Shift Leader Resume Examples & Writing Tips

The mastery of writing a pro resume is not the simplest one to achieve. However, we believe that anyone can become an expert in this craft with a little bit of persistence and tips on best practices from our experts. In this guide, we will tell you everything you need to know to create a winning shift leader resume. So sit back and get ready to learn!

Becoming a Shift Leader: What It Takes

Before we move on to the tips and tricks of writing a shift leader resume, let's talk a little bit more about the specifics of this particular position.

A Shift Leader position can be classified as a front-line, middle-entry level managerial role, typical for such industries as Manufacturing, Construction, Retail, and Food. Among the primary responsibilities of a Shift Leader, we often find such tasks and duties as:

• overseeing the operations,
• management of the team at a specific time of the day (including but not limited to schedule adherence management and conflict resolution),
• assignment of different duties to the workers based on the skillset and need,
• assisting the team with specific tasks when and where needed – usually during peak hours.

However, the complete list of the responsibilities may vary depending on the industry and the company positioning itself. But the primary objective of any Shift Leader is ensuring that the shift they are responsible for, including all its aspects, runs like clockwork.

What makes a good Shift Leader? We believe that the following things are important:

• good experience in all the key parts of the firm's work;
• excellent communication and analytical skills;
• ability to provide direction to multiple employees at the same time while committing to the high service level standards;
• ability to maintain a positive working environment;
• aspiration in keeping the team spirit and morale on a high level.

Choose a Format for the Resume for Shift Leader Position

The primary purpose of the resume is to help you get the job. It's supposed to make the employer interested enough in your candidacy to invite you for the interview. This means that while creating your resume, you should pay extra attention to its structure to show your skills and experience from the best angle. Choosing the format that will work in your favor is your key to success.

Functional Resume Format

Such a format will help you highlight your abilities and professional skills that a new employer might find useful for the position. This could be a great option if you are:

• reentering the job market;
• looking for a job as an entry-level specialist and preparing a shift leader resume with no experience;
• considering choosing a new career path;
• have gaps in your work history.

The biggest advantage of the functional resume format is that it helps you highlight your transferable skills. For example, if you were an excellent recruiter at your previous job and decided to become a shift leader at a restaurant, you might interest your new employer in your interpersonal and time-management skills.

Chronological Resume Format

A chronological resume is mainly used by job seekers who have many years of experience in the field and want to show it. Like the functional resume, it typically includes an objective that is a summary for the whole document. However, unlike the functional resume, this one chronologically lists the applicant's work experience from most recent to past. You should finish off such a resume by listing your certifications, special skills, and information about your education.

The Visual Part of Your Resume

Making your resume visually appealing is important. Most recruiters only spend around 6 seconds on each resume, so you have to use every chance to catch their eye. You can do that by choosing a design layout and formatting your text the right way. Let's get into more detail.

Choose a Template for Your Resume
Choosing a professional resume layout is one of the best things you could do. How to pick the right one? You should consider three things – your personal taste, industry documentation standards, and the requirements of the company you're applying to.

Choose the Coloring For Your Resume
In almost any situation, simplicity is your best friend. Don't pick layouts with heavy or extremely colorful designs. They will only distract the recruiter. Another idea is choosing the company’s corporate colors for your resume's design. It might make the recruiter a little bit more favorable towards your candidacy on a subconscious level.

Keep your punctuation consistent.
Among all shift leader resume skills, good attention to detail is crucial. Ensuring the consistency of your punctuation throughout your resume is one of the many ways to show that you have this skill. So choose from the very beginning how you're going to use quotes, periods, hyphens, and apostrophes, and stay consistent with your choice throughout the whole document.

Don't forget about white space.
Adding white space to your resume improves its readability. As we have already mentioned, recruiters don't typically spend a lot of their time reading resumes, so you need to make the most important parts stand out. You can do that by dividing your text into paragraphs or slightly increasing the line spacing. We also recommend using lists and bullet points.

Choose a simple and readable font.
"Fancy" fonts are not a good choice for a restaurant shift leader resume. Or any other business document, for that matter. Choose classical, easily readable fonts like Sans Serif, with clean lines. Also, never exceed the 11 pt for your font size while writing a resume. It is only acceptable to use size 12 for titles.

