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Business Continuity Manager Resume Example & Writing Guide

Strengthen your Business Continuity Manager resume with this comprehensive example and writing guide. Discover the essential sections to feature and learn how to describe your skills and experience effectively. Implement these tips to build a resume that catches the attention of hiring managers and positions you as a top candidate. Includes a downloadable resume template you can customize.

A Business Continuity Manager plays a key role in making sure a company can keep operating during a crisis. When looking for a new job in this field, your resume is your first chance to show employers you have the skills and experience they need.

This guide will walk you through the most important parts of a Business Continuity Manager resume. It breaks down what to include in each section and shares an example to help you see how it all comes together. By the end, you'll know how to put together a resume that grabs hiring managers' attention and lands you interviews.

Your resume should highlight your ability to create continuity plans, lead during emergencies, work with people across the company, and protect the business. It's also important to show your relevant certifications and training.

Ready to get started? Let's dive into crafting a Business Continuity Manager resume that will open doors to your next opportunity.

Common Responsibilities Listed on Business Continuity Manager Resumes

  • Develop and maintain comprehensive business continuity plans and strategies
  • Conduct risk assessments and identify potential threats to business operations
  • Establish and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and vendors
  • Coordinate and lead business continuity testing and exercise programs
  • Ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards
  • Develop and implement disaster recovery plans and procedures
  • Train and educate employees on business continuity policies and procedures
  • Manage and maintain business continuity planning tools and documentation
  • Collaborate with IT department to ensure system and data backups and recovery
  • Monitor and report on business continuity program effectiveness
  • Participate in incident response and crisis management activities
  • Develop and maintain business impact analyses and recovery strategies
  • Coordinate with emergency response teams and external agencies
  • Stay updated with industry best practices and emerging trends in business continuity

How to write a Resume Summary

Writing the summary or objective section of your resume is a critical step that can play a dominant role in grabbing the attention of potential employers. As a Business Continuity Manager, your goal should be to communicate the wealth of experience, skills, and knowledge you possess in a succinct yet comprehensive manner. This section should serve as the central narrative of your resume, articulating your overall value in a profound but precise way.

Identifying Your Skills

Begin by listing down the core skills you've amassed over your career. For a Business Continuity Manager, such skills may include strategic planning, incident management, risk identification and management, and problem-solving. Don't forget to mention your ability to work cross-functionally, manage teams, and liaise with different stakeholders.

Quantifiable Achievements

Highlighting quantifiable achievements can help underscore your claims. While expressing that you're skilled at risk management is helpful, supplementing such a statement with demonstrable results provides a compelling marker of your expertise. Did you implement a strategy that eliminated a significant percentage of potential disruptions? Have you helped the company save money by introducing efficient continuity systems? These details matter, so make them count.

Fine-Tuning The Language

Save the industry jargon for the job-specific part of the resume. The summary or objective section must be simple and easy to comprehend. Don't bury your skills and achievements under complex lingo. Keep it readily understandable to anyone who might view your resume, including those not directly familiar with your role's intricasies.

Speaking to Employer's Needs

Your summary or objective should also resonate with potential employers. Do your research to gauge their specific needs and tailor your resume to match those requirements. This level of customization can not only demonstrate you've done your homework, but it can also prove your dedication and interest in the role beyond mere job application.

The Art of Brevity

Finally, summarize your professional career, skills, and successes in brief, impactful sentences. Turn away from using lengthy explanations; they can dilute the essential message you're trying to convey. Be direct, be concise, and leave your potential employer eager to learn more about you.

Please remember, the summary/objective section is not a one-size-fits-all. It's all about presenting yourself authentically while aligning your goals and experiences with the job role. A well-written summary can bring your application to life, providing the ammo it needs to cut through the noise and push your candidature to the next level. And that's precisely what we aim to achieve.

