Program Coordinator Resume

Program coordinators oversee projects and the people who work on them. So if you want to get a job as a program coordinator, communicating that you have the relevant experience and skills to succeed in this role is essential.

Here are four tips to help you create a job-winning program coordinator resume that’ll pass through the screening processes as smoothly as your best-run program.

1. Open with a compelling program coordinator resume objective

A resume objective (also known as a career objective) is a short paragraph that sits underneath your name and contact details. When busy hiring managers are skimming numerous resumes, sometimes they only read the resume objectives — so highlight the qualities that make you an ideal program coordinator.

Use this section to introduce yourself to your recruiter and explain how you’d run their programs. Concentrate on your professional qualifications and relevant experience as a program coordinator to prove you’d make a valuable addition to the company.

To convey your program coordinator abilities as concisely as possible, aim to have one sentence in your resume objective for each of these points:

• experience and achievements as a program coordinator
• education level and area of specialization
• motivations for applying to the job opening

Here’s an example of a well-written program coordinator resume objective:

If you need more inspiration, looking up high-quality resumes for similar positions, like a program manager resume, can give you some new direction.

2. Highlight your program coordinator skills

Training a program coordinator without any hard and soft skills is costly, so employers seek candidates who already have some practical skills to begin working and immediately make a positive impact on their programs.

First, hard skills (also called technical skills) are industry-specific skills acquired through education, training, and practical experience. For example, program coordinators must maintain detailed financial records of a program’s budget, sponsors, and expenses, so list your math skills and knowledge of databases (if you have experience using them).

These are more hard skills for your program coordinator resume:

Next, soft skills relate to your personality and how you interact with your team and program participants. For instance, listing your people skills is essential because program coordinators are required to motivate their team and provide ongoing training if necessary.

Program coordinators should also have excellent communication skills. For instance, you might be required to help staff members fully understand certain requirements, roles, and goals for the programs they’re assigned to. So list your ability to communicate clearly in the skills section of your resume.

Other program coordinator–related soft skills include the following:

In addition to listing your soft skills in your resume’s skills section, showcase them in your work experience bullet points so employers can see your skills in context.

Here’s an example of a resume bullet point illustrating a program coordinator applicant’s organizational skills:

Implemented weekly stand-up meetings to ensure all staff were up-to-date on the latest developments and provide a forum for effective communication and troubleshooting

3. Add hard numbers to your program coordination achievements

If you have several years of experience as a program coordinator, quantify the accomplishments on your resume with hard numbers. Using hard numbers on your program coordinator resume helps employers understand your capabilities in concrete terms.

Data that quantifies your resume can include the:

• amount of project costs you saved
• revenue earned from fundraising, grants, or sponsorships
• number of participants who joined your programs
• number of successful programs you organized

Here are some examples of hard numbers in a program coordinator’s work experience section:

Example of hard numbers on a program coordinator resume

• Supported company growth and helped form 3 additional branches in different states, creating $100k extra income
• Streamlined the company’s budget through proper planning and organization, resulting in savings of $20K per year

4. Include program coordinator–related keywords

Modern companies are turning to applicant tracking systems (ATS) to help shortlist the best program coordinators from a large pool of applicants. ATS selects candidates whose resumes match the employer’s criteria by searching for specific resume keywords.

So write an ATS-friendly resume by including program coordinator keywords on your resume to pass through the ATS and show hiring managers you’ve got the qualities they’re looking for. Check the “preferred qualifications” and “responsibilities” parts of a company’s job description for specific keywords to include.

Some common keywords for program coordinator roles are: