Account Manager Resume: Examples, Template, and Resume Tips
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Over the past decade, there has been a steadily rising demand for account managers. Today, almost every company that deals with large clients employs account managers.
For those not in the know, an account managers is a person who acts as a liaison between a company’s key clients and the company’s departments.
The account manager is responsible for ensuring good client relationships by acting as a one-stop service for clients, while at the same time pursuing the company’s interests.
It is the task of the account manager to form relationships with new clients and maintain existing relationships. Account managers also work in collaboration with the sales team to ensure sales targets are met.
Despite the ever-increasing demand for account managers, there is a lot of competition for account manager positions.
In 2016, the position of account manager was the most popular job for graduates, according to Forbes, with graduates earning a median salary of $50,000.
Other major job sites also peg the salary for account managers at over $50,000, with Indeed quoting the average base salary for account managers in 2020 at $61,062 annually, Glassdoor at $62,263 per year, and PayScale at $53,741 per year.
With the relatively high levels of competition for account manager positions, you want to make sure that every aspect of your job search is designed to give you an advantage over your competition, and this starts with making sure that you have an optimized account manager resume.
Remember, regardless of how qualified, skilled or experienced you are, if your resume is whack, you won’t be getting invited to the job interview or getting that job.
Your resume is the first impression your prospective employer will have of you, and therefore you need to make sure that it proves to the employer that you are the best suited person to handle their accounts.
Your resume needs to show your proficiency in duties like identifying business opportunities, interacting with stakeholders, communicating customer requirements to various teams, ensuring that solutions are delivered to customers in a timely manner, and so on.
Since the position of an account manager requires that you work closely with all kinds of people, your account manager resume also needs to show that you have strong interpersonal skills, as well as excellent communication skills and strong leadership skills.
So, how do you create such a resume that gets hiring managers eager to meet you and hear what you can do for their organization?
In this guide, I am going to show you exactly how to create an irresistible account manager resume that will have you booked for back to back job interviews.
If you prefer building your resume automatically instead of doing everything from scratch, you can use our resume builder to create your account manager resume within a few minutes.
Simply pick a template you like, add your resume content, and the resume builder will handle everything else for you with a single click.
ACCOUNT MANAGER RESUME EXAMPLES
Before we get into how to write an account manager resume and the different sections you need to include in your resume, let’s start by looking at a few examples of some great account manager resumes.
This way, you will have a clear idea of what we are trying to achieve right from the start.
Entry Level Account Manager Resume
Senior Account Manager Resume
BEST FORMAT FOR AN ACCOUNT MANAGER RESUME
Recruiters and hiring managers do not have a lot of time to spend going through resumes, especially when they have hundreds of resumes to go through.
Therefore, you want your resume to connect with the hiring manager immediately, the same way you help businesses connect with their customers. This starts with the format you choose to use on your account manager resume.
The best format to use is the reverse-chronological resume format, because it allows you to quickly communicate your message by putting your most recent achievements first.
The two sample resumes we looked at above are great examples of the reverse-chronological resume layout.
This format allows the recruiter or hiring manager to quickly scan your resume and tell whether you have the qualifications and experience they are looking for or not.
If you make it hard to find this information, your resume might get discarded even when you are the right fit for the job.
To make it even easier for hiring managers to scan your resume, use professional resume fonts and utilize lots of white space.
Finally, save your resume in PDF format, unless the job ad specifically states that you should use a different format. This is because most Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) are designed to read PDF formats.
INTRODUCE YOURSELF WITH A WELL-WRITTEN PERSONAL INFORMATION SECTION
When you meet a prospective client, you start by introducing yourself.
This sets off the interaction on the right foot. Similarly, since the recruiter or hiring manager has no knowledge of you before your resume lands on their desk, you should start by introducing yourself.
Writing the personal information section of your account manager resume should be pretty easy. Here, you need to write your name, your professional title, your address (optional), your telephone number, and your email address.
If you have a professional LinkedIn profile, you can also include a link to the profile.
Below is an example of a well written personal information section:
Below are a few things to keep in mind when writing the personal information section of your accounts manager resume:
- Use your full names as they appear on official documents. If you have a middle name, initialize it. For instance, instead of Amanda Louise Mealing, write Amanda L. Mealing.
- Avoid including information that could lead to a biased hiring decision, such as your marital status, gender, sexual orientation, race, or country of origin.
- Use a professional email address. Go for the format yourfullname@provider.com. Avoid using nicknames in your email address.
- If you have a professional LinkedIn profile, including a link to it in your personal information section. Keep in mind that 94% of recruiters are on LinkedIn and will often check out candidates on the social network before inviting them to interviews.
BAIT THE RECRUITER WITH A COMPELLING RESUME SUMMARY OR OBJECTIVE
Like I mentioned earlier, recruiters and hiring managers are busy people. They don’t have lots of time to spend going through each single resume. Fortunately, because you used the reverse-chronological resume format that presented your most recent achievements first, your resume has gotten through the first round without getting eliminated.
Still, this does not mean that you’ll get invited to the job interview. It still has to go through a second round of elimination.
If you want to survive this round, you need to bait the recruiter and give them a reason for reason to read through your entire resume. To do this, you need to have a compelling resume summary or objective.
The resume summary is an overview of your professional life as an account manager. It highlights your years of experience, your key skills, and your major achievements. The resume summary is best used when you have 3 or more years of experience.
Below is an example of a great resume summary:
If you do not have a lot of experience, then you should go for the resume objective instead of the resume summary.
The resume objective is all about showing your passion for the position you are applying for, since you don’t have any meaningful experience.
