Here are the keywords and skills that appear most frequently on recent Chief Operating Officer job postings. In other words, these are the most sought after skills by recruiters and hiring managers. Go to Sample Templates ↓ below to see how to include them on your resume.
Remember that every job is different. Instead of including all keywords on your resume, identify those that are most relevant to the job you're applying to. Use the free Targeted Resume tool to help with this.
Does your resume contain all the right skills? Paste in your resume in the AI Resume Scan ↓ section below and get an instant score.
Paste your resume below and our AI will identify which keywords are missing from your resume from the list above (and what you need to include). Including the right keywords will help you get past Applicant Tracking Systems (i.e. resume screeners) which may scan your resume for keywords to see if you're a match for the job.
Go through the Chief Operating Officer posting you're applying to, and identify hard skills the company is looking for. For example, skills like Strategy, Business Development and Project Management are possible skills. These are skills you should try to include on your resume.
The following word cloud highlights the most popular keywords that appear on Chief Operating Officer job descriptions. The bigger the word, the more frequently it shows up on employer's job postings. If you have experience with these keywords, include them on your resume.
Here are common soft skills that appear on Chief Operating Officer job postings. Unlike hard skills, which refer to tools, software or techniques, soft skills focus on character traits and interpersonal skills. Instead of listing these phrases on your resume, try to show them through your bullet points like in the examples below.
Tip: Do not list these words or phrases on your resume, and instead focus on the hard skills we described above.
Here are examples of proven resumes in related jobs and industries, approved by experienced hiring managers. Use them as inspiration when you're writing your own resume. You can even download and edit the resume template in Google Docs.
Typically second in command to the company’s CEO, the COO is a human resources C-level executive. Unlike the CEO, who serves as the public-facing leader of a company, the COO is focused on internal affairs, including payroll, training, recruitment, and legal services. To land a COO position, you’ll need the ability to take charge, to understand the company’s bottom line, and to communicate business needs to other departments.
Soft skills like leadership and communication are essential for executive-level positions, but they don’t belong on your skills list. Instead, demonstrate those qualities through your bullet points by including accomplishments like leading a team or overseeing a marketing campaign. If you can point to specific ways your leadership helped the company’s bottom line, even better.
If you have achievements that you can quantify, do so. This is especially true for C-suite positions that are expected to directly influence company outcomes. An accomplishment like “drove 150+ employees in a consumer company to grow revenue from $150M to $450M over 5 years” is far more impressive than a vague “led a large team to drive revenue.”
As a COO, you’ll need to demonstrate your ability to lead first and foremost. You’ll be tasked with ensuring the company’s administrative and operational functions run smoothly, which requires strong leadership, management, communication, and analytical skills. Your resume should also include essential hard skills, including accounting and finance expertise, change management, and business and marketing strategy.
If you’re at the top of your career, you’re likely to have more than a few accomplishments you’re genuinely proud of. That doesn’t mean you need to include them all — when it comes to your resume, more isn’t necessarily better. Try to narrow it down to 3-5 bullet points from your most recent positions and 1-2 from older ones. You can and should leave out your less relevant positions to keep your resume to 2-3 pages.
The old adage “less is more” applies to your skills section, too. Don’t be tempted to include every skill you have, or even every skill you think you might possibly need on the job — that’s a lot! Instead, identify the top skills named in the job description and opt for those.
E-Commerce is a growing trend, which means that some companies — particularly larger companies — are hiring specifically for E-Commerce CFOs rather than lumping it in with the regular finance department. As an E-Commerce CFO, you’ll generally need a traditional finance background alongside technical know-how, communication and marketing skills, and experience specifically in E-Commerce. On your resume, emphasize your past E-Commerce roles and highlight transferable skills through your bullet point accomplishments.
When applying for a job, it’s always a good idea to list the exact job title at the top of the resume. Where it’s applicable, list past job titles in the same format — for example, listing E-Commerce Chief Financial Officer or E-Commerce Executive Vice President rather than a slightly more generic job title.
If you’ve picked up a short course or extra qualification that’s relevant to E-Commerce, you can list that briefly in an additional information section at the bottom of your resume. This section should only be a few lines and should be restricted to the move relevant skills or certifications, like technical skills and E-Commerce bootcamps.
A COO for an NGO takes the goals and vision of the CEO and the boards (where one exists) and creates strategies to operationalize and achieve those goals. They will then oversee the organization’s operations to make sure everything is moving in line with the organization’s vision and strategy. This position requires resourcefulness as well as strong communication skills and integrity. An educational background in business administration or a related field will be highly preferred, as will a strong background in leading successful teams. Take a look at this strong resume sample.
This position requires a very specific set of skills. You need to show that you are experienced with managerial tools. Similarly, you need to show that you have skills in the main facets of your position. These can include budgeting, coaching, and strategy like this applicant has listed.
The chief operating officer (or COO) is an executive-level role. They have a wide array of responsibilities that relate to managing the logistics of day-to-day business operations. They oversee policy and procedures, planning and maintenance, staff operations, and legal compliance. They also set budgets, drive growth, and spearhead business outreach. When recruiting a COO, many hiring managers will look for a candidate with a master’s degree in business, though a bachelor’s degree may suffice if combined with adequate experience. Most companies will be looking for someone with at least 10 years of work experience. The ideal candidate for a COO role typically has related experience in sales, marketing, finance, operations, or a combination of these fields. Additionally, it’s important that a potential chief operating officer has the right soft skills, such as public speaking, superb communication skills, problem-solving abilities, and people management.
Being that this is an executive level role, it’s expected that you will be a strong leader. It’s important to highlight your experience with managing teams and budgets on your resume. You’ll also want to highlight any experience you have making business decisions or enforcing new policies.
The COO oversees many aspects of an organization. As such, this role requires a candidate with developed project management skills. Showcasing any project management-related knowledge or certifications you have is a great way to stand out for this role.
This resume template is suitable for experienced hires or mid-level hires. The education contains two examples of an education experiences, but only include one (your most recent one) if you're a senior level employee.
It strikes the right balance between white space and content, and doesn't waste space on unnecessary images and icons. Remember, recruiters aren't looking at how creative you are when it comes to your template. Your content is core and should be the focus.
This job seeker uses resume bullet points that uses strong action verbs, and most importantly, contain numbers that demonstrate the significance of their accomplishments.
The most common skills and keywords we found on Chief Operating Officer resumes and job postings were Business Strategy, Business Development, Management, Strategy, Strategic Planning, Start-ups, Marketing Strategy and Project Management.
Skills like Entrepreneurship, Sales Management, Business Operations, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Product Management also appeared on related job postings.
While the keywords above are a good indication of what skills you need on your resume, you should try to find additional keywords that are specific to the job. To do this, use the free Targeted Resume tool. It analyzes the job you are applying to and finds the most important keywords you need on your resume.
It is personalized to your resume, and is the best way to ensure your resume will pass the automated resume filters.
Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.
