Top travel manager sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a travel manager resume experience section
Travel manager resume's job experience checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Travel Manager resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Experienced managing an appointed Travel Management Company (TMC) to ensure consistency with policies and procedures
- Teams with the global travel manager to ensure all travel contract obligations are met (air/hotel/car etc.)
- Works in partnership with other Regional Heads of Travel to share best practice and ensure the consistent implementation of the global travel program in line with Group expectations and targets
- Knowledge and experience with T&E reporting and processing workflows
- Manages travel and expense software tools, such as Concur Travel & Expense experience which includes user support and program enhancements
- Reconciliation of travel service and forex monthly reports and logging of travel service and forex credits/invoices
- Monitor travel industry trends, develop and execute strategies within the region
- Implement global initiatives in the region and provide regional input into global initiatives
- Proficient in using Microsoft Office, in particular, Excel, Word and PowerPoint
- Ability to work in a fast paced and often ambiguous environment, and navigate organization structures with sensitivity and finesse
- Strong interpersonal, time management and organizational skills along with excellent professional written and verbal communication capabilities
- Experience with managing travel agency and online booking tools with strong knowledge of airline, hotel, ground transportation and travel and expense policy
- Work with appropriate corporate sponsors, frequent travelers, and travel vendors to maintain a travel program that supports travel needs for the company and enables compliance with the corporate travel policy
- Managing the travel program globally to ensure we are receiving best in class services, maximizing discounts, minimizing costs and ensuring traveller safety
- Strive for continuous improvement to align with policy changes, savings opportunities and travel industry updates
- Corporate deals negotiated with the airlines to work out for better fares and discounts for frequently travelled destinations
- Ensures the accurate compilation, analysis and reporting of travel data
- Ensure compliance in all aspects of travel program and procedures
- Experience in managing service levels and action with remediation plans
- Launched Getthere.com online travel booking system in UK resulting in transaction fee savings of 60%
- Awarded "highest initial adoption rate" for achieving 50% use in 6 months
- Negotiated and communicated first transaction fee pricing
- Co-led negotiation of travel agency selection process
- Led first global hotel negotiation programme with in-house travel agency
- Undertook regular seminars for travellers to identify traveller/travel arranger issues and share changes to the travel programme
- Manage the budget/Expenses/Invoices to ensure accurate expense management and staying within cost.
- Develop marketing plans that drive business relationships
- Responsible for team travel. a series of processes from planning to travel to completion.
- Customer and Vendors Management.
- Calculate the salary of employees in my department
PRO TIP
In writing your Travel 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 travel manager resume
Recommended reads:
Travel Manager Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
Resume skills section checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top skills for your travel manager resume
Numerical skills
Invoice development
Customs documentation
Inventory management software
Distribution management
Quality assurance
Sap
Supply Chain
Curiosity
Observation
Networking
Planning
Perspective Taking
Adaptability
Flexibility
Communication
PRO TIP
Add a Talent Section to your resume, where you can pick your top 3 soft skills and describe how you used them to complete a project or balance departmental communication.
Recommended reads:
Travel manager resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
CHECKLIST For Your Travel 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 policies about identifying information like photos on your Travel Manager resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
Travel manager resume summary best practices
Checklist: What to include in your Travel Manager resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
You’re not going to get hired simply because of a good summary or objective. However, your recruiter can bump you up in front of similarly experienced candidates who didn’t demonstrate such passion and drive.
Recommended reads:
Listing your education, certifications and courses
resume education section checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top certifications for your travel manager resume
Practical Travel Hacks: Sensible tips for intelligent travel
How to make the most out of your travel goals
Travel Hacking: How to Travel the World for Next to Nothing
A step-by-step system for using award travel to pay for all your future trips and vacations
Solo Female Travel: See the World Safely, Cheaply, Epically
The ultimate guide for women who want to have safe, solo adventures around the world & create epic memories on a budget.
How to get Paid to Travel The World in 2022
Build an online brand from scratch and get paid to travel the world Full Time
Travel to Rise - A how to guide for Solo-Female Travel
Learn to travel solo and become the best version of yourself. This course teaches how to plan your trip abroad and more.
Recommended reads"
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Travel 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.
How to write a travel manager resume
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:
- Clear and legible 12p resume font size;
- Use 10’’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design;
- Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Test your draft Travel Manager resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company (corporation or start-up; innovative or traditional), job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Travel Manager resume:
Travel Manager Resume: How to Make Yours More Creative & Stand Out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Travel Manager resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What makes a great travel 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.