Strong Summaries

  • Accomplished Business Continuity Manager with over 10 years of experience developing and executing successful business continuity plans, risk assessments, destruction recovery strategies, and enterprise resiliency programs. Excellent leadership skills with a proven record in managing a team of business continuity professionals. Actively participated in audits with regulatory agencies and successfully mitigated penalties due to non-compliance issues.
  • Highly skilled Business Continuity Manager with 15+ years of experience in creating and implementing business continuity and disaster recovery strategies. Recognized for expertise in risk management and mitigating operational losses. Acted as primary point of contact during disruptions, directing recovery efforts and communicating with stakeholders to maintain business operations.
  • Results-oriented Business Continuity Manager with proven skills in project management, risk assessment, and disaster recovery planning. Holds a Certified Business Continuity Planner (CBCP) designation. Led the enterprise-wide business continuity strategy development, resulting in a 20% increase in company resiliency.
  • Forward-thinking Business Continuity Manager with a decade of experience in driving organizational resilience. Adept in formulating strategic plans, improving internal processes, conducting business impact analyses, and achieving regulatory compliance. Skilled in building relationships with stakeholders and coaching teams in crisis management.

Why these are strong?

These examples show a good practice because they are clear, concise, and packed with relevant terminology and measurable achievements. It highlights the candidate's experience, necessary skills, achievements, and certifications, making it apparent that they are well-equipped to handle the roles and responsibilities of a Business Continuity Manager. It's a good practice to put such kind of information in your Professional Summary as it could instantly give a good impression to the hiring manager or employer.

Weak Summaries

  • Business Continuity Manager with years of experience. I have done things.
  • Experienced Business Continuity Manager. I like to play golf and watch TV in my leisure time.
  • Reliable Business Continuity Manager. My goal in life is to travel the world.
  • As a Business Continuity Manager, I don't like complacency and always look for changes, no matter the impact on business operations.
  • I have been a Business Continuity Manager for a few years and trust me it's really hard.
  • Business Continuity Manager. I take things as they come and do not like to plan ahead.

Why these are weak?

A good professional summary in Business Continuity Manager resume should reflect the candidate's expertise, skills, and significant achievements in the field. The first, second, third example lacks further detail and doesn't describe the specific expertise or achievements. The fourth example implies a disregard for the stability of business operations, which is a red flag in business continuity management. The fifth example displays a lack of enthusiasm and motivation, with a negative tone that would be off-putting to employers. The last example shows a lack of strategic planning and foresight; crucial qualities for a Business Continuity Manager. This showcases a lack of professionalism and dedication in those roles. A professional summary should be concise, professional, and customized to the job you’re applying for.

Showcase your Work Experience

The employment landscape is continuously evolving, demanding that job seekers master the art of selling their skills and experiences effectively. One of the most vital sections in your resume is the 'Work Experience' segment. But why is it so indispensable? And how, as a Business Continuity Manager (BCM), can you present your work background in ways that highlight your expertise and enhance your chances of landing your dream job?

Understanding the Importance of the 'Work Experience' Section

The Work Experience section of your resume serves a fundamental purpose - it helps possible employers understand the breadth and depth of your professional journey. More specifically, the section reveals where you've worked, the roles you undertook, your accomplished tasks, and most importantly for a BCM, it represents the scope of crises and business impediments you've successfully navigated.

Your past experiences carry substantial weight in informing potential employers about your potential futures. Yet, many still struggle to efficiently communicate their work history. Though the best approach depends largely on one's personal career story, certain universal strategies can enhance the effectiveness of this crucial resume segment.

Illuminating Your Path as a Business Continuity Manager

Firstly, it's essential to understand that each job position has different nuances and requirements. As a BCM, your work entails the coordination of activities to enable the recovery of the organization as swiftly as possible while minimizing losses. Therefore, your work experience should highlight your risk management strategies, your ability to develop contingency plans, amongst other duties. But how do you approach it and what steps can you take?

