Athletic Director Resume Example
If you're hoping to start a career as an athletic director, you'll need experience in managing budget allocations and coordinating NCAA compliance. A strong resume for athletic director applications showcases your skills, experience and achievements and helps you stand out from other candidates. In this article, we'll highlight tips and examples for creating an athletic director resume that makes a winning impression on recruiters and hiring managers.
The aim of this article is to equip you with all the knowledge required to create a resume that positions you to succeed in your athletic director applications. The article will take you through the key steps of creating a resume that presents your key skills, qualities and career achievements in a format that employers favor. It will also help you tailor your resume according to your unique skills and experience level. Read on to learn the tips Jobseeker careers experts recommend as the best for your athletic director resume.
Key sections for an athletic director resume
It's essential to include a few core sections in your athletic director resume, while there are also a few optional sections.
If you're applying for junior, entry-level or graduate athletic director positions and you lack work experience, consider using a skills-based resume format to emphasize your skills and education. Furthermore, a junior resume is more likely to focus on soft and transferable skills, as well as relevant training, internships and volunteer roles.
If you have some experience as an athletic director, use a traditional, reverse-chronological resume format and focus on showing how you've used the skills required for the job in your career to date. In your resume work experience section, outline your relevant achievements and showcase the impact you've made in your career to date. Make sure everything you include is relevant to the job description.
If you're applying for senior athletic director positions, you'll want to list career achievements and successes that emphasize your senior status. Use a reverse-chronological format and add extra sections to show key career highlights. Your senior resume will likely be more comprehensive than resumes for more junior roles. You can add extra details about your career, such as awards, publications presentations, professional memberships or certifications.
Your resume layout and structure may differ depending on your experience levels, but make sure your resume includes the following:
Resume Header
A athletic director resume header contains your name and contact information. Add your first and last name, your phone number and your email address. Include your address or location, but avoid adding any other personal information. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can add the URL to your header so the hiring manager can get a better understanding of your work history and experience. Make your resume header clear, concise and as brief and compact as possible. Consider different layouts that spread the information horizontally across the page rather than using a different line for each piece of information.
Only include professional, name-based email addresses in your resume header. If you have an old email address that uses nicknames, puns, references to your personal interests or anything else that could appear unprofessional, set up a new email just for your job applications. Finally, always double-check your contact details are correct and up-to-date before sending your resume.
Ethan Allen
ethan.allen@example.com
(111) 222 33 444 55
1313 Mockingbird Lane, Mockingbird Heights, CA
linkedin․com/in/ethan–allen123
Resume Profile
Your resume personal profile is a short, concise paragraph to highlight two or three key skills and achievements in athletic director roles. You may also see this section named as 'resume summary' or 'resume objective'. Resume summaries tend to focus on your career experience, while resume objectives cover your ambitions and plans for the future. Additionally, make sure your resume summary reflects the job description and focuses on qualities that are relevant to working as an athletic director.
Alternatively, use this summary to introduce your personal career ambitions and explain why athletic director roles are a good fit for you at this stage of your career.
A strong resume summary focuses on two or three key skills and achievements that showcase your suitability for athletic director roles in a clear, quantifiable way. It also gives an insight into your personal qualities, to help the reader understand why you're a suitable candidate. See below for some great examples of how to approach your athletic director resume.
Experienced Athletic Director with a Master of Science in Sports Management, previously served as Director of Athletics, skilled in strategic planning, team leadership, program development, and fostering student-athlete success. Proficient in budget management, compliance, and community engagement. Dedicated to enhancing athletic programs and driving organizational excellence
Worked in sports with some experience in managing and planning. Held a position where I was in charge of sports activities and helped teams and athletes. Managed budgets and followed rules, while also connecting with the community. Focused on improving sports programs and making things better overall
Conversely, an ineffective resume summary would include generic, unspecific information on your skills and experience, while failing to provide any useful information on what makes you a unique and interesting candidate. See above for some examples of things to avoid when writing your athletic director resume summary.
