• • Directed a team in developing comprehensive business continuity strategies, improving the company's recovery time objectives by 30%
  • • Implemented a business impact analysis for key departments that identified critical redundancies and led to a 20% reduction in potential business disruptions
  • • Coordinated with IT to integrate disaster recovery initiatives, enhancing system uptime across the company's network by 99.9%
  • • Designed and supervised 4 large-scale business continuity exercises annually, streamlining response procedures and reducing recovery times by 25%
  • • Partnered with cross-functional teams to develop a resilient telecommuting infrastructure, supporting seamless remote operations for 10,000+ employees during emergencies
  • • Authored detailed business continuity reports and presented findings to executive leadership, influencing the adoption of 3 major program enhancements
  • • Managed the successful design and execution of an enterprise-wide business continuity plan, impacting 5,000+ employees across the organization
  • • Facilitated 12 cross-functional workshops annually to raise awareness and train staff on business continuity practices, achieving a 95% employee training completion rate
  • • Led the response to 2 major disruptive events, minimizing operational downtime and resulting in a commendation from the CEO
  • • Collaborated with IT teams to develop and test disaster recovery efforts for critical data centers, mitigating risks by 40%
  • • Oversaw the evaluation and revision of department-specific continuity plans, ensuring 100% compliance with updated industry standards
  • • Assisted in developing the organization's emergency response strategy, leading to a 20% faster mobilization during crisis events
  • • Conducted quarterly risk assessments that informed the senior management's decision-making on priority risk mitigation actions
  • • Collaborated with external agencies to coordinate emergency drills, honing the organization's preparedness and efficiency
  • • Created crisis communication materials that were integral to keeping stakeholders informed during emergency situations

5 Business Continuity Manager Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

A business continuity manager must showcase a robust understanding of emergency response protocols. Highlight your expertise in developing and implementing disaster recovery plans that ensure minimal disruption. Demonstrate your ability to lead cross-functional teams during crises with decisiveness and resilience. Your resume should reflect a proven track record of conducting risk assessments and business impact analyses.

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Key Takeaways

Business Continuity Manager resume example

As a business continuity manager, one challenge you might face is articulating the complexity of your disaster recovery strategies in a concise and understandable way on your resume. Our guide offers targeted advice on how to effectively summarize your expertise and achievements in business continuity, ensuring that potential employers grasp the full value of your experience without getting lost in technical jargon.

  • Utilize real-life examples to refine your business continuity manager resume;
  • Effectively write the experience section of your business continuity manager resume, even if you have minimal or no professional experience;
  • Incorporate the industry's top 10 essential skills throughout your resume;
  • Include your education and certifications to highlight your specific expertise.

If the business continuity manager resume isn't the right one for you, take a look at other related guides we have:

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Don't stress out over your business continuity manager resume format

Remember, the elaborate design of your business continuity manager resume isn't what impresses recruiters most. They are primarily searching for candidates who meet the job requirements. The main aim of your resume should be to clearly and concisely explain why employers should hire you.

Here are four straightforward steps to consider in your business continuity manager resume design:

  • Organize your resume based on experience : Start with your most recent roles. Besides using reverse chronological order, choose jobs relevant to the position you're applying for.
  • Include your contact details (and portfolio or LinkedIn link) in your resume's header to ensure recruiters can easily reach you. If considering adding a professional photo, check acceptable practices in different countries first.
  • Don't omit essential business continuity manager resume sections such as the summary or objective, experience, and education. These sections should reflect your career progression and align with job requirements.
  • Maintain conciseness in your resume. For those with less than ten years of experience, a one-page format is advisable.

Regarding the format to submit your business continuity manager resume, PDF is preferable . PDFs are more likely to maintain their formatting when processed through recruitment software or ATS, saving you time in the application process.

When selecting a font for your business continuity manager resume, consider the following:

  • Choose ATS-friendly fonts such as Exo 2, Volkhov, Lato, etc., to keep your resume's content legible;
  • All serif and sans-serif fonts are easily readable by ATS;
  • While Arial and Times New Roman are common choices, opting for unique typography can help your resume stand out.

Concerned about ATS compatibility with charts and infographics? Our recent study has debunked this and other myths .

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Always remember that your business continuity manager certifications can be quantified across different resume sections, like your experience, summary, or objective. For example, you could include concise details within the expertise bullets of how the specific certificate has improved your on-the-job performance.

