15 Communications Manager Resume Examples for 2025

As a hiring manager, I’ve seen hundreds of resumes for communications managers. Mastering the art of a strong resume is vital. This article provides proven examples and tips for crafting a resume that captures your expertise in media relations and corporate communication. It guides on structuring your experience and skills to best align with the role's demands, ensuring your resume speaks as effectively as the campaigns you'll manage.

  Compiled and approved by Steve Grafton
  Last updated on See history of changes

  Next update scheduled for

At a Glance

Here's what we see in standout communications manager resumes.

  • Quantifiable Impact Is Key: The best resumes show clear impact with numbers like 25% increase in press coverage, 30% growth in social media engagement, 15% reduction in communication overhead, and 20% rise in team productivity.

  • Match Skills To The Job Description: Include skills you have that match the job description. Good ones are SEO/SEM proficiency, crisis management, content creation, branding expertise, and analytics monitoring.

  • Stay Current With Trends: Show you know the latest trends. Use phrases like 'up-to-date with SEO' or 'experienced in video content'. Current trends matter.

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Where to place education

Understand where to place your education on a resume for clarity. As a hiring manager, I recommend placing it after your experience section if you have been working for a while. This makes it easier to see your practical skills first.

For managers in communications, highlight any specialized education such as degrees in communications, marketing, or public relations. Detail any additional training that is relevant to managing teams and crafting messages. This specifics show you have learned skills that are directly related to the job.

Highlight digital proficiency

In communications, show your digital skills. Include experience with social media, content management systems, and analytics tools. These are crucial in today's digital world and can set you apart from other candidates. Make sure to list any software skills related to the communications field.

Ideal resume length

For a communications manager, the resume should be concise yet comprehensive. You should aim for one page if your experience in the field is less than ten years. This helps you showcase your most relevant skills and achievements without overloading the reader with information. Keeping it to one page demonstrates your ability to prioritize and organize content effectively, a key skill for someone in communications.

However, if you are a senior-level candidate with rich professional history, extending to two pages is acceptable. Use the additional space to elaborate on significant campaigns, management experiences, and successes that are relevant to the role you're applying for. Remember, clarity is more important than density. Make sure your resume is easy to read with good use of space, and highlight your best qualifications on the first page to capture the hiring manager's attention right away.

Focus on successful campaigns

For communications roles, detail successful campaigns you have managed. List the objectives, your strategies, and the outcomes. Use numbers to show the impact, like 'increased social media engagement by 50%.' This provides clear proof of your abilities and successes in the field.

Beat the resume screener

When you apply for a job as a communications manager, your resume might first be read by a computer system called an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This system looks for keywords and phrases that match the job posting. To get your resume seen by a hiring manager, you need to pass this automated first step.

Here are ways to make your resume ATS-friendly:

  • Use keywords from the job description. For example, include words like 'public relations' and 'media outreach' because these are common in communications roles.
  • Make sure your job titles and skills are clear. If you have been a communications manager before, write 'manager of communications' or 'lead of media relations' to show your experience.

Keep your resume format simple. Use standard headings like 'Work Experience' and 'Education'. Complex designs can confuse the ATS and cause it to miss important information about your skills and experience.

Show your networking strength

As someone who shapes the voice of a company, building and maintaining relationships is key. Show how good you are at this. Here's what to focus on:

  • Highlight partnerships or collaborations you've led or been a part of. This can show how you bring people together.
  • Include successes in community engagement, like hosting events or panels. This can show you're good at talking to the public and making connections.

Make sure you get these two things across:

  • List any large networks or professional groups you're a part of. This can include industry-specific groups like PR associations or social media forums.
  • If you have worked with well-known brands or clients, mention them by name. This can impress employers by showing the trust and scale of your professional contacts.

Overlooking metrics and clarity

One mistake you might make is not showing clear results in your work. As a hiring manager, I want to see how your work has helped your past employers. Don't just say you managed communication tasks. Show how well you did them. For example, you can say you increased social media followers by 50% in six months. That’s a strong result.

Another issue is using jargon or industry terms that are too hard to understand. Remember, people from different areas will read your resume. Use simple words. Instead of saying, 'Amplified brand engagement metrics,' you can say, 'Got more people to talk about our brand on social media.' Keep it clear and easy to read.

Craft your brand identity

As someone vying for a communications manager role, your personal brand on your resume speaks volumes. You need to show potential employers that you know how to package and present not just products or companies, but also yourself. Here's how to inject your unique brand into your resume:

  • Create a 'Professional Summary' at the top and use it to establish your unique value proposition. Think about what sets you apart as a communicator and make that clear here.
  • Choose a resume layout and design that aligns with your personal brand. If you're about modern and sleek communication strategies, ensure your resume reflects this visually with clean lines and a contemporary font.

Remember, everything on your resume should help employers see your expertise in creating and managing communication strategies. These subtle touches can have a big impact when done right.