The aim of the resume objective is to show the recruiter that you would really be a good fit for the job, even though you do not have lots of experience. It should also show that you have the kind of skills the recruiter is looking for.
Below is an example of a great resume objective:
Below are some thing to keep in mind when writing your accounts manager resume summary or objective.
- Write is last so that you’ll have a good idea of what is contained in the rest of your resume. The summary or objective is an overview of the rest of your resume.
- Use the keywords used in the job advertisement in your resume summary or objective. This will increase the chances of your resume passing through the ATS.
USE YOUR STELLAR ACCOUNT MANAGER EXPERIENCE TO PROVE THAT YOU’RE THE RIGHT FIT FOR THE JOB
The recruiter has read your resume summary and is now hooked.
They are now interested in knowing more about you. Now is the time to convince them to pick the phone and book you for an interview by showing them your stellar account management experience.
You want your experience to back the claims you just made in the resume summary.
Here, you should give an overview of all your previous experience as an account manager and highlight your responsibilities and achievements while in these positions.
Below are some things to keep in mind while writing the experience section of your account manager resume:
- Use bulleted points to describe your responsibilities and achievements. These are easier to scan and make your resume appear more organized and professional.
- Use the STAR format to structure your achievements. Basically, you should describe the Situation, the Task you were required to perform, the Action you took, and the Result you achieved.
- Use figures and statistics to quantify your achievements.
- If you have lots of experience, only include the experience that is most relevant to the position you are applying for.
Below is an example of a well-written professional experience section:
If you have no experience as an account manager, you can still convince the hiring manager that you are the right person for the job by mentioning any previous experience you have that requires skills that are transferrable to the role of an account manager, such as problem solving skills, customer service, relationship building, and so on.
Even if this experience is from some volunteer position you took while still in college, just mention it. The aim is to show that you have these skills and know how to apply them.
ARE YOU MISSING OUT ON JOBS BECAUSE OF YOUR EDUCATION SECTION?
Experience is the most important thing for account managers.
However, this does not mean that you should ignore the education section of your account manager resume.
The education section tells the recruiter that you are a qualified account manager, not someone who apprenticed their way to account management positions.
The key things to do when listing your education is to mention the university you attended, the academic qualification you attained, and the year you graduated.
You can also mention your GPA if it is above 3.5.
However, if you want to set yourself apart from the other candidates, don’t stop there. Mention any achievements and accomplishments you attained while undertaking your education.
Below is an example of a well-written education section:
TIP THE SCALES IN YOUR FAVOR BY HIGHLIGHTING YOUR ACCOUNT MANAGER SKILLS
So far, you have done pretty well in trying to convince the recruiter that you are the right person for the job.
However, you want to make sure that they have no doubts about your abilities by mentioning your key skills.
This way, even if they missed something while going through your experience section, your skills section will show them that you have the skills they are looking for.
Some of the skills you might include in an account manager resume include:
You need to resist the temptation to include all these skills in your account manager resume.
Honestly, no hiring manager is going to believe that you have all these skills, and therefore, including them all in your resume is akin to shooting yourself in the foot.
Instead of doing that, what you should do is to go through the job ad, identify the skills the prospective employer is looking for, and then include them in your resume.
However, if the employer is looking for a certain skill, and you know you are not good at that particular skill, do not include it in your resume.
They might ask you to prove that you are good at that particular thing, and things will quickly go south for you. To avoid that, just be honest.
When listing your skills, it is advisable to mix both soft and hard skills.
Highlighting your hard skills shows that you have the technical skills required for the position of an account manager, while highlighting your soft skills shows that you have the people skills required to collaborate with colleagues and satisfy clients.
GIVE YOURSELF AN EDGE BY ADDING OTHER SECTIONS IN YOUR ACCOUNT MANAGER RESUME
Most people will end their account manager resumes at the skills section, but since you want a resume that will give you an edge over the other candidates, you will add extra sections in your resume to show your passion for accounts management.
You want the recruiter to know that account management is all that you live and breathe.
Below are some of the extra sections you should consider adding in your account manager resume:
Certifications
If you have acquired any certifications related to account management, they are the perfect way to show recruiters your passion for accounts management, and you should therefore flaunt them in your resume.
When listing your certifications, you should mention the name of the certification, the name of the issuing body, as well as the year when you received the certification.
Volunteering Experience
Do you have any volunteer experience in fields related to accounts management, or fields that allowed you to learn skills that are transferable to account management?
Mention this experience. Describing your volunteer experience is actually a good way to cover your lack of actual account management experience (for entry level job seekers) or to cover employment gaps.
Conferences And Publications
If you have attended or spoken at any conferences related to the account management field, or if your work has been featured in any relevant publications, don’t be afraid to toot your own horn. Your prospective employer will certainly be glad to have someone like you working for them.
Below is an example of how to include additional sections in your account manager resume:
WRAPPING UP
While positions for account managers are quite competitive, you can place yourself miles ahead of the competition by following the tips described in this guide when writing your account manager resume. To summarize what you have learnt:
- Use the reverse-chronological resume format, which puts your most recent achievements first.
- Use your official names and a professional email address in the personal information section.
- Use a well-written, compelling resume summary or objective to bait the recruiter and convince them to read the rest of your resume.
- Prove you are the right person for the job by showcasing your stellar account management experience and linking it to what the recruiter is looking for.
- Tip the scales in your favor by showing you have the skills the recruiter is looking for.
- Add extra sections in your resume, such as certifications, volunteer experience, conferences and publications to show your passion in account management.
Do that, and I can guarantee you that you’ll start getting more invites to job interviews.
Finally, remember that you can always use our resume builder to automate the process of creating a professional account manager resume if you don’t want to do everything from scratch.
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