The Best Ideas For Writing A Proper Marketing CV

According to LinkedIn, Digital Marketing Manager is one of the top 10 most in-demand jobs. Companies hire marketers to increase brand awareness, attract potential customers and eventually grow sales. Yet, to be considered for a marketing position, you need a resume that reflects your value as a professional and sells your accomplishments to employers.

Even if you have years of experience in launching successful marketing campaigns and increasing customer loyalty, you may struggle to present yourself on a resume. In today’s guide, we will share tips and ideas to make your resume appealing to all types of employers.

If you need a CV that presents you in the best light, consider a marketing resume writer. For example, resume perk marketing CV writing services create customized and tailored resumes for marketers at all career levels. The writer will develop a strategy, focus on the measurable results of your work, and emphasize relevant skills, presenting you as the perfect fit for the target position.

Top 9 Tips For A Stellar Marketing Resume

A stellar marketing resume can help you stand out in a crowded job market. Here are nine tips to create a resume that showcases your skills, experience, and achievements:

1. Decide on a resume format

Start creating your CV by choosing the appropriate format for your career situation. The most common formats are:

• Reverse chronological, where jobs are listed in chronological order starting with the most recent one. This format works best for experienced marketers who can list multiple employers and projects.
• A functional format is focused on listing your skills and qualifications at the top of the CV, while your work history is described briefly. Such a format is good if you are switching to a marketing position and have no experience yet.
• A combination format has the feature of the two and can be for almost all career situations.

2. Include your contact details and links

Experts recommend that you include details as follows:

• Your full name
• Email and phone number
• Your location
• Professional social media links (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)
• A link to your website or portfolio.

Double-check this section, as if you miss a character or figure, the employer will not be able to contact you.

Including links to your samples of work will help the employer better evaluate your marketing skills and the results you’ve delivered to previous employers. Your social media, on the flip side, helps evaluate your cultural fit and gives social proof to your qualifications.

3. Create a catchy Summary section

A good resume summary works as an elevator pitch, encouraging the hiring manager to read your resume completely. For that, you need to include your most notable experiences and achievements that will surely impress them.

• Write 3-5 sentences. It is enough to introduce your professional experience and highlights and help the recruiter understand that you are a potentially good hire.
• Add figures whenever possible. For example, 3+ years of experience, increased website traffic by 51%, and grew customer loyalty by 32%. Numbers give specifics and let the reader better evaluate your background. 
• Avoid clichés. Words like hard-working, team player, leadership abilities, and punctual say nothing specific to an employer.

4. Describe your professional history

A Professional Experience section is the main asset of your CV, as employers will evaluate your potential based on what you write here. When listing jobs, you needn’t include all daily duties. Instead, focus on achievements and experiences that distinguish you from other marketers with similar qualifications.

Here are the top tips for writing this section:

• Specify the company’s size and industry. If the company isn’t well-known on the market, specify some details about it. Thus, the hiring manager will understand if your experience is relevant.
• Write 6-7 bullets for each role. Do not write a laundry list of bullet points, as hiring managers are only interested in relevant experience. Focus on the results of work and the difference you’ve made as you describe tasks and projects.  
• Omit jobs you had over 10 years ago. Employers pay attention to your most recent role, so feel free to skip the positions you had over 10 years ago. You can leave only the job titles and company names.
• Include at least one achievement per role. Add figures and percentages to illustrate your impact. For example, “Increased organic traffic to the website by 92% in 3 months”, and “Launched a Facebook advertising campaign which attracted 8,000 new website visitors”.

5. Include your education and credentials

Many marketing positions do not require a degree, but if you have one, it will be a plus. List your school name, degree and academic achievements. If your degree isn’t relevant to marketing, you can still include it, especially if you took a class in marketing.

In addition to a college degree, list online courses and certifications in marketing. Some certifications can increase your earning potential. Good examples of certifications to include are:

• Kellogg Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing
• Google Analytics Certification
• HubSpot Digital Marketing Certification Course
• Become a Digital Marketing Specialist (LinkedIn course), etc.

6. List relevant skills

Listing professional skills helps the hiring manager evaluate your areas of expertise at a glance. Moreover, skills lists are good for ATS, because skills often work as keywords.

It is best to include between 10 and 18 skills, focusing on the most relevant ones. For the reader’s convenience, you can break skills into categories (for example, Software skills, Marketing competencies, etc.).

Here are some good skills to include in your marketing CV:

7. Optimize for ATS

99% of Fortune 500 companies now use applicant tracking software (ATS) to screen incoming resumes. If your resume seems irrelevant to the system, it gets tossed before it is seen by a human hiring manager.

Here are the ways to pass the ATS screening:

• Use an ATS-friendly format. Some ATS systems cannot read graphic elements, charts, etc. So, keep the resume formatting simple. You can use bulleted lists, but it is best to avoid pie charts, images, and other graphic elements. Use a DOCX or PDF file, as other file formats may not open correctly with the system.
• Add keywords from the job posting. Read the job posting and include the required skills and qualifications in your resume. Use the exact wording from the job description, as the system might not recognize synonyms or abbreviations. Add keywords in all resume sections.

8. Add a matching cover letter

According to the statistic, 45% of hiring managers will not consider a resume if it doesn’t have a cover letter attached. Moreover, a cover letter gives you an opportunity to show your motivation and personal connection with the company, and explain any issues in your CV (for example, employment gaps). Follow these tips to write a strong letter:

• Keep it to one page. Write 3-5 short paragraphs, focusing on the most important highlights from your experience. Hiring managers do not like receiving multi-page letters, so keep your letter brief.
• Use a standard business letter format. Address the hiring manager by name, and use a salutation and a traditional business letter structure. Remember that a cover letter serves as an example of your written communication skills.
• Match your letter content to the job. Research the company, its goals and challenges, and pay attention to what they expect from the candidate. As you write a letter, focus the letter content on what they are looking for precisely. In other words, if they are looking for an inbound marketing specialist, show how you performed similar tasks in the past.
• Proofread before sending. Typos, poor grammar and bad writing skills in general can turn off the employer. Take some time to check the mistakes and readability of your letter to ensure it presents you in the best light.

9. Get a second opinion

If you write a CV and a cover letter yourself, it is best to hear a second opinion about it. You can consult a hiring manager or a resume writer.

People who work with resumes on a daily basis can evaluate the quality of your resume and give constructive feedback about formatting, writing style, structure and content of your resume. Moreover, they can point out the potential ‘red flags’ which may turn off the employers. Do not hesitate to seek help with improving your resume as the outcome of your job search and even your salary depends on it.

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