In the vibrant, and oftentimes overwhelming, realm of social media, the role of a social media coordinator has emerged as a crucial stepping stone for those positioned between a novice intern and a seasoned social media manager.
If you're tech-savvy and keen on enhancing a company's online presence, engaging customers, and promoting the brand, you'd be ideal for a social media coordinator role.
Keep in mind that if you’re aspiring to this position, you’ll need to showcase your ability to easily manage social media strategies, create engaging content, and use insights to adjust tactics. These elements will help you make a strong case for your contribution to the company's growth on your resume.
This guide will help you navigate during your social media evolution. We’ll go over:
- Some common problems faced by those in the social media industry.
- Choosing the best resume layout based on your experience.
- Listing your professional experience on your resume or what to do if you don’t have any.
- Including a thorough skills section.
- How to properly present your education and/or certifications on your resume.
- When and how to use a professional summary or objective.
If you’re interested in learning more about resumes in general, we’d suggest taking a few minutes to read the following guides:
These will help to give you a much better understanding of resumes in general.
More related guides:
- Social Media Specialist Resumes
- Content Marketing Resumes
- E-commerce Marketing Resumes
- Brand Ambassador Resumes
- Brand Manager Resumes
- Copywriter Resumes
- Marketing Intern Resumes
- Public Relations Specialist Resumes
Common problems confronted by social media coordinators
Of course, it wouldn’t be called a job hunt if it was all easy to do. We’ve done some research and come up with the following issues that you should keep an eye on.
- Quantifying performance: social media coordinators are often responsible for increasing an organization's social media presence. However, it can be challenging to quantify these achievements on a resume.
- Demonstrating familiarity with social media platforms: The rapid evolution and proliferation of social media platforms can make it difficult to show a vast, up-to-date working knowledge of all relevant platforms.
- Showcasing creativity: Being a social media coordinator often requires a great deal of creativity, from generating engaging content to responding to customer interactions.
- Keeping up with trends: The digital marketing and social media landscape is constantly changing, with new trends and technologies continuously emerging.
- Showcasing the use of tools: You’ll be expected to be proficient in using various job-specific tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, Google Analytics, Adobe Photoshop, etc. Mentioning these tools can give an idea about your technical capability, but expressing how effectively you’ve used them to achieve results can be tricky.
How to correctly format a social media coordinator resume
For a social media coordinator position, the best resume format depends on your specific experience, career trajectory, and the emphasis you want to put on certain aspects of your professional background. Here’s a breakdown of the two most relevant formats to help you decide:
Reverse chronological resume format
Opting for a reverse chronological resume format is beneficial for individuals with extensive experience in the social media field, as it clearly outlines career progression, demonstrating growth and achievements over time. This format is preferred by hiring managers for its familiarity, allowing them to quickly identify key information. It’s also compatible with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), enhancing your resume's visibility.
However, it may highlight employment gaps or frequent job changes. It also may not emphasize specific skills or competencies as effectively as other formats. Despite these cons, the reverse chronological resume remains a strong choice for those with a solid career trajectory, ensuring your application stands out in the screening process.
PRO TIP
If you have a strong, linear career in social media management with clear progressions, a reverse chronological resume might showcase your strengths best. If your path has been more varied, or if you have specific skills you want to highlight directly, a hybrid resume might serve you better.
Hybrid (combination) resume format
If you're lacking the extensive experience typically needed for a reverse chronological resume—especially for a role like a social media coordinator where specific skills are paramount—a hybrid resume format could be your best bet. This approach allows you to highlight both an impressive skill set and work history, offering the flexibility to tailor your resume to closely match the job description and gloss over any employment gaps.
However, it's worth noting that the hybrid format may be less familiar to some hiring managers. This could potentially disrupt their reading flow, requiring a careful balance between skills and experience to ensure coherence and effectiveness. This kind of resume glows by allowing candidates to present a comprehensive picture of their capabilities while tackling any possible concerns regarding direct experience.
PRO TIP
Start-ups and more modern, flexible companies might appreciate the hybrid format more, while traditional organizations might prefer the familiar reverse chronological format.