Don't forget to include these six sections on your business continuity manager resume:

  • Header and summary for your contact details and to highlight your alignment with the business continuity manager job you're applying for
  • Experience section to get into specific technologies you're apt at using and personal skills to deliver successful results
  • Skills section to further highlight how your profile matches the job requirements
  • Education section to provide your academic background
  • Achievements to mention any career highlights that may be impressive, or that you might have missed so far in other resume sections

What recruiters want to see on your resume:

  • Experience in developing, implementing, and maintaining business continuity plans and disaster recovery strategies.
  • Knowledge of risk assessment methodologies and business impact analyses to identify vulnerable areas within the organization.
  • Proficiency in conducting business continuity training sessions and drills to prepare staff for emergency situations.
  • Strong project management skills and experience in leading cross-functional teams during crisis situations.
  • Certifications relevant to business continuity such as Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) or Associate Disaster Recovery Planner (ADRP).

Advice for your business continuity manager resume experience section - setting your application apart from other candidates

Your resume experience section needs to balance your tangible workplace achievements with job requirements.

The easiest way to sustain this balance between meeting candidate expectations, while standing out, is to:

  • Select really impressive career highlights to detail under each experience and support those with your skills;
  • Assess the job advert to define both the basic requirements (which you could answer with more junior roles) and the more advanced requirements - which could play a more prominent role through your experience section;
  • Create a separate experience section, if you decide on listing irrelevant experience items. Always curate those via the people or technical skills you've attained that match the current job you're applying for;
  • Don't list experience items from a decade ago - as they may no longer be relevant to the industry. That is, unless you're applying for a more senior role: where experience would go to demonstrate your character and ambitions;
  • Define how your role has helped make the team, department, or company better. Support this with your skill set and the initial challenge you were able to solve.

Take a look at how real-life business continuity manager professionals have presented their resume experience section - always aiming to demonstrate their success.

  • Developed and implemented comprehensive business continuity strategies to maintain operations for a Fortune 500 company, leading to a 30% increase in resilience to external disruptions.
  • Spearheaded the cross-functional analysis of critical business functions, ensuring all departments met or exceeded industry standards for recovery time objectives.
  • Managed a successful enterprise-wide simulation exercise to test the effectiveness of the business continuity plan, resulting in upgraded protocols that reduced potential downtime by 25%.
  • Oversaw the creation of business impact analyses across key sectors of the company, identifying vulnerabilities and implementing corrective measures that improved system robustness.
  • Collaborated with international partners to align global business continuity processes, establishing a coherent and efficient approach to risk management and disaster recovery.
  • Led a team of analysts in conducting regular reviews of business continuity plans, resulting in the continuous improvement of response procedures and communication strategies.
  • Managed updates to business continuity documentation to reflect changes in technology and procedures, keeping the company compliant with evolving regulations.
  • Designed and facilitated business continuity training programs for over 500 employees, significantly enhancing the organization's recovery capabilities.
  • Conducted thorough post-incident analyses for multiple events, each time providing actionable recommendations that strengthened the overall resilience of the company.
  • Assisted with the assessment and mitigation of risks related to IT infrastructure, enhancing system availability and reducing possible financial losses.
  • Established an incident management framework that expedited the response to unforeseen events, noticeably decreasing downtime during critical business periods.
  • Implemented a cloud-based solution for critical data backups, which proved instrumental in swift recovery from a significant data breach.
  • Coordinated the review and update of business continuity plans for key product lines, ensuring quick recovery capabilities in the event of supply chain disruptions.
  • Played a critical role in managing the business continuity response during a regional power outage, which limited operational impact and facilitated a rapid return to normal operations.
  • Authored detailed continuity plans and conducted training sessions for department heads, equipping them with the necessary tools to maintain operational continuity.
  • Developed a centralized repository for business continuity resources, improving the accessibility and effectiveness of response efforts during critical incidents.
  • Cultivated relationships with external suppliers to ensure the uninterrupted flow of essential goods and services during periods of disruption.
  • Enhanced the company's disaster recovery capabilities by incorporating innovative software solutions, significantly reducing data restoration times.
  • Directed the integration of business continuity requirements into the design phase of new services, creating a proactive approach to risk management.
  • Facilitated a partnership with a third-party disaster recovery site, ensuring an available and ready-to-deploy workspace in the event of a headquarter evacuation.
  • Implemented a business continuity management system certified by ISO 22301 standards, highlighting the company's commitment to operational excellence.
  • Orchestrated a company-wide initiative to standardize business continuity and disaster recovery documentation, leading to a 20% improvement in audit performance.
  • Led the response to a severe data center outage by coordinating with IT and facilities teams, minimizing the impact on customer service and financial operations.
  • Revamped the emergency communication plan, incorporating modern technologies to ensure efficient and reliable messaging among stakeholders during a crisis.

