With demand for security analysts rising by an incredible amount, you may be thinking that it will be easy to get hired. However, that’s a dangerous mistake to make. Just because companies and government agencies alike are investing heavily in cybersecurity doesn’t mean they’ll hire just anyone. You’ll have a tremendous amount of responsibility, so you’re not going to get hired just based on some security experience.

You need to communicate your security analyst abilities and experience so a recruiter can understand it, to ensure you’ve met the requirements to get past ATS, and to get all the subtle details right to make a strong impression. Fortunately, we break down everything you need to know in this guide.

What this guide will teach you:

• How to use resume examples to get started
• What you need to do about ATS
• How to get into a recruiter’s mind and get them to choose you
• The best formatting rules to follow
• How to list your job qualifications
• What you should (and shouldn’t) include in your education section
• How to make your achievements and skills stand out from the competition
• The most effective way to start a security analyst resume
• Why targeting your resume to a specific role makes all the difference
• How to prepare for a job interview
• Why a resume builder makes the whole process easier.

Security analyst resume template examples to get you started

With so many things to get right, you might be tempted to just get started right away. But that’s a recipe for wasted time. Before you begin writing your resume, look through some of the security analyst resume examples we’ve chosen for you.

Start taking notes about what you notice about these resumes. What’s your first impression, what stands out about them, is there anything you don’t like about them? Use these notes as a starting point for your resume. Also try imagining you’re a recruiter, you’ve looked through dozens of resumes before these ones come to your desk. How does this change how you see them? This is a mindset you’ll want to use throughout the process of creating your own resume.

[Examples]

How to write a security analyst resume that will get you the job

The reason it’s important to consider your resume from a recruiter’s perspective is that not many security analysts do. They’ll write their resumes only focusing on explaining why they’re the best candidate without considering who makes that decision and how they do it. To get chosen over them, you need to show those recruiters that you’re thinking about them.

But before you get there, you’ve got to overcome the first hurdle most resumes fail to meet these days.

Why you need to start by thinking about ATS

ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System. These systems use AI to scan huge volumes of resumes fast to save recruiters the time needed to manually review them. The problem is that these systems are far from perfect. They mistakenly reject so many resumes that around 75% of all resumes submitted today are never seen by a human.

To ensure your resume isn’t in that group, you need to understand how ATS work and plan for them. While each ATS is a bit different, they generally function by being given a set of criteria to look for in a resume. When a resume meets the minimum levels, it gets forwarded to a recruiter for review. The trick is understanding what those criteria will be and avoiding the technical reasons which can get your resume automatically rejected.

We’ve broken down how to do this into three simple steps.

1. Only submit a resume in the .pdf, .doc, or .docx file formats. These are the three formats nearly all ATS are designed to read. Submitting anything else will likely lead to automatic rejection because the system won’t be able to read your resume.
2. Create your resume with a specialized resume builder. ATS often have trouble with files like Word documents because the formatting confuses them. The best way to ensure your resume file can be properly read by ATS is to use a resume builder specifically designed to produce ATS-optimized files.
3. Use the job description and keywords to your advantage. Obviously if you know what the ATS is looking for on your resume you’ve got an advantage. So look to the job description and list all of the experience, skills, etc. it mentions. Now, try and get as many of them on your resume as possible (without stretching the truth) and be sure to phrase them the same way they were phrased originally.

By following these steps, you’ll avoid the biggest reasons most resumes are rejected.

How to give recruiters what they’re looking for

Once you get past ATS, your resume still needs to impress a recruiter. This is where considering their perspective comes in handy. To appeal to a recruiter, you first need to know what they’re looking for and ensure it’s in your resume. Luckily, you’ve already done that for ATS. 

The next thing you need to do is to make it easy for them to say “yes” to hiring or at least interviewing you as a candidate. This boils down to making sure your resume is short, well written, and has design which makes it easy to get its information across. They shouldn’t need to read through irrelevant information or re-read sentences to understand what you meant to say. Fortunately, we’ll provide examples throughout this guide showing you how to do this.

How to format a security analyst resume

The first step towards making your resume easy for recruiters is getting the formatting right. To start, you want to follow this basic rule: more important information goes towards the top. Imagine you got a security report and it mentioned a critical security flaw which could cost your employer millions around the middle of page 4. That’s far from ideal, but gives you an idea why it’s so important to consider where the most important information on your resume goes.

We’ll talk later about using a resume objective or summary to get your most important points across at the start, but this rule also means you’ll want to list your work experience in reverse chronological order: putting the most recent work at the top. All of this makes it easier for a recruiter to quickly learn what they need from your resume, something they will appreciate.

How long should it be?

You can read all kinds of advice for security analyst resumes saying how long they should be, but the best rule of thumb is: as short as possible. If you’re applying to be the head security analyst at a Fortune 500 company and you’ve got decades of experience, your resume can get away with being pretty long. The people reviewing it will be willing to take the time to read a few pages.

But for most security analyst positions, recruiters will be swamped with applications and won’t appreciate being asked to read 3+ more pages. So, try and evaluate all the information you include on your resume and ask yourself whether it’s really necessary. If not, leave it off. The result should be a shorter and more focused resume recruiters will appreciate.

Which sections should you consider including?

• Resume objective or summary
• Work experience
• Achievements
• Education and certifications
• Hard skills
• Soft Skills

What makes a great security analyst resume?