Work Experience
Your resume work experience section is the chance to show your relevant previous jobs and career achievements as an athletic director. Include any relevant jobs you've held in reverse-chronological order. Start with your current or most recent roles and work back through previous roles. For each job, list your title, the name of the company, its location and the dates you worked there.
For each job listed in this section, add some bullet points so the employer can understand the skills you developed, and your achievements. Focus on showcasing the impact you made on the organization, and show evidence of how you made a difference.
An effective resume work experience section is one that constantly echoes the skills and experience listed in the job description, and shows how you used your skills to positive effect in each job. Each bullet point should be carefully crafted to showcase a particular skill or achievement relevant to athletic director jobs, with evidence to show the value you added. See below for some good examples of what to include in your resume work experience section.
Director of Athletics, January 2022 - Present
Peak Performance Athletics, Austin
- Increased department revenue by 35% through strategic partnerships, sponsorships, and enhanced fundraising initiatives
- Successfully led the university's athletic teams to 15 conference championships and 3 national titles within five years
- Implemented comprehensive athlete wellness program, resulting in a 20% reduction in injuries and a 15% improvement in academic performance
Director of Athletics, January 2022 - Present
Peak Performance Athletics, Austin
- Managed department operations and collaborated with various stakeholders to achieve goals and improve overall performance
- Led teams to success through effective coaching and motivational strategies, fostering a culture of excellence and teamwork
- Developed and implemented programs to enhance athlete experience and promote holistic development within the department
In the graphic above, you'll see some examples of less effective resume work experience sections. Less effective resume work experience sections might take a more vague, descriptive approach to previous jobs. They focus on responsibilities and everyday duties rather than referencing career achievements and the value you've added for previous employers.
Education
Under education, add details of any degrees or professional qualifications relevant to athletic director roles.
If you're applying for athletic director positions you'll typically need to have a degree. A Bachelor of Science in Sports Management will usually help your chances of success. You could also list any qualifications that demonstrate your event planning expertise or NCAA compliance knowledge.
Include any qualifications relevant to the role. For each, add the name and level of the award, the institution name, its location and your dates of study. You can enhance this section by adding bullet points that show any outstanding grades, awards or achievements and any specialist subjects you studied. These details can make you stand out from other candidates.
Additionally, mentioning any leadership roles or any societies and clubs you participated in while studying shows proactivity and initiative.
Master of Science in Sports Management, 2017 - 2020
Villanova University, Villanova, PA
Hard and Soft Skills
The skills section of an athletic director resume is a chance to list any skills you have that match those of the job description. You could include event planning expertise, problem-solving abilities or any other skills that show you're a suitable candidate. Again, include any skills that match those listed in the job description. Focus particularly on technical skills required for athletic director jobs and transferable skills that show your qualities as an athletic director.
How to include hard skills on your athletic director resume
Under hard skills, add any specialist skills you possess that are specifically required for athletic director jobs. These tend to be technical skills and industry knowledge essential to the position. Furthermore, your list of hard skills provides a strong indication to the reader of your expertise in athletic director roles, and how well you'll fit into the position. Add up to five key hard skills that show you're an ideal candidate for the role. It can also be beneficial to add context to each skill, showing how you've used it to positive effect in your career to date.
Your resume hard skills list should reflect your unique and specific industry expertise and experience, while also fulfilling the requirements listed in the job description. See the examples below for an idea of what an effective athletic director resume hard skills list looks like.
- Budget management proficiency
- NCAA compliance knowledge
- Event planning expertise
Adding soft skills to your athletic director resume
Soft skills are the personal skills and qualities that make you a good fit for the job. They include transferable skills and strengths that help you settle into the role, adapt to new challenges and build effective working relationships. In fact, as technology develops, soft skills are growing in importance for recruiters and employers, so be sure to add several of these to your resume. You should generally look to include up to five soft or transferable skills that match the job description.
An effective athletic director resume soft skills section should be targeted to include skills that reflect your personality and unique characteristics, while also matching the job description. The graphic below includes some examples of good resume soft skills.
