Stop Losing Jobs Over a Bad Resume
Fix the 5 biggest advertising manager resume mistakes and land your next campaignâleading role faster.
Common Mistakes That Kill Your Chances
Each mistake includes why it hurts, how to fix it, and before/after examples
- Provides no value to the recruiter
- Consumes prime space that could showcase achievements
- Often flagged by ATS for lack of keywords
- Replace the objective with a concise professional summary
- Highlight 2â3 core competencies aligned with advertising leadership
- Insert industryâspecific keywords such as "brand strategy" and "media planning"
Objective: Seeking a challenging position where I can utilize my skills and grow professionally.
Strategic Advertising Manager with 8+ years driving awardâwinning brand campaigns for Fortune 500 clients. Expert in integrated media planning, creative direction, and ROIâfocused performance metrics.
- Hiring managers canât gauge your impact
- ATS often looks for numbers to rank relevance
- Your resume appears vague and generic
- Add specific metrics (e.g., % increase in brand awareness, budget size, ROI) to each bullet
- Use the formula: Action + Context + Result
- Prioritize the most impressive numbers at the top of each role
Managed multiple advertising campaigns for various clients.
Led a crossâfunctional team to execute 12 integrated campaigns, increasing client brand awareness by 35% and generating $2.4M in incremental revenue within 6 months.
- Reduces readability for human recruiters
- ATS may not map obscure acronyms to standard keywords
- Can appear pretentious and unfocused
- Replace niche acronyms with plain language (e.g., "DSP" â "programmatic demandâside platform")
- Limit buzzwords to 2â3 per resume and back them with results
- Use industryâstandard terms that match job postings
Leveraged synergistic omniâchannel initiatives to drive KPIâcentric outcomes.
Coordinated omniâchannel campaigns that boosted clickâthrough rates by 22% and lowered costâperâacquisition by 15%.
- ATS may misread sections if formatting is unconventional
- Recruiters skim quickly; a cluttered layout hides key info
- Inconsistent fonts or spacing can trigger parsing errors
- Use standard headings (Professional Summary, Experience, Education, Skills)
- Keep fonts to 10â12âŻpt, single column, and use bullet points consistently
- Save as PDF or DOCX with simple formatting
[Centered bold title] ADVERTISING MANAGER [Twoâcolumn layout with graphics]
Advertising Manager john.doe@email.com | (555) 123â4567 | LinkedIn.com/in/johndoe Professional Summary ...
- ATS ranks resumes lower if keywords donât match the posting
- Hiring managers may think youâre a generic candidate
- You miss the chance to showcase roleâspecific expertise
- Extract 8â12 core keywords from the job ad (e.g., "brand positioning," "media buying," "client stewardship")
- Weave these keywords naturally into your summary and bullet points
- Use the exact phrasing (singular/plural) as in the posting
Responsible for managing client relationships and overseeing campaigns.
Managed client stewardship for $10M media buying portfolio, delivering brand positioning strategies that increased market share by 12%.
- Replace generic objective with a keywordârich summary
- Add measurable results to every bullet
- Swap jargon for clear, outcomeâfocused language
- Use a singleâcolumn ATSâfriendly layout
- Incorporate 8â12 advertisingâspecific keywords
- Proofread for spelling and consistency
- Convert generic bullets into quantified achievements
- Swap buzzwords for plain language
- Reformat headings to standard ATS tags
- Insert top industry keywords