Methodology
The goal of this guide is to give you real data what the “must haves” of business development resumes are.
To do that, we compiled and analyzed data from business development resumes and 33 business development job listings to get the data used for this our business development resume guide.
In addition to business development-specific resume data, we built a database of nearly 1 million resumes and job listings, and we use a propriety machine learning model to understand the anatomy of the best resumes in general.
Quick note: using the data below can help you build a competitive resume, but it’s always important to be creative, unique, and personal to stand out.
If you want more info on our methodology, you can check it out here.
Business development resume objective data + business development objective examples
Pop quiz: do business development’s really need to use an objective?
In general, whether or not you need an objective or professional summary can depend a lot on your personal career level (check out our article on resume objectives), but this is what our analysis found for business development’s specifically:
- 33% of business development’s included an objective section
- 27% of business development’s included a professional summary
- 47% of business development’s included neither an objective nor a summary
Business development objective examples
A highly motivated business development who aims to make use of their interpersonal skills to achieve goals of a company that focuses on customer satisfaction and customer experience.
Seeking position as Business Development Associate to utilize two years of experience, focused attention to detail, and demonstrated ability to maximize company profits through strategic marketing
Motivated to obtain position as Business Development Associate to apply developed knowledge of marketing and production strategies, refined communication skills, and a proven ability to resolve organizational challenges to maximize profits
Business Development Associate seeks opportunity to employ four years of experience in the field with proven ability to boost profits and performance through sound marketing strategies and promoting organizational efficiency
Skills for business development resumes
These are the skills that occurred most frequently in in business development resumes, which means they tend to be core competencies or highly desired skills.
Of course, you should only list skills that you actually have, and you should prioritze skills most relevant to the job you're applying for. But these are good core skills to include on your resume.
To get more detail on building a powerful skills section, take a peek at our article on resume skills.
*Note: to find skills our machine learning model basically looks for common words, so take these with a grain of salt and use your best judgment.
Most common business development resume skills
Most common hard skills for business development resumes: leadership skills, time management, linkedin, strategic planning, and hubspot.
Most common soft skills for business development resumes: communication skills, customer-service skills, interpersonal skills, listening skills, and patience.
Other good business development resume skills
- D2C e-commerce solutions
- Omnichannel processes
- Teamwork
- Communication
- Presentation skills
- Interpersonal skills
- MS Office
- Rapport building
- Customer acquisition
- Social media
- Financial planning
- Logistics requirements
- Product development
- Sales management
- Sales marketing budget
- Analytical skills
Business development skills section examples
Note: these examples are formatted the same here just because it’s simple, but we have more detailed formatting advice (and examples) in our guide to resume formatting.
Business development skills example 1
D2C e-commerce solutions | time management | teamwork | communication | strategic planning | hubspot | presentation skills
Business development skills example 2
Omnichannel processes | communication skills | interpersonal skills | customer-service skills | ms office | interpersonal skills | rapport building
Business development skills example 3
Sales management | customer acquisition | patience | listening skills | financial planning | customer-service skills | logistics requirements
Work experience for business development resumes
Your work experience section is almost always the most important part of your resume. Because it’s difficult to pull trends from this kind of section, this section is mostly just examples.
For some advanced strategies for writing about work experience on a resume, refer to our article on building a strong work experience resume section. We also have a guide on writing a resume with no experience if you’re just starting your career.
For now, it’s good to remember that the most important experience for any business development resume is the most relevant experience.
A couple examples for you:
Business development work experience examples
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Business Development
Table Your Needs, 2020-2022
Responsibilities
- Monitor financial markets and the performance of individual securities
- Contact prospective clients to present information and explain available services
- Manage the finances of the facility, such as patient fees and billing
- Oversee the maintenance and repair of machinery, equipment, and electrical and mechanical systems
- Address complaints regarding food quality or service
WORK EXPERIENCE
Associate Business Development
Go Figure, 2015-2022
Responsibilities
- Repair or replace malfunctioning components, parts, and other mechanical or electrical equipment
- Bathe animals, trim nails, clip hair, and attend to other grooming needs
- Obtaining new business accounts and maintaining relationships with existing clients
- Collaborated with business development, marketing, and product departments on the creation of competitive concept proposals
- Formulating sales objectives, strategies, action plans and budgets
WORK EXPERIENCE
Business Development Intern
The Frail Group, 2013-2012
Responsibilities
- Exploring opportunities to grow a business in coordination with the sales and marketing manager
- Enhanced organization reputation by accepting ownership for accomplishing new and different requests; exploring opportunities to add value to job accomplishments
- Developed new service offerings based on detailed and documented insights of market and client needs
- Managed and maintained a structured analysis of target markets, clients, and documentation in the CRM system
- Overseeing the sales cycle from finding clients to securing deals
Education for business development resumes
For most positions, work experience is more important than education, although it can be important for new grads or for fields in which specific classes are industry-standard.