Highlight achievements, not tasks

When you write your resume, focus on what you have achieved in your role as a communications manager, not just your daily tasks. You want to show how your work made a difference. For example, don't just say you 'led a team,' but show the results of your leadership with specifics like, 'led a team that increased social media engagement by 40% in a year.'

Here's how you can change a responsibility on your resume into an accomplishment:

  • Before: Responsible for managing the company's external communication strategies.

  • After: Developed and implemented a new communication strategy that resulted in a 20% increase in brand awareness within six months.

Remember, numbers and specific results help you show your impact. Use real data to highlight how you improved your company's communication outreach and effectiveness.

Tailor your resume

When you tailor your resume for a communications manager role, make sure it shows you're good at sharing information and leading teams. You want to make it clear you know how to reach out to people and keep them in the loop. Think about what you've done that's like this job. Use words from the job post.

  • List any campaigns you've led or been a part of and how they did. Use numbers to show success.
  • Show you can lead by mentioning teams you've guided. Say how many people you led.
  • For a new field, link your old job to this one. Say how you used to get the word out or work with others.

Show leadership and growth

When you apply for a role as a communications manager, showing your growth and leadership skills is key. If you have been promoted, it's important to make this clear. Here are ways to show your leadership journey:

  • Include job titles with clear progression, like 'Assistant Communications Coordinator' to 'Communications Specialist' to 'Senior Communications Specialist'.
  • List any leadership roles, even temporary ones, such as 'Acting Communications Director'.

Think about projects where you led a team or an initiative. Describe these experiences to show your ability to lead and manage. Here's how:

  • Use phrases like 'Led a team of 5 to launch a successful social media campaign'.
  • Highlight any times you have trained or supervised others, with phrases like 'Supervised a team of interns and guided them through the company's communication strategies'.

Use strong action verbs

Choosing the right words can make a big difference. When you write your resume, use verbs that show what you have done. This makes your work seem more alive. Think about the tasks you do as a communications manager. Now, find verbs that tell someone how you did those tasks.

Here are some good verbs. Use them to talk about your work. They will help you show your skills. They tell someone that you can do the job well. Your resume will stand out. It will show that you are a good choice for the job.

  • To express your ability to create engaging content, use crafted, developed, produced, composed, formulated.
  • When talking about handling information, choose verbs like managed, coordinated, directed, orchestrated, executed.
  • Show your leadership and team skills with led, guided, motivated, trained, supervised.
  • To demonstrate strategic thinking, use planned, envisioned, analyzed, forecasted, assessed.
  • Highlight your communication prowess with verbs like conveyed, articulated, clarified, negotiated, persuaded.

Want inspiration for other action verbs you can use? Check out synonyms to commonly used action verbs like Helped, Taught, In charge of, Orchestrated, Supervised.

Essential skills for communication roles

When crafting your resume as a communications manager, highlighting the right skills is crucial. Let's focus on the skills you need and where to place them on your resume.

  • Strategic communication planning shows you can design and implement communication strategies.
  • Content creation proves your ability to produce engaging and relevant material.
  • Media relations indicates your experience with press releases and media outreach.
  • Brand management reveals your capacity to maintain and enhance a company's public image.
  • Social media management illustrates your skills in handling platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter.
  • Analytics proficiency shows you can measure the success of communication campaigns.
  • SEO knowledge shows you can increase online visibility.
  • CRM software expertise, like Salesforce, demonstrates your capability to manage stakeholder relationships.
  • Project management reflects your ability to oversee projects from conception to completion.
  • Editing and proofreading indicate your attention to detail and standard of quality.

Remember, you don't need to list every skill. Choose the ones that match your strengths and the job you want. Place them in a dedicated skills section for clarity and ease of scanning. This is important for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) which may screen your resume before a human sees it. Think of the skills section as a quick reference that can lead to a deeper exploration of your expertise in the experience section.

Quantify your impact

As a communications manager, showing your impact with numbers makes your resume stand out. Numbers speak louder than words when it involves your work's success. Think about how you can use data to show what you achieved.

Here are ways to use metrics:

  • Highlight any increase in social media engagement, like a 20% rise in followers or 30% more comments and shares.
  • Show how you improved internal communication by pointing out a 40% reduction in email overload or a 25% quicker response time.

Think about the results of your campaigns. If you led a campaign, how much did web traffic grow? Maybe you saw a 50% increase in website visitors. If you worked on customer newsletters, by how much did you boost open rates or click-through rates? Perhaps there was a 15% improvement in open rates.

Remember to include numbers that show cost savings or budget management, like negotiating deals that led to a 10% lower budget. If you do not know the exact numbers, estimate based on the info you have. Say you helped reduce the time to produce a press release by two hours, or you increased media coverage by five articles per month. These are strong points for your resume.

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