Media Planner Resume Example

The aim of this article is to equip you with all the knowledge required to create a resume that positions you to succeed in your media planner applications. The guide will show you practical examples of how to structure your resume to show off your best and most relevant skills and career achievements. It will also show you how to tailor your resume according to the job description and your unique skill set. Read on to discover tips for a creative resume, as recommended by Jobseeker's careers experts.

Key sections for a media planner resume

The key sections to include in a media planner resume are similar to those for any role or profession.

The order you present these sections can vary according to your career stage, but it's still essential to include each of the following:

Resume Header and Personal Information

In your media planner resume header, list your name, email address, phone number and address or location. You can also add your LinkedIn, if you have one, to help employers better understand your work history and skills. While in some countries, you might include additional personal information or a photo, these aren't necessary. Make your resume header clear, concise and as brief and compact as possible. Consider different layouts that spread the information horizontally across the page rather than using a different line for each piece of information.

Use an email address that's professional and appropriate for professional communication. Typically this would be an email address based on your first and last name, or your initials. If necessary, you could include your profession or another unique identifier. Avoid using old email addresses that could be considered unprofessional or inappropriate. Additionally, always check your contact details before sending your resume to ensure they're up-to-date.

Resume Objective

The next section is the resume summary. The section might also be called 'resume objective' or 'personal profile'. This is a brief introduction to you, your key skills and your career achievements and ambitions. While a resume summary focuses on your career achievements and experience, a resume objective typically focuses on your ambitions for the future. Always make sure your summary reflects the job description and highlights some of the key skills required for media planner roles.

Alternatively, focus on introducing your career ambitions, and why this role is a good fit, both for you and the organization.

A great resume summary should highlight why you're an ideal candidate for media planner roles by showing key skills and qualities that reflect the job description and provide evidence to support them. It should also introduce your personality and unique qualities to the reader, to help them start to form an opinion about you as a candidate. The graphic below showcases some good examples of what to include in your media planner resume summary.

Conversely, a bad resume summary might be too generic, lacking focus on the specifics of the job description. It will also fail to provide any useful insights on what makes you a unique candidate. The graphic above shows some of the pitfalls to avoid when creating your resume summary.

Work Experience

In the next section, list your employment history focusing on the most relevant previous roles and achievements that showcase your media planner skills. Add each previous employment in reverse-chronological order. This means starting from your current or most recent role and working back in time from there. Include your job title, the company name, the location of the job and your dates of employment.

Add some bullet points under each job entry, explaining your achievements in the role, so the reader can see how you contributed towards success for the company. Provide evidence of your impact and make sure each point addresses a requirement listed in the job description.

An effective resume work experience section is one that constantly echoes the skills and experience listed in the job description, and shows how you used your skills to positive effect in each job. Each bullet point should be carefully crafted to showcase a particular skill or achievement relevant to media planner jobs, with evidence to show the value you added. There are some examples of strong resume work experience sections below.

In the graphic above you can see a great example of what to avoid when writing your resume work experience section. Ineffective work experience sections tend to focus too much on everyday responsibilities over skills and achievements. If you use vague descriptions of activities and fail to back up your achievements with evidence, you're likely to fail to make an impact on the reader.

Personal Portfolio or Work Samples

Showcasing your media planner work samples in a portfolio or personal website can be a great way to prove your worth to employers. If you have examples of your work online, include a URL here.

Including a portfolio with evidence of your previous work is most effective for creative roles. You could add a link to a standalone website or portfolio in your resume header, or create a separate section with links to published work. Conversely, if you're not working in a creative role but still have examples of your best work available online, adding them here can make a real impact.

Education and Qualifications

The education section provides space to list your highest and most recent academic achievements that are relevant to working as a media planner.

To work as a media planner, employers tend to require candidates to have a specialist degree, such as a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing. If you have this degree, focus on it in your education section, while also mentioning any educational achievements that show your budget management skills or audience segmentation techniques.

List your relevant qualifications in reverse-chronological order. Add the name and level of the award, the institution, its location (if this isn't obvious from the name) and your dates of study. You can enhance this section by adding bullet points that show any outstanding grades, awards or achievements and any specialist subjects you studied. These details can make you stand out from other candidates.

If you organized or participated in any clubs or societies while at university, or you took part in any voluntary work, you could also mention these here.

Skills

The skills section is one of the main ways to show employers you've got the skills required for media planner roles. Whether your skills include SEO/SEM strategies, critical thinking or any other useful skills for the role, you'll want to list them here. Again, refer to the job description and make sure you include skills that the employer has listed as essential or desirable for employment as a media planner.

