The rise of social media has not only completely transformed how we communicate with each other as individuals, but also how businesses communicate with us as existing and potential customers. 

As Bonnie Sainsbury, an award winning social media influencer and digital business strategist once said, “Social media will help you build up the loyalty of your current customers to the point that they will willingly, and for free, tell others about you.”

A company with a strong social media presence and strategy can reap enormous rewards including stronger branding, growth in their customer base, an increase in website traffic, and ultimately, a better bottom line. On the flip side, a weak social media presence and strategy can spell disaster for a company. Those that fail to capture audiences on social media or make the wrong moves may not only potentially damage their reputation, but also lose customers and sales.

It’s no wonder, then, that highly-skilled social media managers have become one of the most sought-after professionals in the workplace. After all, almost all companies – regardless of which industry they’re in – can reap the aforementioned rewards if they hire a strong social media manager to oversee their social media operations and personnel. 

Whether you’re a social media manager who is on the hunt for a new job, or you’re a social media professional who is eager to finally take on a managerial role, you’ve come to the right place. 

Our 2020 social media manager resume examples and guide will show you how to keep ahead of the competition and get hired for the most prized positions out there. Just keep reading and you’ll discover a range of practical resume writing tips and tricks such as: 

• What recruiters are seeking and how to give it to them
• What the ATS is and why it’s critical to create an ATS-friendly resume
• Which skills are essential to highlight in your job search
• How to highlight your training and certifications
• The simplest way to make a resume that’s worthy of going viral

1. Multiple Template Examples

2. How Do You Write a Social Media Manager Resume That Will Get You Hired?

How to format the resume

As a social media manager, you’ll know full well that image is everything. In order to create a hit social media post, you’ll need to do everything in your power to ensure that it looks enticing enough for viewers to engage with in the first place. The post will therefore need to be organized in such a way that immediately captivates them without too much thought on their behalf.

It may sound surprising, but this is also the case for your resume. After all, recruiters spend an astonishingly short amount of time (an average of just 6 seconds!) reading each resume. That means that in order to want to write a resume recruiters can’t get enough of, you’ll need to make it both easy and enticing to read and consume. 

It’s for these reasons that we always advise job seekers to use a tried-and-tested resume format to keep their resume looking neat and organized. If you’re an experienced social media manager, the most obvious choice out of all of the resume formats is a reverse-chronological format. 

The reason it makes sense to use this format is because it puts a spotlight on your career progression and achievements. It does this by positioning your “Employment History” section prominently in your resume and also by arranging each of your jobs in reverse-chronological order (starting from your most recent job and working backwards from there).

Another important part of making your resume captivating for recruiters is ensuring that it upholds particular layout rules. For better or worse, recruiters aren’t at all accommodating when it comes to this matter. They tend to have quite a narrow idea of what a resume should look like, so it’s advisable to play by these so-called rules. We’ve listed the main ones you should make sure to follow below: 

• • Number of Pages: 1 page at most.
  • Fonts to Use: Standard fonts that you use to write your monthly reports, such as Calibri and Arial.
  • Fonts to Avoid: Any fonts that a more conservative company would request you avoid using to create social media assets, such as Punquin Crazy Pants and Dream Script.
  • Margins: 1 inch on all sides.

• Line Spacing: 1 or 1.15.

• Header size: 14-16 point size.
• Text size: 11-12 point size.

Pro tip: If you believe that your professional experiences don’t sound too crash hot, it may be in your best interests to select another type of resume format that doesn’t emphasize this aspect as much. We suggest looking into using a functional resume format instead. This format is designed to primarily draw a recruiter’s attention to your skills first and professional experiences second.

What are recruiters looking for? How can you target your resume so that you can offer these qualities to them?

Recruiters are looking to hire a social media manager who possesses the know-how, skills, and right attitude to take a company’s social media presence and strategy to the next level. Whether through formal education, training and certifications, and/or on-the-job experience, an ideal candidate must offer a high level of social media savviness. 

They must demonstrate a strong ability to utilize the right tools and strategies, formulate impactful campaigns, track results, and boost the company’s overall social media efforts across all key channels, to name just a few of the qualities recruiters are after. 