Now that we’re past all the basic rules you need to follow, what specifically makes for a standout security analyst resume? In short, it’s one which clearly explains how you’ll use your skills and experience to provide value to the company or public institution looking to hire you. Your resume needs to inspire confidence that you can handle all of the security concerns they might have.

That’s why one technique you might want to use is to research the prospective employer to better understand what specific security concerns they might have. Whether they’re worried about DDoS attacks or private user data getting out, you should aim to address those specific concerns wherever possible. We’ll discuss tailoring your resume in more detail later, but for now, think about how you can make your resume stand out in this way.

What are ideal security analyst job qualifications and how to list them correctly

The base requirements for most security analyst positions will focus on a Bachelor’s degree in a field related to computer science and a few years of IT work experience. Of course, if you’ve been working as a security analyst for many years, you can bypass those basic requirements.

Always pay close attention to the specific requirements for each job and make them prominently visible on your resume. For example, you can mention a degree, required certification, and years of experience in a resume objective or summary (more on how to write those below). The idea is to make it 100% clearer from the beginning that you meet the requirements and should be taken seriously as a candidate.

What to include in your education section

This is where many security analyst resumes go wrong. They waste space listing educational information which just isn’t relevant to their prospective employer. Instead, you should only list relevant education and focus more on certifications and trainings. This is because they are much more likely to be relevant and up-to-date.

BS in Computer Science

The University of Calgary

2004-2009

-3.8 GPA

Most security analysts will include their education simply out of habit, but looking at the example above, what is this really telling a recruiter? This degree is related to digital security work, but it’s old enough that it’s not really worth mentioning if you’ve been working in the field ever since. The GPA is definitely not relevant.

Bachelor of Science in Professional Studies (BSPS) in Information Security

The University of Richmond

2015-2019

This example is more recent and the degree is more closely related to security analyst work, so it’s worth including.

Why certifications are more important for security analysts

As mentioned, certifications are generally more valuable because they are more focused than a formal degree. Looking at the information security degree example above, all you really know is that this person studied general information security. The certifications listed below, however, tell the recruiter that you have very specific skills.

These are the top certifications you should consider obtaining:

• Certified Ethical Hacker
• CWAPT Certified Penetration Tester
• Certified Reverse Engineering Analyst
• CompTIA Network+

How to make your achievements stand out

Far too often, security analyst resumes will focus on listing their responsibilities. The problem is, being responsible for digital security somewhere doesn’t mean you did a good job. Plenty of institutions get away with being lucky that they aren’t targeted by malicious actors. To get a better sense of you as a candidate, it’s best to try and list concrete accomplishments instead.

Responsible for cybersecurity at Forager Systems Inc.

Remember, this company could have been the victim of a terrible cyber attack and this statement would still be true. That’s why framing your achievements and experience this way doesn’t work.

Took over cybersecurity at Forager Systems Inc. and implemented phishing tests, led company-wide training in updated security protocols, and reduced known security vulnerabilities by 86%.

Here, the focus is more on what the candidate did specifically. Showing concrete achievements is hard for a security analyst because your wins are mostly in what you prevent from happening, so focusing on the proactive steps you took is often the best way to go.

How to list your skills

When including your skills you want to follow the same general rules you used for your achievements: using concrete examples. After all, anyone can simply list a bunch of skills (particularly when you’re talking about soft skills) but these lists aren’t going to have much of an impact on recruiters. By giving examples when possible, you’ll force recruiters to really take notice and feel confident that you really possess those skills.

Let’s look at two examples to see what this looks like in practice.

Team player

Because security analysts often have to work on teams or at least coordinate with others within the company or organization, this is a critical skill. But again, listing it doesn’t mean very much. Let’s see what this looks like with an example.

Team player

Organized biannual team building retreats for the digital security team

While it’s hard to “prove” someone is a team player, this example shows them going out of their way to develop a more cohesive team. At the very least, this doesn’t sound like someone who is strongly disliked by their colleagues and thinks team dynamics are important.

The best security analyst hard skills to mention

As mentioned, the most important skills will always vary based on the specific position, but these are the general skills most employers are looking for when hiring a security analyst.

• Ethical hacking
• Cloud computing
• Familiarity with Linux, Unix, and Windows OS
• Security logs
• Network monitoring
• Security Information and Events Management (SIEM)
• Designing security training for employees
• Phishing testing
• TCP/IP
• Firewall protection
• Antivirus and malware systems

The best security analyst soft skills to mention

• Proactive
• Attention to detail
• Works well on a team
• Good written and oral communication
• Works well under pressure
• Creative problem solving/troubleshooting

Why your resume should start with an objective or summary

As mentioned at the beginning, it’s vital to get the most important information across to the recruiter as quickly as possible. But considering most resume sections are dedicated to one specific type of information, you need something more flexible to communicate all of your top qualities.

This is where a resume objective or summary comes in. These sections are flexible enough to allow you to make a strong first impression by focusing the recruiter’s attention on the reasons you’re an ideal candidate for that position. The main difference between them is in length. You generally want to use an objective if you don’t feel the need to explain very much or if your application includes a cover letter.

If you want to explain more about your qualifications right at the start or explain something like the reason for a career change, a longer resume summary is best. Below you’ll find some examples to show you how to write each.

How to write a resume objective

An objective is a single sentence focused on explaining who you are and what you aim to achieve with this specific resume. It should be concise and dense with useful information. The last thing you want is a recruiter needing to re-read your objective to understand it or wondering why you included it in the first place.

