Here are the keywords and skills that appear most frequently on recent Public Affairs 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 Public Affairs Officer posting you're applying to, and identify hard skills the company is looking for. For example, skills like Strategic Communications, Military and Government 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 Public Affairs 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 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.
A regulatory affairs specialist is responsible for helping companies release safe products that meet legal compliance. They conduct tests and evaluate the manufacturing process to ensure everything is done under the legal scope. Regulatory affairs specialists must also make sure that product labels match accurately nutritional and safety information. The product must do exactly what it advertises on its label. They will also perform post-marketing follow-ups. Regulatory affairs specialists must keep track of any changes and trends in regulatory compliance. They’ll frequently meet with authorities and stakeholders and often be part of the negotiation processes. If the manufacturer is facing legal issues, the regulatory affairs specialist will participate in conflict resolution.
As a regulatory specialist, you must be familiar with different laws and regulatory authorities because this is a broad field. You might work in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and even food manufacturing. Each of those fields has different regulatory compliance that you must understand. Try to demonstrate your proficiency in regulatory laws in your resume.
Regulatory affairs certifications are not usually mandatory, but they can surely help you increase your odds of getting a job. They validate your skills and make you seem authoritative. The Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC) is the most relevant one in the industry.
A regulatory affairs manager is the head of the RA team. They will oversee the work of other regulatory affairs specialists and assign duties. RA managers meet and maintain long-term professional relationships with regulatory bodies. They also assist multiple teams in the manufacturing process to ensure they follow regulatory compliance. As a regulatory affairs manager, you will also conduct research and create reports to share with stakeholders. They will also respond to information requests from regulatory agencies. A RA manager must also evaluate how regulatory compliance will affect the company's operations and finances.
As a RA manager, you will supervise multiple teams to ensure all operations meet regulatory laws. This requires leadership and interpersonal skills to resolve conflicts and guide colleagues. You can mention your experience with different teams in your resume to emphasize your ability to work with multiple groups.
Adding quantifiable accomplishments to your resume is a great way to describe your value. You can talk about risk management, mention how you improved a company’s operations in terms of regulatory laws, etc.
A regulatory affairs associate is the company’s representative in legal negotiations with regulatory agencies. They assist companies in the process of getting their products approved by regulatory bodies such as the FDA and the ICH. RA associates collect documents and evaluate manufacturing processes.
Considering this is an entry-level position, you may not have extensive work experience. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t demonstrate your value. You can include extracurricular activities in which you practiced regulatory affairs research.
You have some competencies you developed in other roles that are fundamental to regulatory affairs. You can rely on transferable skills to showcase your value. Abilities such as research, data analytics, and reporting, are crucial in a regulatory affairs associate role. However, these are just a few ideas, it will all depend on your particular experience.
The director of public policy is a senior-level professional who oversees many facets of public policy. As a director of public policy, you may be involved with ground-level tasks like collecting data, but you will also be heavily involved in making decisions and implementing programs based on your team’s research results. A director of public policy typically has a master's degree in political science, though a bachelor's degree with several years of experience and demonstrated knowledge may suffice. Typically, hiring managers will be looking for candidates with key previous job experience, such as a prior role as a public policy analyst or government relations manager. Hiring managers will be looking for someone who is knowledgeable in the realm of data collection and interpretation, but also skilled at creating actionable plans, communicating effectively, and implementing public policy changes. A good candidate for this role will be an analytical thinker, a skilled communicator, and an effective leader.
Directors of public policy are expected to effectively collaborate with government officials, political actors, and industry specialists to get policy changes across the finish line. For this reason, directors of public policy must be superb communicators, persuasive negotiators, and team players. To land this role, your resume should clearly highlight how you have used leadership and negotiation skills in the past to bring new initiatives or policies to fruition.
Many directors of public policy have previously held a job as a public policy analyst. This is because being able to accurately collect and interpret data is a key piece of being a successful director of public policy. All experience you have in conducting research, collecting data, and obtaining actionable insights from data should be highlighted on your resume. You can get certified in data analysis to bolster your resume, too.
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.
This template is clean, readable by resume screeners, and is effective at calling out key accomplishments and projects from specific work experiences. This would be useful if you have been at a company for a while, or been in a consulting-type of role, and want to point hiring managers to your most impressive accomplishments.
Action verbs are important on your resume are vital. They evoke strong imagery to your reader, and this resume does an excellent job by using words such as “spearheaded,” “managed,” and “drove.” These words will help you to put your achievements in perspective, in conjunction with measurable results. Use action verbs relating to the skills you want to highlight.
Many of your accomplishments will involve your responsibilities in your employer's high-level projects. Recruiters want to see what you’ve completed in previous roles -- such as the Operations Improvement Project and new iPhone app launch highlighted in this resume. The numbers make your experience real, rather than a vague “oversaw several teams for a project.” What did you do specifically? Be specific.
Some popular Public Affairs Officer hard skills are Public Affairs, Crisis Communications, Media Relations, Strategic Communications, Government, Military, Military Operations and Speech Writing.
Depending on the job you apply to, skills like U.S. Department of Defense, Communications Planning, Defense, Internal Communications and Public Relations can also be good to include on your resume.
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.
