INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Continuity Manager positions are at a 14% growth rate, which is faster than average. With that said, there are currently 907,600 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 124,400 to 1,032,000 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Business Continuity Manager jobs was $87,660 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $50,990, and the highest 10% more than $156,840.
Our conclusion? The Business Continuity Manager job market is wide open for candidates.
Top business continuity manager sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
A business continuity manager resume experience section to be proud of
Writing a strong experience section for your business continuity manager resume.
- List your previous jobs in chronological or reverse-chronological format;
- Use no more than 4-6 bullets per position;
- Mention only relevant work experience;
- Describe the tasks you were responsible for and how you managed to exceed expectations;
- Show you’re able to take charge by choosing action verbs over buzzwords.
Looking for real-life examples of what a strong experience section looks like? Check out our suggestions below!
- Develop, manage, maintain and operate the Association's Business Continuity Program including plans, assessment, analysis, reporting, testing, and follow-up, in accordance with Board and regulatory policies.
- Works with and provides consultative guidance to Association leadership and all other association employees on all Business Continuity related matters.
- Consults with critical process team members to identify business recovery requirements, and develops and updates the Association’s Business Continuity plans, business impact analysis, and risk assessments as necessary.
- Assists in the development and documentation of disaster recovery and crisis management processes, and ensures they are consistent with the Business Continuity Program, as well as Board and regulatory policies.
- Develop and update IT's annual multi-million dollar budget reporting including expense spend, capital asset and project summaries, and year-to-date variance.
- Develop, implement and manage the bank’s BCM Program (Emergency Response, Crisis/Incident Management, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery)
- Assess organizational risk and recommend resiliency/recovery strategies to the BCM Steering Committee and the Board of Directors
- Chair the BCM Committee and the Security Steering Committee
- Develop and conduct Risk Assessments and Business Impact Analyses
- Support the Chief Risk Officer in executing the Sunwest Bank Enterprise Risk Management Program
- Develop, write, and maintain BC, DR, and CM/IM plans
- Write, facilitate and evaluate BC, DR, ER and CM/IM plan exercises
- Manage BCM Program budget and vendor relationships
- Perform vendor assessments and respond to audit requests
- Ensure compliance with standards and regulations (e.g. GLBA, FFIEC)
- Develop project plans, scope statements, AARs and incident reports
- Develop and maintain policies and standard operating procedures
- Conduct training and facilitate BCM awareness activities
- Provide 7x24 support to the Sunwest Incident Management Team
- Develop, implement and manage the bank’s BCM Program (Emergency Response, Crisis Communications, Incident Management, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery)
- Assess organizational risk and recommend resiliency/recovery strategies to the BCM Steering Committee and the Board of Directors
- Chair the BCM Committee and the Security Steering Committee
- Develop and conduct Risk Assessments and Business Impact Analyses
- Support the Chief Risk Officer in executing the Sunwest Bank Enterprise Risk Management Program
- Develop, write, and maintain BC, DR, and CM/IM plans
- Write, facilitate and evaluate BC, DR, ER and CM/IM plan exercises
- Manage BCM Program budget and vendor relationships
- Perform vendor assessments and respond to audit requests
- Ensure compliance with standards and regulations (e.g. GLBA, FFIEC)
- Develop project plans, scope statements, AARs and incident reports
- Develop and maintain policies and standard operating procedures
- Conduct training and facilitate BCM awareness activities
- Provide 7x24 support to the Sunwest Incident Management Team
PRO TIP
In writing your Business Continuity Manager resume, you will no doubt want to list your previous duties - as you should. But steer clear of just listing your duties, instead of your achievements. Make your resume stand out by communicating what you have done, and not merely what the job needed you to do.
Action verbs for your business continuity manager resume
Recommended reads:
Taking Control of Your Business Continuity Manager Resume’s Skills Section
A skills section that shows what you’re capable of includes:
- Keywords from the job advert to help you pass ATS;
- Both hard and soft skills, incl. technical skills and people skills;
- Skills that are relevant to the position you’re applying for;
- No more than 15 skills – to keep your resume readable.
Top skills for your business continuity manager resume
SQL
Microsoft office
Tableau
Salesforce
Jira
Google Analytics
Project Management
Time Management
Interpersonal Communication
Decisiveness
Delegation
Patience
Creativity
Self-motivation
PRO TIP
When describing your experience, don’t go too far from its terminology. Recruiters use ATS systems to filter resumes based on them having certain keywords, so make sure you use at least a few keywords mentioned in the job description.
