How to Create an Incident Manager Resume (Plus Template)

Updated 7 March 2023

An incident manager is an important role that helps businesses mitigate incidents that can impact overall operations. Candidates looking for a career in incident management may create a resume that shows hiring managers they can fulfil the role's primary responsibilities. Understanding how to achieve this and ensuring your resume highlights your most impressive incident management skills can encourage recruiters to invite you to an interview. In this article, we discuss how to create an incident manager resume with step-by-step instructions, including a resume template example and tips for improving content.

How to write an incident manager resume

The following is a step-by-step guide to writing an incident manager resume:

1. Choose the correct format

Before creating your resume, it's important to choose the correct format to showcase the most appropriate sections of the document. As an incident manager is a relatively senior role, consider using a reverse chronological or combination resume format. This shows the hiring manager that you have suitable experience in completing incident management tasks. If you're short of previous experience but believe you have the right transferable skills for the role, you can use a functional resume format. This maximises hard and soft management skills to compensate for a lack of industry experience.

Related: How to Lead Through a Crisis

2. Include a resume header

The resume header is an important section that provides your key contact information. You can include your full name, degrees or other qualifications, location, phone number and email address. Providing these details is essential, as it allows the hiring manager to contact you with updates on your application or to discuss particular elements of your resume.

3. Write your professional summary

The professional summary provides a more in-depth introduction to your skills and experience. This is a two- or three-sentence section that explains your most impressive qualities and why they make you the ideal candidate for an incident manager role. In this section, you can outline your incident management experience, providing examples of previous problem-solving opportunities. The aim here is to attract the hiring manager's attention and motivate them to continue reading, so it's important to include the most impressive information about yourself.

Consider selecting the most valuable incident management skills to highlight, such as process management. You can reference any qualifications you believe are relevant for an incident management job, such as information technology certifications or degrees. It's useful to refer to skills, qualifications or qualities mentioned in the job description. This increases the use of keywords to help applicant tracking systems (ATS) select your resume for further screening. Such software selects keyword-dense resumes to pass on to hiring managers for shortlisting.

4. Add your educational qualifications

While incident manager positions don't typically require specific qualifications, it can be useful to list degrees or qualifications that teach candidates relevant skills, such as process management, decision-making, prioritising user experience and problem-solving. Consider including information technology (IT) or computer science degrees to demonstrate an understanding of improvising user experience and process management or events management qualifications to show that you can manage fast-paced and evolving situations. Alternatively, you can include certifications in crisis and events management to demonstrate expert knowledge.

5. Focus on your work experience

As an incident manager is a senior role, it's likely that candidates require experience in a similar position before applying. Candidates can list this information in reverse chronological order. This is a list that starts from the most recent experience and works backwards. Below each job title, consider using a bullet point list to explain your primary responsibilities in further detail. If you have many years of experience, aim to include the most recent five to ten years of experience. Exclude information from roles unrelated to incident management to avoid cluttering your resume.

6. Choose the right skills

The resume skills section is important and proves whether you have the right capabilities to fulfil an incident manager role. This section can contain a combination of hard and soft skills. Hard skills are specific to an incident manager role. You can gain these through training, experience and education. Soft skills are general employment skills and transfer across industries. Here's a list of skills you can include on an incident management resume:

problem-solving
communication
team leadership
process management
IT infrastructure
outsourcing
capacity management
change management.

Resume template for incident managers

Here's a template resume you can use for your incident management application:

[First name] [Last name], [Degree or certification if applicable]

[Phone number] | [Email address] | [City], [State]

Professional Summary

[Two to three sentences that highlight years of experience, relevant skills, education or certifications and achievements as a professional.]

Experience
(For the most recent role, list five experience items. For previous roles, list three.)

[Job Title] | [Employment dates]

[Company Name] | [City], [State]

(Strong verb) + what you did (more detail) + reason, outcome or quantified results.
[Job duty]
[Job duty]
[Job duty]
[Job duty]

[Job Title] | [Employment dates]

[Company Name] | [City], [State]

(Strong verb) + what you did (more detail) + reason, outcome or quantified results.
[Job duty]
[Job duty]

Skills

Education

[Degree and major], [Name of school or university]

Resume example for incident managers

Here's an example resume for incident managers that follows a reverse chronological resume structure:

Susan Watts, Bachelor of Information Technology

379-2938-098 | swatt@mail.com| Melbourne, Victoria

Professional Summary

Dedicated incident management executive looking for a new and exciting opportunity as an incident manager. My seven years of experience working alongside incident managers have equipped me with many skills integral to incident management, including problem-solving and quick decision-making. My information technology degree has provided me with intensive knowledge of handling fast-paced situations, limiting user impact and liaising with various professionals, qualities I believe to be beneficial to your business.

Experience

Incident Management Executive | June 2019–Current
Becksheath Inc. | Melbourne, VIC

work to limit the impact of major incidents on business operations and creating incident mitigation plans to restrict unplanned interruptions
liaise with the incident manager to work with suppliers and vendors to ensure an adequate supply of safety resources
design training programs that educate new intake on safety and problem-solving mitigation tactics to prevent future interruptions to the business
oversee the lifecycle of unplanned interruptions, ensuring problem-solving measures to reduce suspension times
create processes to help employees transition back to normal working conditions following incidents

Junior Incident Management Executive | April 2015–May 2019
Becksheath Inc. | Melbourne, VIC

liaised with senior executives and managers, taking notes from meetings and completing administrative work
screened incident management processes for inconsistencies
joined managers' on-site visits to conduct preventative care for equipment