Quantifying impact on your resume

  • Specify the percentage reduction in downtime achieved through your business continuity plans.
  • Highlight the exact number of business continuity exercises or drills you've conducted.
  • Quantify the financial savings you’ve realized from implementing efficient recovery strategies.
  • Detail the size of the teams you've managed or collaborations you've led in terms of number of people.
  • Illustrate the scale of the plans you've developed by citing the number of sites, departments, or processes they cover.
  • Discuss the reduction in recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) you have accomplished.
  • Indicate the number of business impact analyses (BIAs) you’ve completed.
  • Mention any increases in compliance rates with industry standards and the percentage of that increase.

Action verbs for your business continuity manager resume

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What can candidates do about their resume, if they have no experience

Job requirements can sometimes be answered by other elements you could make more prominent in your business continuity manager resume.

Thus, you'd be substituting your lack of experience with your relevant:

  • Education with details of skills you've obtained that align with the job
  • Internships and short-term jobs that are once more dedicated to putting your expertise in the spotlight
  • Skills section answering basic and - potentially - more specific job qualifications
  • Strengths or accomplishments to show the unique value you present, even as a candidate with less or no professional experience in the industry.

Recommended reads:

  • Should I Put In An Incomplete Degree On A Resume?
  • How to List GPA on Your Resume

The more time and effort you've put into obtaining the relevant certificate, the closer to the top it should be listed. This is especially important for more senior roles and if the company you're applying for is more forward-facing.

Shining a light on your business continuity manager hard skills and soft skills

To win recruiters over, you must really have a breadth of skill set presented and supported within your business continuity manager resume.

On hiring managers' checklists, you'd initially discover hard or technical skills. Those are the technology (and software) that help you perform on the job. Hard skills are easy to quantify via your education, certificates, and on-the-job success.

Another main criterion recruiters are always assessing your business continuity manager resume on is soft skills. That is your ability to communicate, adapt, and grow in new environments. Soft skills are a bit harder to measure, as they are gained both thanks to your personal and professional experience.

Showcase you have the ideal skill set for the role by:

  • Dedicating both a skills box (for your technical capabilities) and an achievements or strengths section (to detail your personal skills).
  • When listing your skills, be specific about your hard skills (name the precise technology you're able to use) and soft skills (aim to always demonstrate what the outcomes were).
  • Avoid listing overused cliches in the skills section (e.g. Microsoft Office and Communication), unless they're otherwise specified as prominent for the role.
  • Select up to ten skills which should be defined via various sections in your resume skills sidebar (e.g. a technical skills box, industry expertise box with sliders, strengths section with bullets).

Spice up your resume with leading technical and people skills, that'd help you get noticed by recruiters.

Top skills for your business continuity manager resume:

Business Impact Analysis

Risk Assessment and Management

Disaster Recovery Planning

Emergency Response Management

Business Continuity Plan Development

Regulatory Compliance

Crisis Management

Project Management

Information Technology Knowledge

Data Backup and Recovery Solutions

Communication

Problem-solving

Strategic Thinking

Analytical Skills

Attention to Detail

Adaptability

Team Management

Negotiation

Stress Tolerance

Mention specific courses or projects that are pertinent to the job you're applying for.

Maximizing your business continuity manager resume: education and certification sections

To effectively showcase your industry knowledge in your business continuity manager resume, it's important to properly list your education and certifications.

For the education section , ensure you include:

  • Higher education degrees pertinent to the industry or those at a postgraduate level;
  • The start and end dates of your education, along with the name of the institution you graduated from;
  • Your GPA and relevant coursework, but only if they are impressive and applicable to the role.

Additionally, create a separate certifications section to spotlight your most notable recognitions. Another excellent place to feature a leading industry certificate is in your resume header, right after your name.

Below is a list of key industry certifications that are often sought after by recruiters

The top 5 certifications for your business continuity manager resume:

  • Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) - Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII)
  • Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP) - Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII)
  • Member of the Business Continuity Institute (MBCI) - The Business Continuity Institute (BCI)
  • Certified Business Continuity Auditor (CBCA) - Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII)
  • ISO 22301 Lead Auditor - Professional Evaluation and Certification Board (PECB)

If you happen to have some basic certificates, don't invest too much of your business continuity manager resume real estate in them. Instead, list them within the skills section or as part of your relevant experience. This way you'd ensure you meet all job requirements while dedicating your certificates to only the most in-demand certification across the industry.