As this is a management position, recruiters are also looking for a candidate who can expertly manage a team of social media professionals. An ideal candidate must provide them with the necessary guidance as well as leadership to ensure they are all working to their full potential.

Needless to say, if you want a recruiter to perceive you as the candidate they’ve been looking for all along, you’ll need to create a killer resume that addresses the precise qualities they’re after. The process of doing so is called targeting your resume for each application. All you need to do to target your resume is to incorporate the same qualities a recruiter mentions in a job ad into your resume.

That way, when they read your resume, they will clearly see the strong connection between what they’re looking for and what you’re offering. It’s for this reason that you should never be satisfied with submitting a generic resume. If you do so, you can pretty much wave goodbye to your chances of being hired. 

If you want to get hired for your dream job, you’ll need to make sure to step up to the challenge of customizing your resume each and every time. As we explore in the following section, doing so is not only vital to address recruiters’ needs, but also those of the ATS. Keep reading to learn more.

Targeting your resume for each application is a no-brainer if you want to get recruiters knocking on your door. But there’s another reason you need to ensure your resume needs to incorporate the very same qualities a recruiter mentions in a job ad: ATS.

ATS, which is the abbreviation of Applicant Tracking System, is a special type of recruitment software which supports recruiters to work their way through the countless applications they receive for every job. Many recruiters rely on ATS to vet candidates’ resumes before they look at them themselves. In fact, in many cases, your resume may not even get seen by a recruiter unless it makes it past the ATS!

If this sounds unbelievable, consider what Josh Bersin, the principal at HR consulting firm Bersin by Deloitte, has to say on the matter. He revealed in an article by CIO that, “Most companies have thousands of resumes sitting in a database that they’ve never looked at.” 

Before you take this as a sign that making a resume is useless, keep in mind that your resume is still the most important resource in your job application. What this actually means is that in order to guarantee your resume will be read by a human, you’ll need to ensure it’s 100% ATS friendly. 

How do you achieve this feat? Look carefully at the job ad of the role you want and search for words (called keywords) that express the qualities a recruiter is after in an ideal candidate. For example, specific skills, experiences, attributes, and so on. Then, incorporate any keywords that are applicable to you into your resume.

This will help you get past the ATS because it primarily determines which resumes it will pass based on whether keywords have been included. However, keep in mind that you’ll need to include them as naturally as possible, because otherwise your resume will be flagged either by the ATS or the recruiter.

For example, let’s say you want to target the keyword ‘Buffer.’ Don’t try to over-optimize it by repeating it arbitrarily like this candidate did in their “Employment History” section:

• Scheduled posts using Buffer because based on a comparison of using Buffer and Hootsuite, Buffer proved to be more efficient.

Instead, try to incorporate keywords as naturally as possible so that they don’t stick out from the rest of what you’ve written. To show you what a difference this will make to your resume, we rewrote the above achievement with this in mind:

• Scheduled posts using Buffer to ensure social media posts were always posted during times when reader engagement was proven to be optimal. 

What are the technical and interpersonal skills a social media manager needs?

Not just anyone can excel at being a social media manager. Contrary to what some people may assume, this role doesn’t just entail casually scrolling through social media sites and posting something on them every so often. 

You need to be able to draw on your social media expertise to pinpoint not only what content to post, but also how, where, and when to do so. Additionally, you are responsible for strategizing the best ways to engage with and grow your followers on a variety of different channels. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the technical skills you’ll need to employ!

You will simultaneously need to draw on a range of interpersonal skills to ensure that you complete all tasks in a productive and positive manner. Your interpersonal skills will also be crucial to effectively engage with everyone you interact with, from your team and other staff members, to clients and followers/customers. 

Considering all of this, you may think that you’ll be doing yourself a favor by cramming in as many skills as possible into your resume. To the contrary, the opposite is true.

To impress recruiters, you must be ultra selective and strategic about which skills you feature in your resume. Specifically, you should strongly emphasize the skills you possess that align with those that the recruiter is after. 

Fortunately, you don’t need to be a mind reader to discover which skills a recruiter is giving preference to. All you need to do is search for skills-related keywords in the job ad of the position you wish to apply for. In case you’re wondering – yes, these are the very same keywords we mentioned in the section above! If you skipped that section, we suggest going back and giving it a good read.

