“One day a man walked into a London agency and asked to see the boss. He had bought a country house and was about to open it as a hotel. Could the agency help him to get customers? He had $500 to spend. Not surprisingly, the head of the agency turned him over to the office boy, who happened to be the author of this book. I invested his money in penny postcards and mailed them to well-heeled people living in the neighborhood. Six weeks later the hotel opened to a full house.”
This is a true story written in “Ogilvy on Advertising” by David Ogilvy himself.
At the heart of every successful ad is a compelling story. In your job search, your advertising resume should go beyond being just engaging. It should be memorable. It's one thing to advertise for others, but promoting yourself is a whole different ball game. No worries, we're here to help you shine.
In this guide, we've compiled a range of resume templates along with expert tips and recommended practices. Here's what you're going to discover:
- Which sections of your resume can put you ahead in the race?
- What does it take to create an impactful experience section?
- How to tweak your resume summary to make it perfect?
- How to match your skills exactly with the job requirements?
- What are the essential industry certifications to enhance your resume?
Interested in more advertising and creative marketing resume samples? Check them out.
- PPC specialist Resumes
- Digital Marketing Manager Resumes
- Social Media Specialist Resumes
- Content Marketing Resumes
- E-commerce Marketing Resumes
- Copywriter Resumes
- SEO Resumes
- Marketing Resumes
- Digital Marketing Specialist Resumes
How to format an advertising resume
If you're an experienced advertising professional, opt for the reverse-chronological layout. It's perfect for highlighting your roles and successes across different campaigns or advertising agencies.
If you're breaking into advertising or freelancing, choosing a hybrid format or a functional resume layout might be your best bet. This tactic spotlights your distinct capabilities, setting them up as a transformative step in your professional growth.
Picking a resume template can be crucial for advertisers wanting to display their inventiveness. Consider our creative template for a chic, up-to-date appeal.
Keep the following in mind when tailoring your advertising resume.
- Make sure to convert your advertising resume to a PDF to maintain consistent formatting wherever it's viewed.
- Include accurate contact details on your advertising resume, such as a professional email address, a current phone number, and your location. It is vital for increasing your chances of securing job opportunities.
- Stick to 1-inch margins for a neat and professional appearance, ensuring your advertising resume is easy to read.
- Choose professional fonts like Lato, Rubik, or Montserrat to impress recruiters at first glance. Ensure ATS compatibility and optimal readability by using a font size of 10-12 points.
- Show off your creative side with a resume in colors that fit the advertising world. Blue is a broad-spectrum choice, aligning with diverse advertising styles.
PRO TIP
In some states, including photos on resumes is forbidden. Рesearch local regulations before applying.
Even the best advertisers sometimes struggle with how to approach promoting themselves, particularly when it comes to showcasing their skills on a resume. Elevate your resume game with our AI checker. Get personalized advice to highlight your advertising expertise and increase interview invitations.
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To craft your advertising resume with impact, follow formatting best practices that spotlight key sections and showcase your talents.
The top sections on an advertising resume:
- Professional summary: Offer a snapshot of key achievements and skills.
- Relevant skills: Essential for demonstrating proficiency in advertising strategies.
- Advertising experience: Showcase relevant work history and project management abilities.
- Education and certifications: Confirm your foundational knowledge and specialized training.
- Projects section: Provide tangible evidence of your abilities.
While preparing your advertising resume, it's crucial to recognize what recruiters are looking for. They will seek definitive proof that you are the ideal candidate for the advertising position.
What recruiters want to see on your resume:
- Demonstrated experience in the advertising sector, highlighting an understanding of its fast-paced environment and unique challenges.
- Creative talent is evidenced through innovative project involvement, underscoring the importance of originality in the field.
- Mastery of advertising tools, including digital platforms and analytics software, showcasing the ability to launch impactful campaigns.
- Comprehensive portfolio demonstrating successful advertising campaigns, reflecting practical skills and strategic execution.
- Exceptional communication abilities for effective idea presentation, client engagement, and collaborative teamwork, essential in advertising dynamics.
Having established a strong base, let's now refine our approach. Demonstrate your skill in identifying advertising trends and adjusting campaigns accordingly. This highlights your adaptive and strategic approach in the advertising field.
How to write your advertising resume experience
The experience section is pivotal in your advertising resume, serving as the key area where recruiters evaluate if your past roles align with the job at hand. They're looking for concrete achievements and the breadth of your influence in past roles. Emphasizing quantifiable results and key metrics is crucial.
You need to demonstrate your suitability for the role with evidence of tangible outcomes. Aim to highlight three to four impactful accomplishments for each job, focusing more on what you achieved rather than job duties.
Compare these two representations of an advertising position. The first is general and unclear, whereas the second specifies exact, measurable accomplishments.
05/2019 - 10/2023 
- •Enhanced ROI through precise campaign tracking and analytics
- •Secured cost-effective deals for billboard and print advertising, optimizing budget allocation
- •Developed and executed multiple high-impact advertising campaigns, significantly increasing client brand visibility.
