Chief Operating Officer (COO) Resume Examples & Template

The goal? Get hired as a COO of a Fortune 500 company. The time frame? Two months. The challenge? The BoD and CEO won’t hire just anyone. They can’t afford to take the chance that you’re not up there with Mary Barra and Marc Benioff. The wrong person in this role could crash the company.

But how can you prove your COO skills on a sheet of 8x11? No problem. Follow the steps below to write a job-winning COO resume.

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Want other leadership resume examples? See these guides:

• Branch Manager Resume
• Business Manager Resume Sample & Guide
• Business Development Manager Resume Sample & Guide
• CEO Resume Sample & Guide
• CFO Resume Sample & Guide
• CTO Resume Sample & Guide
• CIO Resume Sample & Guide
• Executive Resume Sample & Guide
• General Manager Resume Sample & Guide
• Job Resume Examples for All Professions

Sample COO Resume Template

Here’s how to write a job-earning chief operations officer resume:

1. Format Your Chief Operations Officer Resume the Right Way

As a COO, you might be anything from a foil for the CEO to the acting leader of the business. That matters to the BoD, so they’ll judge everything about your COO resume. Your margins, font choice, line spacing, and paragraph styles are all under the lens. Don’t leave your job search up to chance.

So what does the perfect resume look like? It follows these resume format success steps:

• Choose the best option from the three types of resumes to show off your career. The chronological format of a resume is best for most job candidates.
• Next, select a minimalist resume template you can make your own. Writing a resume without a template wastes too much of your time in fits and starts.
• Settle on a professional resume font like Times New Roman or Cambria for a quick win. Go for the classics, because you need a traditionally-looking resume.
• Set the margins of your resume at one inch on all four edges of the paper.
• How many pages should a resume be? For most careers the answer is “one page.” COOs need more, and 2 pages is ideal.
• The name of a resume file should follow the format, “Name - Job Title - Resume.pdf”

Read more: Best Resume Styles

2. Get Noticed With a Resume Profile Statement

“I keep sending my resume, and nobody replies.” That’s frustrating, but it’s got two simple reasons. The first and easiest to fix is that your resume introduction isn’t compelling enough. That’s the paragraph at the top that teases all the best features of your resume.

You won't write a resume objective statement. Those are strictly for inexperienced job seekers, and you’ve got more experience than Ursula Burns.

Instead, write a resume career summary statement. The goal? Get the BoD to sit up straight in their Herman Miller Aerons. The way to do it is to use the most Fortune-5000-level moments from your resume.

Read more: How To Make Your Resume Stand Out

3. Target Your Chief Operations Officer Resume Job Description

Would you like to know the biggest mistake you’ll almost certainly make in your COO resume? You’ll focus on your job duties and qualifications. “But wait—aren’t I supposed to focus on those things?” Nope. To get the job, you need to zero in on the most wow-getting times you’ve moved the needle.

Here’s how to add relevant experience to a resume so it blows their hair back:

• Start with your current or most recent position.
• Write down the job title, organization name, location, and your start and finish dates.
• Next, how to tailor a resume to a specific job. That starts with adding up to six bullet points that show accomplishment. Achievements in a resume are everything.
• Begin each bullet point with power verbs like increased, grew, or implemented. Words like that encourage you to show your successes.

Read more: Resume in Past or Present Tense? What Tense to Use

4. Write a Value-Oriented COO Resume Education Section 

You don’t need to show cum laude on your resume to get the job. In fact, the business world is jammed with leaders who never went to college. But if you’ve got a degree, flaunt it. There’s a way that works, and then again there’s a way that makes board members shrug.

To show your education in a resume:

• List your school name, the degree you earned, and your graduation date.
• If you have a university achievement or two, list them. For example, did you run the student business association or get a fellowship for leadership?
• Does GPA belong on a resume for chief operations officer jobs? Not unless it’s sky-high.

Read more: How to List a Degree on a Resume

5. Prove You’ve Got the Right Chief Operations Officer Skills

If you wrote down all your skills right now, how many would you have? A thousand? But nobody will read all those, even if they’re all amazing. But how can you choose which ones to put in, and which ones to toss out? First, list about 10 COO skills, max. Second, make them the ones the company wants most.

Here's how to show your chief operations officer skills will take the company from good to great:

• First, do some digging. How can you learn what skills they’re after? Talk to board members if you can. Talk to the CEO. Have a qualifying conversation about their goals.
• Can’t do that? Read about them in the media. Learn their challenges and business objectives. Where are they headed in the next five years? What skills will get them there?
• Now that you know the right skills to put on resumes for COOs, write your list of 10. Combine both hard skills vs soft skills to make the perfect list.
• After you write your resume skills list, revisit your bullet points. Your achievements should show you used the same skills to get the job done.

COO Resume Skills

• Budgeting
• Marketing Skills
• Financial Management
• Product Development
• Contract Negotiation
• Business Strategy
• IT
• Delegation
• Business Analysis
• Performance Tracking
• Supply Chain Management
• Leadership Skills
• Verbal and Written Communication Skills
• Time Management Skills
• Organizational Skills
• Decision Making Skills
• Teamwork Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Computer Skills
• Technical Skills 
• Problem Solving Skills
• Critical Thinking Skills
• Conceptual Skills

One last thing: need the right resume keywords? Those are just the skills and qualifications the business wants most. Put them in your skills list and bullets for an ATS-friendly resume.

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6. Add “Additional” Sections to Your COO Resume

Experience and education on a resume aren’t the only ways to show your skills. In fact, some skills only come from volunteer work and other activities.

• Show certifications on a resume like a CFA or Agile certification if you’ve got one.
• Include volunteer experience to show extra leadership or organizational bandwidth.
• A professional association membership or publications help too, as do awards and other personal achievements.

Read more: What Sections Go in a Resume?

7. Write a Cover Letter for Your Chief Operations Officer Resume

“Do I need a cover letter for my COO resume?” Yes, you do. If you send your resume without one, they’ll have no way of knowing you’re not just auto-applying to every job opening in the book. You’ve got to write a personal appeal that shows this particular company is important to you.

After all, what is a cover letter for if not to show your passion for helping the company succeed?

Include the right parts in your cover letter:

• Start off with a modern cover letter template so you don’t waste a lot of time figuring out a working format.
• Skip the "Dear Hiring Manager" cover letter pitfall and jump straight in with the name of the CEO or board president.
• Craft an attention-getting cover letter introduction, so they’ll read your letter thoroughly.
• The second paragraph should tantalize them with the most Bogle-level items in your chief operations officer resume.
• Make a cover letter ending that conveys what you like most about the organization. Then request the interview with a strong CTA.

The right cover letter length is not a matter of opinion. If you can’t say it in a single page, you can’t say it at all.

Read more: Cover Letter Salutation and Best Greeting Examples

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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That’s it!

That’s everything you need to write a great chief operations officer resume!

Thanks for reading! Do you have another question on how to make a Bezos-level chief operations officer resume? Give us a shout in the comments section!

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