Once you know which skills to target, you should start working them into your resume. Basically, you should feature them in a total of 3 sections. Each of these sections will require a slightly different approach, so pay careful attention to our advice below:

• List around 6 to 8 in a dedicated “Skills” section. Separate each skill using either commas or bullet points. 
• Mention a few stand out ones in your “Resume Objective” or “Resume Summary” section. Remember, this is the section many recruiters read first. 
• Add all of the skills you wish to target naturally throughout your “Employment History” section. Doing so will allow you to explain how you put each skill into practice.

With all of this talk about your skills, we’re sure that you’re curious about which ones recruiters may be on the hunt for. While it’s important to keep in mind that each recruiter will be after a unique set of skills, there are some general ones that are likely to keep popping up on your job search.

To this end, we compiled lists of both the technical and interpersonal skills we found in real-life social media manager job ads. You can take a look at them to gain an insight into which skills are in high demand right now:

Technical skills

• Daily social management of all key channels such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Instagram Stories, and Pinterest
• Sourcing and delivering images for all social that is on brand
• Building project timelines and updating marketing calendars across digital and bespoke events and campaigns
• Organizing key campaign launch dates and ensuring tasks are being create in timely manner
• Deep understanding of the company's voice, tone, style, and creative approach
• Ability to develop tactics and campaigns that drive the business goals
• Managing a team of social media coordinator
• Gathering analytics (social captures, pageviews, campaign highlights) 
• Creating monthly reports on all running campaigns
• Seeking out strategic partnership opportunities with social media platforms to deliver business goals

Interpersonal skill

• Enthusiasm
• Adaptability
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Problem-solving
• Teamwork
• Providing clear directions
• Ability to delegate 
• Decision-making abilities
• Managing multiple projects under strict deadlines
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment

Pro tip: Don’t forget to include any well-known social media tools that you’ve used to organize and implement your work as a social media manager! Needless to say, you should give preference to highlighting those mentioned in a job ad. But to really impress, include some additional ones that are bound to catch the recruiter’s eye. Check out this list of 50 social media tools to get your brain ticking.

How do you list your education?

Umming and ahhing about whether to include details about your educational background in your resume? The short answer is that it’s always a good idea to do so. Recruiters expect to see certain sections in your resume, and an “Education” section is definitely one of them.

It’s ideal if you graduated from a relevant college degree such as marketing, media management, or business. But even if your degree isn’t directly relevant, it’s still worth adding it to your resume. Do the same if your high school diploma is your highest educational attainment. 

The reason it’s important to list your education is because it sheds a light on some of the knowledge and skills you bring to the table. Plus, given that this section takes up such little space but provides high value, it can only enhance rather than hinder your application. 

To list your education, provide the following information about each relevant degree or diploma:

• The name of the degree or diploma
• The name of your specialization (if relevant)
• The name of the college or institution you obtained it from
• The state the college or institution is located in
• The years you studied it

For example:

• B.S.B.A. in Marketing (Comprehensive Marketing Specialization), University of West Florida, 2016 - 2020

How to list any additional details, like training and certifications?

Including additional details in your resume, like your training and certifications, can really push you ahead of the pack. As any recruiter will tell you, a well-trained social media manager is far more likely to be a fantastic hire than one with little or no training. So if a recruiter spots that you have undertaken a number of relevant and eye-catching training sessions and certifications, you’re sure to be considered a top candidate for the job.

So which ones are worth adding to your resume? You should feature any relevant training and certifications that you undertook as part of your current and/or past social media jobs. You should also feature any that you completed on your own accord. Some examples of relevant courses include:

• Social media training courses and certifications
• Digital marketing training courses and certifications
• Training or certifications focused on how to use a specific social media tool

Other types of training courses and certifications that aren’t directly related to social media that would be highly beneficial to feature include: 

• Business management training courses and certifications
• Any training courses and certifications related to how to be an effective manager

To include your training and certifications, create a separate “Training and Certifications” section. Provide the following information about each one you have to your name:

• The name of the training or certification
• The name of the institution that provided it
• The state the training or certification is valid in
• The year you obtained it

For example:

• Social Media Marketing Training, Certstaffix Training, LA, 2020

Pro tip: If your “Training and Certifications” is in desperate need of a boost, consider completing an online course. There are plenty to choose from that are specifically designed for social media professionals. If you’re after some ideas, check out this guide from Hootsuite, which features both paid and free options.