  • How to List a Major & Minor on Your Resume (with Examples)
  • How To Include Your Relevant Coursework On A Resume

Deciding between a resume summary or objective for your business continuity manager role

Understanding the distinction between a resume summary and an objective is crucial for your business continuity manager resume.

A resume summary, typically three to five sentences long, offers a concise overview of your career . This is the place to showcase your most pertinent experience, key accomplishments, and skills. It's particularly well-suited for those with professional experience relevant to the job requirements.

In contrast, a resume objective focuses on how you can add value to potential employers. It addresses why they should hire you and outlines your career expectations and learning goals. Therefore, it's ideal for candidates with less experience.

In the following section of our guide, explore how resume summaries and objectives differ through some exemplary industry-specific examples.

Resume summaries for a business continuity manager job

  • With over a decade of proven experience in business continuity management for a leading multinational corporation, I have developed an exceptional ability to analyze and mitigate risk. I bring deep expertise in implementing comprehensive business continuity plans, leading to a record reduction in downtime and a 30% increase in recovery efficiency.
  • Expertise in cross-functional team leadership and risk assessment define my 15-year career in business continuity within the financial services sector. Accolades include orchestrating a business recovery plan that successfully navigated a category 4 hurricane with minimal operational impact.
  • As a seasoned project manager with a passion for enhancing organizational resilience, transitioning into business continuity management represents a natural next step. My extensive experience leading projects in high-stakes environments equips me to excel in strategizing and executing robust continuity plans.
  • Armed with a strong background in IT disaster recovery and a keen understanding of enterprise risk management from my tenure in the tech industry, I am eager to leverage my skillset in a dedicated business continuity manager role to ensure seamless operational resilience and rapid incident response.
  • Seeking to apply a fresh perspective and enthusiasm to a new career in business continuity management. With a solid foundation in strategic planning and coordination from experience in emergency services, my objective is to drive effective risk mitigation and enhance business continuance protocols.
  • As a highly motivated individual with a rich background in supply chain coordination, I am determined to bring my robust problem-solving skills and adaptability to the field of business continuity. I aim to contribute to strategic planning, risk assessment, and execution of continuity measures that safeguard organizational integrity.

Other business continuity manager resume sections to support your expertise and skills

Recruiters are always on the lookout for that business continuity manager candidate who brings about even more value to the role.

This can be either via their personality or additional accreditations they have across the industry.

Add to your resume any of the four sections that fit your profile:

  • Projects for your most impressive, cutting-edge work;
  • Awards or recognitions that matter the most;
  • Publications further building up your professional portfolio and accreditations;
  • Hobbies and interests to feature the literature you read, how you spend your time outside of work, and other personality traits you deem may help you stand out .

Key takeaways

At the end of our guide, we'd like to remind you to:

  • Invest in a simple, modern resume design that is ATS friendly and keeps your experience organized and legible;
  • Avoid just listing your responsibilities in your experience section, but rather focus on quantifiable achievements;
  • Always select resume sections that are relevant to the role and can answer job requirements. Sometimes your volunteering experience could bring more value than irrelevant work experience;
  • Balance your technical background with your personality traits across various sections of your resume to hint at how much time employers would have to invest in training you and if your profile would be a good cultural fit to the organization;
  • Include your academic background (in the form of your relevant higher education degrees and certifications) to show recruiters that you have the technical basics of the industry covered.

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1 Business Continuity Manager Resume Example for Your 2024 Job Search

Business Continuity Managers are the strategic planners who ensure operations can withstand unexpected disruptions and maintain a steady course. Just like a well-crafted Business Continuity Plan, your resume must anticipate the needs of its audience and present information that assures them of your capability to handle unforeseen challenges. Both are designed to showcase resilience, adaptability, and meticulous preparation, qualities that are essential for success in the face of adversity. In this guide, we'll explore how to construct a Business Continuity Manager resume that effectively communicates your ability to safeguard an organization's interests, no matter what comes your way.

business continuity manager resume

Resume Examples

Resume guidance.

