Marketing Resume Tips and Samples

Before you can become a successful marketer, you must first learn how to effectively market yourself. You are your own best product. And when it comes to product marketing, any good marketer knows the importance of brand. Brands that differentiate, brands that distinguish, and brands that people recognize are the brands that people buy. The goal of your resume is to build your own brand--one that differentiates you from other job seekers, communicates your value to prospective employers, and gets you interviews.

According to Terri Robinson, president of Recruit2Hire.com, for a marketing professional "their resume is the most important document they're every going to write. By using the same principles of creating a great marketing campaign, they can create a winning resume"--one that helps them stand out from the crowd.

Your summary statement--located at the top of your resume directly below your contact information--is arguably the most important section of your resume. It should be designed to quickly communicate your unique value proposition to hiring managers and prospective employers who are scanning your resume. Where the traditional career objective outlines the goals and objectives of the job seeker (a bunch of stuff employers already know), the summary statement focuses on what employers want to know--the value you'll bring to their organization. The summary statement is like a short sales pitch that concisely indentifies the skills, qualifications, and significant accomplishments that make you the best candidate for the position. The following is an example of a powerful summary statement developed for a job seeker looking for product marketing manager/executive position.

Marketing Executive
Fortune 100-experienced marketing executive with 15+ years of involvement in all levels of marketing. Skilled at strategizing and executing sales-driving marketing campaigns. Proven ability to develop and implement product marketing campaigns that established market share gains of over 50% (for both existing and new product lines), increase sales by $20.2 million, and improve closing ratios to record highs.

It's short, concise, and packs a punch!

While the chronological resume is still the format of choice among employers, by itself it's insufficient. It doesn't work because hiring managers and prospective employers have to work hard to figure out what exactly you have to offer. For this reason, we recommend always starting your resume with the summary statement followed by a "Areas of Expertise" or "Highlights" section that lists (in bullet format) your specific skills and qualifications for the job. Following this section you'll then list your work experience and education in reverse chronological order.

A good summary statement is so powerful because it focuses on benefits to the employer, rather than the features of the job seeker. Your entire resume should focus on benefits. It's not enough to say you're a good marketer, you need to prove it. The most effective way to differentiate yourself from the competition and show the benefit you provide is by quantifying the results of your work. Using anecdotal evidence instead of hard numbers is a mistake many marketing pros make. Consider the following two descriptions.

Description 1
Responsible for managing launch of multimillion dollar product line.

Description 2
Designed, planned and executed launch of new product line that captured market-leading dominance in just under one year and generated sales of $12.2 million.

Which one communicates features? Which one communicates benefits? Description 1 communicates that the candidate has experience managing new product launchs. Description 2 communicates that the candidate is an experienced marketing pro that knows how to design and execute new product launches that achieve tangible results.

For each employer you list on your resume, you should include three or four bullet points. For each bullet list a major accomplishment--something of importance that you achieved for your previous employer. Again, you want to show measurable results using numbers to quantify your accomplishments. If you're a recent marketing graduate, you'll need to make your case using your education and interships. For seasoned and senior-level marketers, your resume should focus almost entirely on prior work experience.

Below is an example resume for a marketing executive seeking new job opportunities.

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The following are additional resume development resources we highly recommend for marketing job candidates.