Want to know the difference between a good executive director resume and a bad one?
We reviewed as many executive director resumes as we could find to figure out exactly what goes into a good executive director resume. We’ll show you how to write your own resume, so let’s get started.
Methodology
The goal of this guide is to give you real data what the “must haves” of executive director resumes are.
To do that, we compiled and analyzed data from executive director resumes and 34 executive director job listings to get the data used for this our executive director resume guide.
In addition to executive director-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.
Executive director resume objective data + executive director objective examples
Pop quiz: do executive director’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 executive director’s specifically:
- 35% of executive director’s included an objective section
- 26% of executive director’s included a professional summary
- 46% of executive director’s included neither an objective nor a summary
Executive director objective examples
Prolific and results-driven sales manager able to win independently or collaboratively team. Seeking to join a reputable company as a sales manager to help meet goals and KPIs.
As a highly motivated and results-driven executive director with a proven track record of success in strategic planning, team leadership, and financial management, I am seeking a challenging and rewarding opportunity to utilize my skills and expertise to drive organizational growth and success. With strong communication and interpersonal skills, as well as a passion for building and nurturing relationships with stakeholders, I am confident in my ability to make a positive impact in a leadership role. My goal is to join a dynamic and innovative organization where I can contribute my skills and experience to help drive positive change and achieve long-term success.
As an experienced executive director with a track record of success in leading and managing teams, I am seeking a new opportunity where I can utilize my skills and experience to drive organizational growth and achievement. My objective is to secure a position as an executive director where I can apply my strategic thinking, financial expertise, and ability to build strong relationships to drive positive change and make a meaningful impact. With my strong leadership skills, effective communication style, and dedication to driving results, I am confident that I can contribute significantly to the success of any organization.
A strong resume objective for an executive director position should highlight your leadership skills, experience in management and administration, and ability to drive organizational growth. It should also showcase your ability to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and team members.
Skills for executive director resumes
These are the skills that occurred most frequently in in executive director 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 executive director resume skills
Most common hard skills for executive director resumes: change management, subject matter expertise, leadership, operations, and delegation.
Most common soft skills for executive director resumes: strategic thinking, presentation skills, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, and employee development.
Other good executive director resume skills
- Leadership
- Communication
- Strategic thinking
- Staff management
- Organization
- Knowledge of marketing and public relations
- Fundraising
- Understanding of corporate finances
- Business planning
- Public speaking
- Executive leadership
- Grant writing
- Innovation
- Complex problem solving
- Business development
- Customer relations
Executive director 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.
Executive director skills example 1
Leadership | management | strategic thinking | staff management | sales | leadership | organization
Executive director skills example 2
Communication | change management | knowledge of marketing and public relations | customer-service skills | fundraising | decision-making skills | understanding of corporate finances
Executive director skills example 3
Complex problem solving | business planning | listening skills | interpersonal skills | executive leadership | customer-service skills | grant writing
Work experience for executive director 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 executive director resume is the most relevant experience.
A couple examples for you:
Executive director work experience examples
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Executive Director
Hooli, 2021-2022
Responsibilities
- Analyze financial statements, sales reports, and other performance indicators
- Appoint department heads and managers
- Consult with other executives, staff, and board members about general operations
- Direct and oversee an organization’s financial and budgetary activities
- Establish and carry out departmental or organizational goals, policies, and procedures
WORK EXPERIENCE
Associate Executive Director
Cyberdyne Systems, 2015-2022
Responsibilities
- Handle returns or complaints
- Identify places to cut costs and to improve performance, policies, and programs
- Responsible for developing and implementing a grant fundraising strategy that expands and diversifies Beyond Borders’ grant donor base of support.
- Maintain staff morale and loyalty at a high level, by authorizing employee events, keeping staff well informed and interpreting personnel policies.
- Oversee the management of all buildings and grounds in a manner consistent with management policies, safety considerations and regulatory requirements through oversight and follow up of the preventative maintenance systems and programs and frequent inspections.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Executive Director Intern
Wonka Industries, 2011-2012
Responsibilities
- Maintain timely financial/marketing reporting to the Corporate Office regarding various statistical reports including but not limited to census and turnover. Provide input and assist with the preparation of the operating and capital budgets.
- Responsible to oversee all aspects of the organization, ensuring that the company is operating efficiently and effectively to meet the business goals.
- Develop positive relationship with key stakeholders, including shareholders and government agencies.
- Making sure that proper use is utilized with moneys that are being raised through providing adequate monthly reports of financial spending and crowdfunding.
- Support the daily operations to ensure productivity, accountability and innovation.
