Digital Media Manager Resume Examples + Guide

Businesses large and small need a steady stream of well-written, well-optimized content for their websites, social media channels, and other marketing materials.

The good news is this means positions in digital media management are abundant.

The bad news is, there are a lot of qualified people vying for the same jobs.

So how do you demonstrate your value to a hiring manager?

It won’t be enough just to meet the basic requirements. You’ll be in a deep pool of applicants who are also qualified for the job.

So your resume will need to demonstrate that you are not only qualified but that you are a good digital media manager. With a proven track record of all that entails.

So much of conveying your value is in how you present information on your resume and cover letter.

No matter what your experience level is, with well-formatted, well-written content, you will land interviews and ultimately win the job.

So where to begin?

We’re going to help you by outlining in this article everything you need to show that you will be a rock star in this position if hired.

Summary

1. Resume Template
2. Formatting
3. Writing Your Resume Summary
4. Areas of Expertise
5. Writing Your Work Experience
6. Writing Your Education Section
7. Additional Sections
8. Resume Points to Remember
9. Resume “Don’ts” to Remember
10. Some Helpful Tools

Let’s begin with a sample resume to demonstrate how all the resume pieces fit together. Then we will break each section down to really drill in to how to write the best Digital Media Manager resume you possibly can.

As someone who spends a lot of time organizing content, you already understand the incredible importance of arranging and articulating information clearly.

This will massively work in your favor as you begin drafting your resume.

Since many companies now receive so many applicants for one job opening, they often use bots to scan for keywords before your resume is ever seen by a human reviewer.

This is important to know when getting your materials together because you’ll want to ensure you are using formatting and language that is scannable by bots.

However, even after you’ve passed that first hurdle, on average, most hiring managers spend a mere 6 seconds scanning resumes, so it’s very important that your top-selling points are apparent from the get-go.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to layout your resume in reverse chronological order.

This format puts your most recent position first -and then goes backwards through your work history.

Odd, outlandish, or difficult to read fonts will work against you, so avoid them unless there were some specific instructions to use different formatting in the job description.

Part of making resumes scannable and easy to read is a good use of white space. It helps guide the eye and separate information so that it is legible.

Be mindful of this as you align your columns and bullet-lists, presenting a clean, tidy, and well-organized aesthetic.

Because you have so short a time to get the attention of whoever is viewing your resume, the content that is viewable first will be the most significant.

Your resume summary, therefore, is incredibly important.

It begins your resume, right at the very top of the page.

It’s the first thing the hiring manager will see.

Your first impression.

Your first chance to knock their socks off.

This is your elevator pitch. Your 2-3 sentences to really sum up who you are and what you’re about.

Since you need to cover a lot of ground in just a couple of sentences, your summary should be a curated collection of the crème de la crème attributes you’re bringing to the table.

Generalities won’t do you any good here.

The old adage of “show, don’t tell” is applicable to your resume.

If you don’t use text that proves you are specifically skilled in all (or most) of the key areas, you won’t be accurately demonstrating your value and you certainly won’t be standing out from the rest of the pile.

We promise a specific, well-written, and well-organized summary will instantly give the hiring manager hope that you are the digital media manager of their dreams.

Pro Tip: It used to be more common to write a resume objective instead of a resume summary. It’s not as common now, however, since the bottom line of the objective is always to get the job. It’s best to write a shining and targeted resume summary that demonstrates your value and has the potential to land you more interviews. However, if you are a new grad or changing careers, an objective may be a better fit until you’ve gained more experience in your field.

Alright, let’s put some of these theories into practice with summary examples for digital media managers.

The first example pops, right?

You can really tell the difference when comparing both examples side by side.

In the first case, we are given demonstrable instances where the candidate shows a relevant skill set.

Power words are used that convey action and confidence.

The second example is a bit lackluster.

It mixes an objective with a summary and offers a couple of weak and expected skills that don’t stand out as impressive.

Naturally, you are looking for a job as a digital media manager and, of course, you are experienced in writing or you likely wouldn’t be in this industry in the first place.

So while the statements in the second example are truthful, they’re not terribly meaningful and certainly not enough to make you stand out.

Taking the time to be more thoughtful with your words will make a world of difference.

Your summary, while very important, is written as a paragraph. Even though it’s short and sweet, it’s still text-dense.

That’s why the second part of the resume summary area should include a section on your Key Accomplishments or Areas of Expertise.

After all, your skills are really what set you apart.

If you have more experience with a certain content management tool than other candidates, for instance, it could mean the difference between a job offer and waiting for the phone to ring.

Your Areas of Expertise should be a bulleted list.

That way, even if the hiring manager doesn’t read your incredible summary statement, they still get a good snapshot of what you are capable of.

Example:

• AP Style Guidelines
• SEO Best Practices
• Research
• Creative Thinking
• Idea Generation
• WordPress
• Hootsuite
• Google Drive

Let’s make sure you don’t leave any important skills off your resume!

