5 Change Management Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

Meet Susanna.

She’s the CEO of a local startup company who has been struggling to keep up with the evolving technology and their customer’s demands.

Susanna needs an outstanding change manager to join her team to re-align their business processes.

You see huge potential in Susanna’s company and would be honoured to join their team and make a massive positive impact on their business.

But first, you need to impress Susanna enough to land the interview, and ultimately, the job.

How?

By writing a change management resume that positions you as the best candidate for the role.

This guide will walk you through how to write an impressive resume that will have the Susanna’s of the world hiring you fast.

Ready to write that job-winning resume?

Let’s get started.

This change management resume guide will teach you:

• Samples of job-winning change manager resumes
• How to use real data to support your claims
• Multiple ways you can personalize your change management resume for the job you want
• 17 technical and soft skills to add to your resume

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How to write a change management resume that gets you hired

You’re the hero that builds the bridge between a business failing and one thriving in an evolving market.

Your resume needs to show that you have analytical and strategic thinking skills to help businesses succeed in the face of change.

You also need to prove that you have the communication and collaboration skills necessary to motivate teams who might be resistant to change.

The hiring company wants confidence that you’re the change manager who will help them achieve their long-term goals and bring new life to their business.

Write each section of your resume with these goals in mind to boost your chance of landing an interview. Describe the impact you’ve made as a change manager before in your resume summary and work experience section.

Highlight your mix of technical and soft skills throughout your work experience and skills sections.

Use real numbers and figures to support your claims throughout your resume.

Don’t worry - we cover how to do all of that and more throughout this guide, so keep reading.

How to write a header that checks all the boxes

Your resume header is the go-to place for your contact information.

But it doesn’t have to be as basic as that. Adding a few upgrades, such as a more detailed job title and relevant links, like your LinkedIn profile, will go a long way.

Let’s say you’re applying for a senior change management role at a software company.

Here’s the basic version of a resume header:

This header is passable, but it’s very basic.

By adding those header upgrades we mentioned before, it will take your resume header from average to excellent.

Here’s the new version.

What makes this header stand out?

It includes everything the hiring company wants to see:

• It mentions your industry speciality (IT)
• Showcases your expertise level (Senior)
• Includes multiple ways to contact you (phone and email)
• Has your LinkedIn profile URL for further viewing

Awesome! You have the resume header written and ready to go, so let’s move onto your resume summary.

How to Write a Stand-Out change management Resume Summary

Your professional summary acts as your “elevator pitch” where you make the case on why you’re the best change manager for the job.

It’s where you focus on your career highlights, like your success in prior roles.

Including quantitative data will make your claims more valid, building trust with the hiring manager reading your resume. How many years of experience do you have? How much did you boost efficiency in former projects? How much money did you save for businesses?

Highlight your leadership and management skills, as well as your specific industry expertise. Do you specialize in IT change management? This is a good time to mention it!

As a change manager, your soft skills are equally important for job success. Your summary should include mentions of some key soft skills, like your ability to communicate and present ideas to a team.

Taking the time to personalize your resume will put you leagues ahead of other candidates.

Let’s take a look at two change manager resume examples to see our tips in action.

2 Change Manager Resume Examples - Summary

Here’s what an average change manager resume summary looks like:

This resume won’t excite the hiring manager into calling you for an interview.

• It’s vague and unpersonalized
• There’s no mention of your success as a change manager

Let’s take a look at an upgraded version.

Much better! This summary will inspire the hiring manager to call you back.

Why?

• It describes your impact and expertise in change management, using real data to back up your claims
• Highlights your important soft skills (communication and collaboration)
• Personalized for the job you want, mentioning the company by name and describing your eagerness to excel in the role

With a professional summary like this, you present yourself as a competent change manager worth hiring.

Let’s jump into the most important section of your change management resume - the work experience section.

How should you describe your change management experience?

The work experience section is the most important part of your change management resume.

Hiring managers want to see that you can effectively manage business transitions, using your analytical and strategic planning skills. They want to see that you can support those changes with strong leadership and motivation. Ultimately, they want to be confident that you can produce lasting results.

By highlighting your change management expertise in your work experience section, you’ll resolve these questions that the hiring manager has about you.

Your work experience section should focus on two key goals:

• How you’ve impacted businesses before with your change management
• The important mix of technical and soft skills needed for the role

To demonstrate the impact you’ve made on businesses with your change management, highlight your biggest accomplishments for each role. Include 2-3 bullet points showcasing the measure of impact you made and how you achieved it. For example, did you implement a billing change that resulted in thousands of dollars in cost recovery? Mention those figures specifically!

To highlight your mix of technical and soft skills, take a look at the job description and use the same keywords they’ve used. Do they want someone who can deliver training? Or ensure compliance? Use these keywords directly when describing your work experience.

Let’s compare two change management work experience sections.

2 change management resume experience examples

This description needs more work.

It doesn’t describe your success as a change manager, providing no proof that you’re competent in the role.

Here’s another example.

This example is excellent.

It describes your success as a change manager in the past, with real data to support your points. It also includes mention of your soft skills, such as your ability to effectively communicate important ideas with executives.

What should you include in your change manager education section?

Education is important in change management. Having a Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in a relevant degree shows that you have the technical expertise to excel in the field.

Change managers come from a mix of educational backgrounds, but most do have a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

Here are some common degrees that change managers have:

• Business Management
• Organizational Leadership
• Software Development or IT Infrastructure (if doing IT change management)

Many institutions also have degree programs specifically in change management.

So, you have the degree. Now it’s time to write the education section of your resume. What should you include?

Here’s a complete checklist of what needs to be included:

• The name of the university
• The name of the degree you completed
• Where your university was located
• Years attended
• GPA (optional)

If you have any additional certifications related to change management, this is a great opportunity to include them in the education section. Place them under their own subheading titled “Certifications” for better clarity and organization.

17 skills to add to your change management resume

Change managers need strong analytical and strategic planning skills to do well in their business transition projects. They also need research, presentation and project management skills.

As well as these necessary technical skills, companies want to hire change managers with the right soft skills to be a strong member of the team.

Show that you can discover the best methods to re-align organizations with your analytical and research skills.

Highlight soft skills such as communication and presentation skills to show that you can bring your brilliant strategies to life, and collaborate with the rest of the team for a smooth transition.

The skills section also gives you an excellent opportunity to further personalize your resume and impress the hiring manager. Look over the job description and note what skills are wanted for the role. If you have them, mention them directly in the skills section of your resume.

Here is a list of 18 skills to inspire your choices.

Key points to remember for a change management resume

• Mention your area of expertise in change management a few times throughout your resume. (Eg. Are you most familiar with IT change management? Organizational change management?)
• Personalize your resume for the company you’re applying to by mirroring the same keywords they used themselves in the job description.
• Include a well-rounded mix of technical and soft skills.
• Use quantitative data throughout your resume to support your claims about your success in former roles.