Copywriter resume example

Choose the right format for a Copywriter resume

Use a reverse-chronological format unless you are making a significant career pivot. Hiring managers at agencies and in-house teams scan quickly, so keep the document to one page if you have fewer than ten years of experience, and two pages maximum after that. Use a clean single-column or light two-column layout — avoid heavy graphic design that breaks applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Save and submit as a PDF unless the job posting explicitly requests a Word file. Name the file with your full name and the word 'resume' so it is easy to locate in a crowded inbox.

• Margins: 0.5–1 inch on all sides
• Font: Georgia, Garamond, or Calibri at 10–12 pt body text
• Sections in order: contact info, summary, experience, skills, education
• Include a live link to your portfolio — this is non-negotiable for copywriting roles

Write a professional summary that earns a second look

Your summary sits directly below your contact information and functions as a headline for the rest of the resume. It should be three to four sentences that name your specialty (B2B SaaS, e-commerce, direct response, etc.), your years of experience, and one or two concrete outcomes you have driven. Avoid adjectives like 'passionate' or 'creative' — let the specifics do that work.

Here is a strong example: "Direct-response copywriter with 7 years of experience producing email sequences, landing pages, and paid social ads for DTC health and wellness brands. Increased average email open rates from 18% to 31% across a 200K-subscriber list by rewriting subject lines and preview text using A/B testing in Klaviyo. Comfortable owning projects from brief to final delivery in fast-moving, deadline-driven environments."

Write work-experience bullets that prove impact

Each bullet should follow an action-verb + task + measurable result structure. Recruiters hiring copywriters are looking for proof that your words moved people to act — clicks, conversions, revenue, open rates, engagement, or reduced cost per acquisition. Pull numbers from Google Analytics, HubSpot, Klaviyo, or campaign reports before you write. If you do not have exact figures, use ranges or percentages you can defend in an interview.

Quantify the scale of your work too: word count per month, number of SKUs described, size of email list, ad spend managed. These details separate a working professional from someone padding a resume.

• Wrote and A/B tested 12 landing page variants for a SaaS client in HubSpot, lifting free-trial sign-ups by 24% over one quarter and reducing cost per lead from $47 to $36.
• Produced 40+ product description pages monthly for an 8,000-SKU home goods retailer, maintaining a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of 8 and contributing to a 17% improvement in organic product page traffic year-over-year.

Skills and certifications recruiters and ATS look for

List hard skills in a dedicated section using the exact terminology found in job postings — ATS matches keywords literally. Separate tools from competencies. Certifications matter more in content strategy and SEO-adjacent roles than in pure creative copywriting, but they signal initiative regardless of specialization.

Relevant certifications include HubSpot Content Marketing Certification, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) certification, Copyhackers Copy School courses, American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI) credentials for direct response, and SEMrush Content Marketing Toolkit certification.

• Tools: HubSpot, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, WordPress, Contentful, Asana, Trello, Google Analytics 4, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Clearscope
• Competencies: SEO copywriting, direct-response writing, UX writing, brand voice development, A/B testing, conversion rate optimization (CRO), editorial calendars
• Soft skills worth naming (sparingly): cross-functional collaboration, meeting tight deadlines, translating technical briefs into plain language

Education, licenses, and extras

A bachelor's degree in English, journalism, communications, or marketing is common but not required for most copywriting roles — your portfolio and work history carry more weight. List your degree, institution, and graduation year. Skip GPA unless you graduated within the last two years and it was above 3.5.

Use the final section for extras that differentiate you: a published byline in a recognized trade publication, a newsletter with a meaningful subscriber count, public speaking at a marketing conference, or fluency in a second language if the employer serves multilingual markets. Do not list generic hobbies.

• Portfolio link (Contently, a personal site, or a curated Google Drive folder with clear labels)
• Relevant coursework if you lack experience: persuasive writing, consumer psychology, digital marketing
• Volunteer or freelance work counts — label it clearly with client name and dates

Mistakes to avoid

• ×Linking to a portfolio that contains broken links, password-protected pages, or work samples unrelated to the type of role you are applying for.
• ×Writing bullets that describe job duties ('responsible for writing emails') instead of outcomes, which tells a hiring manager nothing about your effectiveness.
• ×Using industry jargon or brand-voice language from your current employer that makes sense internally but reads as vague or confusing to an outside recruiter.
• ×Omitting the type of copy you specialize in — 'copywriter' covers everything from billboard taglines to 80-page white papers, so failing to specify your niche makes you look unfocused.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a portfolio to get a copywriting job, or will a strong resume be enough?

A portfolio is effectively required — most hiring managers will not move a copywriter to a phone screen without seeing samples. Your resume gets you considered, but your portfolio gets you hired. If you are building one from scratch, create three to five spec pieces in the format and industry you want to work in.

Should a copywriter's resume itself be written in a distinctive brand voice?

Keep it professional and clear rather than quirky or heavily stylized. Hiring managers read dozens of resumes and a gimmicky tone can read as unprofessional or hard to skim. Save your voice for the cover letter, where a single well-crafted opening line can stand out without sacrificing readability.

How do I list freelance copywriting experience on a resume?

Create a single entry titled 'Freelance Copywriter' with your operating dates, then use bullets to name notable clients (with permission) and quantify results. If you worked under a business name, list that instead. Grouping projects under one entry keeps the resume clean and prevents it from looking like a series of short-tenure jobs.