Corporate communications cover a wide area, including ongoing communication with employees and customers; relationship building with the media; marketing and sales collateral, along with attendance at trade shows and special events; and crisis communication.
The Future for Corporate Communications Professionals
Prior to COVID-10, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expected 6% employment growth in the communications industry. However, the importance of corporate communications was recently underlined by the COVID-19 crisis. According to one survey, 67% of businesses did not have a crisis communications plan in place prior to the COVID-19 crisis. That meant the businesses had to scramble to reassure customers, investors, and employees and often appeared either insensible to concerns or completely flustered. This crisis highlighted why corporate communications are now important.
Skills on Your Resume
If you are or intend to be a corporate communications professional, your resume should emphasize:
- Your writing and speaking skills, including presentation skills.
- Your degree, preferably in communications, public relations, marketing, technical writing, or a related field.
- Your familiarity with online and print media.
- Your experience—even a recent college graduate should have writing experience.
- Your comfort in communicating with C-level executives and perhaps regulators.
- Your comfort in communicating with employees while upholding the company mission and values.
- Your creativity—for example, in coming up with new blog posts or new articles for the corporate newsletter.
- Your ability to understand data (companies collect tremendous amounts of data) and interpret it in ways that are easily understood by others.
- Your research, editing, and/or ghost-writing skills.
- Your ability to absorb new information quickly, especially in technical fields.
- Your familiarity with the specific industry or nonprofit arena where you are seeking employment—however, most communication skills are transferrable.
Corporate communications professionals usually work closely and may even report to other divisions of the company, such as Human Relations, marketing, sales, and the executive suite, each of them with their own priorities. You will probably be asked to communicate and work with outside agencies, consultants, and freelancers at some time during your career. Therefore, among other valuable skills that can and should be included in your resume, you should illustrate the ability to prioritize, keep a calm focus, listen intelligently, and work as a team member.
If you want to work for international companies, then a second language is usually necessary, but in any case, your resume should highlight your ability to work with diverse peoples. Here, your membership in groups or contributions to nonprofits that focus on diversity can be an important addition to your resume. In any case, most nonprofits are desperate for help with their communications, including grant writing, and can be a great source of experience for recent graduates as well as a place of employment.
Special Considerations
Above all, your resume must be free of writing errors, communicate your skills and experience clearly, follow a consistent format, and draw in your audience. In effect, your resume is a company’s first exposure to your writing and communication skills. This means that the specialized skills of a professional resume writer are even more important for you as a communications professional. Contact Robin’s Resumes® today.