Expert-Driven Social Media Marketing Resume Example Guide

Talk to enough people who hire social media specialists and you’ll begin to notice a pattern. There’s a lot of:

“I never hire someone unless they…”

and

“I only hire people who…”

So if you’re having trouble getting hired as a social media specialist, chances are you’re falling into one of these traps.

For example:

Luckily for you, we’ve analyzed thousands of social media specialist resume examples and spoken to hiring managers to uncover all of the potential pitfalls for you.

This guide will walk you through all of the steps of making the best social media specialist resume.

This guide will teach you:

 ✔ What resume traps you need to avoid

 ✔ What hiring manager expect to see in your resume header

 ✔ How to write a compelling professional summary

 ✔ How to frame your experience around the top hiring criteria for social media specialists

 ✔ Which social media marketing skills make the most difference

A social media specialist resume sample

Looking for related resumes?

• Social Media Coordinator Resume Examples
• Social Media Intern Resume Examples
• Social Media Manager Resume Examples
• Social Media Specialist Resume Examples
• Brand Manager Resume Examples
• PR Specialist Resume Examples

How to write a social media marketing specialist resume

This process starts with choosing your format.

There are two ways to go about this. If you have years of formal work experience as a social media specialist, a reverse-chronological layout is best. This puts your work experience front and center, which is where your greatest accomplishments will be.

On the other hand, if you’re a more junior social media specialist or if most of your work experience is in various side projects, a hybrid layout is best. This emphasizes your skills and the projects you’ve done.

You’re probably underestimating the importance of your resume header

Here’s the first trap that’s easy to fall into. Leave your personal and professional profile links off your resume header and you can go straight to the reject pile.

This advice came up over and over again when talking to people who hire social media specialists, so we can’t emphasize it enough.

Your resume header is also a great place to include one or two key certifications you might have (if you have more than that you can put them in their own section). Here are two examples to show what this looks like in practice:

Just adding social media links and certifications makes a huge impact on the hiring managers reading your resume.

Show you can write and tell your story in your professional summary

What better way to show off your ability to tell a compelling story in just a few lines than in your own professional summary? Hiring managers expect social media specialists to be talented copywriters, so this is your chance to show off.

Keep it concise and explain

So make it clear where your passion and skills lay and what results you can get with them.

The problem with the second example is that it’s vague (clearly not tailored for a single position), and uses the first person. Both of these make summaries less effective.

How should you frame your social media marketing specialist experience?

When it comes to including your work experience, there are more pitfalls to look out for.

Whether you’re talking about a side project or not, hiring managers want to see the same elements:

1. Show you can get results.
2. Show you can come up with innovative strategies.
3. Show you can work independently.

Throughout, be specific about what you did and what the results were. Anyone can “manage” social media, companies are looking to hire someone who can bring value from it.

This experience hits those 3 key points one after the other. It shows independence, creativity, and results. Now have a look at the same experience but expressed differently:

However, there are also some pitfalls when it comes to including your social media pages.

In other words, don’t try to BS or fluff your way into a job. Trust that the hiring manager or social media manager knows enough to see through it.

How to get hired as a social media specialist with no experience

Okay, all of that sounds great but what if you’ve never worked as a social media specialist?

Remember above when Mike Hudack mentioned not hiring anyone without a passion project? Good news is you don’t need a formal social media job to have that. In fact, you can do three key things without any work experience:

1. Get certifications (ideas on which ones in the section below)
2. Start a project, it could be a blog, podcast, instagram, etc.
3. Use that project to try out ideas, gain skills, and show you’re a self starter with a passion for social media marketing

A successful side project and a few key certifications under your belt will make you a fantastic hire.

Does your social media specialist resume need an education section?

In short, no. To be clear, a degree in marketing, business, communication, or something similar doesn’t hurt. But Beth Cooper clearly explains why a degree isn’t a requirement:

It’s that simple. A degree can show you have management, writing, or analytical skills that will be valuable in a social media position, but it’s generally going to be a “nice to have.”

If you’re a recent graduate, you can add some details about what you learned or accomplished in a style similar to your work experience. Otherwise, just mentioning your degree is enough.

Best social media marketing specialist skills to include

The first step to knowing which skills your resume needs is to understand the role you’re applying for. Is it a social media manager role? An internship? Is it for a B2B or B2C business? Will you be expected to independently create strategies or execute strategies created by someone else?

All of these questions will determine the social media marketing skills you should include.

If you’re applying for a managerial role, emphasize independence, strategy development, and team management. If you’re applying for a more junior role, show that you can execute strategies well.

How to include your certifications on your resume

Certifications are one of the most powerful tools you have as a job applicant in social media. Many of them are free and they allow you to show some level of knowledge in an area without any job experience necessary.

So, if you spot a job opportunity which wants you to be familiar with Twitter marketing, just go out and get certified.

Besides that, certifications show that you go above and beyond, are a self-motivated learner, and work to develop new skills.

We used big data to get you critical insights

We used AI to analyze thousands of social media specialist resumes to pull critical insights for you to use. Below, you can see which skills are the most common amongst social media specialist resumes and which are most in demand by companies looking to hire them.

What are the tricks for the best social media specialist resume?

• Choose a reverse-chronological layout if you’re more experienced, a hybrid layout otherwise.
• Include social media links and certifications in your header.
• Make sure your summary focuses on explaining how you can bring value in the role you’re applying for.
• Use your experience to show you can get results, come up with innovative strategies, and work independently.
• If you don’t have any experience, use side projects and certifications to show your qualifications.
• Tailor your skills to the type of position you’re applying for.