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Example VP of Marketing Resume - Browse more resume templates and build a stand-out resume
Writing a VP Marketing Resume: Everything You Need to Know
Exceptional marketing initiatives need exceptional leaders.
As a marketing VP, you’ve got boundless experience implementing and co-ordinating marketing strategies across departments.
Over the years you’ve earned the right to sit alongside the C-Suite as you’ve proven you can promote anything.
Your next product is your VP of marketing resume. And it requires you to build a marketing plan, like no other.
But don’t worry, this guide will show you how to do that effectively.
Here’s what you’ll get from this guide:
- Tips to market yourself to the C suite
- 8+ winning VP of marketing resume examples
- Three key focus areas for your resume
- Two resume sections that matter the least
This guide will help you develop the proper strategy to propel you to your next career level.
VP of Marketing Resume Examples
Related VP of Marketing resumes
What You Need to Write Your VP of Marketing Resume
It’s your drive and determination that will help you advance and leave a mark on an organization and the industry.
Your VP of Marketing resume needs to clearly illustrate:
- How you’ve made brands successful
- How you’ve inspired others to embrace your vision
- Demonstrate your ability to achieve ambitious department KPIs and individual OKRs
Most importantly, the hiring manager (most likely the CEO), is looking for someone who can display these seven traits:
- Unique outlook
- Business focus
- Strategic thinking
- Imagination
- Customer focus
- Networking and team building
- Win-win mentality
Most importantly, your VP marketing resume must show data-driven results much like your marketing campaigns:
- Tailor your resume to the audience
- Define the value proposition that makes you unique, successful, and better qualified
- Avoid wasted words, vagueness, or seemingly impossible claims
Addressing these strategic areas will help you strike a chord with the hiring executive.
7 traits a hiring manager needs to see in your resume:
- Leading cross-functional teams to a common purpose
- The ability to prioritize ruthlessly
- Proactively sharing your mission with others
- Getting everyone in your organization invested in your priorities
- Remaining objective at all costs
- Being a leader at all levels, including culturally and ethically
- Ability to handle pressure from all sides
The Most Important Sections of a VP of Marketing Resume:
- Attention-grabbing header
- Summary that illustrates how can reinvigorating marketing for them
- Experience showing a bird’s-eye view of your leadership capabilities
- Skills whilst highlight you’re a marketer who puts their money where their mouth is
For more information on the best resume format options, read our guide:The Best Resume Formats You Need to Consider (5+ Examples Included).
How to write an attention-grabbing VP of Marketing resume header
A VP of marketing needs to take strategy and execution to a completely higher level.
You’ll be someone who answers directly to the C-suite, owner, or board of directors, so you need to exude confidence.
When it comes to your resume header, you can’t keep things basic and boring:
To land a coveted VP of marketing role, you need to show confidence at every turn. That includes your resume header, which should quickly showcase you as a leader:
Your resume header immediately lets the hiring manager know you’re worth a further read. That type of swagger is desirable from candidates looking to move into a VP role.
If you want more ideas for stand-out resume headers, read through our guidePerfecting Your Resume Header so You Get Noticed.
Using Actionable Data in Your VP of Marketing Resume
Data is used to show success for any marketing efforts or campaigns. Your VP of Marketing resume needs to incorporate quantifiable data at every turn.
Data points that can bolster your resume include:
- Size of past campaign budgets
- Number of reports and cross-functional team members
- Sales revenue from marketing efforts
- Cost and time savings gained through efficiency
- Positive impact to the company’s bottom line
This is the type of data you need to show in your professional summary and experience section.
We’ll work on those now.
How Best to Write a VP of Marketing Resume Summary
Recruiters see plenty of so-called marketing professionals who fail to promote themselves well.
Don’t list a career objective. Provide a summary of pursuits and accomplishments that show you are the best candidate.
Focus on outcomes instead of outputs. That is what gets the attention of the C-suite.
Here are 2 VP of marketing resume examples for the summary section:
2 VP of Marketing resume examples - summary
Every one of those statements was an output. There were no real displays of anything actually being accomplished in that summary.
Meanwhile, here is a much better summary that focuses on outcomes:
Those are the types of outcomes that senior executives will look for in a vice president of marketing.
For more tips on crafting an attention-grabbing resume summary, check out our guideResume Summary: How-To Guide (30+ Examples You Need To See).