Ultimately, for a social media coordinator position, a hybrid resume could offer a slight edge because it allows you to showcase both your social media skills and your work history in a compelling way.
Is your resume good enough?
Drop your resume here or choose a file. PDF & DOCX only. Max 2MB file size.
Here are some additional tips while writing your resume:
- Choose a clean layout: Opt for a simple, elegant design that allows your content to shine without distracting graphics. Keep the layout professional, and readable, maintaining a resume length of no more than a page or two long.
- Customize for the job:Tailor your resume for each application based on the job description. Highlight experiences and skills that match the job's requirements using keywords.
- Use professional language: Maintain a professional tone throughout your resume. Use action verbs to describe your responsibilities and achievements.
- PDF format and fonts: Many people ask if they should format their resume in PDF or Word - the answer is to always submit it in PDF. It preserves the layout and design across different devices and platforms. Also, choose the right resume font - Rubik, Lato, Montserrat, Raleway, Exo 2, Volkhov, serif, or sans-serif fonts.
- ATS compatibility: Applicant tracking system (ATS) software scans resumes and cover letters to weed out applicants based on factors set by the employer. This can include resume keywords, design and resume layout, length, and salary requirements.
Below are the sections you’ll need to include in your social media coordinator resume.
The top sections on a social media coordinator resume
- Summary statement or objective: This gives a brief introduction of your professional background and skills, alluding to why you would be perfect for the role.
- Work experience section: Since recruiters will be keen on seeing your previous experience in managing social media accounts, this section should highlight these tasks.
- Skills section: This is crucial as it shows the recruiter you already possess the necessary skills for the job, such as content creation, analytics, or customer service.
- Relevant certifications or courses: This shows you’ve taken steps to further your knowledge of social media management or marketing.
- References section: This section gives the employer contacts who can vouch for your suitability in a social media coordinator role based on firsthand experience.
In addition to those, don’t forget to highlight the following:
What recruiters want to see on your resume
- Experience with social media platforms: Employers want candidates who are already familiar with the major social media platforms.
- Evidence of creativity: Because creating engaging content is a major part of the role, employers will prioritize candidates who can show creativity.
- Understanding of analytics: Any employer will value a social media coordinator who can interpret analytics to drive decisions.
- Evidence of organization skills: This role often requires managing multiple social media platforms at once, so organization skills are critical.
- Demonstrative social engagement: A proactive engagement with an audience, because the more socially engaged the coordinator, the higher the potential return on investment for the company.
Your resume's job experience section should be a testament to your achievements, not just a timeline of your employment history. Make each word count, showcasing not only what you did but how you excelled.
Louise Fletcher
Crafting your social media coordinator resume experience
For most social media coordinators, the work experience section will be one of the main focuses. Here’s how you can present it in a compelling way:
- Reverse chronological order: Start with your most recent job and work backward.
- Job title and dates of employment: Clearly state your job title, the company's name, and the period of your employment.
- Responsibilities and achievements: List your key responsibilities, focusing on those most relevant to social media coordination. Highlight your achievements using bullet points. Use action verbs to start each point, and quantify your accomplishments when possible.
- Skills and tools: Mention specific skills and tools you used or learned in each role, such as content management systems, analytics tools, and graphic design software.
- Tailor your experience: Customize your resume for the job you're applying for by highlighting the experience and skills that are most relevant to the job description.
- Professional development: If you took on additional roles or responsibilities beyond your original job description, make sure to include these.
- Social media campaign examples: Include brief case studies of successful social media campaigns you’ve coordinated or contributed to.
- Results-focused: Employers want to see the impact of your work. Share results in terms of growth metrics, engagement rates, conversion rates, or revenue generated.
Formatting Tips:
- Keep your resume clean and easy to read. Use bullet points for clarity.
- Be concise. Keep your resume to one page if you have less than 10 years of experience.
- Proofread to avoid typos and grammatical errors.