As an experienced security analyst I’m ready to ensure your company’s cyber security is up to my high standards and your data is protected.

While this example does focus on the value this candidate will provide, a nice focus, it makes several other critical mistakes. First, it’s written in the first person instead of the third person. But more importantly, it’s vague about the person’s experience while sounding a bit arrogant. This would likely play into the nightmare scenario of hiring a security analyst who’s difficult to work with. Contrast that with this example.

Security analyst with 8 years experience in training employees to improve security protocols and hacker protection looking to improve data protection at Imagine Software.

With this example we get a clear idea about what kind of experience this candidate has and what they hope to achieve with it.

How to write a resume summary

While resume summaries should follow many of the rules resume objectives do, the main thing to point out is that just because they tend to be longer doesn’t mean you should get wordy. Keep your summary focused and on-point.

Security analyst with many years experience working for companies like Intel, Helios Systems, Rise Inc., and Jackpot Solutions. Helped companies large and small respond to crisis situations and improve network security.

Here, the candidate starts by wasting space listing companies they’ve worked for (information which can easily be included elsewhere) alongside vague descriptions of their experience and accomplishments. After reading this, a recruiter won’t feel they have a real sense of this person as a candidate. They will mostly be left with unanswered questions about how they “helped” these companies and what resulted from their work there.

Security analyst with 12 years experience working with industry leaders like Intel develop data breach crisis response plans, leading small teams to proactively test for vulnerabilities, and develop new authentication systems for hundreds of network uses.

Instead of wasting space, this example gets right to the core reasons they should be hired. As a recruiter, you instantly know how much experience they have and what kinds of security work they’ve done. In just a few lines, you get a sense of them as a candidate. That’s what you should be aiming for with your resume summary.

How to target your resume for each application

As alluded to above, it’s important to create a custom resume for each security analyst position you need a resume for. The reason is that this allows you to customize the skills, achievements, and other elements of your resume to fit the needs of that specific employer. It means more work but the higher chances of getting a better job more than make up for it.

Beyond having a better resume, this also communicates that the candidate is willing to take the time to do things the right way (a critical quality for a great security analyst).

How to prepare for a job interview as a security analyst

Because so many of the key skills involved with being a security analyst are hard to demonstrate on a resume (certifications can only do so much) you can expect a job interview to test you on your technical knowledge. The interviewer will also likely try and get a sense of you as a worker, whether you work well on a team and with the non-technical staff who you’ll need to interact with regularly.

The key to being prepared is being comfortable and having the right answers ready. Getting there requires practice. Use the list of likely questions provided below and try to brainstorm some others based on the specifics of this employer. Have a trusted friend or colleague practice with you so you can work on answering them well. This will get you more comfortable with the process as a whole and let you hone your answers until they’re perfect.

Which questions are likely to be asked during the interview process?

• Describe your interest in cyber security.
• Why did you choose to apply here?
• Describe your ideal working environment.
• What do you hope to achieve in this role?
• How would you go about evaluating our greatest security risks?
• If you felt your colleagues here weren’t taking digital security seriously enough, what would you do?
• Can you describe your home network setup?
• Can you explain DNS monitoring to me?
• How would you improve our user authentication practices?

How to make your resume stand out?

If you’ve followed all our advice up to this point, you should already have a standout resume. But there’s one last element you need to really stand out: great design. In a sea of resumes created on Word or Google Docs, some clean and modern design will really stand out (especially because security analysts aren’t known for their design sense). 

But if you’re not a designer and your resume should be in one of the three formats mentioned in the beginning, what can you do? In short, use a great resume builder.

Why you should be using a resume builder

From ensuring your resume is ATS ready to giving you easy access to standout design, a resume builder is an essential tool for creating an excellent security analyst resume. It allows you to stop worrying about technical ATS requirements and design so you can focus on improving your resume’s content. But choosing the right resume builder is hard. You don’t want to pick one, spend the time creating a resume, and then find out it doesn’t meet your requirements.

That’s why Resumebuild.com is an easy choice. It’s been built from the ground up just for candidates like you. It’s got an intuitive builder so you can avoid the formatting headaches which can make creating a resume so difficult. When you can focus on what matters with your resume, the result is better resumes and a better job, so what are you waiting for?

As a product manager, you’re used to considering how all of the teams and elements of production development translate into a product that serves a customer. The good news is that those skills will serve you well when creating a product manager resume. That is, if you apply them in the right way.

In essence, your resume is the product, the sections and content are the product elements, and the customer is… well we’ll get to that in a moment. The key thing is to start the process of creating your resume with this mindset. You’ve already got the skills, you just need to communicate them effectively.

This guide is here to walk you through that process.

This guide will show you:

• Quality product manager resume templates to get you started
• What companies look for in a product manager resume
• What you can do to get your resume past ATS
• How to tailor your resume for recruiters
• The best formatting to use
• How long a product manager resume should be
• Which sections you’ll want to use
• How to highlight your achievements
• Which qualifications you should include
• The best hard and soft skills to include
• How to start your resume with a powerful objective or summary
• Which certifications you might want to include
• How to target your resume to a specific job
• Why a resume builder will help you get it all done faster and easier

Product manager resume template examples

Obviously there’s a lot to get right, but before you start writing your resume you need to get a feel for what the end product will look like. Imagine trying to build an airplane without having seen one and it should be clear why this is so important. You may be thinking “I’ve seen plenty of resumes” but chances are you haven’t seen many great ones.

