Operations Associate Resume Example

This complete guide to an operations associate resume will equip you with the tools you need to compete in your applications. The article will take you through the key steps of creating a resume that presents your key skills, qualities and career achievements in a format that employers favor. It will also help you tailor your resume according to your unique skills and experience level. Read on to learn the tips Jobseeker careers experts recommend as the best for your operations associate resume.

Key sections for an operations associate resume

It's essential to include a few core sections in your operations associate resume, while there are also a few optional sections you can make use of to strengthen your application.

How you choose to present your resume is up to you. There are plenty of options for a professional resume layout and format, but every application should include the following:

Resume Header

The resume header is the place to add your name and contact details, along with your LinkedIn URL if you have a profile, so employers can find more information about your career journey and skills. You don't typically need to add a photo, or any other personal information to this section. Create a clear, well-structured header that acts as the headline of your resume. Use color accents and blocks to help this section stand out and catch the eye of the reader.

Make sure the email address you list in your header is professional-looking and doesn't contain any inappropriate content such as nicknames or unsuitable language. Opt for an email address based on your name or profession, or a combination of both. Finally, check your contact details before sending your resume, to ensure everything's up-to-date.

Resume Objective

Your resume personal profile is a short, concise paragraph to highlight two or three key skills and achievements in operations associate roles. You may also see this section named as 'resume summary' or 'resume objective'. Resume summaries tend to focus on your career experience, while resume objectives cover your ambitions and plans for the future. However, make sure you keep your resume summary short and snappy, and focused on the skills and experience listed in the job description.

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 operations associate 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. Take a look at some strong examples of how to approach a operations associate resume summary in the graphic below.

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. In the graphic above you can find some negative examples of how to write a resume summary.

Work Experience

In your work experience section, list any previous relevant roles you've worked in, as well as your key achievements as an operations associate. Mention only the most appropriate and relevant jobs you've had in reverse-chronological order, starting with your most recent and working backwards. Add your job title, the name of the employer, the location of the role 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.

A good work experience section pulls the reader in with clear examples of where you've put the skills necessary for the job into good use in your career to date. This typically includes evidence of how your skills and activities contributed to positive outcomes for the organization. See the examples below for some ideas of what a great resume work experience looks like.

See above for some of the pitfalls to avoid with your resume work experience section. A bad resume work experience section might fail to address skills and achievements that relate directly to the job description. Falling back on clichés, vague descriptions and basic responsibilities, rather than showing the impact you made, is likely to disengage the reader.

Educational Achievements

The education section provides space to list your highest and most recent academic achievements that are relevant to working as an operations associate.

An operations associate role tends to require candidates to have a university or college degree, so make sure you list yours in your resume. A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree or similar is the most suitable for this job, but you could also include any other relevant qualifications that show your ERP software expertise or supply chain management.

Include any qualifications relevant to the role. For each, add the name and level of the award, the institution name, its location and your dates of study. You could also add one or two bullet points to draw attention to your grades if they were particularly good, as well as any specialist subjects you studied. This will help the hiring manager understand your knowledge and special skills better.

Membership or leadership of any societies, clubs or causes while studying can also make a positive impression on hiring managers. Consider adding these to your education section for more insight into how you used your time as a student.

Skills

The skills section is one of the main ways to show employers you've got the skills required for operations associate roles. Whether your skills include project management skills, effective communication skills or any other useful skills for the role, you'll want to list them here. Again, refer to the operations associate job description for an indication of the types of skills the employer is looking for, and make sure your skills section reflects these.

Showcasing hard skills on your operations associate resume

Hard skills are specific skills related to the job you're applying for. They include particular abilities, technical skills and industry knowledge that relate directly to jobs as an operations associate. Furthermore, an extensive list of hard skills helps to make a compelling case for your operations associate job applications, as they show employers your understanding of the operations associate role. Include around four or five key hard skills that are listed in the job description. These skills will help to convince the hiring manager that you're a good fit for the position.

If you want to make a strong impression with your hard skills list, focus on hard skills that align with your specific industry expertise, and that reflect the job description. For inspiration on the right type of hard skills for an operations associate resume, see below.

Showcasing your best soft skills

In your soft skills list, include any personal characteristics that make you a good fit for an operations associate job. Soft skills tend to be more universal than hard skills, but they're no less important. In fact, you can develop soft skills throughout your career, and they tend to be suitable for various roles and professions. You should generally look to include up to five soft or transferable skills that match the job description.

An effective operations associate resume soft skills section should be targeted to include skills that reflect your personality and unique characteristics, while also matching the job description. The graphic below includes some examples of good resume soft skills.

Certifications and Training

Your certifications section is the place to mention any relevant professional operations associate certifications, licenses or qualifications. These could be official licenses required for the job or certifications that improve your employability. Therefore, list any official licenses and certifications, along with their dates, so employers can assess whether you've got the necessary qualifications to work as an operations associate.

Below you can find several examples of certifications for an operations associate resume:

Additional Information

In addition to the core sections of an operations associate resume, there are several optional sections you could include to enhance your chances. Pick from the optional sections below to help show the employer you have the skills and experience for the job.

Hobbies and Interests

Including your hobbies and interests can be a valuable way of showing your key skills and qualities. 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 operations associate experience. Think about adding hobbies and interests to your resume if they add some insight into your personality that you can't express elsewhere in your application.

Volunteering

If you're lacking relevant operations associate work experience, volunteer work can help to show you still have the relevant skills. Write your volunteer section in a similar format to your work experience, including your role, the organization name, relevant dates and the details of your contribution.

References

Standard operations associate 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 an operations associate resume

Using strong action words to make your resume resonate with the employer. Add strong verbs from the list below to create a greater impact with your work experience section.

For help creating an eye-catching resume design to catch the attention of hiring managers, see Jobseeker's professional resume layouts. You can also use our clear, effective cover letter templates to complete your application.

Example of an operations associate resume

Using each of the sections above, we've created this example operations associate resume, to help guide you when creating your own:

Guide to making your resume ATS-friendly

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are increasingly taking responsibility for the management and processing of job applications, helping hiring practices to become more efficient. This can include screening resumes by scanning and ranking each application according to how closely it matches the job description. If you follow a few simple tips when writing your operations associate resume, you'll give yourself a better chance of ranking highly in the ATS screening and progressing to the next stage.

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

• Use a traditional resume format, such as reverse-chronological or functional. These will give your resume a structure that's easier for ATS systems to scan.
• Add keywords throughout your resume that help ATS software match your application to the job description. A higher match means your application is more likely to proceed to be reviewed by human eyes.
• Include clear headings in each section that match the traditional resume structure and format. This will make it easier for the ATS software to scan 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.
• Use concise language to keep the length of your resume to between one and two pages. This will make it easier to scan for ATS applications.

Key points for your operations associate resume

The key to a strong resume is to showcase your relevant skills and achievements through your work experience and other activities. Select a resume format that suits your experience levels and the job you're applying for, and make sure you tailor your resume for each application.

Jobseeker has a wealth of resume tools, including resume templates and examples, to help you create a winning job application. Sign up today to get started. 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) Tips for Writing a Federal Resume, U.S. Department of Labor: https://www.dol.gov/general/jobs/tips-for-writing-a-federal-resume

(2) Resume Tips, Duke University: https://careerhub.students.duke.edu/resources/resume-tips/