A GRANT WRITER RESUME FOR CAREER 
CHANGE NEEDS TO BE ON TARGET

Let’s start off with a definition. 

According to Wikipedia, “Grant writing is the practice of completing an application process for a federal grant provided by an institution such as a government department, corporation, foundation or trust.”

Usually, grant writers help organizations in the non-profit sector achieve funds for the groups they select.  They identify government policies and submit proposals for such grants.

Of course, they must become familiar with the organization’s mission and activity.  Key qualifications are excellent research and writing skills.  One must be good at networking and knowledgeable about non-profit management.

As we begin our discussion on the resume requirements for a grant writer, we will cover a few items here.

1. What three elements are essential to display in a grant application and in your own grant writer resume?
2. What is one approach to use in developing your own resume, especially for a career change?
3. What skills and qualifications should be covered and emphasized?

FIRST - GRANT APPLICATION

Your Great Resume Will Put You Right Here!

To be successful in a grant application the writer must accomplish a few things.

• The first is to fully understand the purpose of the application.  You have to know what you want in order to be able to find a way to get it.

• The second is to understand the audience for the proposal.  The audience are the ones that need to be convinced that your proposal is a great fit for the grant.  Therefore, you should know all about them and what drives them.


• The last is the importance of wording the application correctly.   Use the appropriate terminology. This shows your audience that know what you are talking about and can put the grant funds to good use.

The same is true of your grant writer resume. 

• You want your reader to deduce that you know what type of candidate they desire for this position.

• You want to understand what the resume reader or hiring manager wants for this role.  So you design your resume to meet her/his objectives.

• You want to use the terminology appropriate for this role with overpowering  or keyword stuffing.

SECOND - APPROACH FOR YOUR RESUME

A resume for a grant writer could be developed in several ways.  There is one approach that should be considered in the development of your own resume.

It is showing your “Objective” at the TOP of your resume.  You can catch the attention of the hiring manager right at the beginning.

Don’t just make a list of your accomplishments.  You want to do more than that. The key here is to explain how your skills and qualifications are a great match to accomplish the goals listed in the job requirements. 

You can identify your accomplishments. It should be in a manner that reinforces her view that you could use those skills to succeed in this new role. Try to address as many of the job requirements that are shown in the job posting.

Your objective is to get the hiring manager to notice that YOU can do the job well.  She should notice that even before she reads any more in your resume.

Most of the time, you only have about 6 seconds to catch the eye of the hiring manager that is reading the resume.  Put the good stuff up at the top and show her you can succeed in this role.

THIRD - SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

For your grant writer resume, you already know the answer to this one.  Identify ALL your skills and qualifications that are transferable or even potentially transferable. Go over this several times.  Get input from friends and family.  They could capture one that you overlooked.

The next step is to use the correct terminology for this new position.  Research other job postings for a grant writer and locate keywords that you can incorporate to identify and elaborate on in your resume.

Blend in the terminology use in grant applications to show how your skills fit so well with this role.

Typical skill and qualifications to include in your grant writer resume:

• Highly organized
• Very detailed
• Deadline driven
• Self-starting
• Ability to prioritize
• Persuasive
• Able to collaborate and work with other team members to plan, draft and prepare proposals
• Able to manage acquisition of materials and data needed for proposals
• Articulate
• Can explain various solutions to complex problems
• Can craft and proofread drafts for projects
• Can develop executive summaries, project narratives and budgets
• Ability to compile information required for projects, including objective and deliverables
• Can create timeline to monitor all required elements for project completion

Transferable Skills Light Up Your Resume

CONCLUSION TO GRANT WRITER RESUME

Prepare, Prepare and Prepare!

You may want to review several items in your quest for the perfect grant writer position.

• A Guide For Proposal Writing by The National Science Foundation
• How To Develop a Grant Proposal by the University of Northern Colorado
• Quick Guide For Grant Applications by US National Cancer Institute