Education for executive director 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, executive director 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 24 executive director resumes
- 7% executive director resumes listed an associate’s degree
- 58% executive director resumes listed a bachelor’s degree
- 31% executive director resumes included a masters degree
- 0% executive director resumes mentioned a doctoral degree
Executive director resume education examples
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Applied Science
Blinn College District, 2021
Awards & Honors
- Summa Cum Laude
- The Honor Society
- Cum Laude
EDUCATION
Associate of Applied Arts
Mount St. Joseph University, 2015
Certifications for executive director 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 executive director’s specifically, according to CareerOneStop.
Executive director certification examples
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Healthcare Billing and Management Executive
Healthcare Billing & Management Association, 2021
Certified Chief Executive
Club Managers Association of America, 2015
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Healthcare Billing and Management Executive, Certified Chief Executive, Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives
Executive director 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 23 executive director resumes and job postings to uncover which action verbs are most commonly used by executive director’s and executive director employers.
The most common action verbs on executive director resumes are: program, process, assist, prepare, and manage.
The most common action verbs on executive director job postings are: lead, review, plan, handle, and counsel.
Other action verbs for executive director resumes:
- Perform
- Develop
- Track
- Create
- Direct
- Field
- Report
- Design
- Resolve
- Monitor
Full executive director resume example
Lastly, we wanted to give you a couple full executive director 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.
Executive director resume example
Gregory Reed
Executive Director
3765 Wescam Court, Reno, NV
As an experienced executive director with a track record of success in leading and managing teams, I am seeking a new opportunity where I can utilize my skills and experience to drive organizational growth and achievement. My objective is to secure a position as an executive director where I can apply my strategic thinking, financial expertise, and ability to build strong relationships to drive positive change and make a meaningful impact. With my strong leadership skills, effective communication style, and dedication to driving results, I am confident that I can contribute significantly to the success of any organization.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Executive Director
Hooli, 2021-2022
Responsibilities
- In charge of the on boarding/off boarding, training, performance review and continues education of the staff while driving a culture of inclusion and positivity.
- Ascertain the review and completion of financial data from the banks and the vendors.
- Spearheading the finance/accounting, operations and HR functions throughout the different departments while providing strategic direction and oversight over the revenue cycle work processes and outcomes.
- Provide guidance and leadership for all aspects of the community, to include operations, sales and financials.
Associate Executive Director
Cyberdyne Systems, 2015-2022
Responsibilities
- Creates community programs, services and spiritual counseling for patients and families.
- Lead various capital campaign initiatives.
- Provided leadership and management skills to staff. Cross trained employees for efficiency.
- Maintain appropriate staffing for the facility in accordance with the program design by hiring and training staff, generating schedules to ensure adequate supervision and support of the client, as well as by delegating those duties that will best serve the client and the needs of the home.
Executive Director Intern
Wonka Industries, 2011-2016
Responsibilities
- Cultivates and maintains a positive relationship with residents through regular individual and group interaction, regular and routine rounding within the community showing a high level of visibility and attending and leading resident meetings and functions.
- Cultivated partnerships with new agencies while maintaining relationships with referral sources.
- Found solutions to operational and procedural problems that occurred within communities.
- Gather and interpret current market, geographic and economic trends that may impact our field. Report on such at monthly staff meetings.
CERTIFICATIONS
HDI Support Center Manager
HDI, 2021
Microsoft Office Specialist: Expert (Office 365 and Office 2019)
Microsoft Corporation, 2015
SKILLS
Leadership | organization | leadership | decision-making skills | communication skills | planning | business planning
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Applied Science
Blinn College District, 2021
Associate of Applied Arts
Mount St. Joseph University, 2015
What experts say about executive director resumes
Before we wrap it up, we want to leave you with some advice from other experts we admire.
“Do not put your MBA or your masters’ letters after your name at the top of the resume. This actually sends a message to recruiters that is a bit pretentious, and the reason for that is that they feel that lots of people have MBAs and masters’ degrees.” – 5 Resume Tips For Executives – Executive Insider
“The fourth way that you can do it is through initiatives that you take on where you demonstrate leadership and how you contribute to the company culture.” – How to Create Powerful Resume Bullets for Senior-Level Resumes
“The fourth tip for executive resume writing in 2021 is that you want to be able to show that you can operate with uncertainty and ambiguity and that you’re able to thrive in it, not just survive.” – 4 Executive Resume Writing Tips for 2021
Want help with your executive director resume?
We put a lot of love into our guides, so we hope you found them useful. Hopefully, this will help you craft a top-notch executive director resume. If you see anything we missed or anything that could be improved on, let us know!
We always want to improve our guides and make them as helpful as possible for our users. We’re excited to hear what you think!