To begin, start thinking through both the hard and soft skills you’ve accumulated in your career and education.

As a refresher, hard skills are things like knowing how to design an ad campaign or how to use a certain content management system.

They are usually things you’ve learned in school or were taught on the job.

Soft skills are more a matter of personality and innate interpersonal skills.

Soft skills are things like critical thinking, natural leadership ability, and conflict resolution.

Now that you’ve got the hard/soft skill breakdown under your belt, make a column for both types of skills and list what you can contribute to each.

Now read the job description again.

See where your skills correlate to what the company is looking for.

PRO TIP: If you’re having trouble thinking of your skill set, try saying out loud, “I am good at…” and then fill in the blank. For instance, “I am good at SEO,” then you know you have that skill and can add it to your Areas of Expertise section.

(See below for a helpful table of some suggested hard and soft skill ideas to inspire you in writing your skills section.)

Okay, your summary is in the bag.

Now you need to really show them what you’re made of with your work history.

Your work history is the“heart” of the resume, where you describe the trajectory of how you’ve shaped your career up to this point.

It also usually takes up the most space on your resume.

There are exceptions, such as if you have just graduated or are just beginning your career and don’t have much work experience.

If you have a job or two under your belt, however, your work history will be the most robust part of your resume.

So, how do you begin crafting this section?

What do you include?

Let’s begin with the layout.

We’ve talked about how to reverse chronological order is a good choice for your digital media manager’s resume.

With this layout, you’ll begin by writing about your most recent role first and work backward.

This puts your most impressive points in the foreground without a lot of work on the hiring manager’s part to go looking for your relevant skills and qualities.

After your most recent role, you’ll work backward through your career.

Of course, you don’t need to include everything you’ve ever done in your career.

You may want to include more if you are just now entering the workforce after being a student, or are changing careers.

In general, however, you’ll only want to include experience and skills that are directly relevant.

As you layout your work history, be sure to include:

• The company name
• Where the company is located
• What job you performed there

It is also common to include dates of employment for each position.

You may opt to leave off the dates of your employment if you were only at a job for a short time or want to draw attention away from a gap in employment.

Keep in mind that being asked about the length of employment is very common. You’ll want to prepare to answer questions about gaps, especially if you decide not to include employment dates on your resume.

After the basics of the company and the job, use a list of bullet points to outline what you did in your day-to-day role.

As with your resume, be sure to use power words that emanate action and demonstrable ability.

You should have 3-5 bullet points for every position. Too little information won’t be very impressive, but too much will be overkill.

Keeping it between 3-5 relevant points will fill out your section nicely without being too sparse or cluttered.

Let’s take a look at some more bullet point examples for reference:

The person in the first example sounds like a solid professional who knows what they’re doing, right?

It’s a tight collection of 5 solid points, each beginning with a strong word and specific details about the tasks that were accomplished day-to-day.

The second example gives some solid skills, but they don’t convey any power.

The bullet-points are not detailed and nothing about the responsibilities reads as particularly impressive.

This, of course, is the opposite of what you want when you’re trying to stand out among hundreds of other candidates who all have the same qualifications.

PRO TIP: When brainstorming power words to use, the job description is your best friend. It often lists the specific experience that is wanted, so it’s an awesome blueprint for choosing keywords.

More About Bots

If you’re applying to a position that uses an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), your first obstacle is going to be getting your resume past the software and in front of a pair of human eyes.

To this end, some applicants choose to go with a paragraph format instead of bullet points when writing their work history.

So instead of looking like this:

Refinery29 | Telecommute | Lifestyle Writer | March 2016-Present

• Increased online audience engagement by 100%
• Produced custom, branded content on tight deadlines
• Managed all content for lifestyle and entertainment verticals
• Brainstormed feature stories weekly during 2.5 year tenure

Paragraph format would look like this:

Produced custom, branded content on deadline for lifestyle and entertainment verticals, while maintaining brand integrity throughout all digital content across platforms.

You could still opt to use bullet points to call out your particular achievements in the role, for instance:

Produced custom, branded content on deadline for lifestyle and entertainment verticals while maintaining brand integrity throughout all digital content across platforms.

• Increased online audience engagement by 100%
• Brainstormed feature stories weekly during the 2.5-year tenure

An advantage to this approach is you can fit many keywords in your paragraph to help get you past the ATS system.

The downside (and it can be a MAJOR downside) is that it makes it harder to read, and therefore more likely to get passed on by hiring managers.

There’s a chance your shining Areas of Expertise section will thrill them enough to read the paragraphs in your work history, but it is a gamble.

We recommend sticking to strong bullet points unless your gut is really telling you to use paragraphs.

Your education is an important aspect of the person you’ve become.

Some degrees prepare you for a more specified line of work, while others, like liberal arts degrees, are more about giving you a well-rounded education.

Whatever your situation, potential employers will be interested in the kind of education you’ve received and how it’s prepared you for your career.

