charitable organizations you’re involved with.

6. Get Feedback from Professionals in the Field

To better increase your chances of landing a job in the marketing field, you can get feedback or tips from professionals in the industry. But don’t worry because we have already compiled some of the most common feedback they give:

• Find out what marketing recruiters are looking for.
• Build a strong foundation with your resume format and design.
• Make sure your resume tells a story that aligns with the job you want.
• Use keyword-rich language to describe your skills and experience.
• Quantify your successes with data whenever possible.
• Highlight any cross-functional experience you have in marketing.
• Use strong action verbs to demonstrate what you’ve accomplished. 
• Stay focused on the employer’s needs, not just what you want to do. 
• Be creative and think outside of the box about how you can stand out from other candidates by focusing on your unique experiences or strengths. 
• Finally, make sure all of your information is up-to-date and accessible so employers can find you easily!

7. Keep Your Resume Simple

When it comes to resumes, less is more. Recruiters and hiring managers only spend a few seconds skimming your resume, so you want to make sure that your most relevant information is easy to find. Follow these tips to keep your resume simple and focused:

• Stick to a traditional resume format.
• Use simple, clean fonts.
• Use reverse chronological order.
• Use clear headings and sections.
• Limit your resume to two pages.
• Use bullet points to highlight key information.
• Save your resume as a PDF file. (More about this below.) 
• Include links to any online portfolios or social media profiles. 
• Include contact information.
• Avoid using jargon or acronyms.
• Include an objective statement.
• Keep professional experience at the top of the resume.
• Emphasize achievements and successes.
• Focus on results, not tasks.

8. Use Headers and Lists

Are you looking for your first marketing job? Or maybe you’re a seasoned pro, but you’re ready for a change. Either way, you’re going to need a strong resume to land the job you want.  And for that, you need to format your resume with headers and lists.

When writing your cover letter or preparing your LinkedIn profile, consider using easy formatting with headers and lists. They’ll make it easier for recruiters to quickly scan through information and spot potential hires that might be a good fit. Headers can include Education, Skills, Experience, etc., while lists can include bullet points of skills or accomplishments. 

Put your best work at the top, too. It’s no secret – we all have ups and downs in our careers. So, if you’re currently working on something mediocre, keep it as far down on your resume as possible. If you’re confident in what you’ve accomplished in recent years, put those achievements near the top of your list! 

List qualifications before experience. Sure, some companies look for candidates who have specific experience in certain areas like social media or customer service. But if they don’t mention anything about their requirements, go ahead and list any qualifications that could potentially set you apart from other applicants first (e.g., degrees earned). Then follow up with any relevant work experience afterwards.

9. Save Your Resume as a PDF

When you’re applying for jobs, you want your resume to stand out from the rest of the applicants. One way to do this is to save your resume as a PDF. 

PDFs can’t be easily altered, which means that your formatting won’t get messed up when employers open your resume on their computers. Plus, PDFs maintain all of the important features of your resume, like margins, spacing, and fonts. 

So, if you want employers to be able to see your resume exactly as you intended, save it as a PDF file. 

10. Proofread Your Resume

When it comes to resumes, typos are one of the worst things you can have. They make you look sloppy and unprofessional and can even cost you the job. Before you submit your resume, make sure you proofread it carefully.  Check for grammar mistakes, bad formatting, misspellings and errors in spacing. 

Be sure to use common phrases like Organized or Strategic thinker. Avoid cliches like a team player or a hard worker. Find out which skills and qualities the company is looking for by reading their company website. 

Tailor your resume accordingly. Keep the formatting consistent: Don’t switch between Times New Roman and Courier at random; use either one exclusively throughout the entire document.

It also helps to ask someone else to read over your resume before submitting it as well. Even if they don’t have any experience with marketing or HR, they will be able to catch mistakes that you missed due to being too close to the document. 

Bonus Tip: Use a Resume Builder!

If you’re looking for a job in marketing, you need a resume that showcases your skills and experience in the industry. And while you could spend hours crafting the perfect resume, there’s an easier way: use an online resume maker. 

Online tools like ResumeKit can help you put together a sleek, professional-looking resume in minutes! All you have to do is answer questions about your work history and education with words or phrases—it even has writing tips! Plus, you can save your progress as you go, so it’s easy to tweak it before submitting. The best part? Most resume builders are free!

In Summary

Are you looking for your first marketing job? Or maybe you’re hoping to switch marketing jobs? Either way, you’ll need a strong resume to land the job you want. These tips should help you build a resume that will get you hired.

The key point to remember is to focus on accomplishments and metrics when listing your previous positions. Also, add any volunteer work or other outside activities you’ve done to make yourself more marketable. Make sure the dates on your resume line up with what’s on your online profile, too. If they don’t, list them separately

In addition, show how your skills can be applied in different contexts. For example, if you have experience in SEO, say how it applies to branding. Consider adding links to examples of your work or case studies of projects you’ve completed as evidence of what you can do for a company. 

As you’re building your marketing resume, keep in mind that simplicity is key. Stick to a standard resume format and use clear, concise language. Avoid flowery or jargon-filled language, as well as any typos or grammatical errors. Use strong action verbs to describe your accomplishments, and be sure to quantify your results whenever possible. 

Most importantly, tailor your resume to each job you’re applying for, highlighting the skills and experience that are most relevant to the role. By following these tips, you can create a strong marketing resume that will help you land the job you want.