Below we have a couple of examples to better illustrate the dos and don'ts of an experience section. As you will see, the first example needs some revision:
- •Posted stuff on social media
- •Helped with social media campaigns
- •Did various tasks as needed
What was done poorly:
- Vague descriptions: Phrases like "Posted stuff on social media" and "Did various tasks as needed" are too vague and don’t convey the scope of work, the skills applied, or the value added to the company.
- Lack of achievements or quantifiable results: The description fails to include any achievements or quantifiable outcomes of the work performed.
- Missed opportunity to highlight skills and learning: The listing doesn’t mention any skills learned or tools used during the internship, such as proficiency in specific social media management software, analytics tools, or content creation tools.
Improving this work history section requires incorporating specific details about the tasks undertaken, the skills developed, and the tangible outcomes of the intern's efforts. This approach not only provides a clearer picture of the intern's experience but also showcases their potential value to future employers.
For example:
- •Spearheaded the creation and scheduling of daily content across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, leading to a 15% increase in engagement and a 10% growth in followers over 4 months.
- •Collaborated closely with the marketing team to develop a month-long social media campaign for a new product launch, resulting in a 25% increase in website traffic and a 20% rise in sales during the campaign period.
- •Utilized analytics tools like Google Analytics and Hootsuite Insights to monitor campaign performance, generate weekly reports, and suggest adjustments that improved content reach by 30%.
Why this is well-written:
- Specific responsibilities and achievements: This listing clearly details the intern's tasks, such as creating and scheduling daily content and collaborating on a social media campaign. It quantifies achievements, providing concrete evidence of their impact.
- Use of metrics to demonstrate success: By including specific percentages to showcase the results of their efforts, this example demonstrates the intern's ability to contribute meaningfully to the company's goals.
- Mention of skills and tools: The listing mentions specific analytics tools used by the intern, highlighting their technical skills and familiarity with industry-standard tools. This shows their ability to utilize technology to drive and measure the success of social media strategies.
Quantifying impact on your social media resume
Being able to successfully quantify your impact on a resume is often something overlooked or not given the full attention it deserves. Take note:
- Include data on traffic growth: This shows that you're not only capable of managing social media accounts but of growing them as well.
- Mention the percentage increase in followers: By doing so, you're demonstrating your ability to attract new audience members.
- Specify the increase in post engagement: This indicates that you know how to create content that resonates with an audience.
- Highlight any decrease in the cost per click due to your strategies: This indicates effective resource utilization and shows cost-efficient campaigns.
- Specify achieving high conversion rates from social media campaigns: This quantifies your ability to influence and drive sales or actions from the audience.
- Mention the amount of organic reach achieved without a budget: This shows your skills in gaining exposure without the need for spending on promotions.
- State the number of successful ad campaigns you ran: Demonstrate your experience with paid advertising on social media platforms.
- Discuss the level of website traffic generated or leads created from social media: This shows that you're able to effectively direct traffic from social media platforms to a company's target destination.
Opportunities don't happen, you create them.
Chris Grosser
How do I write a social media coordinator resume with no experience
Creating an effective resume for a social media coordinator position without direct work experience can still be achievable by highlighting relevant skills, projects, and coursework. Here are a few things to include that could help you stand out:
- Leverage related skills and experiences
- Transferable skills
- Volunteer work or internships
- Highlight educational background and coursework
- Relevant coursework
- Certifications and workshops
- Showcase your online presence and personal projects
- Personal social media projects
- Content portfolio
- Emphasize soft skills and adaptability
- Adaptability and eagerness to learn: Social media trends and algorithms change rapidly. Emphasize your ability to learn quickly, adapt to new technologies, and stay ahead of trends.
- Creativity and innovation: Highlight your creative thinking and ability to innovate, especially through examples where you had to come up with unique solutions or content ideas.
- Tailor your resume for each application
- Use keywords from the job description
Starting with these strategies can help you craft a resume that showcases your potential and passion for social media, even if you lack direct work experience in the field. We will explore these in more detail further down in the article.
How to list your hard skills and soft skills on your resume
So, now we get to the fun part. Who are you and what’s your skill set? This is an opportunity to display all of your assets and really make an impression that can ultimately land you your dream job… or leave you staring at your phone waiting for a call that will never come.
