Business Resume Examples and Templates for 2023

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Jacob Meade

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW, ACRW)

Jacob Meade is a resume writer and editor with nearly a decade of experience. His writing method centers on understanding and then expressing each person’s unique work history and strengths toward their career goal. Jacob has enjoyed working with jobseekers of all ages and career levels, finding that a clear and focused resume can help people from any walk of life. He is an Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW) with the Resume Writing Academy, and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches.

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Business Resume Templates and Examples (Downloadable)

Entry-level
Business_Entry-level-1.pdf

Example #1 Entry-level

Mid-career
Business_Mid-career-1.pdf

Example #2 Mid-career

Senior-level
Business_Senior-level-1.pdf

Example #3 Senior-level

How to Write a Business Resume

Your business-sector resume has one purpose: to get you interviews for jobs you want. You can ensure your resume serves that purpose if you focus on your most relevant skills and display them as clearly as possible. The tips and examples below will help you give your resume the focus and clarity it needs to move your corporate job search forward.

1. Write a dynamic profile summarizing your qualifications

In most cases, your resume Profile is your very first impression on hiring managers. Make it a good one. Use your Profile to call out your top qualifications. What sets you apart from other candidates for the same position? For instance, maybe you have international experience or fluency in a foreign language. Or perhaps you’ve mastered a sales technique that led to double-digit revenue growth. Or maybe you have an MBA or other advanced degree in your field. Whatever your top qualifications, feature them in your Profile and you can compel recipients of your resume to keep reading.

Don’t be afraid to get specific in this section. A well-chosen achievement in your Profile can drive home the broader themes you’re showcasing. Try to use an achievement that quantifies your results in terms of a specific ranking, percentage, or dollar amount.

(Note, it’s usually easier to write your Profile after you’ve built the other sections of your resume.)

Entry-Level Profile Example

Business graduate with strong recent entrepreneurial and internship experience. Naturally curious and committed to gaining and applying new expertise. Bilingual: Fluent in English and Spanish.

Mid-Career Profile Example

Collaborative Business Leader with 4+ years of experience in the grocery industry. Strong knowledge of grocery store staffing needs, product mix, and pricing practices. Recent achievements include motivating a team to grow yearly sales by more than 10%. Master of Business Administration.

2. Add a focused experience section

Careers evolve. If you’re one of the many professionals whose focus has changed over time, some parts of your work history will now be more relevant to your goal than others. But resist the urge to divide your work into “Relevant Experience” and “Additional Experience” sections. When you label a section “Relevant Experience,” you undermine your resume by indicating the other sections are irrelevant. In fact, your resume should be ALL relevant experience, with the only possible exception of your recent work history outline. You can and should leave out any details about you that don’t speak to your target job.

With that principle in mind, keep one “Professional Experience” section and indicate the disparity by the detail you give on each job. Try to flesh out the details of your most relevant jobs while giving just the basics on your least relevant jobs. This resume structure clearly focuses on advancing your goals while offering employers an accurate view of your recent work history.

Entry-Level Experience Example

Business Owner, Syracuse T-Shirt Designs, Syracuse, NY | September 2021 to Present

  • Launched and run all aspects of this local-themed T-shirt company
  • Reached a positive cash flow within second month of operating
  • Coordinate with suppliers and screen printers
  • Source unique and creative designs via social media

 

Senior-Level Experience Example

Business Sales Development Manager, SelectQuote, Deadwood, SD | July 2012 to January 2017

  • Performed market research to find opportunities for growth and service diversification
  • Trained ~14 new hires per year on effective sales methods
  • Held focus groups with key clients to gauge their evolving business needs

 

Highlight:

  • Spearheaded projects to branch into new sales areas, increasing revenue ~15% YoY

 

3. Include relevant education and certifications

Your education and any licenses or certifications are the basis for your work experience and so deserve a prominent spot on your resume. List each credential in a separate section right below your Experience section, and apply similar formatting. For instance, if in your Experience section you’ve italicized employer names, also italicize the school names appearing in your Education section.

Following are templates and examples to help you format your education and certification details:

Education

Template:

[Degree Name], [School Name], [City, ST] | [Year – optional]

Example:

Bachelor of Business, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC | 2019

Certification

Template:

[Certification Name], [Awarding Organization] | [Year – optional]

Example:

Service Excellence Certificate, VCU Advanced Solutions | 2023

4. List relevant key skills and proficiencies

You can improve your resume by adding keywords.

Most hiring companies now use an applicant tracking system (ATS), which scans each submitted resume for keywords relevant to the job opening. When the company’s ATS finds a resume with many relevant keywords, it flags the document for the hiring manager.

