Business Resume Templates: Professional Designs & Tips

Business lives in the fast lane today, and competition is high. Whether you're applying for a managerial position, a consulting position, or a corporate leadership position, it's often your first and, more importantly, your only chance to make a memorable impression on a recruiter. More than checking off your qualifications, a well-written business resume tells the story of your career in a manner that makes you stand apart from everybody else.

In this blog, we are going to guide you through a business resume template that will greatly enhance your chances of getting the nod and do justice to portray your skills, experience, and leadership abilities.

Why Do You Need a Specialized Business Resume Template?

A business resume is different from other resumes; it demands strategic focus. Usually, business professionals undertake multi-functional roles, and their activities directly impact the growth of a company. So your resume should throw light not only on your experience but also on how you can work towards success, guide a team, and resolve complex issues. With the right template, you will be in a position to harmonize the core of your career narrative with the hiring manager's expectations in the corporate space.

Check out the free business resume templates.

Template 1

Template 2

Template 3

Template 4

Template 5

What to Put on a Business Resume Template?

Here are the must-haves to put on a business resume to keep hiring managers impressed:

1. Contact Information

Provide clear, current contact information, which includes: 

Name

Phone number

Professional Email address

LinkedIn profile, if pertinent

Optional: Personal site or portfolio, if applicable

Ensure your email address is professional, and if you include a LinkedIn profile, it should be updated.

2. Professional Summary

This is your elevator pitch. Within 2-3 sentences, summarize your career highlights in terms of leadership, business acumen, and key strengths. Customize this section based on the job for which you are applying.

Example:

"Business leader with more than 10 years of experience in financial management and operational strategy. Proven track record of driving growth, streamlining processes, and leading cross-functional teams to surpass corporate goals. Passionate about transforming business operations and scaling new ventures."

3. Main Competencies

Use bullet points to outline your main competencies. These should be directly relevant to the business roles you're applying for, illustrating both your soft and hard competencies. Examples include:

• Strategic Planning
• Financial Analysis
• Team Leadership
• Risk Management
• Project Management
• Market Research
• Client Relationship Management

4. Professional Experience

Your working experience forms the core of your resume. Write in reverse chronological order; that is, you start with your latest employment and for every one of them, including the following:

• Job Title
• Company Name
• Dates of Employment (in MM/YYYY format)
• A short description of your work
• 3-5 bullet points where you emphasize all critical accomplishments and responsibilities
• Suggestion: Use measurable metrics wherever you can to prove your level of impact. 

Example:

• "Increased annual revenue by 15% due to the launching of a new product and proper sales strategy."
• "Successfully managed a team of more than 20 people to achieve operational improvement and saved cost of up to 10 percent."
• This explicitly shows you can get things done and claim business-critical functions.

5. Education

Put your education history, starting with the latest first. You can specify the education appropriate to your career as follows:

• Degree Name, for example, MBA
• Institution
• Year of Graduation
• You can mention any other certifications applicable to your job like Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Business Analyst (CBA), Six Sigma Green Belt, etc. 

6. Additional Sections (Optional)

You can also include the following depending on how experienced you are and the type of job for which you apply:

Awards & Achievements: Include any rewards or achievements that reflect your business savvy.

Professional Memberships: These can be, for example, as a member of the American Management Association (AMA) or Chartered Institute of Management (CIM).

Languages: If you have any fluency in other languages, this is another advantage if you plan to apply for international business positions.

Volunteer Experience: Any time you have volunteered in a leadership role, it's good for business ethics and social responsibility.

Tips for a Winning Business Resume

1. Tailor Your Resume for Each Job Application

Forget the one-size-fits-all resume approach. Research the company and the specific role you're applying for and tailor your resume to fit the needs for that job application. Focus your experiences and skills toward those you think will most resonate with the job description.

2. Use Action Verbs and Quantify Achievements

Hiring managers like to see concrete results. Use action verbs like "led," "improved," "managed," or "optimized" in the professional experience section, and support accomplishments with data as much as possible.

3. Keep It Professional and Simple. 

Use a clean, current format that has consistent fonts, bullet points, and section headers. Avoid overloading your resume with too many design elements or too many paragraphs.

4. Use Keywords

Many companies use the Applicant Tracking Systems that scan resumes. Make sure keywords from the job description appear in your resume to be selected pass this first filtering step.

Conclusion

A business resume carries the best message to communicate for your leadership capabilities and professional strengths and for what potential you have in making a lasting impact on any organization. The business resume template presented above will ensure that you have a clear, structured, and effective resume for establishing a cause, so you shine out of the competition for that coveted business role.

Prepare for building that resume by using one of these templates and adjust it according to your career needs to portray yourself effectively as the business professional that companies are prepared to hire.