Business Resume Examples
Years of Experience
- Junior-level
- Mid-career
- Senior-level
Miguel Fernandez
(098) 765-4321 | [email protected] | 234 Second Street, Syracuse, NY 13207
Profile
Business graduate with strong recent entrepreneurial and internship experience.
Key Skills
- Complex Problem-Solving
- Reporting & Documentation
- Team Collaboration
Education
Bachelor of Business Administration, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY | 2021
- 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 2020 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 2021 to August 2021
- Learned about placing orders with suppliers and addressing delivery issues
- Sat in on monthly meetings with district manager to review goals and progress
- Stocked shelves and assisted customers as needed
- Helped develop and launch targeted marketing campaigns
Language
Fluency in Spanish
Jacob Smithe, MBA
(123) 456-7890 | [email protected] | 123 Main Street, Columbus, OH 43035
Profile
Business Leader with 3+ years of experience in the grocery industry. Strong knowledge of grocery store staffing needs, product mix, and pricing practices. 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 by more than 10% and surpassed all store goals from June 2020 to May 2021
- Revised product mix to improve store’s competitive positioning
- Launched community outreach program to help local residents and raise brand visibility
Assistant Store Manager, Nichol’s Grocer, Columbus, OH | September 2019 to May 2020
- Facilitated hiring, staffing, and performance management of 40 employees
- 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] | 546 My Road, Deadwood, SD 68574
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 new business opportunities. Master of Business Administration.
Professional Experience
Business Change Management Manager, Assurant, Deadwood, SD | January 2017 to Present
- Analyze business performance metrics to identify areas for improvement
- Set team goals and relay new initiatives to staff
Highlights:
- Worked with senior managers to optimize procedures and initiatives, increasing revenue by 23% in 2020
- Undertook performance management activities and provided mentorship and support for a team of 25, increasing productivity by 32% last year
- Improved client satisfaction by 30% in 3 years
Business Sales Development Manager, SelectQuote, Deadwood, SD | July 2012 to January 2017
- Performed market research to discover opportunities for growth and service diversification
- Trained ~14 new hires per year on effective sales methods and processes
- Held focus groups with key clients to gauge their evolving business needs
Highlight:
- Spearheaded projects to branch into new sales areas, increasing revenue by ~15% YoY
Education
Master of Business Administration, University of Sioux Falls, SD
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, University of South Dakota, Vermillion
Key Skills
- Change Management
- Client Relations & Retention
- Coaching & Mentoring
- Reporting & Documentation
- Team Leadership & Motivation
Tips for Writing a Better Business Resume
Avoid the section heading “Relevant Experience”
When you label a section “Relevant Experience,” you undermine your resume by indicating all the other sections are irrelevant. Your resume should be ALL relevant experience, with the only possible exception being your recent work history outline. You can and should leave out any details about you that don’t hold relevance to your target job (even advanced degrees in rare cases).
Some portions of your work history may be a lot more in line with your job search goal than others. If so, resist the urge to divide them into “Relevant Experience” and “Additional Experience” sections. Keep one “Professional Experience” section and only indicate the disparity by the amount of detail you give for each job. Try to give plenty of details on your most relevant jobs, and just the basics on your least relevant jobs. This resume structure maintains a clear focus on advancing your goals while still offering employers an accurate view of your recent work history.
Tell your story
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] Launched and run all aspects of this local-themed T-shirt company
[I] Reached a positive cash flow within second month of operating
[I] Coordinate with suppliers and screen printers
Strike the right tone to describe your business career
For nearly any piece of regular writing, it’s important to choose language that sets and maintains a clear tone or “voice.” That rule applies equally to your job search documents. Here’s a quick overview of the voice you should aim for on each one:
- Resume: formal, forthright
- Cover Letter: engaged, confident
- LinkedIn Profile: friendly, personable
To achieve a forthright voice on your resume, use simple sentences and straightforward accounts of your experience. Keep this advice in mind especially when writing your Profile section, since you may be tempted (or think you need) to use terms like “Exceptional” or “Outstanding at” when a more modest yet direct phrase like “Skilled at” is better.
Common Key Skills for Business Resumes
You can improve your resume by adding keywords.
That’s because most hiring companies now use an applicant tracking system (ATS), which scans each submitted resume for keywords relevant to the job opening at hand. When the company’s ATS finds a resume with many relevant keywords, it flags the document for the hiring manager.
To make your resume ATS-friendly, add a keyword-rich “Skills” or “Expertise” section (as in the examples above). Here are some common keywords for professionals in the business world:
| Key Skills & Proficiencies | |
|---|---|
| Client Satisfaction & Retention | Coaching & Mentoring |
| Contract Negotiations | Corporate Change Leadership |
| Cost Reduction & Elimination | Cross-Functional Collaboration |
| Data Gathering & Analysis | Financial Forecasting |
| Market Trend Research | Marketing Strategy Development |
| Performance Management | Process Redesign & Improvement |
| Regulatory Compliance | Reporting & Documentation |
| Revenue & Profit Growth | Risk Management & Mitigation |
| Staff Training & Development | Stakeholder Relations Management |
| Strategic Business Planning | Team Leadership & Motivation |
Common Action Verbs for Business Resumes
One of the most common resume mistakes is using too few verbs. You may repeat the same generic verb (say, “Manage”) many times or rely on passive phrases like “Responsible for” or “Accountable for.” These tendencies can distract your reader and fail to show the dynamic nature of your work. The following list will help you mix up the verbs on your business resume:
| Action Verbs | |
|---|---|
| Build | Coordinate |
| Deliver | Develop |
| Devise | Enhance |
| Establish | Execute |
| Generate | Grow |
| Implement | Improve |
| Increase | Launch |
| Lead | Organize |
| Oversee | Pioneer |
| Spearhead | Strategize |
How to Align Your Resume With a Job Posting
For each job in your Experience section, consider adding a company description. You can place this description in brackets right next to or below the company name. It also helps to match formatting. For instance, if you’ve italicized the company name, italicize the company description too.
Company descriptions let you show any similarities between your past and desired employers. For instance, maybe you’ve worked for companies of a similar size or in the same industry. Or perhaps you’ve worked at organizations with a similar core mission or leadership philosophy. By working these details into your descriptions, you can make your resume that much more relevant to the job at hand.
More Resume and Cover Letter Resources
The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that business and finance jobs will increase by about seven percent between 2021 and 2031.
For more on finding opportunities in the business sector, check out the links below:
Resume examples
Cover letter examples
Advice on your job search