Begin With Job Titles and Employers

At the outset, draft a clear list of your past jobs, specifying your role titles and the organizations you navigated. Capture the names of your previous employers, the duration of employment, and locations you've operated within.

Expert Tip

Quantify your achievements and impact using concrete numbers, metrics, and percentages to demonstrate the value you brought to your previous roles.

Action Verbs Are Key

Effective bullet points commence with potent action verbs. As a BCM, terms such as 'coordinated', 'directed', 'evaluated', or 'implemented', could effectively communicate the nature and impact of your work.

Highlight Specific Achievements

As you summarize your duties, strive to highlight your accomplishments and quantify them if possible. Whether you developed efficient channels that reduced system downtime by 20% or managed a team that consistently met recovery objectives, let your accomplishments shine. These successes should mirror the job description, showing your alignment with the sought-after role.

Be SEO-Conscious

Just like search engines, HR-softwares scan for specific keywords to sift through a sea of resumes. Understand what competencies and skills employers seek in a BCM. Ensure these keywords feature in your Work Experience section naturally, to enhance your relevancy score.

Your Work Experience section is not just a run-down of your job history, but a comprehensive essence of your professional journey. Mindfully curating this segment, making it succinct yet richly informative, can prove pivotal in landing your next role. Keep in mind; the aim is not to detail every task ever undertaken but to demonstrate alignment with the prospective employer's needs while showcasing your expertise and proficiency as a BCM.

Strong Experiences

  • Designed and instituted a business continuity plan that reduced potential financial loss by 35%
  • Led a team of 5 in the execution and evaluation of emergency simulations to maintain organizational readiness
  • Implemented a risk management framework to guide in decision making processes during crises
  • Developed policies and procedures to align with regulations and compliance requirements
  • Organized training and awareness programs to build a company culture of preparedness
  • Conducted regular inspections of the preparedness of operational activities and resources
  • Managed incident response teams to mitigate various types of disruptions

Why these are strong?

These are good examples because they detail specific actions taken as a Business Continuity Manager and are measurable with concrete numbers or actions. They show leadership, responsibility and initiative, which are key elements for a Business Continuity Manager role. Also, they explicitly illustrate how the candidate could add value to a company, such as reducing financial loss, aligning to compliance requirements and building a culture of preparedness.

Weak Experiences

  • Responsible for things related to business continuity
  • Did some tasks related to the position
  • Worked on some projects for the company
  • Did stuff related to business continuity management
  • Participated in some business continuity related activities

Why these are weak?

The above examples are considered bad practices for several reasons. Firstly, they are too vague and fail to give any specific information about what the person did in their role as a Business Continuity Manager. This kind of vague language does not effectively communicate to potential employers what competencies and skills the candidate might bring to the role. Secondly, using informal language such as 'did stuff' and 'did some tasks' is unprofessional and may give a negative impression. Thirdly, they are passive phrases that don’t show results or accomplishments. Good bullet points should precisely detail the actions taken and their end results, preferably backed with facts and figures.

Skills, Keywords & ATS Tips

Are you working on your Business Continuity Manager (BCM) resume and wondering about the importance of hard and soft skills? Additionally, are you puzzled as to how keywords, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and matching skills tie together? This article will shed some light on these topics, using simple and clear language.

The Importance of Hard & Soft Skills

In your BCM resume, both hard and soft skills play vital roles. Hard skills are your technical skills, the tangible abilities that can be measured and are often learned through schooling or on-the-job training. They comprise your knowledge and expertise in business continuity planning, risk assessment, disaster recovery, and IT risk. These can make you stand out as a competent candidate who can perform the tasks associated with the job.

On the other hand, soft skills are your interpersonal talents, which are not as easily quantifiable. Your communications skills, leadership abilities, and problem-solving traits fall under this category. These skills show potential employers that you have the necessary aptitude to collaborate with teams, lead projects, and handle crises.

A combination of hard and soft skills paints you as a well-rounded candidate — it allows you within a BCM context to efficiently manage business continuity processes and effectively communicate these processes and their resulting impacts to relevant stakeholders.