- Communication and collaboration
- Problem-solving abilities
- Leadership and management
Certifications and Training
Under this section, list any relevant certifications or licenses that are relevant to athletic director jobs. You could list accreditations for certain professional roles or licenses for certain activities that help to make you a strong candidate. Therefore, make sure you list the dates of your certifications and licenses so employers can see they're up-to-date and valid.
See below for some suggestions of relevant certifications for an athletic director resume:
- Certified Athletic Administrator, 2022
- Certified Master Athletic Administrator, 2022
- National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, 2022
Optional Sections
If you need to provide further evidence of your suitability for the job, optional sections can be useful for an athletic director resume. Add any of the sections below that help you showcase your key skills and experience.
Hobbies and Interests
Add any hobbies and interests that reinforce your credentials for the position. They also help to show a different side of your personality, and can help your resume create a more memorable impression on hiring managers. If you're short on real world work experience, hobbies and interests can be a useful way of providing more information about your qualities. Only include hobbies and interests that showcase your personality and personal qualities, and add something different to your application.
Volunteer Experience
Adding voluntary roles can be a useful way of showing relevant experience and skills for athletic director roles beyond your main employment history. Include the title of your volunteer role, who you volunteered for, as well as the dates you carried out the work. Provide brief details of your responsibilities and the impact you made.
References
Standard athletic director resumes don't tend to include references, but you might find them requested occasionally. Check the job advert to see if you'll need to add references to your resume. Before adding any referees to your resume, ask them for their assistance and prepare them for contact by the employer.
Please contact me for a list of references.
Best action words for your athletic director resume
Start each bullet point in your work experience section with a strong verb to show actions you took. Choose from the list of words below to increase the impact of your work experience section.
- Manage
- Coordinate
- Develop
- Oversee
- Implement
- Strategize
- Evaluate
- Lead
- Organize
- Promote
Jobseeker's resume templates were created by careers experts to help you produce a professional resume in minutes. You can also find cover letter templates to complete an eye-catching job application that gets you noticed.
Sample resume for athletic director positions
Now we've covered the main sections to include in your athletic director resume, let's take a look at how it all comes together in the example below:
1313 Mockingbird Lane, Mockingbird Heights, CA
•
ethan.allen@example.com
•
(111) 222 33 444 55
•
linkedin․com/in/ethan–allen123
Dynamic and results-driven Athletic Director with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management and extensive experience as Director of Athletic Programs. Proven track record in leading and managing sports teams, organizing successful athletic events, and enhancing program development. Demonstrates strong leadership, strategic planning, and operational management skills to foster athletic excellence and promote a positive sports culture.
Director of Athletic Programs
2020
-2022
Summit Sports Management Group (Laredo)
- Increased athletic program participation by 40% through innovative outreach and engagement initiatives
- Secured $500,000 in sponsorships and grants to enhance facilities and resources
- Implemented comprehensive athlete wellness program, reducing injury rates by 25%
Budget management proficiency
NCAA compliance knowledge
Event planning expertise
Communication and collaboration
Problem-solving abilities
Leadership and management
Certified Athletic Administrator
Certified Master Athletic Administrator
English - Fluent
Italian - B1
Tips for athletic director resumes
- Use action words that show how you've made an impact in different athletic director jobs (e.g. coordinate, strategize, organize).
- Adapt your resume for every job application for maximum impact. Review the job description to understand the specific requirements for the role.
- Mention key skills that show you're suited to the job throughout your resume, as well as in the dedicated skills section.
- Make a strong first impression with a concise, impactful athletic director resume summary that showcases your key qualities.
- Include any relevant work experience in reverse-chronological order, starting with your current or most recent role, for maximum readability.
- Don't use passive language - steer away from phrases like 'I was asked to' and use action words instead.
- Don't use unnecessary jargon to try and impress the reader. It may have the opposite effect.
- Don't include hobbies unless you're light on work experience and they help you prove a skill required for the job.
- Don't use overly complex formatting and layouts that can make your athletic director resume harder to read, and less scannable for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
- Don't write any unnecessary personal details on your resume. Details such as age, gender or nationality can lead to unintentional recruitment bias.
