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You put in the hard yards, researching and writing grant applications that get results. Use your grant writer resume to show hiring managers that you represent the highest ROI.
It’s one thing to meet all the formal requirements. To have everything they ask for and have it in the right order.
It’s something else entirely, though, to have your application win when up against all the others. This is as true of your job application as it is of a grant proposal. So make sure your grant writer resume puts your grant-writing skills on display.
In this guide:
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Kristi Jones
Grant Writer
Personal Info
Phone: 479-256-0532
E-mail: kristi.j.jones@reslab.com
linkedin.com/in/kristijjones
Summary
Industrious grant writer with 5+ years’ experience, skilled in strategic planning. Seeking to help Organization ABC efficiently secure adequate funding. At Shades Los Angeles, studied 200+ requests for proposals (RFPs) to streamline application process and wrote 90+ grant applications for state, federal, and private funding mechanisms.
Experience
Grant Writer
Shades Los Angeles
May 2018–present
Grant Writer
Skirball Cultural Center
Aug 2016–May 2018
Education
BA in Journalism
UT Austin, TX
2016
Skills
Certifications and Memberships
Languages
Grant writers research, write, and submit grant proposals on behalf of funding-seeking organizations. Grant writers must be able to effectively communicate the goals and needs of the organization to potential funding sources.
Now here’s how to write a grant writer resume they’ll love:
Have you ever responded to an RFP with an unstructured document and expected to get the grant? Or failed to fill out every part of a grant application, but got the funding anyway?
Of course not, and—
Hiring managers aren’t going to put up with similar flaws in your grant writer resume. Creating an organized, complete, professional resume format is the first step. Here’s how to go about it:
As someone who writes for a living—
You know the advantages of submitting a resume in PDF rather than as a *.docx file. But, you might not know that some organizations scan resumes using ATSs (Applicant Tracking Systems) that can’t parse some PDF files.
So, always check the job ad for file format preferences before defaulting to PDF. Even if you use an ATS resume template, an outdated ATS will have trouble with it if it's saved as a PDF file. So if the job ad asks for resumes to be submitted as Word files, go for *.docx. Maybe the formatting won't be as pretty, but at least your resume will be fully machine-readable.
Starting your grant writer resume with a killer resume profile—
Is like starting a grant proposal with an abstract. It gives a nutshell account of your application and sets you apart from the competition, fast.
And after all, a resume profile is not unlike an abstract…with a marketing twist. It sums up the key findings from your resume, complete with an insight into the value you’ll bring to the company.
Now then—
Been writing grant applications for a year or more?
Then make your profile a resume summary.
Use:
These grant writer resume summary statements show how:
See that?
The first grant writer resume example above beats the second one in two main ways:
It’s focused on what the candidate can do for the employer, not the other way around. And it manages to put numbers to duties, effectively turning them into achievements.
Got less than a year’s experience as a grant writer?
Make your profile a resume objective instead—
It’ll let you put the spotlight on relevant achievements from non-grant writer jobs. Take a look at these examples of resume objectives for grant writers:
Once again: the first example is focused on bringing value to the employer as well as quantifying that value.
Struggling with starting your resume with a profile?
Much like writing a grant-proposal abstract, it’s best to write your resume profile last.
What’s the primary goal of your resume?
To get you an invitation to a job interview. And the best way to get that? By convincing them you can handle it all. Turn your resume work experience section into a showcase of impressive professional achievements.
How to write a job description for grant writers:
These grant writer resume examples show how:
Grant Writer
Shades Los Angeles
May 2018–present
Grant Writer
Shades Los Angeles
2018–present
No contest.
The first example includes bullet points that are concrete and quantified. They are much more compelling than vague duties. Plus, those numbers really draw the eye, don’t they?
Don’t have much grant-writing experience?
Lean on academic achievements, transferable skills, and experience from internships, projects, and other, non-grant-writing jobs.
One more thing:
You’ll need to add the right skills for a resume for a grant writer, and it’s easiest to compose now, since you have the job ad in front of you.
Why do you need the job ad? Well—
Overwhelming hiring managers with skill spam won’t work in your favor here.
So, instead, aim to cover the skills suggested by the job ad and not much more besides. Make a list of all of your professional skills, cross-check it with the skills mentioned in the ad, and put 5–10 matches on your resume.
Here’s a list to get you inspired and started:
Hard skills
Soft skills
The ResumeLab builder is more than looks. Get specific content to boost your chances of getting the job. Add job descriptions, bullet points, and skills. Easy. Improve your resume in our resume builder now.
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Grant writing draws on a wide range of skills and experience, and your education is a big part of that. Make sure to save some space on your resume for listing your highest degree of schooling.
List:
Degrees (with majors), schools, and graduation dates. And then, add bullet points that speak to key skills. This grant writer resume example shows how:
BA in Journalism
UT Austin, TX
2016
Short on grant writer experience?
Extend the education section of your resume to include projects, classes, and accomplishments that show grant-writer skills like research and academic writing.
Providing insufficient information—
Grounds for rejecting a grant application outright, and a great way to fall behind the competition in a grant-writing recruitment process. To make your resume stand out, add one or two extra sections:
These two grant writer resume examples show yes vs no:
Certifications and Memberships
Languages
Hobbies and Interests
Languages
It’s easy to spot the winner here.
It’s not like there’s anything wrong with mentioning hobbies and interests on a resume, just as long as everything you include is very obviously relevant to the job ad.
One last thing before you click “send”:
You’ll need to write a cover letter, unless you’ve explicitly been told not to include one with your application.
Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter generator and make your application documents pop out.
Want to try a different look? There's 21 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.
For a grant writer resume that gets interviews:
Got some advice to share with up-and-coming grant writers? Having trouble getting your grant writer resume just right? Drop us a line down in the comments below.
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