The standard resume has changed a lot from the days of cookie-cutter Word docs. Today, employers increasingly expect resumes with more polish, better design, and more thought put into them. Have a look at these product manager resume examples to see what we mean. You can try listing what you like and don’t like about them before incorporating those ideas into your own resume.

[Examples]

How to write a product manager resume that will get you through the door

The goal of your resume is to show that you’ll be a great product manager for the specific role you’re applying to. That sounds obvious, but the difference is that your resume isn’t there to show you’re a good person, a generally good employee, or even a good overall product manager.

Getting hired requires targeting your resume and that process begins with understanding who it’s for.

Why creating an effective resume starts with understanding its audience

If your superior asked you who the intended audience of a product you were working on was and you said “everyone” you’d have your desk packed by the end of the day. A product for everyone is a product for no one, and a resume for every job is a resume for no job. If you’re going to get hired, you should be tailoring your resume to its audience.

But who is that audience? Ironically enough, it begins with more of a “what” than a “who.”

How to get your resume past ATS

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are algorithms which quickly scan resumes to determine whether a human should review them or whether they should be discarded. For jobs that receive hundreds of applications, they’re an essential tool. The problem is that while ATS are becoming standard across industries, most applicants have no idea what they are or how they work.

The result is that an enormous number of resumes are unfairly rejected. One study found 62% of employers believed their ATS were rejecting qualified applicants. The key to ensuring you’re not one of them is following these simple steps for beating ATS.

1. Submit a resume in the proper file format. This one is simple, submit a .doc, .docx, or .pdf to ensure you’re not giving an ATS a format it doesn’t know how to read.
2. Use a resume builder to ensure the file is ATS-friendly. The way data is structured within a file has an enormous impact on how an ATS reads it. Columns, charts, images, etc. can all cause problems and lead to accidental rejections. Your best bet is to use a tool specifically designed to produce files that can be properly read by ATS.
3. Use keywords wisely. The basic way ATS work is that they search your resume for specific words and phrases to determine your skills and experience. These are then compared to a set of criteria the ATS was given before. In other words, you want your resume to clearly match that criteria. Fortunately for you, there’s a simple guide to what they’re looking for: the job ad. Use the skills and experience listed in the job ad and incorporate them into your resume, mimicking the wording as closely as possible. Doing this makes the ATS’ job easy, it should be extremely clear that you meet the job criteria.

How to give recruiters what they’re looking for

After you get past ATS you still need to convince your resume’s second audience: the recruiter. Here is where you should be taking your product management skills and putting them to good use. Imagine the recruiter, what pressures do they have in selecting a candidate, what criteria are they using? How can your resume as a product match them as a consumer/audience?

In short, make their job easy. Look to the job ad again and make your resume match its requirements as closely as possible (luckily you should have already done this for ATS). Take frequent breaks to examine your resume while imagining you’re a recruiter. What do you notice and how can it be improved? There are other things you can do as well. The design and formatting should make your resume easy and pleasant to read.

The best formatting for a product manager resume

Formatting is a big deal, it’s all about how you structure the information on your resume. If a recruiter needs to look to a second or third page to see whether you have a certification required for the role, you’ve failed at formatting and the recruiter will not be happy. The best way to avoid this is to follow two rules.

The first is to put the most important information towards the top. If a recruiter can quickly and easily see you match the most important requirements for the job, you’ve just made their job easier. The second rule is closely connected to the first: list your experience in reverse chronological order. Your most recent work experience is the most relevant so it should go first.

How long should a product manager resume be?

This question is a bit like the question “how many features should this product have?” IE, more is not always better. A 3+ page resume is a bit like a product so full of features that it can barely do its core task anymore. That’s why the answer to the question of resume length isn’t fixed. A less experienced product manager should generally stick to one page, while someone with more experience might use two.

The rule of thumb to follow is to look at the content of your resume and ask whether it’s really adding value. Once additional content isn’t adding much to your resume, you can see how long it is and go from there. Just be sure not to throw in more content for its own sake, recruiter’s have limited time to review your resume and will not appreciate being forced to read through fluff and pointless details.

Which sections should you consider including?

Choosing the right sections to include should follow the same rules mentioned above. Only include those that you’re confident make your resume better by including vital information. That said, these are the sections a product manager should consider for their resume:

• Resume objective or summary
• Work experience
• Certifications
• Achievements
• Projects/Products
• Education
• Hard skills
• Soft Skills

What makes a great product manager resume?

The answer to this question is surprisingly simple, it should show you’re the right product manager for this specific role. That means demonstrating an attention to detail, the ability to synthesize all of your qualities into a succinct resume, good written communication, and the fact that you clearly paid attention to the specifics of the job ad. Nail all of those things, and you’ll be ready to get hired.

How to highlight your most important achievements

This is where too many product manager resumes fail. Instead of focusing on achievements, they focus on responsibilities. But the thing is, anyone can have responsibilities. Someone was responsible for the success of New Coke or the Galaxy Note 7’s battery, but responsibility and achievement are not the same.

So instead of focusing on responsibilities, get specific with how your involvement affected the product or project. Specifics will always have a greater impact on a recruiter and they show that you’re not going to be the kind of product manager who ignores details and insists things are fine. Let’s look at some examples to see this in action.