How to include hard skills on your media planner resume

Under hard skills, add any specialist skills you possess that are specifically required for media planner jobs. These tend to be technical skills and industry knowledge essential to the position. Furthermore, your hard skills list helps to show employers how competent and experienced you are at key media planner duties and responsibilities. Aim to include four or five key hard skills. If you have space, explain how and where you've used that skill to create successful outcomes in your career. These skills will demonstrate your credentials and show how you meet the job description.

You'll make more impact with your resume hard skills list if you focus on technical skills that reflect your unique expertise and specialism, and that match the key requirements in the job description. See the graphic below for some tips on hard skills for a media planner resume.

Soft skills on your media planner resume

Soft skills are your transferable skills and personal qualities that make you a good match for a media planner position and the organization. Soft skills tend to be more universal than hard skills, and can often apply to multiple jobs and industries. Indeed, transferable skills are growing in importance in the modern world of work, so make sure you include several of these in your resume. Aim to include approximately five soft skills that reflect the skills listed in the job description.

A strong soft skills section should play to your strengths, listing skills that reflect your personal qualities while also reflecting the skills listed in the job description. For some examples of good soft skills for a media planner resume, see below.

Relevant Certifications and Licenses

In this section, include any media planner certifications, training or licenses you hold that are relevant to the job. You could list accreditations for certain professional roles or licenses for certain activities that help to make you a strong candidate. Therefore, add any necessary licenses and certifications in this section, along with valid dates so employers can see you're still qualified for the job.

Below you can find several examples of certifications for a media planner resume:

Additional Information

To provide further information on your suitability for the role, you could add some optional sections to a media planner resume. Add any of the sections below that help you showcase your key skills and experience.

Personal Interests

Hobbies and interests can be a useful way of showing your skills and experience beyond your work and education. Hobbies can help you show different sides of your personality and make your resume more memorable to hiring managers. They're ideal to include if you're a junior candidate who might lack real world media planner experience. Only include hobbies and interests that showcase your personality and personal qualities, and add something different to your application.

Volunteer Work

If you're lacking relevant media planner work experience, volunteer work can help to show you still have the relevant skills. Include the title of your volunteer role, who you volunteered for, as well as the dates you carried out the work. Provide brief details of your responsibilities and the impact you made.

References

Standard media planner resumes don't tend to include references, but you might find them requested occasionally. Check the job advert to see if you'll need to add references to your resume. Before adding any referees to your resume, ask them for their assistance and prepare them for contact by the employer.

Best words to use in a media planner resume

Add strong verbs to your work experience section to show the hiring manager the impact you made in your previous roles. Choose verbs from the suggestions below that highlight your key skills or those mentioned in the job description.

If you want to create a resume that stands out from the crowd, use Jobseeker's expert-designed resume templates. You can also find cover letter templates that work to get you noticed by employers.

Sample media planner resume

The media planner resume example below includes all the sections above, so you can see how a completed resume looks:

Making an ATS-friendly resume

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) help recruiters and employers to manage their hiring process. They can handle some of the more time-consuming and resource-intensive jobs, such as initial screening of resumes. Employers often receive hundreds of applications per vacancy, and ATS software can quickly and accurately scan and rank resumes based on their likely suitability for any role. When writing your media planner resume, a few simple tips can help you pass the ATS stage with a higher-ranking resume, giving you a better chance of success with your applications.

Create an ATS-optimized resume by following these quick tips:

• Use a traditional resume layout, such as a reverse-chronological or functional format. This will mean your resume includes all the necessary sections, in the expected order.
• Use of job description keywords throughout your resume will help it rank higher in the ATS scanning stage, as it will more closely match the requirements laid out in the job description.
• Add each section with clear headings that match the established resume conventions, so ATS software can easily identify each part of your resume.
• Adopt a resume design that uses clear, professional design principles and leaves white space for your content to breathe. Use the most readable fonts and incorporate subtle design elements to enhance the readability of your document.
• Make sure your resume is as concise as possible, so ATS applications can easily scan and identify the required details.

Takeaways for a winning media planner resume

The best resumes focus on your skills and the value you've added to previous roles, rather than focusing on your duties and responsibilities. Use a suitable resume format and tailor your resume for every application you submit.

HR-approved resume templates and other tools by Jobseeker are the easiest way to create a winning job application. Sign up and follow the simple instructions to complete a resume that stands out from the crowd. To make the best possible impression with your applications, write a cover letter with the help of Jobseeker. You can also find plenty of expert-designed cover letter examples for inspiration.

Sources:

(1) Careers for creative people, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2015/article/creative-careers.htm

(2) Occupational Outlook Handbook, Craft and Fine Arts, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/craft-and-fine-artists.htm