How to write a resume objective and examples of this

If you’re gunning for your first social media manager job, including a resume objective is an absolute must. It’s akin to a written elevator pitch that tells the recruiter in 2 to 4 sentences why you’re the perfect hire for the job. As you won’t have any direct experience to highlight, you can instead focus on your professional experiences in social media.

When you’re writing out your resume objective, you’ll need to be mindful of the mistakes entry-level candidates tend to make. We’ve featured the most significant ones in the following resume objective example:
 

• If there’s one thing that’s clear it’s that I absolutely love social media! I have proven myself to be a skilled social media coordinator who knows how to achieve great social media media results with her eyes closed. While I have never been in a managerial position, I believe that I have the appropriate skills and attributes to really knock your socks off!

Can you work out what this candidate did wrong? We’ve summarized the main sore points below. The candidate:

• Failed to provide any evidence that they can actually achieve the “great social media media results” they promise.
• Opted for an overly casual tone over a professional one.
• Directly referenced the fact that they’re inexperienced as a social media manager.
• Didn’t highlight any relevant skills, experiences, or attributes that they bring to the table.
• Was overly vague in describing themselves as a professional. 

What, then, should you aim to do instead? Check out the following example of a well-written resume objective:

• Social media strategist with 3+ years of experience and a Bachelor in Digital Marketing who has a proven track record for growing website traffic via social media marketing by 10x. Highly-experienced with planning and implementing award-winning omni-channel campaigns. I demonstrated my leadership and teamwork abilities by assisting my manager to train a total of 5 junior social media coordinators. 

In just about the same number of words as the previous candidate, this candidate wrote an eye-catching overview of themselves that would go a long way in convincing a recruiter to take their application seriously. We’ve listed precisely what they did right below so you keep them in mind when you’re writing your own resume objective. The candidate:

• Provided evidence that they are already a skilled social media professional by highlighting an example of the impressive results they have achieved.
• Provided evidence that they have the potential to be a great manager by offering an eye-catching example of their burgeoning managerial skills.
• Maintained a consistent professional tone throughout their objective.
• Didn’t directly reference the fact that they’re inexperienced as a social media manager and instead focused on what they are experienced in. 
• Highlighted a number of relevant skills, experiences, and attributes that they bring to the table.
• Quantified their achievements using numbers.
• Was specific when describing themselves as a professional. 

How to write a resume summary and examples of this

If you already have experience as a social media manager, it’s vital to include a resume summary. Similar to a resume objective, it allows you to provide an overview of yourself in 2 to 4 sentences. The glaring difference between them is that in a resume summary, you shouldn’t hold back from highlighting how experienced you are. After all, you’ve earned it!

Just be sure not to fall into the usual traps candidates make, like the following resume summary exemplifies:

• Having worked as social media manager for a number of years, I have what it takes to be an incredible Social Media Manager at Day & Night Digital Marketing Agency. I am well-versed in all forms of social media and have a number of impressive achievements to my name. I am certain I will produce amazing results for your company if I get the chance to take charge of your social media campaigns. 

If you’re wondering what faux pas this candidate made, refer to our overview of them below. The candidate:

• Didn’t specify precisely how long they’ve been working as a social media manager.
• Providing general rather than specific statements about themselves.
• Attempted to reassure the recruiter that they’ll be an “incredible” social media manager, but didn’t back this up in any way.
• Claimed that they’re “well-versed in all forms of social media” instead of offering a richer insight into their skills and experiences.
• Asserted that they will produce “amazing results” but didn’t specify what this actually means and how they plan to achieve them. 
• Failed to mention anything about managing a team, which is also a crucial part of being a social media manager.

Interested to see how a well-written resume summary looks like? See the example below: 

• A creative and strategic media manager with over 4 years of experience in social media (2 of which as a manager), I am eager to bring my experience with working with clients such as Nike as well as my highly-organized approach to managing a team to Day & Night Digital Marketing Agency. I have spearheaded 15+ multi-million dollar campaigns and have increased social media profile followers at my current company by 10x in under a year. Facebook Blueprint Certified.