Logistically, this section of your resume is pretty straightforward.

You’ll simply list the highest level of education you’ve received.

Example: High school Diploma, Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, etc.

List your highest educational level first and work backward, just as we did with your work history.

Also, list your field of study and the institution you earned your degree(s) from.

Certifications, minors, and areas of concentration should also be included here.

If you have recently graduated, you can also opt to add your graduation date and your GPA.

Your GPA will become less of a focus as you advance in your career, but at the beginning, it’s a valuable selling point for you.

This is also true of any particularly impressive academic accomplishments, or being on the Dean’s List. Be sure to make mention of these things as a new graduate.

Example:

Bachelor of Arts in English
The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
GPA: 3.8
Class of 2010

If you have grown your skills and knowledge by way of certifications, classes, workshops, or conferences, you should make mention of those too.

Especially if they correlate to the desired skills that were posted in the job description.

Example:

• “Advanced SEO,” Professional Workshop, Austin, TX
• Social Media Trends,” Certification, Online Training

Sometimes there will be something impressive you have accomplished that may not quite fit into one of the other sections on your resume. Adding an additional section is an option in these cases.

You may also want to add more sections if you are just beginning your career and need to fill in some space where your work history is thin.

If this is your situation, you could consider adding sections such as:

• Awards and honors
• Publications
• Noteworthy Projects
• Social Media Influence
• Speaking Engagements
• Hobbies/Interests
• Volunteer Work

What if You Have No Experience?

You may be in a situation where your work history is not as robust as someone who’s been working in the field for a while.

Perhaps you took some time away to raise a family or further your education. Maybe you’re a new graduate or you’re making a career change.

If your circumstances are a little different from what is typical, you’ll still want to begin your resume with a strong resume summary.

However, consider moving your education section under your summary as opposed to placing it after your work history.

(You can find New Graduate and Entry Level resume templates here.)

At this stage in your career, your education is going to be one of your strongest assets. Therefore, it’s information you’re going to want the hiring manager to see first.

When drafting your work history, write your bullet points to be as closely related to the job you’re applying for as possible.

For instance, if you managed the Facebook page for your book club or community group, you likely have an organization, content curation, and social posting experience, all of which are relevant to a career as a digital media manager.

You will likely have more relevant work history than you realize, so don’t sell yourself short by thinking too small or assuming the experience you’ve gained “doesn’t count.”

If the skills are relevant to the job, it absolutely counts!

Spend some time thinking through this, asking yourself questions like:

Did you write or curate content for your school newspaper or clubs?

Are you active in any parent or hobby group where you facilitated marketing events and content?

Have you set up or managed social profiles for small businesses or your own entrepreneurial ventures?

All of these things count as valuable experience.

Now let’s take a moment to look at a brief overview of important points to remember.

Firstly, as obvious as it sounds, always include a way to be contacted.

This includes your LinkedIn profile and email address. Because contact info is such a no-brainer, it’s easy to accidentally overlook when you’re worried about getting everything else right.

Use space wisely

Using your space wisely is incredibly important. You will typically only have one page to work with, so put your most impressive points in your resume summary at the top of the page, followed by your areas of expertise, then work history or education section, depending on your current situation.

Use a variety of power words

The strong language implies a strong skill set. It’s easy to fall into a rut and repeat a word like “experienced,” or “managed” but you are really missing an opportunity to convey action and ability if you don’t utilize all the strong power words at your disposal.

Have a trusted proofreader

You can be extremely careful and diligent, but typos still happen to the best of us. Especially after working on the same document for a long period of time. Get someone you trust to read over your resume for any grammar, spelling, or formatting issues.

It’s also helpful to keep in mind some things you’d like to avoid, so let’s take a look at some of those:

Don’t use first-person language

It is incorrect to use “I” or “me” in your resume content, which is unlike most writing you’ll do in your life. Because it’s a different approach than you’re used to, it’s easy to forget. Be especially mindful of this when writing your summary and bullet points.

Don’t exceed one page

All of your stellar accomplishments and valuable skills should fit neatly on one page. Exceptions are if you are applying to jobs at the executive level or are very accomplished. Keep it relevant, short and sweet.

Don’t repeat yourself

As we mentioned above, repeating yourself not only misses an opportunity to show your skills off, it’s also bad writing and can be distracting. There are so many incredible power words you can use, so utilize as many as you can!

(We’ve put together a handy table of power words below to use for inspiration.)

Don’t use outlandish fonts or formatting

Readability is your main goal. Unless specifically requested to do something different by the job posting, stick with the tried and true when it comes to fonts and layout.

Power Words

• Analyzed
• Designed
• Accumulated
• Developed
• Assessed
• Delegated
• Brainstormed
• Demonstrated
• Balanced
• Exceeded
• Built
• Excelled
• Critiqued
• Fulfilled
• Checked
• Formulated

Skills List

Hard SkillsSoft Skills