Lead product manager for Krups coffee makers, responsible for overseeing dozens of designers, engineers, and others. Launched one of the company’s most successful home espresso machines.

This both sounds impressive and falls flat. This example demonstrates how even impressive product management experience can sound underwhelming if it’s presented the wrong way. By emphasizing responsibilities and lacking any details on what “success” means in this case, a recruiter is left thinking “that sounds good, but what did you really do?” Let’s see that same experience written in another way.

Product manager at Krupp’s coffee division managing 4 teams and 67 employees. Spearheaded the launch of the ET351, the company’s first digital coffee maker, which increased overall coffee maker sales by 17% in its first year.

Now we know how many people you oversaw, what product you launched, why that product was a unique challenge, and what the result was. In other words, these two sentences managed to convey a lot of important information in a very small space, making a recruiter’s job easier.

What are ideal product manager job qualifications and how should you list them

While the qualifications you include on your resume should always be tailored to the job you’re using it to apply to, there are a few key areas to focus on. Employers will generally want to know these things:

• How many years of experience you have,
• Any relevant education (engineering or marketing degrees, an MBA, etc.),
• Your management style,
• Your general approach to product development,
• Your personality (it’s easier to hire someone who’s likeable),
• Any domain-specific knowledge.

How to include skills on a product manager resume

Experience is great, but the easiest place for an ATS or a recruiter to quickly evaluate your resume and compare it to other candidates is your skills. That’s why it’s best to list them in their own section, making it easy for anyone to quickly get a general feel for what you can do. This could be a simple list or a list with examples below each skill (again, specific examples will make your resume content more impactful.)

Either way, just be sure your skills match what’s asked for in the job ad. This applies all the way to how they’re phrased. Copying the wording of a specific skill helps ensure that an ATS or a recruiter will understand what you’re trying to say: that you are the best candidate. Let’s compare two examples to see the impact of specificity.

Works well with deadlines

It’s better than nothing, but simply listing this doesn’t tell an employer much of anything.

Works well with deadlines

-Completed 4/4 major products led at Krups on time

Adding just a few simple words make the skill far more impactful. A recruiter reading this will be able to really associate this skill with you instead of just scanning over it.

While your skills should always be customized, there are still some common skills you’ll want to consider including.

The best hard skills to mention

• Systems analysis
• Product marketing
• Agile, Kanban, Scrum, or other development systems
• UX
• Financial management (or profit and loss)
• Working with cross-functional teams
• Working under deadlines
• Scope management
• Product design
• Presentation and public speaking skills
• Iteration
• Microsoft Project
• Customer analysis

The best soft skills to mention

• Detail oriented
• Leadership
• Problem solving
• Working well under pressure
• Creativity
• Decision making
• Taking feedback
• Written and oral communication

Why your resume should start with an objective or summary

Above, we talked about the impact of putting the most important information on your resume first. The problem comes when there’s no easy way to include all of that information at the top, some of it might be related to certifications, others might be about education, skills, or experience.

The trick is to use a resume objective or summary as a flexible space to quickly highlight the most important information on your resume. This way, a recruiter has a sense of you as a candidate from the very beginning. It also allows you to better control the narrative of your resume by making a strong first impression. Let’s look at some examples of objectives and summaries to see which you should choose and how to write them.

How to write a resume objective

A resume objective is a single concise sentence which simply states what you aim to achieve with your product manager resume. The key word here is concise. A well written objective should fit lots of information into an easy to read sentence. This is a good choice for opening your resume if you’re also submitting a cover letter and / or if your resume doesn’t require any specific explanations (more on that in the next section). Let’s look at some examples.

I’m an experienced product manager who’s passionate about creating great customer experiences and building healthy team environments.

This resume objective is simply too vague to be useful. A recruiter will be left wondering what precisely “passionate about creating great customer experiences” really means in practice. This creates a first impression that you’re someone who’s all talk and little substance. Let’s see a better version:

Product manager with 6 years of SaaS experience developing 3 Fintech applications at Proxy Digital looking to improve the UX of Cole Digital’s Fintech product offerings.

This example takes another approach. Instead of focusing on giving lots of data about accomplishments (information which can fit easily elsewhere on the resume), it focuses on creating a narrative. It tells the reader that this resume is tailored for this specific position and gives a sense of purpose and intent. The recruiter knows what experience you have and how you want to use that in this new role.

How to write a resume summary

The basic difference between a resume objective and summary is that the summary is longer. But the more important difference is that a summary is what you use when there’s something you need to explain about your application and resume which can’t easily be done elsewhere. Common examples would be explaining a career change or gap in your work history.

Just remember that a resume summary should be just as information dense as an objective. It will be your first impression, so choose your words carefully. Let’s look at two examples to see this in action.

After working as a product engineer for 4 years, I took a break to obtain a degree in marketing in order to transition to a product manager. I’m now looking to begin a new career in that role at your company. Thank you for considering my application.

While this resume summary does a good job explaining a gap in work history and how this person came to apply for a product manager job, it has a few issues. The first is that it’s written in the first person (resumes should always be in the third person). More importantly, it’s too light on details and wastes time with thanking the reader. That recruiter’s time is precious so don’t waste it. Let’s see a better version of that summary.

Product engineer with 4 years experience returning to the workforce after obtaining a marketing degree, now looking to combine technical and marketing backgrounds to lead the product team at Vizio Labs.

