City Council Member Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this City Council Member resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
City council members are the voices of their communities—they represent the needs and interests of their constituents and work to ensure that the needs of their city are met. They’re often the first point of contact for residents who need help with city services or have questions about local laws or regulations. And they’re often the ones who decide how to spend taxpayer dollars on infrastructure projects like roads, parks, and schools.
If you’re interested in becoming a city council member yourself or want to break into politics in another capacity, here are some tips and an example resume template to help you write a compelling city council member resume that will get you noticed by hiring managers everywhere.
How to Write a City Council Member Resume
Here’s how to write a city council member resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most effective way to showcase your experience and qualifications. But rather than simply listing your responsibilities, you can make your bullet points much more interesting and compelling by using specific numbers and statistics.
For example, rather than saying you “managed city budget,” you could say you “reduced city budget by 5% while maintaining services and reducing crime rate by 10%.”
The second bullet point is much more interesting and provides a lot more detail about what exactly you did and the results of your work.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
In order to be considered for a city council member role, you’ll need to submit your resume through an online application system. This system will scan your resume for specific keywords related to the position, like “policy making” or “council member” in order to determine whether your skills and experience are a match. If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right terms, your application might not make it past the initial screening process.
One way to make sure your application makes it through is by including relevant keywords throughout all sections of your resume. Here are some commonly used city council member keywords:
- Local Government
- Government
- Public Policy
- Politics
- Community Outreach
- Legislative Affairs
- Public Speaking
- Public Administration
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Community Development
- Local Government Management
- Budgeting
- Program Development
- Event Planning
- Strategic Planning
- Government Relations
- Local Government Politics
- Policy Analysis
- Organizational Leadership
- Grant Writing
- Strategic Communications
- Media Relations
- Governmental Affairs
- Government Contracting
- Legislative Process
- Government Procurement
- Program Management
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Strategic Partnerships
- Interim Management
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a city council member, you need to be proficient in a number of software programs and systems in order to effectively do your job. This might include familiarity with city planning software, budgeting software, and constituent management software. Additionally, you need to be able to use technology to communicate with other members of the city council, city staff, and the public.
Some of the programs and systems that city council members are typically expected to be proficient in include: Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite, social media platforms, and video conferencing software.