Add a keyword-rich “Skills” or “Expertise” section to make your resume ATS friendly. Here are some common keywords for professionals in the business world:

Key Skills and Proficiencies
Benefits & Compensation Client Satisfaction & Retention
Coaching & Mentoring Contract Negotiations
Corporate Change Leadership Cost Reduction & Elimination
Cross-Functional Collaboration Data Gathering & Analysis
Digital & Social Media Marketing Financial Forecasting
Market Trend Research Marketing Strategy Development
Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint) Organizational Development
Performance Management Process Redesign & Improvement
Productivity & Efficiency Gains Regulatory Compliance
Reporting & Documentation Revenue & Profit Growth
Risk Management & Mitigation Staff Training & Development
Stakeholder Relations Management Strategic Business Planning
Team Leadership & Motivation  

NOTE: As the above list indicates, you should only use noun phrases in this section. Reserve personal attributes and adjectives (like “highly collaborative” or “strong work ethic”) for your Profile summary. Here’s a good litmus test to know whether any term fits this section: Plug it into the phrase “I’m skilled in [term].” If the term makes a correct sentence (“I’m skilled in team leadership”), you can add it. But if it makes nonsense (“I’m skilled in highly collaborative” … “I’m skilled in strong work ethic”), that’s your cue to leave it out.

5. Tell the story of your business-sector experience

You may have been told to avoid passive phrases like “Responsible for” or “Tasked with” on your resume. But that’s hard to do when you’re unsure what the “active” alternative would be.

For an active resume tone, first think of your career as a story with “characters and their actions.” (For more on this principle, see Joseph Williams’s popular writing book “Style: Toward Clarity and Grace.”) And who’s the primary character of your resume? You, of course. Your resume may contain many details on various jobs and projects, but you should center it all on yourself and your actions in relation to them. A simple way to make sure you’re doing this: Begin every job description sentence as an “I” statement, then just take out the “I” and leave the rest of the phrase on your final resume.

Examples

  • [I…] Helped hire, train, and performance-manage 40 employees
  • [I…] Actively addressed product or delivery issues with suppliers as needed

 

How to Pick the Best Business Resume Template

A clear and straightforward resume template is usually best for corporate job seekers. “At its core, the resume is a business document,” write resume-industry leaders Wendy Enelow and Louise Kursmark in their book Modernize Your Resume. “And those receiving it expect to see a fairly traditional presentation.” Choose a visual template that lets the recruiter or hiring manager quickly take in relevant information about you and your background. Use a simple font, and avoid any template that calls undue attention to itself with more elaborate design elements.

Business Text-Only Resume Templates and Examples

Years of Experience
  • Entry-level Entry-level
  • Mid-career Mid-career
  • Senior-level Senior-level

Miguel Fernandez
(098) 765-4321 | [email protected] | Syracuse, NY 13207 | LinkedIn

Profile

Business graduate with strong recent entrepreneurial and internship experience. Naturally curious and committed to gaining and applying new expertise. Bilingual: Fluent in English and Spanish.

Key Skills

  • Complex Problem-Solving
  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook)
  • Product Sourcing
  • Reporting & Documentation
  • Supplier Relations
  • Team Collaboration

Education

Bachelor of Business Administration, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY | 2022

Competed in New York State Business Design Competition

Select Coursework:

  • Basic & Advanced Statistics
  • Finance for the Corporate World
  • Management
  • Marketing & Advertising

Professional Experience

Business Owner, Syracuse T-Shirt Designs, Syracuse, NY | September 2021 to Present

  • Launched and run all aspects of this local-themed T-shirt company
  • Reached a positive cash flow within second month of operating
  • Coordinate with suppliers and screen printers
  • Source unique and creative designs via social media

Intern, Byrne Dairy, Syracuse, NY | June 2022 to August 2022

  • Learned about placing orders with suppliers and addressing delivery issues
  • Attended monthly meetings with district manager to review goals and progress
  • Stocked shelves and assisted customers as needed
  • Helped develop and launch targeted marketing campaigns

Languages

Fluency in Spanish | Proficiency in Italian

Jacob Smithe, MBA
(123) 456-7890 | [email protected] | Columbus, OH 43035 | LinkedIn

Profile

Collaborative Business Leader with 4+ years of experience in the grocery industry. Strong knowledge of grocery store staffing needs, product mix, and pricing practices. Recent achievements include motivating a team to grow yearly sales by more than 10%. Master of Business Administration.

