In this article we will answer all your questions, give you some bonus tips and help you end your job hunt agony way sooner then you might be expecting.
With the capitalism, digital marketing and advertising fields blossoming at peak, the copywriter and content writer positions are in demand to say the least.
With better understanding of mass psychology and realization of the power of digital marketing, digital copywriter jobs are available easily because very company and industry needs them.
With the digital ads you also need the SEO and that is why Copywriters with search engine optimization knowledge and skills are even more in demand.
To secure a good job you need an impressive resume, without that you may not get a job even when jobs are available everywhere.
Let's get to it then!👇
How to write a job winning Copywriter resume?
Your search engine optimization knowledge and writing skills will be truly important when you get that job however, while you are on the job hunt, what matters is how you present your knowledge, skills along with your professional experience.
You need to follow certain resume writing guidelines to reflect professionalism and intrigue the hiring managers.
First of all, let's talk about the language. Again, as a copywriter you know how important the language is and what kind of effect the language has on the reader. Difference of tone can change the impact completely.
For your professional resume, you need to use past tense and third person while writing details. You need to avoid pronouns in sentences to make your information formal rather than informal.
When you are done writing, you need to proofread the content, we don't need to tell you how spelling mistakes and grammatical errors can be off putting. Especially when the hiring manager is looking at your copywriter resume, they will expect utmost accuracy of language because that's an essential skill for a writer.
Whether you are writing a junior copywriter or senior copywriter resume or entry level copywriter resume, you need to follow these guidelines very carefully because it is applicable for all professional resumes.
After writing your copywriter resume, you need to save it with formal label, type your full name and then the term 'resume' or 'CV'. Proper labeling is important when you are a professional copywriter.
The format of the document is also important because it will decide if your resume can be scanned by the applicant tracking system or not and also if hiring manager is able to view your resume or not. Not all the software and mediums are compatible for all document formats.
You need to save your copywriter resume in word document format or the PDF document format.
With these guidelines, you will be able to write a copywriter resume that meets the professional resume standards.
Difference between a Copywriter & a Content writer
People may not know this and recruiters also post job ads often without understanding that copywriter and content writer are not the same. You may have both content writing skills and copywriting skills, however content writing and copywriting are two different concepts.
Content writing is for information, it is lengthy and helps the SEO. On other hand copywriting is for sales and grabbing attention of the target audience.
You should understand the difference and reflect it on your resume as well. Ensure that if you have both the skills and you are open to both roles' responsibilities, you reflect that on your resume as well.
A Perfect Copywriter Resume Essentials
Writing a perfect copywriter resume requires knowledge of some essential aspects for writing each section. Your writing styles may vary but there are certain details that you need to cover.
Accurate Contact Info
On the top of your copywriter resume will be your resume header. The header should include your contact information section. You need to type your full name. Then your contact number with area code-type it in formal manner.
Next you need to include your professional email ID. It should be formal and professional with your name. You can also include your home address and photograph however neither are mandatory.
If you are active on LinkedIn and have your profile carefully curated and updated, you can also mention the link of your LinkedIn profile. If you have a portfolio link of all your work and projects, you can include that in the header as well.
Copywriter Resume Summary
After the contact information you need to write the copywriter resume summary. In the resume summary, you need to include the most important highlights of your profile. You need to include the total years of experience.
You need to mention the key accomplishments and key skills in the professional summary. You can also include relevant areas you have contributed to such as graphic ideation and video editing as these areas go hand in hand with copywriting content.
You can also mention any recognitions you have received in this personal statement. At last, you need to mention what kind of opportunities you are looking for and how you will utilize your experience and skills to contribute to the client's success.
Make sure you write the details in bullet points and keep the sentences short, crisp and concise. Do not exceed the limit of 5 bullet points and write minimum of 3 bullet points.
Professional Experience
After the summary you need to mention your experiences. Note the job title, employer name and the employer period before each experience. While writing the details you need to include every responsibility and skills that you utilized.
You can also mention your exceptional performances and how your contribution helped the company's success. You need to mention all the usual tasks that you were responsible for along with anything outside of your job description that you helped with or contributed to.
- search engines
- professional website content
- email marketing
- landing pages
- engaging content
- persuasive copy
- marketing materials
- ad campaigns
- marketing content
- advertising copy
- press releases
- marketing copy
- writing copy
- printed media
You can mention your ability to handle multiple clients at once, how you helped establish quality standards in previous positions, how you helped previous clients with their sales. Ensure that you mention every relevant detail because even smallest of details can be important because that's exactly what a recruiter might be looking for.
