Arena Tool
Writing Your Political Resume
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Your resume has one job: to get you an interview.
Whether you’re looking for your first campaign job or want to level up your political career, this tool will give you the best practices, examples, and a framework to update your resume. Our goal is to help you stand out in a crowded field and convince political hiring managers they need to talk to you.
Everything You Need to Write Your Resume
The following tool includes a written guide to teach you the best practices of political resume writing, a checklist to make sure your resume conforms will all the current best practices, and multiple resume templates to speed your resume writing process.
Often, we find even very good resumes suffer from unclear formatting that could be hamstringing your job search. We highly recommend starting from and Arena resume template, using the resume guide to understand best practices, and checking the resume checklist each time you send your resume to a prospective employer. The job search process can be hard; but having a great resume does not have to be.
What’s in the Tool?
This in-depth tool includes:
- 📝 A comprehensive Resume Guide to give you an in depth understanding of resume best practices
- 🤝 Resume Templates for political staffers with 10+ years of experience, recent college graduates, and more
- 💼 A Resume Checklist that you should check out each time you submit your resume (do not forget, in the job application process, the smallest of things can make the difference)
- 🎯 A guide on how to approach writing your resume bullets to maximize every word on the page
It also includes four on-demand video modules below:
- Module 1: Resume Goals (9:26)
- Module 2: Format (10:55)
- Module 3: Writing (19:51)
- Module 4: Delivery & Cover Letter (7:56)
Tool Preview
Hiring managers in the political space are operating on tight timelines and are inundated with resumes and recommendations. Given this, hiring managers will:
1. Skim for relevant experience as laid out in the job description (think: 10-15 seconds of skimming)
2. Pass over resumes that are confusing or difficult to read
3. Check for applicable skills (again, from the job description)
4. Prioritize clear, concise, and readable resumes
5. Resist jargon, especially if it’s outside of the political industry
We’re not saying all of these practices are “right” – we’d love for hiring managers to devour every word and phrase of your resume – but we’re sharing the reality of what hiring managers are dealing with and why creating your strongest resume can help you stand out. Let’s start with the basics: format.
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