What skills should a Business Continuity Planner put on a resume?

O*NET rates Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Reading Comprehension among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Business Continuity Planner list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Actuate BIRT, Adobe Acrobat, Atlassian Confluence, Atlassian JIRA, and Business continuity software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Business Continuity Planner work?

O*NET records 22 titles for this occupation, including Business Continuity Administrator, Business Continuity Analyst, Business Continuity Consultant, and Business Continuity Coordinator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Business Continuity Planner need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 68% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Business Continuity Planner role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Business Continuity Planner resume example

A resume for a Business Continuity Planner needs to show the work itself: develop, maintain, or implement business continuity and disaster recovery strategies and solutions, including risk assessments, business impact analyses, strategy selection, and documentation of business continuity and disaster recovery procedures. Day to day that means work like this: develop emergency management plans for recovery decision making and communications, continuity of critical departmental processes, or temporary shut-down of non-critical departments to ensure continuity of operation and governance; develop disaster recovery plans for physical locations with critical assets, such as data centers. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Business Continuity Administrator
Business Continuity Analyst
Business Continuity Consultant
Business Continuity Coordinator
Business Continuity Professional
Business Change Advisor
Business Consultant
Business Continuity Specialist
Business Initiatives Consultant
Business Professional
Business Transformation Manager
Change Management Analyst
Change Management Consultant
Change Management Manager
Change Management Specialist
Change Manager
Disaster Recovery Analyst
Disaster Recovery Specialist

O*NET records 22 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Develop emergency management plans for recovery decision making and communications, continuity of critical departmental processes, or temporary shut-down of non-critical departments to ensure continuity of operation and governance.
Develop disaster recovery plans for physical locations with critical assets, such as data centers.
Test documented disaster recovery strategies and plans.
Analyze impact on, and risk to, essential business functions or information systems to identify acceptable recovery time periods and resource requirements.
Write reports to summarize testing activities, including descriptions of goals, planning, scheduling, execution, results, analysis, conclusions, and recommendations.
Review existing disaster recovery, crisis management, or business continuity plans.
Create scenarios to reestablish operations from various types of business disruptions.
Establish, maintain, or test call trees to ensure appropriate communication during disaster.
Conduct or oversee contingency plan integration and operation.
Identify opportunities for strategic improvement or mitigation of business interruption and other risks caused by business, regulatory, or industry-specific change initiatives.
Interpret government regulations and applicable codes to ensure compliance.
Create or administer training and awareness presentations or materials.

21 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Develop emergency management plans for recovery decision making and communications, continuity of critical departmental processes, or temporary shut-down of non-critical departments to ensure continuity of operation and governance, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Develop disaster recovery plans for physical locations with critical assets, such as data centers, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Test documented disaster recovery strategies and plans, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Analyze impact on, and risk to, essential business functions or information systems to identify acceptable recovery time periods and resource requirements, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Actuate BIRT
Adobe Acrobat
Atlassian Confluence
Atlassian JIRA
Business continuity software
CA Clarity PPM
Computer operating systems
COOP Systems myCOOP
EMC RSA Archer Business Continuity Management
Emergency notification system software
Enterprise backup systems
Jaspersoft Business Intelligence Suite
Local area network LAN software
Mentimeter

37 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Computer laser printers
Computer server equipment
Desktop computers
Mainframe computers
Multiline telephone systems
Personal computers
Storage area network equipment
Tablet computers
Teleconferencing systems

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Confluence
Jira
SQL Server
Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio Management
SQL
Teradata Database

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Complex Problem Solving
02Judgment and Decision Making
03Speaking
04Critical Thinking
05Reading Comprehension
06Systems Analysis
07Writing
08Active Learning
09Active Listening
10Coordination

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Administration and Management
English Language
Computers and Electronics
Public Safety and Security
Customer and Personal Service
Education and Training
Administrative
Communications and Media

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

68%Bachelor's Degree
9%Some College Courses
9%Associate's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Business Continuity Planner do?: Develop, maintain, or implement business continuity and disaster recovery strategies and solutions, including risk assessments, business impact analyses, strategy selection, and documentation of business continuity and disaster recovery procedures. Day to day that includes work like develop emergency management plans for recovery decision making and communications, continuity of critical departmental processes, or temporary shut-down of non-critical departments to ensure continuity of operation and governance and Develop disaster recovery plans for physical locations with critical assets, such as data centers.
What skills should a Business Continuity Planner put on a resume?: O*NET rates Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Reading Comprehension among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Business Continuity Planner list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Actuate BIRT, Adobe Acrobat, Atlassian Confluence, Atlassian JIRA, and Business continuity software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Business Continuity Planner work?: O*NET records 22 titles for this occupation, including Business Continuity Administrator, Business Continuity Analyst, Business Continuity Consultant, and Business Continuity Coordinator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Business Continuity Planner need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 68% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Business Continuity Planner role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.