This summary manages to be shorter while containing more important information. It specifies the skill sets they plan to use to succeed in the new role and mention the name of the company to ensure the recruiter knows this resume has been tailored. It sounds confident and competent.

Why including certifications and trainings can make the difference

As mentioned above, one of the best ways to boost the impact of your skills is to give examples. Certifications and other courses offer another way to both do this and communicate that you go above and beyond to demonstrate your knowledge. Lastly, they work well as a shorthand to quickly communicate a lot of information about your expertise, helping make the recruiter’s job easier.

But which certifications and training are best for product managers?

Top product manager certifications and trainings to include

• Digital Product Management Certification: Modern Fundamentals
• AIPMM Certified Product Manager (CPM) credentials
• Software Product Management
• Product Management Certification with Lean, Agile, and System Design Thinking
• Master of Science in product Management
• Certified Product Manager
• Product Management 101
• The Product Management Program
• Product Strategy

Fortunately, most of these courses are online and there are ones designed to hone existing skills or to give you a basis for getting started as a product manager.

How to target your resume for each application

If there’s one overriding piece of advice you take from this guide it’s to target your resume for each application. Matching your skills, experience, and wording to a specific job increases your chances of getting past ATS and getting hired. It means extra work, but considering how valuable getting a better job is, the work is well worth it.

The best technique is to begin by carefully reading the job ad several times and taking notes about which skills and experience it requires and other requirements you can pick up on. Then, try researching the company to better understand the work culture, values, and goals it might have for your prospective role. For example, they may have just had a poor product launch, in which case you may want to identify where they could improve and show that you have the qualities to help them do that.

How to make your resume stand out

Besides all of the tips we’ve already discussed, the single best way to make your resume instantly stand out is with great design. A clean, modern look which makes the resume content easy to digest makes you look thoughtful and forward looking relative to the competition which just printed out a 12 point font Word doc. The best way to get that design is by using a resume builder.

Why using a resume builder is a key to success

From ensuring your resume file is ATS-friendly to getting the best modern design possible, using a resume builder vastly simplifies the job application process. After all, you need to focus your time on understanding the company/role to which you’re applying and polishing your resume content until it’s perfect. Choosing a resume builder lets you leave the rest up to the experts.

Lastly, choosing a powerful resume-builder like Resumebuild.com communicates that you went above and beyond in the process. Companies won’t be looking to hire a product manager who does the bare minimum, so ensure it’s clear that you are not that candidate. Get all of this right and the perfect product manager job is waiting for you.

Business analysts are highly valued within any organization on account of how much value they can provide through their expertise. Typically, business analysts analyze a company or business group and document the various processes or systems being used by that business. 

By recording and assessing the business model in question, business analysts can help to guide companies in new and exciting directions, in addition to improving the existing processes and systems as much as possible.

In the following guide, we’ll be walking you through how to write the perfect business analyst resume, designed to catch the recruiter’s eye and jump-start you to the top of the pile. If you’re planning on applying to a business analyst position and you’d like a bit of advice about how best to structure your resume, this is the article for you.

Multiple Template Examples

How to Write the Perfect Business Analyst Resume

How to Format It 

There are several different formats you can opt for when writing a business analyst’s resume, including the reverse chronological layout, the functional format, and the combination format, which blends the best elements from the two other choices. The ideal format for you will depend, essentially, on how much experience you have.

If you don’t have any experience working as a business analyst, it’s best to go for the reverse chronological format. By focusing on your most recent professional position (as well as your degree) you’ll be able to distract from the fact that you haven’t worked as a business analyst before.

On the other hand, if you have plenty of experience working as a business analyst, the combination format is the best layout, because it offers an easy way to combine your skills and experience in one easy section.

What Recruiters Will Look For

When recruiters are going through a stack of resumes for business analyst candidates, they’re going to be keeping an eye out for a few things in particular. It’s no wonder, either, considering the sheer amount of responsibility every business analyst has in their organization of choice.

It’s not an easy job, and there are no two ways about it — sooner or later, you’re going to need to prove your worth by providing top-notch analysis and an objective or calculated summary of the current processes your employers are using. The goal of your resume should be to show whoever’s hiring you that you’re up to the task. Keeping that in mind, here are some of the things that will impress recruiters the most when they’re reading your business analyst resume:

1. A Broad Understanding of the Business World

Owing to the highly technical and analytical nature of your work as a business analyst, you’ll need to prove to the recruiter that you’re already fully grounded in the business world. It’s not good enough to know a thing or two about how businesses are run; you need to have a rock-solid grasp of all the ins and outs. 

Business analysts who understand the corporate landscape and what’s required are a much more exciting proposition than ones who need a little help or training in understanding the finer points of the area. Prove that you know the business world inside and out, and you’ll catch the recruiter’s eye right away.

2. The Ability to Make Complicated Ideas Seem Simple

This one is every bit as important as understanding the business world itself, since a large part of your job will involve presenting the results of your work to people who won’t necessarily be experts in the field. There’s no point in conducting a top-notch analysis of your employer’s business if you’re not able to then condense the more technical points into a straightforward, layman-friendly format.

As well as its direct applications to the position, being able to make complicated things seem simple is an attractive trait across the board. It indicates intelligence, as well as a deep understanding of what you’re talking about in the first place, and it facilitates the kind of interdepartmental collaboration that is so crucial to the way modern businesses are run.