The Writing Part of Your Resume

Now that you're fully set with the format of your resume and its looks, it's time to write it. We have prepared some tips for you that will make the process easier and more understandable.

Header

The header in a resume is a small yet vital part. Its primary mission is to leave the recipient some info about possible ways to contact you. Usually, when writing a header, you should include the following:

• Your first and last name
• your position
• your address (optional)
• your phone number
• your email address

Another thing you should pay attention to while writing a header is your email address. Never use personal mailboxes that give little to no clue about who you are, such as ‘littleangel999@example.com'. Create a separate email address with your first and last name on it – this approach will look more professional.

Education

Most Shift Leader positions only require a high school diploma or a successfully passed General Educational Development test (GED). However, if you want to increase your chances for success, you might want to think about getting a bachelor’s degree in business or an industry-related field. Having a degree will show the recruiter that you have a deeper knowledge about the industry and might be a better fit for the job than other candidates.

Don’t be discouraged, though, if you don’t have a degree. In many cases, training for a shift leader position is done on the job. In this situation, you could improve your chances for an interview invitation if you had any certification.

Last but not least – don’t just write where you’ve studied. Try to include any accomplishments achieved during your studies.

Skills Section

When you're choosing skills to put on your shift leader resume, it is always best to write them according to each particular position you're applying for. You can use the exact keywords from the job description in your document. Pay attention to the typical shift leader responsibilities for resume writing. They might give you additional insight.

While there is nothing wrong with the second group of skills, they are irrelevant to the Shift Leader position. They won’t help you pass the keyword search and won’t show a recruiter that you’re a good match for the job.

Work History

The first and most important rule of this section is to avoid irrelevant information. While you can mention all your shift leader duties, a resume should be clear from irrelevant work history.

As you see, the first example is completely irrelevant to the shift leader’s position and can be deleted from the resume. The second one, on the other hand, describes a similar position with similar responsibilities. It would indicate to the recruiter that you’re an experienced professional and will require less time getting familiar with the new job.

Summary

Having a strong summary on your resume is a good thing from many points. If you’re an experienced professional – it is a great way to gather your many professional achievements in a few sentences in a job-winning summary and save a recruiter some time. At the same time, if you’re a beginner in the industry, you can use a summary to point out why you are an excellent match for the applied position. A great summary:

• Is short – up to 5 sentences;
• Highlights your key responsibilities from previous positions and how you successfully managed them;
• Highlights your most significant professional achievement so far;
• Mentions some of your strongest skills;
• Summarizes your profession and years of experience in it.

As you see, this kind of summary doesn’t give the slightest clue about you as a professional. There’s no quantitative proof of your achievements or professional experience.

Professional Shift Leader Resume Sample

Reading all those resume writing tips is one thing. Seeing them applied in practice is another. That is why we have made a shift leader resume example for your consideration.

Mistakes to Avoid While Writing a Shift Leader Resume

Preparing a resume for a leadership position like this one might have some underwater stones that you'd want to avoid. We don't want you to fall into this trap, so below, you can find some of the most common mistakes people make when writing a shift leader resume.

Mistake #1: Making the Resume Too Long

Many job seekers think that the more information provided on the resume – the better—especially when applying for a leadership position. In fact, a good resume rarely exceeds a one-page and is tailored to the specific position to which you're applying.

Mistake #2: Attaching Non-Professional Social Media Profiles

It is now common to leave a link to your social media pages on your resume. However, when doing so, you need to be sure that your pages do not contain any controversial information about you. Review your privacy settings before sending a resume and ensure that your online image looks respectful.

Mistake #3: Adding Your Photo to a Resume

Not all companies require an applicant’s picture attached to a resume. For example, in countries like the UK, USA, or Ireland, you should only do so if the company specifically asked you. So, find out the company’s requirements about applicants’ pictures before sending your resume.

Final Thoughts

Even though writing a resume is a very responsible task that requires plenty of dedication, it's no reason to panic. With the proper approach and our useful tips, we believe that this process can be smooth. So follow our guide, make a job-winning resume, and enforce it with a brilliant cover letter to skyrocket your chances for an interview invitation. Happy job hunting!