Recommended reads:
Business continuity manager resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your business continuity manager resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have non-discrimination policies about what kind of information can be included on your Business Continuity Manager resume. This might include a photo (which is often included in a resume header and might be on personal web pages you link to). You can always email the company’s HR department to ask about their policies before you apply.
A business continuity manager resume summary that spotlights your achievements
Checklist: a strong business continuity manager resume summary:
- Use adjectives that highlight the character traits you’re most proud of;
- Mention 1-2 of your biggest achievements;
- Add keywords from the job advert to increase your chances of passing ATS;
- Keep the recruiter’s attention by going for short sentences.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Your summary section should act as a professional taster. Use it wisely. Effectively convey your professional profile and let the hiring manager know that if they hire you, they won’t be disappointed. Make sure to include keywords from the job description too! Elaborate on your abilities further in your experience section. Again, cater to the job description.
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Creating an impressive education section for your business continuity manager resume
The education section: checklist
- List your degrees in reverse-chronological order;
- Include your degree subject, place of study, name of institution, and year of graduation;
- Add a line or two about your relevant certifications;
- Mention some classes and projects that have helped you gain additional skills.
Top Certifications for Your Business Continuity Manager Resume
Business Continuity Management System. ISO 22301.
Prepare and respond to disruptive events. Continue operation. That's business continuity.
Business Continuity Management BCMS & ISO 22301 Masterclass
How to plan and prepare for unforeseen business disruption events through an effective, dynamic Business Continuity Plan
Business Continuity Management & ISO 22301 - Complete Guide
Learn Business Continuity Management from Organizational Resilience, Risk Management & Business Management perspectives!
ISO 22301:2019 - Business Continuity Management (BCMS)
Enterprise Business Continuity Mgmt. as per ISO 22301 - Simple Lectures on Business Continuity Framework & Concepts
How to Write, Test, and Maintain a Business Continuity Plan
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning - Are you prepared?
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PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Business Continuity Manager. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
A professional format for your business continuity manager resume
There are some aspects worth taking into consideration when choosing the format of your Business Continuity Manager resume. These include the position and company you’re applying for, your total years of experience, whether you’ve been through some employment gaps, and so on.
Generally speaking, there are three basic resume formats for you to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
The reverse-chronological resume format is just that: all your jobs listed in a reverse-chronological way, starting from the most recent and moving backward. It’s great for highly experienced professionals with over 10 years in the industry behind their backs. The reason for this: it’s almost entirely focused on experience and achievements.
The functional skills-based resume format, on the other hand, is just the opposite. It’s based on your skills, personality, and expertise. It highlights what you’re capable of even when you don’t have sufficient work experience. This makes it great for students, recent graduates, or people with larger career gaps.
If neither of these sounds like you, go for the combination resume format. It’s a combination of the best characteristics of other formats, which makes it great for showcasing different aspects of your career and education. It also gives you plenty of options to choose from – in terms of colors, structure, and sections.
Check out our additional tips on perfecting your Business Continuity Manager resume’s style and layout:
- Choose traditional 1-inch resume margins;
- Go for a serif or sans serif resume font that’s easy to read yet looks professional (e.g. Arial, Verdana, or Calibri);
- Keep your Business Continuity Manager resume short: one-page template are preferable, but if you have over 10 years of experience, you can also go for a two-page format;
- Save your resume as PDF and choose a suitable name, e.g. NameSurnameResume;
Tired of looking for ways to make your resume stand out? Read this article!
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PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Business Continuity Manager resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Additional sections for your business continuity manager resume
After drafting the required sections of your Business Continuity Manager resume, it’s now time to move to something a bit more fun. There are a number of sections you can add to your resume depending on the company, the position, and how you’re feeling in general:
Adding the right kind of creativity to your business continuity manager resume
It is through creativity that we express ourselves. And trust us, it’s important to show at least a bit of your personality if you want to leave a strong first impression.
But what are the ways to add creativity to your Business Continuity Manager resume? Well, you can either go for a colorful and engaging template, or you could add some out-of-the-box sections, such as ‘life philosophy’ or ‘what my typical day looks like’.
It’s up to you! Just make sure that the level of creativity matches the position, the company, and the industry you’re applying for.
What makes a great business continuity manager resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