How to Write the Experience Section of Your VP of Marketing Resume
A lot of “experts” will tell you that your resume should only be one page.
That’s fine for entry- or mid-level positions. But a VP of Marketing should have at least 10 years of experience, which you can’t sum up in one page.
The experience section should display progressive career growth and increased levels of responsibility.
Again, avoid showing nothing but outputs in the experience section:
2 VP of marketing resume samples - experience
Nothing in that section demonstrates any value to the company.
A successful experience section will give statistics and other tangible evidence that matter to the C-suite:
The goal is to include as much quantifiable information as possible to make the best impression on the hiring executive.
Finally, be sure to use verbs that express your work experience in an authoritative manner. “Power verbs” like bolstered, managed, and spearheaded can have a powerful effect in getting your VP of Marketing resume selected for an interview.
For more ideas on how to create actionable resume experience section, check out our guideHow to Describe Your Resume Work Experience.
Including the Right Skills in Your Resume
Recruiters see plenty of wasted space in the skills section.
For example, knowing how to use MS Office is not impressive. You need to think much bigger.
Make sure the skills you list are relevant to the company. Do some homework. If you see PPC advertising for the company, you should list (and have) AdWords skills to get noticed.
You also will need a fair amount of business leadership skills.
10 Desirable skills to include on your VP of Marketing resume
- Team building skills
- Communication skills
- Networking ability
- Adaptability
- Strong attention to detail
- Good organization and planning skills
- Creativity and writing skills
- Commercial awareness
- Budget and finance skills
- Specific platform and channel skills
Remember to be specific. Anything broad or vague will not instill confidence in you as a potential VP of Marketing.
4 types of skills you should avoid listing on your VP of Marketing resume
- Extraneous personal skills (i.e., “people person” or “avid reader”)
- Common or unimpressive business skills (i.e., “MS Office expert”)
- Outdated marketing concept skills (i.e., direct mail, long-retired CRM software)
- “Unique” or “quirky” skills to make you stand out (i.e., “carb-free since 2003” or “have taken selfies in all 50 states”)
The C-suite only cares about the bottom line and how your marketing leadership will impact it.
Are you still not sure what skills will win recruiters over? Check out our guide onHow to Create A Resume Skills Section To Impress Recruiters (+10 Examples You Need to See).
Going Beyond Your Marketing Experience in Your Resume
There are many traits that a VP of Marketing needs to have to be successful.
You need to go beyond the fundamentals. You have to combine solid business and industry knowledge.
You also have to show a desire to innovate .
But if you really want to be on the right path to getting hired, you need to show some unique habits in your resume:
- Forward-thinking futurist
- Master negotiator
- Incredible movivator
- Data worshiper
- Proven leader
- Innovator
Showing these habits of highly successful vice presidents of marketing will make the hiring manager take notice and move you forward.
Do You Need an Education Section for Your VP of Marketing Resume?
At the upper levels of marketing, academic expectations (i.e., MBA or BA) aren’t seen as an accomplishment. They are seen as a requirement.
The only resumes that should incorporate a long education section are junior-level with little experience.
Here is an example of an education section that is way too detailed:
Very little of that information passes the “so what” test.
At the VP of Marketing level, here is how you should list your education:
Only list the degree in short form, the institution name, and the year you graduated.
Browse more essential tips on how to feature education on your resume, in our guidePerfecting the Education Section on Your Resume.
Are Certifications Important for a VP of Marketing Resume?
Another common mistake is listing every certification you’ve ever held.
This doesn’t make you look important. It clogs up the resume with information that is mostly ignored.
You should only list certifications that are relevant to the position. For example, if you will be in charge of public relations, then any PR-related certification will be a plus.
For more information on how to properly list resume certifications, we recommend reading our guideHow To List Certifications On A Resume (Examples Included).
Other sections to include on your resume
Depending on the company, job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your VP of Marketing resume:
Now you know what it takes to create a compelling VP of Marketing resume
You should have everything you need to develop and deliver a VP of Marketing resume that will get results. To summarize:
- Communicate your benefits and value proposition
- Apply and demonstrate marketing strategy and tactics
- Focus on tangible outcomes backed by data
- Display skills that promote you as a highly qualified marketing leader