The Connection Between Keywords, ATS, and Matching Skills

Now, let's talk about keywords, ATS, and matching skills. ATS is a software used by the majority of companies to screen resumes. It's designed to identify and push forward those resumes that hold the most relevant keywords mentioned in a job description.

Keywords are specific words or phrases that employers look for in resumes to indicate whether a candidate possesses the desired skills. In a business continuity manager's position, these might include 'Disaster Recovery Planning,' 'Business Continuity,' 'Risk Assessment,' 'Crisis Management,' and 'IT Risk.'

Therefore, your resume should do its best to reflect the specific hard and soft skills, qualities, and experience that the job ad mentions. This increases the chances of your resume making it past the automated initial ATS review stage. The corresponding skills listed in your resume helps match your skills with what the employer is looking for.

The aim isn’t to stuff your resume with keywords, but to ensure you present the relevant skills and attributes in a meaningful way that aligns with the job you’re applying for. This both validates your value proposition to the future employer and improves your chances of your resume being noticed by an ATS.

Remember, the primary purpose of integrating keywords and ATS into your resume preparation is to ensure that your unique blend of hard and soft skills doesn't just blend into the background but is focused and channeled directly towards the employer's needs.

So, summarizing, hard and soft skills in a BCM resume are essential to showcase your all-round ability to handle the job's technical aspects and interact effectively with people. At the same time, knowing how to navigate ATS and use keywords can boost your chances of matching your skills with your potential employer's requirements, making you a standout candidate.

Top Hard & Soft Skills for Full Stack Developers

Hard Skills

  • Risk Management
  • Business Impact Analysis
  • Disaster Recovery Planning
  • Crisis Management
  • Emergency Response
  • IT Continuity
  • Supply Chain Resilience
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Business Continuity Standards
  • Data Protection
  • Incident Response
  • Business Resilience
  • BCM Software
  • Risk Assessment
  • Critical Infrastructure Protection
  • BCM Frameworks
  • Soft Skills

  • Leadership
  • Communication
  • Problem-Solving
  • Adaptability
  • Decision-Making
  • Stress Management
  • Teamwork
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Attention to Detail
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Time Management
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Flexibility
  • Creativity
  • Critical Thinking
  • Resilience
  • Organizational Skills
  • Strategic Planning
  • Negotiation
  • Top Action Verbs

    Use action verbs to highlight achievements and responsibilities on your resume.

  • Developed
  • Implemented
  • Managed
  • Coordinated
  • Assessed
  • Planned
  • Executed
  • Facilitated
  • Analyzed
  • Responded
  • Communicated
  • Evaluated
  • Tested
  • Documented
  • Reviewed
  • Identified
  • Mitigated
  • Monitored
  • Resolved
  • Trained
  • Conducted
  • Collaborated
  • Maintained
  • Updated
  • Enhanced
  • Established
  • Aligned
  • Supported
  • Engaged
  • Aligned
  • Ensured
  • Documented
  • Validated
  • Enabled
  • Guided
  • Directed
  • Implemented
  • Secured
  • Verified
  • Education

    Adding your education and certificates to your resume adds value to your profile as a Business Continuity Manager. You should start by listing your university degree under an 'Education' heading. Include the name of the institution, the title of the degree, and the years attended. Certificates can go in a separate 'Certifications' section. List the certificate title alongside the issuing body, the month and year earned, and any relevant scores if applicable. It's that simple, yet effective!

    Resume FAQs for Business Continuity Managers

    question

    What is the ideal resume format for a Business Continuity Manager?


    Answer

    The most recommended resume format for a Business Continuity Manager is the reverse-chronological format. This format highlights your work experience in a clear and organized manner, starting with your most recent position.

    question

    How long should a Business Continuity Manager resume be?