Making an ATS-friendly resume
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is just one of the tools employers and recruiters can use to streamline their hiring practices. This typically includes screening candidates by scanning and ranking their resumes based on their likely suitability for any vacancy. If you follow a few simple tips when writing your athletic director resume, you'll give yourself a better chance of ranking highly in the ATS screening and progressing to the next stage.
Follow these guidelines to create the best ATS-friendly resume:
- Adopt a traditional structure for your resume, such as a reverse-chronological format or a functional format. These are likely to be the easiest layouts for ATS software to scan.
- Use keywords throughout your resume that reflect the job description, so ATS resume scanners can recognize a strong connection between your skills, and those in the job description.
- Add each section with clear headings that match the established resume conventions, so ATS software can easily identify each part of your resume.
- Adopt a resume design that uses clear, professional design principles and leaves white space for your content to breathe. Use the most readable fonts and incorporate subtle design elements to enhance the readability of your document.
- Make sure your resume is as concise as possible, so ATS applications can easily scan and identify the required details.
For tips and ideas to help you draft a professional resume to get noticed by employers, read our expert career articles and check out our detailed resume examples.
Frequently Asked Questions about an athletic director resume
Accompanying your resume for athletic director applications, you'll want to produce a cover letter that similarly leaves a positive impression on hiring managers.
Firstly, think about whether you want to write a full, formal cover letter or whether a brief email to introduce yourself and draw attention to your resume will suffice.
If you choose to write a full cover letter, follow traditional letter-writing conventions surrounding greetings, sign-offs and use of professional language. The body of the cover letter tends to be three paragraphs. The first introduces yourself and the role you're applying for, giving reasons for your application. The second briefly covers your key skills and achievements that are most relevant to athletic director roles. Finally, the third paragraph re-emphasizes your interest in the role and leaves a call to action, encouraging the employer to reach out to you.
Jobseeker's HR-approved cover letter templates can help you produce a cover letter that really catches the eye of employers.
Even if you have little or no relevant work experience, it's still possible to write an athletic director resume that makes a strong impression on employers. Use a functional resume format instead of the standard reverse-chronological structure. This emphasizes your skills and education over your work experience. Additional resume sections such as volunteer work, hobbies and interests, certifications and internships can all help you showcase your relevant skills. These can be more prominent in your resume if you haven't got a lot of work experience.
Use a resume headline to make it easy for the reader to start assessing your suitability for athletic director positions at first glance. Resume headlines are also helpful for the ATS stage of the recruitment process, as they can help you reference the job title and one or two keywords for the role. Write a few words to set the tone for your resume, including the job title, your experience or track record and one or two key skills that make you stand out.
You can use this example resume headline as a template for creating your own:
- Assistant Athletic Director
- Innovative Sports Program Development Leader
- Experienced Athletic Director Leader
The top resume format for your applications will vary according to a couple of factors. First, how much professional experience you have. Second, what type of job you're applying for and its seniority level. For applicants without much relevant work experience, a functional resume format tends to be best. This places the emphasis on your key skills and relevant qualifications. For more senior roles where you have plenty of relevant experience, use a reverse chronological format. This resume structure places work experience at the heart of the document, using it as a showcase for your skills and achievements.
Takeaways for a winning athletic director resume
The key to a strong resume is to showcase your relevant skills and achievements through your work experience and other activities. Use a suitable resume format and tailor your resume for every application you submit.
HR-approved resume templates and other tools by Jobseeker are the easiest way to create a winning job application. Sign up and follow the simple instructions to complete a resume that stands out from the crowd. Whether you're a junior or senior candidate, a professional cover letter can help to grab the attention of the employer. Jobseeker's cover letter examples were created by careers experts to provide useful tips and ideas for your cover letter.
Sources:
(1) Tips for Writing a Federal Resume, U.S. Department of Labor: https://www.dol.gov/general/jobs/tips-for-writing-a-federal-resume
(2) Resume Tips, Duke University: https://careerhub.students.duke.edu/resources/resume-tips/