Needless to say, this is a million times more enticing than the previous resume summary example. You can follow suit by noting all of the qualities that make it so strong. The candidate:

• Specified precisely how long they’ve been working as a social media manager.
• Providing specific rather than general statements about themselves.
• Reassured the recruiter why they’ll be an asset to the company by highlighting an example of a well-known client that they’ve worked with.
• Quantified their achievements by using numbers to bring some of their key achievements to life. 
• Mentioned what their approach is to managing a team.
• Highlighted their relevant certification.

How to make your resume stand out

The fact of the matter is that there’s no shortage of social media managers – many of whom will be job hunting just like you. That means that you need to be as prepared as possible to blow the competition out of the water. 

Applying each of the tips we shared above will definitely give you a solid head start. But it will still be necessary to take some further steps to guarantee that your resume truly stands out. Here’s what we suggest you do: 

• Provide a link to your online portfolio: If you want your resume to scream “pick me!” be sure to provide a link to your online portfolio that includes your most prized social media achievements to date. You can include it in your “Contact” section or “Resume Summary” or “Resume Objective.”
  
  It makes for a fantastic resume addition because instead of just reading that you’re a “talented social media manager who creates killer social media campaigns,” a recruiter will be able to see it for themselves. If you’re unsure of how to begin, we suggest taking a read of these 5 useful tips .

• Show that you live and breathe social media: Any social media manager worth their bread and butter will live and breathe social media – both on and off the job. For the most part, your resume should focus solely on your professional accomplishments. But given the nature of your job, it may be worthwhile sharing links to one or more of your personal social media accounts in your “Contact” section.
  
  Needless to say, your accounts should be appropriate and relevant enough to share in the first place! For example, it’s a waste of space to include your Twitter handle if you haven’t posted since 2014, but if you regularly post on LinkedIn or have thousands of fans on Pinterest include those profiles instead.

• Clean up your social media presence: Speaking of your social media accounts, it may be wise to tidy them up. While it’s well-known that recruiters often scan candidates’ social media profiles, they’re much more likely to do so for social media managers. As such, if there’s any content that you don’t want potentially scrutinized by recruiters and your potential future boss, either make it private or delete it. 

• Keep in mind that while more modern companies generally don’t mind what employees post, more conservative companies likely will. Even if there’s nothing on your accounts that could raise some eyebrows, it’s still a good idea to conduct a social media clean up so that you can be sure that you’re presenting your best self online. After all, you certainly don’t want your resume to be rejected because of your SM or online presence!

3. How Resumebuild.com’s Resume Builder Tool Can Empower You to Make an Unforgettable Social Media Manager Resume 

Making post after post go viral on Twitter and Facebook? Check.

Running a multi-million dollar, omni-channel social media campaign? Check. 

Putting together a resume that convinces recruiters to hire you? Well, that’s a bit harder! 

While you could do your job with your eyes closed, you’ll face the prospect of drawn-out job search unless your resume makes this clear. We know that it’s not exactly fair, but submitting an impressive social media manager resume really is that vital to finally succeeding in your job search.

If you want to get hired quickly for a job you love, your resume needs to be nothing short of perfect. As you may have concluded from reading our guide above, this is far easier said than done if you intend to use the standard method of making a resume.

Fortunately, you also have the option of using an innovative resume making method that will empower you to make an unforgettable social media manager resume in a matter of minutes. We’re talking about none other than our handy resume builder tool, which you’ll find available on Resumebuild.com. 

Think of our resume builder tool as your secret sidekick in your job search. It will point you in the right direction so that you can create a resume that ticks all of the boxes a recruiter is seeking from a social media manager. You’ll start off by choosing an HR-friendly template from our extensive template library. Then, you’ll work on piecing together each major section of your resume. Don’t worry, we’ll provide you with plenty of pre-written examples to ensure your resume sounds just right! Finally, you’ll get the chance to review your completed resume before downloading it.

Yes, using these three main steps sound almost unbelievably simple to complete, but it really is that straightforward to make your resume using our resume builder tool. If you have a couple of minutes to spare, why not start creating a memorable resume today?