    Answer

    A Business Continuity Manager resume should typically be one page in length. However, if you have extensive experience or certifications, it can extend to two pages. The key is to be concise and highlight only the most relevant information.

    question

    What keywords should be included in a Business Continuity Manager resume?


    Answer

    Some essential keywords to include in a Business Continuity Manager resume are: risk assessment, disaster recovery, business impact analysis, crisis management, emergency response, continuity planning, and compliance.

    question

    How can I quantify my achievements on a Business Continuity Manager resume?


    Answer

    Quantifying your achievements is crucial in a Business Continuity Manager resume. Include metrics such as the number of successful recovery tests conducted, the percentage of downtime reduced, or the amount of financial losses prevented due to your efforts.

    question

    Should I include certifications on my Business Continuity Manager resume?


    Answer

    Yes, it is highly recommended to include any relevant certifications on your Business Continuity Manager resume. Certifications such as CBCP (Certified Business Continuity Professional), CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), or PMP (Project Management Professional) can significantly enhance your credibility and demonstrate your expertise in the field.

    Business Continuity Manager Resume Example

    A Business Continuity Manager prepares and maintains plans to ensure critical business functions continue during disruptive events like natural disasters or system failures. They conduct risk assessments, develop response strategies, and lead testing exercises. When writing a resume for this role, highlight experience performing business impact analyses, implementing disaster recovery plans, and facilitating continuity drills. Emphasize skills in risk management, incident response coordination, and business process analysis. Detail your ability to deploy continuity solutions across departments and communicate effectively with executive leadership.

    Nellie Walker
    nellie.walker@example.com
    (745) 724-8828
    linkedin.com/in/nellie.walker
    Business Continuity Manager

    Accomplished Business Continuity Manager with over a decade of experience in developing and implementing comprehensive strategies to ensure uninterrupted operations during crises. Proven track record of minimizing downtime, protecting assets, and maintaining productivity in fast-paced environments. Adept at collaborating with cross-functional teams to identify potential risks and create robust contingency plans.

    Work Experience
    Business Continuity Manager
    01/2019 - Present
    Acme Corporation
    • Developed and executed a comprehensive Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that reduced downtime by 40% during a major system outage
    • Conducted regular risk assessments and business impact analyses to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities
    • Collaborated with IT, HR, and other departments to create and maintain disaster recovery plans and incident response procedures
    • Trained over 500 employees on emergency preparedness and business continuity best practices
    • Implemented a cloud-based disaster recovery solution that reduced recovery time objectives (RTO) by 50%
    Continuity Planning Specialist
    06/2015 - 12/2018
    Global Tech Solutions
    • Assisted in the development and maintenance of business continuity plans for key clients across various industries
    • Conducted business impact analyses and risk assessments to identify critical processes and systems
    • Developed and tested disaster recovery plans for IT infrastructure and applications
    • Facilitated tabletop exercises and simulations to validate the effectiveness of continuity plans
    • Provided training and guidance to clients on business continuity best practices and industry standards
    Business Continuity Analyst
    03/2012 - 05/2015
    Resilience Consulting Group
    • Conducted business impact analyses and risk assessments for clients in the financial services industry
    • Developed and maintained business continuity plans and disaster recovery procedures
    • Assisted in the development and execution of testing and exercise programs to validate continuity plans
    • Analyzed test results and provided recommendations for improvement
    • Maintained documentation and reporting on business continuity program activities and metrics
    Skills
  • Business Continuity Planning
  • Disaster Recovery
  • Risk Assessment
  • Business Impact Analysis
  • Incident Response
  • Crisis Management
  • Emergency Preparedness
  • Contingency Planning
  • IT Disaster Recovery
  • Tabletop Exercises
  • Plan Testing and Validation
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Vendor Management
  • Project Management
  • Data Center Operations
  • Education
    Master of Business Administration (MBA)
    08/2010 - 05/2012
    University of California, Berkeley,
    Bachelor of Science in Information Systems
    08/2006 - 05/2010
    California State University, Long Beach,