Business Development Manager Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Business Development Manager resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Business development is an expansive field, encompassing everything from advertising and marketing to human resources and customer service. Essentially, business development professionals identify opportunities for growth within their companies and help turn them into reality.
If you’re looking for a role that gives you the opportunity to build relationships with new clients and expand your network, business development might be the perfect job for you. Here are some tips and an example to help you write a compelling business development manager resume that will get you noticed by recruiters.
How to Write a Business Development Manager Resume
Here’s how to write a business development manager resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing bullet points, it can be tempting to focus on the responsibilities of your job. But that’s not enough to make a compelling case for why you’re the right candidate for the job.
Instead, you should focus on the results of your work. So rather than saying you “managed sales team,” you could say you “increased sales by 15% in first year through new account acquisition and existing client retention.”
The second bullet point paints a much clearer picture of what you did and the results of your work. And it also provides a specific number to demonstrate your impact.
Related: What Is a Business Development Manager? How to Become One
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume for a business development manager role, it’s likely that it will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. This software looks for specific terms related to business development, like “client relations” or “sales strategy,” in order to determine whether your skills and experience are a match for the job opening. If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right keywords, your application might not make it past the initial screening process.
To increase your chances of getting an interview, use this list of common business development manager keywords as a starting point to help you identify the skills and experience that are most relevant to the role:
- Business Development
- Sales Management
- Business Strategy
- Account Management
- Negotiation
- Sales
- Business-to-Business (B2B)
- Marketing Strategy
- Sales Process
- Management
- Strategy
- Marketing
- Lead Generation
- Sales Operations
- Business Planning
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Contract Negotiation
- Product Launch
- Direct Sales
- Team Leadership
- Market Research
- Project Management
- Product Development
- Business Relationship Management
- Team Building
- Start-ups
- International Sales
- Product Management
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- Mobile Devices
Showcase Your Technical Skills
Business development managers use a variety of programs and systems to manage their work, so it is important to list any relevant technical skills on your resume. Programs like Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Salesforce, and LinkedIn are essential for business development managers. Additionally, business development managers need to be familiar with the business development process and the various stages of the sales cycle.
Related: How Much Does a Business Development Manager Make?
Remember The Basics
As you draft your resume, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind.
Make Sure Your Resume Is Easy to Scan
There are a few things you can do to your resume to make it more readable and skimmable for potential employers. First, use left-aligned text, plain fonts, and avoid centered text. You should also use bullets instead of paragraphs to list your experiences, and keep your bullets to no more than two lines. Additionally, you can use bolding and italics to emphasize important information, but should avoid using all-caps or too much formatting variation. Finally, try to leave some white space on the page to make the document less overwhelming.
Be Concise
There is no one specific length for a resume, but a one or two pages long resume is generally a good length. New graduates or those with less than five to eight years of professional experience should stick to a one page resume, while those with more experience can go up to two pages. When trimming down a resume, remove irrelevant information, filler words and unnecessary details.
Proofread
Proofreading your resume is an important step in ensuring that it looks its best. There are a few key things to watch for when proofreading: spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and grammatical mistakes. It is also important to be aware of easily confused words. Spell-checking your resume is a good way to catch mistakes, but it is important to have someone else read it over as well.
Consider a Summary
When it comes to resumes, a well-crafted summary statement can be invaluable in helping potential employers understand your skills and experience. A good summary can also show your transferable skills and how they might apply to the role you’re seeking. As a job seeker, it’s important to remember to keep your summary concise and to the point, highlighting your best traits and skills. When done correctly, a summary can be the perfect way to introduce yourself and your goals to a potential employer.
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