Which Hard & Soft Skills to Include and How to Do It Correctly

Knowing the difference between hard and soft skills is vital for any job you might want to apply for, but in the case of business analyst’s role - it’s a little less straightforward. You may not even know what the hard and soft skills are exactly, since it’s not as obvious as in some other jobs.

Luckily, however, there’s a way around the problem. Business analysts, just like other professions, have clearly defined hard and soft skills that you should be able to differentiate and list without much difficulty. Here’s a comprehensive list of what you should be keeping in mind as you set about creating this aspect of your resume:

Hard Skills

The hard skills that business analysts use in their day-to-day work mostly involve the actual analytic work they do. For this reason, you need to focus on as many specific, technical details as you can, across as many different platforms and disciplines as possible. Here are some of the hard analytic skills you should consider including:

• The ability to create a Process Flow Diagram (visual)
• Familiarity with Business Process Models (textual)
• Proficiency with MS Office programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as a visual modelling tool such as Microsoft Visio
• The ability to use requirements management tools, like DOORS or Caliber

Soft Skills (H4)

If you can tick the analytical boxes mentioned above, you’ll already be presenting yourself as a strong candidate for the business analyst position you’re applying for. To take your resume to the next level, though, make sure to nail the soft skills portion of your resume, since they’re every bit as important as the purely technical aspects of the job. Here are the main soft skills to include:

• The ability to manage projects by yourself, or at least with minimal guidance
• Excellent interpersonal skills, particularly with regards to building relationships
• Problem-solving acumen
• Comfort receiving constructive criticism and incorporating it into your work to improve the end product

• Communication skills

• The ability to delegate well

• Confidence with regards to coordinating work across a range of different departments

What Achievements to Mention and How to Do It Correctly

Achievements are always impressive, no matter what kind of job you’re applying for, but in the case of a resume for a business analyst position, your achievements section gives you a great chance to really show you know what they’re looking for.

Because the job itself is so diverse by nature, if you can show yourself to be a well-rounded individual you’ll impress the recruiter. Compare this, for example, with a much more specific position like an IT specialist. While achievements made in non-IT areas might seem like a distraction in that case, when it comes to being a business analyst they can make all the difference.

Don’t shy away from mentioning achievements that aren’t strictly related to business. Any leadership experience you have will make a good impression, be that in volunteering positions or even a project you undertook at university. Similarly, proof of critical thinking excellence is highly valued — the perfect example for this is a prize you won for an essay at some point.

What to Avoid Mentioning

Just as there are things which are good to mention, there are also points that you’d be better off avoiding entirely. For example, mentioning that you already have an all-inclusive understanding of the business world would be a big mistake, given that it’s impossible to know everything. A large part of the business analyst role is being able to adapt on the job to new information and to be committed to continually improving your own knowledge, and understanding.

Generally speaking, anything that makes the role seem straightforward or simple will be a big red flag to any recruiter going through your resume. Don’t shy away from the complexity of the job by claiming you already understand it inside and out. Rather, embrace the fact that it’s a complicated position, and focus instead on showing that you understand the role thoroughly.

How to Write Resume Objectives and Examples of These

Your resume objective is a great opportunity to make a couple things abundantly clear to the recruiter. Firstly, you’ll be able to show that you’ve gone through the listing in great depth: you can demonstrate this by using specific, targeted language that plays off of some key details mentioned in the description. A well-written objective will also help focus the recruiter’s attention on the most impressive and relevant skills you possess. Take a look at these two examples for inspiration when you go to write your own business analyst’s resume objective:

1. Looking to contribute 6 years of experience working as a business analyst to that position at ABC Corp, utilizing a bachelor’s degree in addition to strong problem-solving skills and the ability to present results in a straightforward, jargon-free manner.

2. Ambitious, focused individual seeking mid-level Business Analyst role at XYZ Inc, leveraging exceptional interpersonal communication skills, extensive experience with business process modelling, and strong problem-solving acumen to carry out client business analysis. 

How to Write a Resume Summary and Examples of This

A resume summary focuses on how much you’ll be able to improve the company you’re applying to, if they were to hire you. Instead of the dry, impartial voice required in writing a resume objective, you should aim for a more active, persuasive style of writing for your summary. Pay particular attention to the below examples, as they’ll show you how you can train the spotlight on your past achievements and successes without seeming over the top. 

1. Experienced business analyst keen to bring problem-solving skills and in-depth knowledge of processes to the same role in XYZ LLC. I love diving into business models and using my analytical ability to come up with clear, emphatic improvements that could be made. I’m passionate about making business models as elegant and effective as possible, and I’m always ready to learn more about the business world.

2. Professional business analyst interested in taking on a new challenge at ABC Corp. and furthering my ability to provide expert analysis and in-depth advice on existing business models. In most recent professional experience as a business analyst I was able to present my findings in clear, down-to-earth language which facilitated interdepartmental collaboration. I’d welcome the opportunity to bring my skills to bear in a new challenge at your organization.

How to List Any Additional Details, like Certifications, Volunteering Experience, Etc.

Because being a business analyst is a complex, wide-ranging role by nature, listing additional details such as certifications you’ve received and volunteering experience can help give you an edge over your competition. It’s important that you come across as a well-rounded, highly capable individual, and the additional details section is also a great chance to display some secondary characteristics such as leadership abilities and interpersonal skills. Here are the best ways to include extra information in your business analyst resume.

