The Perfect Development Director Resume Writing Tips

Do you want to apply for a Development Director position to help you get closer to your career goals? Applying for jobs on Seek, LinkedIn, and other job boards can be a time-consuming process, however, to streamline the process, you can ensure your resume writing helps you to stand out from the crowd, and your online profile helps you to get an interview!

If a recruiter or hiring manager are looking for a Development Director, they are searching for specific transferable skills. With less than ten people being interviewed for the job and hundreds of people, just like you, applying, The Perfect Resume team have created Resume Writing Tips to help you stand out from the others.

What do recruiters look for in a Development Director resume or an online profile?

Tailoring your resume to a Development Director position is mandatory today to ensure that your application will pass Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). In doing so, your resume will be read by the prospective employer. Then, fingers crossed, you will be shortlisted as a potential candidate and be called for not one, but multiple job interviews!

Firstly, before you apply to be a Development Director, you need to be acquainted with what a Development Director does!

Development Directors handle the fundraising initiatives by planning fundraising campaigns for the fiscal year ahead.

Hiring Managers are looking for a highly organised Development Director to assist in developing major gifts programs and managing the development coordinator's performance and output.

To be successful as a Development Director, you should have knowledge of necessary corporate procedures, be open to learning, and have strong communication skills. Ultimately, a high performing Development Director should be able to achieve the organisation's financial goals and building solid relationships with investors and donors.

Knowing this, your resume and online profile should include the hard and soft skills that the recruiter or hiring manager is looking for in a candidate.

The Development Director position description template will also contain pivotal information about what the candidate will need to do daily. Such as:

• Creating fundraising goals for the fiscal year.
• Contacting new and existing donors to build and maintain relationships.
• Planning major gift programs.
• Organising fundraising events.
• Hiring staff to assist with fundraising campaigns.

You will also have some requirements and personal attributes that you will need to demonstrate in your resume to ensure your potential employer will take your application seriously, such as:

• A bachelor's degree in finance or a related field.
• Prior experience as a fundraiser, project manager, or financial planner.
• Experience working with a nonprofit organization would be advantageous.
• Excellent time management skills.
• Ability to problem-solve quickly.
• Excellent planning skills.

You may also want to do some industry research to find out what other companies want in their Development Directors.