Educational Background
Your educational background can be communications or journalism or any other. Many people graduate in law or engineering and choose copywriting career. You might need a bachelor's degree however. You can mention your degree along with the education institute name in the copywriter resume's education section.
You should avoid mentioning the graduation year as it can lead to bias and might affect your chances of getting the job.
Copywriting positions are filled with copywriting skills and experience so you do not need to worry about having directly related degree. You can mention relevant coursework if your degree is not relevant.
Skills Section
The skills section is very important, this where you can mention your skills. You can incorporate these skills in other sections as well however this section will add great value too.
Your employment history may not always reflect how you are qualified for the copywriting positions and you need to provide some proofs. The skills list inclusive of soft skills help you with that.
- Copywriting skills
- Marketing skills
- Technical skills
- MS Office
- Editing skills
- Soft skills
- Working with marketing teams
- Meeting strict deadlines
Job seekers looking for copywriting jobs may not realize how important is the creativity. Creative copywriter knows that you need to reflect your ability of being creative when you are looking for jobs to make your copywriting career.
Creativity is something that never fails to fascinate the audience which is why it is a must for the copywriter resume as well. A creative resume is more fascinating than usual one and you can utilize your creativity for your resume.
Certificates
If you have acquired any certificates from courses or programs or workshops, you should include them. They add great value to your copywriter resume.
Mention the certificate along with the platform you received it from. You can also mention in brief, what you learned from these courses.
Bonus Tips
Research
One of the most important tips is that you do some research before writing your copywriter resume.
Research always improves your knowledge and with improved knowledge, you are bound to do any thing that you are about to do, in better manner.
In this case, you will write your copywriter resume better if you have done some research of your role, responsibilities and industry.
If you are doing copywriting for education industry or healthcare industry or any other industry, you will need to be updated with the current trends and everything.
Copywriting is all about grabbing attention and driving sales and for that you need to be updated with current affairs, current trends and everything in between.
For example, as a copywriter you may need to know which meme is currently most popular and create a copy for your client's product or service that fits into that trend and attracts a lot of target audiences.
The research will also help you understand the usual expectations of the employer and what extra you can offer to stand out.
Format
There are various resume formats that you can choose from. As a copywriter you understand the importance of presentation and information positioning. The right resume format helps you with just that.
The resume format provides you with an outline of sections and a guideline on how the sections are to be written. Most preferred formats are functional resume format, reverse chronological resume format & the combination resume format.
The functional resume format is suitable for those who do not have significant work experience. This format helps you focus on the skills section and education section because that is what you are likely to show to prove your competency for the role as a fresher.
The second format is defined the experiences described in reverse chronological order in the experience section. The reverse chronological resume format is suitable for those who have significant work experience or even an extensive work history.
The last one- combination resume format is the combination of above two formats and helps you focus both on skills and experiences.
Especially the transferable aspects of experience and skills. This format is suitable for those who are looking for career change.
For you, reverse chronological may be the suitable one. Choosing the right format is important because it sets the outline of your section and helps you figure out how to present your profile and how to write the details in each section.
Relevant Keywords
The applicant tracking systems or the ATS is the software utilized by the hiring managers across the industries to scan the resumes and job applications they receive to make the resume shortlisting process easier.
The applicant tracking systems work on the parameters set by the hiring managers which is usually the relevant keywords to the role. You find these relevant keywords in the role or the job title, the industry jargons, the copywriter job description for the copywriting role, job duties and responsibilities and so on.
You need to ensure that you include these keywords in your copywriter resume throughout every section. With this you can easily beat the ATS and get past the ATS filters.
Conclusion
The hiring process may be complex however with a well written resume, you can definitely increase your chances of getting the job you want. With the right presentation of your experience and top skills, you can impress the recruiter.
Having read this article, now you know all about writing a copywriter resume. You should also check out our resume writing guides and examples along with resume templates. Good luck with the job hunt!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Should I mention that I have written marketing content on my copywriter resume?
Yes, copywriting is as important for marketing as it is for advertising and it will surely add value to your copywriter resume.
How long should my copywriter resume be?
A standard professional resume should not exceed the limit of 2 pages. You can try to keep your copywriter resume 1 or 2 pages long.
Will the engineering degree on my copywriter resume be a minus point?
Not necessarily, as long as you have relevant skills and experience, your education will not work against you even if irrelevant. Many choose the copywriting career after irrelevant education.