We can identify several areas for improvement in this example:
- Lack of precise, measurable outcomes: The experience fails to mention concrete metrics, like the increase in audience reach, engagement rates, or campaign ROI.
- General descriptions of duties and impacts: The roles and achievements are described broadly, without detailing how they advanced the company's advertising goals.
- Absence of collaboration and creative input: The description does not reflect any teamwork or interaction with creative, sales, or other relevant departments.
With targeted adjustments, this section of the resume could significantly enhance its effectiveness, providing a stronger showcase of the candidate's capabilities and achievements in the advertising field.
05/2019 - 10/2023 - •Enhanced ROI by 150% within one year by utilizing advanced analytics for precise campaign tracking, optimizing $500k advertising budgets across multiple platforms.
- •Negotiated and secured cost-effective advertising deals, slashing expenses by 30% and reallocating savings to increase digital ad presence, doubling the reach to 2M+ potential customers.
- •Initiated a groundbreaking social media challenge that went viral, increasing the client's online engagement by 100% and adding 60,000 new followers within three months.
Here's the difference when you incorporate specific outcomes and more detailed descriptions of roles.
- Show campaign results: Highlight how your campaigns grew reach and awareness, using clear numbers to prove their success.
- Use smart tactics: Describe your creative work and how you used tools like social media analytics to make good decisions. This shows deep advertising know-how and successful application for strong outcomes.
- Innovate and inspire: Detail your contributions to problem-solving that led to finding advertising solutions.
PRO TIP
When you send your resume, update your LinkedIn profile as well. Make sure both are consistent in terms of your previous experience and job history, as recruiters go through and check for discrepancies.
For advertising specialists, showcasing practical experience is key to making a lasting impression. It's important to craft resumes that meet Applicant Tracking System criteria, as these systems help employers filter through applications by searching for relevant keywords and qualifications.
If crafting a resume feels overwhelming, Enhancv offers creatively designed, ATS-friendly templates that simplify the process and effectively highlight your expertise.
Once you've chosen a professionally-designed template, the next step is to consider the optimal length for your digital advertising resume. Deciding between a concise one-page resume or a detailed two-page version depends on how well they capture your achievements and skills. Try to prioritize the talents and experiences that underline your proficiency in advertising.
Now, let's look at the art of quantifying your digital advertising results in our upcoming section.
How to quantify the impact on your resume
Incorporate quantifiable achievements throughout your resume to solidify your experience in advertising.
- Include conversion rates improvement from your campaigns.
- Detail the budget you managed to show the scope of your responsibilities.
- Specify the increased website traffic generated by your campaigns.
- Demonstrate cost-saving tactics in customer acquisition for budget-smart marketing.
- Document percentage increase in brand awareness or recognition.
- Show sales increase or revenue generated from campaigns you handled.
How to list your hard skills and soft skills on your resume
In your ad resume, spotlighting both your tech know-how and your people skills paints a complete portrait of what you bring to the advertising table. Gather your thoughts and craft a skills section that truly impresses.
Best hard skills for your advertising resume
- Content Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing
- Social Media Advertising
- Content Management Systems (CMS)
- Google Analytics
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Email marketing
- Video production
- Data science
- Storytelling
- A/B testing
- Customer focus
- Media
When selecting skills for your ad resume, align them with the job description. Carefully analyze it and customize your skills to match.
Best soft skills for your advertising resume
- Project management
- Team work
- Creativity
- Critical thinking
- Multitasking
- Time management
- Emotional intelligence
- Active listening
- Handling objections
- Persuasion
- Innovation
- Leadership
- Initiative
Elevate your creative advertising resume by including certifications that attest to your professional development.
How to list your education and certifications on your resume
Having at least a Bachelor's degree in advertising, marketing or a similar discipline is often essential. Here's how to structure your education section effectively.
09/2022 - 11/2023 - •Focused Studies: Creative strategy, brand development, and multi-platform advertising campaigns
08/2017 - 05/2021 - •Key Subjects: Advertising theory, campaign planning, media planning and buying
Hiring managers in the advertising industry value continuous learning and upskilling, especially when we talk about such a dynamic field. Relevant advertising or marketing certifications on your resume are signals of your commitment to stay informed about industry trends, creative innovations, and the latest advertising technologies. Including certifications, whether in consumer behavior, digital advertising tools, or creative design platforms, can make your application for an advertising role stronger.
Best certifications for your advertising resume
It's time to craft an impactful summary, the key section of your resume.
How to write an advertising resume summary or objective
After filling out the rest of your advertising resume, circle back to your summary. This strategy ensures you have a wealth of material to condense into 3-5 sentences that effectively capture your career highlights and motivations.
Now, let's delve into two examples to identify the key elements of a compelling resume summary.
This kind of broad statement won't catch a hiring manager's attention or highlight specific talents. Let's explore how a few tweaks can significantly enhance the previous example.
This improved version stands out because it:
- Quantifies experience and highlights expertise in advertising campaign management.
- Details a specific, successful project with Chevrolet, including impressive revenue figures, which provide concrete evidence of skill and impact.
