Social Media Manager Resumes

A social media resume is a document used to apply for a social media-related job, such as a Social Media Manager. It outlines your skills, experiences, education, and successes. Together with the cover letter, social media resumes tell potential employers who you are, what you can do, and why you would be a valuable addition to their team.

Here’s how to write a resume for a Social Media Manager or Social Media Specialist position that will get you noticed by a hiring manager:

1. Open with an engaging resume summary or profile
2. Include relevant work experience and key social media successes
3. Add your education
4. List your social media skills with keywords with the job posting
5. Add additional sections as needed

As you begin creating your social media resume, these are a few tips and best practices that will help you through the writing process.

• Understand the job requirements: Review the job posting to identify the key skills and qualifications the company is seeking. Use language and keywords related to the job posting—this will be particularly advantageous if the company uses software to scan for suitable candidates.
• Research the company: Learn more about what the company does, their projects and their values.
• Craft your elevator pitch: Your elevator pitch is a brief synopsis of your experience and what sets you apart. Consider what makes you stand out as a Social Media Specialist. Through this exercise, you can determine what key skills or expertise you want to emphasize on your resume.

• Stay focused: Your resume should be one page long. Focus on your most relevant and successful social media projects and experiences.
• Keep it organized: Organize your sections with clear headings, and use bullet points to make your resume easy to scan.
• Use action verbs: When describing your work experience, use strong action verbs such as launched, expanded, presented, grew and consulted.
• Highlight accomplishments: If you simply list your previous job duties, your resume won’t make much of an impact. Instead, use accomplishment statements in the form of action verb + task + result. An example of an accomplishment statement is, “Implemented new content strategy that increased Facebook conversion rate by 40%.”
• Quantify your achievements: Include numbers and stats that prove your ability to get results. For example, highlight the growth of a channel you managed or the success related to a social media marketing campaign you ran.
• Consider the design: Choose a design that is simple and clean. Select one or two fonts, use color sparingly and include ample white space. Make sure your design does not distract the reader from your content.
• Review and edit: Check for any spelling and grammar errors. Then, double check. Show the employer you are detail-oriented and have outstanding communication skills.

Your resume is an opportunity to introduce yourself to an employer and show them why you’re the right social media manager/expert for their company. Your social media resume should tell a story about how your experiences and skills combine to make you an ideal candidate.

Though your resume details your career, you should frame it around the company’s needs. For example, are they seeking someone with expertise in writing social copy? Describe how your content and social media strategies boosted engagement rates at your last company. Show the concrete value you can bring.

Here’s how to create a strong outline for your Social Media Manager or Social Media Specialist resume:

1. Open with a profile or summary that hooks the reader.
2. Describe relevant social media experience with key achievements.
3. Include a section about your education and training.
4. List your social media skills using keywords from the job posting.
5. Add additional sections as needed, such as awards or volunteer work.

Your Social Media Manager or Social Media Specialist resume should include a profile/summary, social media work experience and achievements, education, relevant social media skills/tools, and extra sections.

Profile/Summary: Near the top of your resume, sum up your top achievements and skills in a few short sentences. Tell your story—what makes you a social media expert? What can you bring to their company?

Social media experience: Highlight your most relevant experience based on what the company is looking for. In reverse chronological order, list the job title, company, dates, and location. In two to three bullet points, describe what you accomplished. Emphasize the results of your work and quantify it where possible. Avoid writing generic job duties such as, “Created posts for social media platforms.” Instead, consider rewriting it as, “Aiming at increasing brand awareness, I created engaging content for five different social media accounts, resulting in 15% increase in followers.”

Education: List your university/college degree(s) as well as any certifications or diplomas. Include the school/institution and dates attended. You can also add relevant coursework and academic achievements, especially if you don’t have as much social media work experience.

Social media skills: The job posting will tell you exactly what skills the employer is looking for. Emphasize these in the skills section of your social media resume.

Other: You may be up against hundreds of other applicants with similar social media skills and expertise. To stand out from the crowd, add in additional sections to highlight other achievements or passions. You can include projects, awards, volunteer work, languages, or interests.

The skills you include on your social media resume largely depend on the job you’re applying to. Because every company will have slightly different social media needs, you should only list skills relevant to the position. Refer to the job posting for the skills the company is seeking in an ideal candidate.

Here are a few of the top skills employers look for in a Social Media Manager or Social Media Specialist:

• Content writing
• Blogging
• Email marketing
• Digital marketing
• Content strategy
• Graphic design
• Image editing
• Media creation
• Video editing
• Analytics
• Competitive analysis
• Keyword analysis
• SEO

Companies may also be looking for a candidate who is proficient in social media tools such as:

• Hootsuite
• Buffer
• Later
• Facebook Creator Studio
• Sprout Social
• HubSpot
• Google Analytics
• Facebook Ads
• Google Ads
• Twitter Ads
• LinkedIn Ads
• Instagram Ads
• Photoshop
• Buffer

Use this template when writing your professional resume.

[NAME]
[Phone Number]
[Email]
[LinkedIn]

PROFILE

Enthusiastic social media expert who successfully [social media accomplishment or project]. Experienced in [areas of expertise]. Passionate about [social media interests] and ready to [what you will bring to the position].

EXPERIENCE

[Job title, Company]
[Month, Year – Month, Year]

• [Action word] [skill/task] [result/impact]
• [Action word] [skill/task] [result/impact]
• [Action word] [skill/task] [result/impact]

[Job title, Company]
[Month, Year – Month, Year]

• [Action word] [skill/task] [result/impact]
• [Action word] [skill/task] [result/impact]
• [Action word] [skill/task] [result/impact]

EDUCATION

[Degree or certificate earned, School name]
[Graduation date]

• [Relevant courses]
• [Academic achievements]

SKILLS

• [Skills]
• [Tools]

AWARDS AND ACTIVITIES

• [Award]
• [Volunteer work]
• [Languages]