The skill section of your resume is absolutely essential—even more so for anyone in a creative field or lacking work experience. So dedicate a good amount of time and energy to creating an impressive one.
Hard vs soft skills
Soft skills on a resume are personal attributes and interpersonal skills that determine how well someone can work or interact with others. Whereas, resume hard skills can be described as technical abilities and knowledge specific to a job.
Let’s check out a couple of comprehensive lists of the most sought-after skills related to social media.
Best hard skills for your social media coordinator resume
- SEO knowledge
- Data analysis
- Google Analytics
- HootSuite
- Adobe Photoshop
- Ad management tools
- Content management systems (CMS)
- Canva
- Buffer
- Social media monitoring tools
- MailChimp
- Graphic design
- Video editing
- Customer relationship management (CRM) software
- Web design
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Instagram Ads
- Newsletter services
- Sprout Social
Best soft skills for your social media coordinator resume
- Creativity
- Time management
- Adaptability
- Communication
- Writing skills
- Multitasking
- Problem-solving
- Organizational skills
- Attention to detail
- Strategic planning
- Patience
- Network building
- Leadership
- Teamwork
- Flexibility
- Decision-making
- Public relations
- Marketing strategy
- Crisis management
- Customer service
The number of skills you should list on your resume can vary, but a general guideline is to aim for a list of around 5 to 10 skills. This allows you to showcase your most relevant and strong skills without overwhelming the reader. It's important to tailor this list to the job you're applying for, highlighting the skills that match the job description and demonstrating your capability in the role.
How to list your certifications and education on your resume
Supporting your application with a strong education and certification section will greatly improve your chances of employment. These elements demonstrate your foundational knowledge, specialized skills, and commitment to ongoing learning in the field of social media.
Education
Formal education on a resume, such as a degree in marketing, communications, or a related field, provides a broad understanding of concepts that are crucial for creating effective social media campaigns, understanding audience behaviors, and analyzing data.
Follow this simple layout for each entry:
- Degree type and major
- Name of institution
- Graduation date - If you're currently enrolled, write "Expected Graduation Date: May 2024."
- Location - This is optional.
- Achievements/Honors - Briefly list any honors or awards received to highlight academic excellence
- Relevant courses or projects - Include projects or coursework on a resume that are particularly relevant to the job you’re applying for, especially if you lack direct work experience.
Here’s an ideal example of an education listing:
- •Summa Cum Laude
- •Relevant Courses: Social Media Marketing Strategies, Content Creation for Digital Platforms, Analytics and SEO
- •Capstone Project: Developed a comprehensive social media campaign for a local non-profit, resulting in a 40% increase in engagement over 3 months
Why it’s good:
- Degree type and major: Clearly states the degree and major.
- Name of institution and location: Includes prestigious university name and location, which can be advantageous if the school has a strong reputation in the field.
- Grade Point Average: They chose to display their GPA on their resume because it’s high. There’s no reason to list it if it’s lower than 3.5.
- Graduation date: Shows recent completion of education, suggesting up-to-date knowledge of the field.
- Achievements/Honors: The mention of graduating Summa Cum Laude on your resume highlights academic excellence, suggesting dedication and capability.
- Relevant courses: Listing courses relevant to social media and digital marketing demonstrates targeted education towards the career path.
- Relevant projects: The inclusion of a successful capstone project showcases practical experience and the ability to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios.
This example combines academic achievements with practical experience, demonstrating both the theoretical knowledge and applied skills that are highly valued in a social media coordinator role.
Certifications
Certifications on a resume can highlight your expertise in specific platforms, tools, or strategies, making you a more attractive candidate by showing that you have the technical skills and up-to-date knowledge required for the role.
Here’s the basic layout to follow:
- Certification name
- Issuing organization
- Date earned - Month and year. If it’s a certification that expires, also include an expiration date.
- Location - This is optional and usually not necessary.
- Brief Description (optional) - A short sentence about how this certification is relevant to your social media goals.