- Mentions a team achievement of winning an industry award, showcasing leadership and recognition in the field.
PRO TIP
Incorporating quantifiable achievements in your resume summary gives hiring managers a crystal-clear view of your past contributions and successes.
Additional sections for an advertising resume
For success in advertising, it's important to emphasize on your personal strengths and significant achievements. Consider adding these sections to your resume:
- Awards: Shines a light on your recognized creative accomplishments within the industry.
- Achievements: Showcases your significant contributions and successes in advertising campaigns.
- Languages: Shows your potential for wide-reaching communication in the global market.
- Volunteering: Reflects your commitment to community and social responsibility in marketing initiatives.
- Books: Emphasize on your dedication to professional growth and industry knowledge through influential literature like "Ogilvy on Advertising" by David Ogilvy.
Yet, the pivotal addition to your advertising resume should be the Creative Portfolio or so-called Projects section. Here, you should elaborate on creative projects you've led or significantly contributed to. Highlight work that showcases your innovative approach, your ability to engage audiences, and drive actual outcomes in line with advertising goals.
Here are some more tips on crafting an impactful Project section.
How to put a Projects section on a resume
This section points out an example of advertising projects, focusing on their goals and the strategies employed. It also explains collaboration and outcomes, illustrating each project's effect on enhancing brand achievement.
09/2023 - 01/2024 - •Pioneered a viral marketing initiative that amplified social media interactions by 50%, leveraging user-generated content and influencer partnerships to bolster the brand's online community.
10/2022 - 02/2023 - •Directed a branding overhaul that redefined the company's market positioning, introducing a fresh visual identity and messaging strategy that elevated brand perception and customer loyalty.
Key takeaways
Given your knack for storytelling and designing impactful campaigns, putting together an advertising resume should play to your strengths. Remember these key points from the guide to elevate your advertising resume:
- Focus on sections like experience, skills, and certifications that align with job requirements to stand out.
- Emphasize measurable achievements and creative contributions to demonstrate impact and creativity.
- Opt for a layout that highlights your strengths, using professional fonts and colors that resonate with advertising styles.
- Ensure your contact information is up-to-date and your resume is ATS-friendly to maximize job opportunities.
- Include sections on books, awards, achievements, and languages to showcase your comprehensive advertising capabilities and global market reach.
- The Projects section is crucial for illustrating your contribution to advertising success through specific projects.
Advertising resume examples
Explore additional advertising resume samples and guides and see what works for your level of experience or role.
By Role
Advertising Agency
The Advertising Agency career has evolved in the dynamic marketing industry. Therefore, the trends in marketing strategies are likely to shape agency roles significantly.
The following tips can improve your chances when applying for roles in an Advertising Agency:
- Consider listing non-traditional marketing strategies like Guerrilla marketing, Experiential marketing, Stealth marketing, etc. This shows your versatility and ability to adapt to different marketing scenarios. Highlight this aspect in your resume.
- Your presentation skills are crucial because you'll often need to communicate your ideas to the team and the client. This should be prominently featured on your resume.
- Demonstrate your ability to work with a team. Advertising agencies are known for teamwork so having excellent team building skills and showcasing your experience leading teams will be a plus on your resume.
- It's not just about listing your marketing skills, but showing how they have impacted previously handled projects, e.g., 'increased customer engagement through…', 'boosted sales after…' etc. Adhere to the 'skill-action-results' format in your resume.
Advertising Manager
The Advertising Manager role originated from the broader field of Marketing. Thus, the shifts in marketing techniques can greatly influence the job of an Advertising Manager.
Here are some tips for enhancing your application for the Advertising Manager position:
- Experience with a variety of advertising mediums such as print, radio, television, online, OOH, etc is crucial. Showcase your knowledge and skills in various advertising channels on your resume.
- Highlight your strategic thinking skills. Successful Advertising Managers know how to plan and implement marketing strategies that maximize customer conversion rates.
- Don't underestimate the power of data. Metrics driven decision-making is a key skill to possess and advertise on your resume.
- It is not enough to simply list your skills. Outline how they’ve contributed to the success of your past advertising campaigns, e.g. 'increased brand awareness by…', 'improved ROI after…', etc. Stick to the 'skill-action-results' sequence on your resume.
Digital Advertising
Digital Advertising is an offshoot of the wider field of Advertising. Thus, shifts in digital trends can greatly influence the landscape of Digital Advertising.
The following tips might enhance your job application for a Digital Advertising role:
- Digital marketing platforms are a must have. Whether it's Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, or SEO tools, showcasing your experience with these platforms will strengthen your profile.
- Emphasize your analytic skills. The ability to analyze campaign performance using analytic tools such as Google Analytics is highly valuable in digital advertising.
- Understanding of the digital consumer journey is key. Be sure to illustrate the breadth and depth of your customer-centric approaches.
- The impact of your digital advertising skills, not just their mere listing, will set you apart. Discuss how they’ve propelled your campaigns' success and driven results, e.g., 'boosted click-through rates by…', 'enhanced conversion rates via…' and so forth. Follow the 'skill-action-results' model in your resume.