So it’s not a big section, but it’s still important, and often, business development job postings list a minimum education requirement.
Check out our blueprint for education on resumes for our full playbook on education sections.
Data from our sample of 939 business development resumes
- 9% business development resumes listed an associate’s degree
- 59% business development resumes listed a bachelor’s degree
- 27% business development resumes included a masters degree
- 1% business development resumes mentioned a doctoral degree
Business development resume education examples
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts
York College, 2020
Awards & Honors
- Class Rank Recognition
- Salutatorian
- Valedictorian
EDUCATION
Associate of Applied Arts
Mt. Diablo Adult Education, 2015
Certifications for business development resumes
Certifications aren’t a strict requirement for every job, but there are almost always certifications you can get to boost your chances of success.
If you want to see how to build these sections, we have a guide about certifications on resumes.
We did a little research and found certifications can help business development’s specifically, according to CareerOneStop.
Business development certification examples
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified International Project Manager
Institute of Certified E-Commerce Consultants, 2020
Certified Sales Professional
National Ground Water Association, 2015
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified International Project Manager, Certified Sales Professional, S/P2 – Safety & Pollution Prevention
Business development resume action verbs
Using our database of nearly 1,000,000 publicly available resumes, we compiled an index of action verbs and cross-referenced it with our sample of 939 business development resumes and job postings to uncover which action verbs are most commonly used by business development’s and business development employers.
The most common action verbs on business development resumes are: program, process, assist, prepare, and manage.
The most common action verbs on business development job postings are: lead, plan, review, handle, and field.
Other action verbs for business development resumes:
- Perform
- Develop
- Design
- Test
- Direct
- Create
- Monitor
- Track
- Organize
- Resolve
Full business development resume example
Lastly, we wanted to give you a couple full business development resume examples..
Please note: you can write a better resume than this. This is just a quick illustration to show you how these pieces might fit together.
If you’d like to see “perfect” resumes, we have a showcase of resume examples.
Business development resume example
Stacie Rowland
Business Development
4325 Olen Thomas Drive, Seymour, TX
Motivated to obtain position as Business Development Associate to apply developed knowledge of marketing and production strategies, refined communication skills, and a proven ability to resolve organizational challenges to maximize profits
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Business Development
Table Your Needs, 2020-2022
Responsibilities
- Developed and oversaw marketing functions to identify key marketing strategies for successful new customer acquisition and sales growth
- Responding to complaints and resolving issues to ensure customer satisfaction and protect the reputation of an organization
- Provided market intelligence and feedback to global and regional teams on the market, industry, and competitors’ developments
- Contacting potential clients to establish rapport and arrange meetings
Associate Business Development
Go Figure, 2015-2022
Responsibilities
- Training personnel and helping team members develop their skills
- Built and maintained relationships with key contacts at potential clients, consulting companies and partners in order to get access to new opportunities
- Planning and overseeing new marketing initiatives
- Developing goals for the development team and business growth and ensuring they are met
Business Development Intern
The Frail Group, 2013-2016
Responsibilities
- Researching organizations and individuals to find new opportunities
- Developing quotes and proposals for clients
- Increasing the value of current customers while attracting new ones
- Finding and developing new markets and improving sales
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Product Marketing Manager
Association of International Product Marketing and Management, 2020
Certified Brand Manager
Association of International Product Marketing and Management, 2015
SKILLS
D2C e-commerce solutions | presentation skills | detail-oriented | interpersonal skills | communication skills | leadership skills | customer acquisition
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts
York College, 2020
Associate of Applied Arts
Mt. Diablo Adult Education, 2015
What experts say about business development resumes
Before we wrap it up, we want to leave you with some advice from other experts we admire.
“Talk a little bit about your most recent experience, so if you’ve got 20 years of experience, I would dig back to maybe 10 years maximum.” – How to write a CV for a SALES or BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT job that gets INTERVIEWS!
“Talk about your achievements in a role and go one step further and attach numbers because numbers stand out when a hiring manager, when a sales director, or a chief revenue officer when they’re looking at your CV.” – How to write a CV for a SALES or BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT job that gets INTERVIEWS!
“Buzzwords, fluff, clichés are unnecessary and take away from your message. Your writing should always be selling your experience, not summarizing it. As a very practical solution, go ahead and google resume clichés and buzzwords, and remove all the ones you find in your resume to give it an instant upgrade.” – Write an Incredible Resume: 5 Golden Rules!