1. Certifications

Whether they were earned online or from a regular brick-and-mortar institution, additional certifications you’ve gained over the years are always a good thing to mention. Not only does it help to portray you as a self-starter, it also makes it clear that you have reserves of inner grit that help you see a task through to its completion, which is a particularly attractive trait for business analysts, given the challenging nature of their work.

When you talk about your certifications - less is more, so keep the information short and to the point. All you really need is a line or two that details what the certification actually is, where and how you earned it, and what drove you to pursue that qualification in the first place.

2. Personal Projects

Personal projects you’ve completed in your own free time tell the recruiter a few important things about you. For example, if you’re into woodworking, talking about a few of your most recent constructions will show that you’re a creative person who naturally seeks out new challenges in addition to their standard routine. Moreover, you’ll be helping to present yourself as somebody who isn’t tied down to any one area, which will be very attractive to recruiters hiring for a business analyst position.

Most personal projects will tie into your hobbies and interests, so when you’re considering what to write in this section, make sure you keep your focus on how these achievements are likely to be perceived by the person reading your resume.

How to Write a Business Analyst Resume When You Have Limited or No Experience

Sitting down to write a full resume for a position you have little to no prior experience with can often seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t need to be. Although you’ll be at a natural disadvantage compared to other candidates who might have extensive experience working as business analysts, there are a few steps you can take to help paint your application in the best possible light.

The most important thing to get right is your education section, since that’ll be one of the first places your future employers will be looking to get a more well-rounded idea of who you are as a person. A degree is important, of course, but don’t be afraid to talk about further achievements you managed to pull off throughout your years in education, as this will help offset your lack of experience by bringing other aspects of your personality into the equation.

Another great tip we can give you is to spend as much time as possible on your resume objective or resume summary, depending on which is required. Don’t spare any effort in researching what a great business analyst’s resume objective should look like, and be sure to make several drafts of your own as a means of ensuring it’s as strong as it possibly can be. Because a resume objective doesn’t focus as much on past experience as a resume summary, it’s an excellent way to talk about the value you can bring to your new job without being distracted by a lack of relevant work history.

How to Target Your Resume for a Specific Application

No matter how impressive your resume is in other respects, if you can’t target it to the specific position you’re applying for, you’ll be letting yourself down. Given the fact that you’ll be competing against several other candidates, you need to stand out in as many ways as possible. When a recruiter sees a resume that has clearly been written to take into account the job’s specific requirements, it makes an immediate impression.

The best way to target your resume to the specific job you’re trying to win is to read the job listing itself as closely as you can. Be on the lookout for a few specific terms, which might indicate more exactly what the recruiters are looking for. Once you’ve figured out what they want to hear, all you need to do is talk about how you can meet those needs by mentioning the relevant skills and experience you have.

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See below for the most important business analyst skills that employers are likely to be looking for in the resumes they go through:

1. Technical Competence

A business analyst without much analytical ability isn’t going to be a lot of use to any organization. On the other hand, a business analyst that can talk about exactly which programs and processes they’re experienced with could jump to the front of the queue. 

If there’s a lot of talk in job posting about the technical and analytical side of the position, make sure to focus as much as possible on the exact ways you can handle the demands of the job, such as analysis processes you’re familiar with and software packages you’ve used before.

2. Interpersonal Excellence

In addition to the technical work you’ll be doing as a business analyst, you’ll no doubt have to do a lot of interdepartmental work with your colleagues. This can be challenging for a lot of professionals, as it requires emotional intelligence and leadership skills on top of the analytical work that business analyst roles require.

Words like team, communication, and people skills are a good sign that the recruiters will be particularly interested in a candidate with strong interpersonal abilities. If you come across those terms, don’t be afraid to talk in depth about how you’ve been able to leverage your interpersonal skills in past roles to great effect.

How to Make Your Resume Stand Out

Making your resume stand out among a huge stack of others is easier said than done, but there are a few simple tips you can follow to make sure you’re giving yourself the best chance. The most important thing is to keep your focus on what exactly is required of a business analyst throughout the course of their day-to-day work.

Because your routine will vary based on the demands of the position, you’ll need to sell yourself as a versatile, dynamic character that can adapt to change and thrive even in difficult situations. Too often, people assume that business analyst positions are solely technical, leading them to neglect the interpersonal side of the job. If you can switch the focus towards your soft skills, you’ll be making an impression from the very off, as most of your competition will be focusing on the analytical abilities they can offer.

You’ll also need to prove that you can work with minimal guidance. Business analyst roles typically come with a large degree of responsibility, particularly for some of the bigger projects they’ll be asked to take on. An ideal candidate is one who works well in a team, but can also function autonomously, with little or no oversight from higher management.

If you can make it clear that you’re used to working well on your own, you stand a great chance of separating yourself from the herd. An employee who doesn’t need to be micromanaged is an incredibly attractive proposition to organizations across the board, particularly if the rest of the candidates neglect to focus on that aspect of what they can offer.

How Resumebuild can Help You to Write an Outstanding Business Analyst Resume

With so much to consider, creating a business analyst resume can seem like a challenging task. Fortunately, however, there’s a ready-made solution to the problem that can make your life a whole lot easier: Resumebuild’s resume building tool.

Offering hundreds of professionally pre-built templates packaged in a slick, easy-to-use interface, this resume building tool makes creating your dream business analyst resume straightforward. All you need to do to create the ideal document is select the template that you like the most and fill in your own details. Once that’s done, simply click download and you’ll be ready to get out there and start applying to jobs.