Key Skills

  • Complex Problem-Solving
  • Project & Program Management
  • Reporting & Documentation
  • Revenue & Profit Growth
  • Supplier Relations
  • Team Leadership & Motivation

Professional Experience

Store Manager, Columbus Food Market, Columbus, OH | June 2020 to Present

  • Grew annual sales 10%+ and surpassed all store goals from June 2021 to May 2022
  • Revised product mix to improve store’s competitive positioning and reflect consumer trends
  • Launched community outreach program to help local residents and raise brand visibility

Assistant Store Manager, Nichol’s Grocer, Columbus, OH | March 2019 to May 2020

  • Helped hire, train, and performance-manage 40 employees
  • Actively addressed product or delivery issues with suppliers as needed

Education

Master of Business Administration, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH | 2020

Bachelor of Business, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC | 2019

Essie Warren, MBA
(243) 354-4657 | [email protected] | Deadwood, SD 68574 | LinkedIn

Profile

Business Manager with 10+ years of advancement and experience. Confident leader who sources and develops high-potential talent. Strategic planner with a talent for finding and capturing business opportunities. Adapt readily to new work challenges and industry conditions. Master of Business Administration.

Key Skills

  • Change Management
  • Client Relations & Retention
  • Coaching & Mentoring
  • Performance Management
  • Reporting & Documentation
  • Strategic Business Planning
  • Team Leadership & Motivation

Professional Experience

Business Change Manager, Assurant, Deadwood, SD | January 2017 to Present

  • Analyze performance metrics to identify areas for business growth and improvement
  • Set ambitious yet attainable team goals, and relay new initiatives to staff

Highlights:

  • Worked with senior managers to optimize procedures and initiatives, increasing revenue by 23% in 2020
  • Mentored and motivated a 25-person team to increase productivity by 32% last year
  • Introduced service best practices that raised client satisfaction score by 30% in 3 years

Business Sales Development Manager, SelectQuote, Deadwood, SD | July 2012 to January 2017

  • Performed market research to find opportunities for growth and service diversification
  • Trained ~14 new hires per year on effective sales methods
  • Held focus groups with key clients to gauge their evolving business needs

Highlight:

  • Spearheaded projects to branch into new sales areas, increasing revenue ~15% YoY

Education

Master of Business Administration, University of Sioux Falls, SD

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, University of South Dakota, Vermillion

Frequently Asked Questions: Business Resume Examples and Advice

What are common action verbs for business resumes?+

It’s easy to get stuck when writing your resume job descriptions. You may find yourself running out of action verbs to capture your work. To help you over the hump, we put together this list of strong resume verbs. Consider using any of these as the first word of your bullet points in your Experience section:

Action Verbs
Build Coordinate
Create Deliver
Develop Devise
Enhance Establish
Execute Garner
Generate Grow
Implement Improve
Increase Launch
Lead Organize
Oversee Pioneer
Prevent Produce
Raise Rank
Spearhead Strategize
Streamline Strengthen
Win  

NOTE: The above verbs are all in the present tense. Use the present tense to describe your current job duties. But use the past tense (e.g., “Created,” “Improved”) to describe any projects you’ve completed or achievements you’ve had in your current job. Also, use the past tense to describe both duties and achievements in all your previous jobs.

How do you align your business resume with a job posting?+

The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that business and finance jobs will increase by about seven percent (or 715,100 jobs) between 2021 and 2031. This growth rate is roughly the same as the average for all US vocations.
 
You can get more interviews in this growing sector if you tailor your resume for each application you send. For example, if the company is seeking someone with a strong collaborative streak, you may want to call out that aspect of your experience in your Profile and Key Skills sections. Or say the company has many non-English speaking clients. You should highlight your foreign language skills both in your Profile and as a separate section farther down the document.
 
With adjustments like these, you can make your resume more relevant to each opportunity in your job search.

What is the best business resume format? +

In nearly all cases, you should opt for a Combination (or Hybrid) resume because it’s easiest for hiring managers to learn about your pertinent skills and experience — it’s also easiest for you to modify based on your job goals.
 
With the Combination format, you highlight your most relevant skills and experience in your Experience or Work History section and an intro section. (This combination of work history and intro content is where the format gets its name.) Your resume intro may take the form of a Profile summary, Key Skills section, and/or Career Highlights section. By carefully choosing the details for these sections, you can (a) position yourself for your target job and (b) give hiring managers a clear, quick view of what you offer them.

Expert Advice: Include a cover letter with your resume

To increase your chances of landing an interview, make sure you craft a strong cover letter. The key to optimizing your cover letter is to customize it based on each employer you apply to. Read our Business cover letter guide to learn how. For other related examples, see our MBA and Business Analyst cover letter guides.