Look at these examples:
- •Specialized in strategic planning and execution across major social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- •Gained expertise in data analysis and interpretation with Google Analytics, enhancing the ability to measure, manage, and analyze social media marketing performance.
Why these are good:
- It’s clearly labeled, making it easy for hiring managers to recognize the qualification.
- Adds credibility by showing the certification was awarded by a reputable entity.
- Indicates relevance, showing that the candidate keeps their skills up-to-date.
- By selecting certifications relevant to social media management and analytics, the candidate demonstrates a commitment to the skills and knowledge areas critical for success in this role.
- A brief explanation of what the certification involves and how it applies to the candidate’s skills in social media coordination helps hiring managers understand the certification’s value.
Below are some relevant examples of certifications in the social media sphere.
Best certifications for your social media coordinator resume
Both certifications and education serve to establish your credibility and readiness to contribute effectively in a social media coordinator position.
Writing a resume summary or objective for a social media coordinator
A resume summary highlights your achievements and experience relevant to the social media coordinator role, showcasing their value. In contrast, a resume objective describes your career goals and how they align with the position, often used by those with less experience or making a career change.
Resume summary
Pointers:
- Highlight experience: Summarize your years of experience in social media, emphasizing areas of expertise like content creation or analytics.
- Quantify achievements: Mention specific successes, like increasing follower count by a certain percentage or boosting engagement rates.
- Showcase skills: Include key skills relevant to a social media coordinator, such as proficiency in social media platforms and tools, creativity, and strategic planning.
Here’s a good example:
On the other hand, for those of you not able to refer back to years of experience, you’ll need to produce an objective statement.
Resume objective
Pointers:
- State your goal: Clearly articulate your career objective, focusing on how you aim to grow and contribute as a social media coordinator.
- Align with the company: Tailor your objective to the company’s mission or the specific role, showing how your interests align with their needs.
- Mention key skills: Briefly highlight your most relevant skills, especially if they directly address the job description’s requirements.
Both should be concise, tailored to the job you're applying for, and reflect your unique value proposition as a candidate.
PRO TIP
Align your objective with the employer’s needs and goals. Clearly articulate how your skills, experiences, and ambitions can contribute to their team or solve their challenges. This tailored approach shows you’ve researched the company and position, demonstrating your genuine interest and proactive attitude toward contributing value from the get-go.
Additional sections for a social media coordinator resume
Here are some good additional sections to consider including on your resume to make it stand out:
- Volunteer work or internships: If you’ve volunteered or completed internships, even in different fields, discuss the responsibilities you had that could translate well into social media coordination.
- Personal social media projects: If you've managed your own blog, YouTube channel, Instagram account, or any other platform with noticeable success or engagement, include these projects on your resume. Explain how you grew your audience, engaged with followers, and created content tailored to your target demographic.
- Content portfolio: Create a portfolio of your work, including any graphics, written content, or campaigns you've developed. This can be through personal projects, freelance work, or as part of your coursework. Provide links in your resume to direct potential employers to your portfolio.
- Languages: If you’re fluent in multiple languages, this can be a significant asset in managing and engaging with a diverse, global audience.
Key takeaways
To finish up our article, let’s quickly recap what we went over.
- There are several obstacles for a social media coordinator to overcome while crafting an effective resume; however, these can be tackled with dedication and persistence.
- The hybrid (combination) format is the better option when it comes to this particular role as most applicants don’t possess a long enough work history to produce a successful reverse chronological resume format.
- Balance the presentation of your skill sets with any work history so they complement rather than distract from each other.
- Remember to quantify your impact. Highlight all of your accomplishments, and achievements using numbers to do so—prove your value!
- Don’t be afraid to apply for the job if you don’t have the work experience some others may. There are tools and tips to help you succeed regardless of your professional history.
- Demonstrate your foundational knowledge, passion, and dedication to the industry through your education and certifications.
- Once you’re done with all the sections, it’s time for you to sit down and concentrate on creating the best, most compelling professional description of yourself—be it a resume summary or an objective.
Social Media Coordinator resume examples
Explore additional social media coordinator resume samples and guides and see what works for your level of experience or role.
By Role