  • High Level Resume Tips
  • Must-Have Information
  • Why Resume Headlines & Titles are Important
  • Writing an Exceptional Resume Summary
  • How to Impress with Your Work Experience
  • Top Skills & Keywords
  • Go Above & Beyond with a Cover Letter
  • Resume FAQs
  • Related Resumes

Common Responsibilities Listed on Business Continuity Manager Resumes:

  • Develop and maintain the organization's business continuity plan (BCP) to ensure operations can continue during and after a disaster or interruption.
  • Conduct business impact analyses to identify critical business processes and the resources required to support them in the event of a disruption.
  • Coordinate with department heads and key stakeholders to ensure business continuity plans align with organizational objectives and operational needs.
  • Design and implement business continuity strategies and solutions to mitigate risks associated with business interruptions.
  • Organize and lead business continuity training sessions and workshops for employees to ensure they understand their roles and responsibilities within the BCP.
  • Facilitate regular testing and exercises of the business continuity plans to validate their effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.
  • Review and update business continuity documentation regularly to reflect changes in the business environment, processes, and technology.
  • Ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, and industry standards related to business continuity and disaster recovery.
  • Manage the response to business disruptions, coordinating efforts across departments and with external partners as necessary.
  • Communicate with internal and external stakeholders during a disruption to provide updates and ensure a cohesive response effort.
  • Prepare reports and presentations for senior management detailing business continuity activities, test results, and recommendations for enhancements.
  • Oversee the budget for business continuity programs, ensuring resources are allocated effectively to support resilience objectives.

You can use the examples above as a starting point to help you brainstorm tasks, accomplishments for your work experience section.

Business Continuity Manager Resume Example:

  • Orchestrated a comprehensive update to the organization's business continuity plan, resulting in a 40% improvement in recovery time objectives (RTO) and a 35% enhancement in recovery point objectives (RPO) for critical business functions.
  • Designed and executed a series of business continuity exercises, leading to the identification and mitigation of previously unrecognized risks, ultimately increasing the resilience of the organization's operations by 25%.
  • Developed a business continuity training program that increased employee preparedness and awareness, achieving a 90% staff proficiency level in emergency response protocols within the first year of implementation.
  • Conducted a detailed business impact analysis that influenced the reallocation of resources, safeguarding the continuity of operations for high-priority departments and reducing potential financial losses by up to $2 million annually.
  • Collaborated with IT to implement advanced data backup and recovery solutions, slashing data restoration times by 50% and ensuring 99.9% data integrity during potential disruptions.
  • Managed the response to a critical incident, coordinating with the emergency response team to minimize operational downtime, which resulted in a 70% faster return to normal business operations compared to previous incidents.
  • Initiated a partnership with key external vendors to align their business continuity plans with our organizational standards, enhancing the supply chain resilience and reducing third-party related incident recovery times by 30%.
  • Revised and updated the business continuity plan to comply with new industry regulations, leading to a 100% compliance rate and recognition from industry auditors for best practices in business continuity management.
  • Presented quarterly business continuity status reports to senior management, demonstrating continuous improvement in readiness metrics and contributing to a 15% year-over-year reduction in potential business interruption risks.
  • Business Impact Analysis
  • Strategic Planning and Alignment
  • Disaster Recovery Planning
  • Incident Management
  • Business Continuity Plan Development and Updating
  • Supply Chain Risk Management
  • Training Program Development and Implementation
  • Stakeholder Engagement and Communication
  • Cloud-based Disaster Recovery Solutions
  • Vendor Management and Standards Enforcement
  • Performance Metrics and Improvement Tracking
  • Business Continuity Software Proficiency
  • Exercise Design and Vulnerability Remediation
  • Regulatory Compliance and Best Practices
  • Team Leadership and Cross-Functional Coordination
  • Continuous Improvement Mindset
  • Emergency Response and Crisis Management
  • Data Integrity and Security Assurance
  • Project Management
  • Change Management

High Level Resume Tips for Business Continuity Managers:

Must-have information for a business continuity manager resume:.

  • Contact Information
  • Resume Headline
  • Resume Summary or Objective
  • Work Experience & Achievements
  • Skills & Competencies
  • Certifications/Training

Let's start with resume headlines.

Why Resume Headlines & Titles are Important for Business Continuity Managers:

Business continuity manager resume headline examples:, strong headlines.

  • These headlines are compelling because they concisely convey the candidate's extensive experience, specific achievements, and relevant certifications that are critical in the field of business continuity management. They highlight the individual's ability to handle high-stakes environments, showcase quantifiable results in reducing operational downtime, and emphasize expertise in key areas such as crisis management and impact analysis, which are top priorities for organizations looking to hire skilled Business Continuity Managers.

Weak Headlines

  • The headlines provided are too generic and do not convey the specific expertise or achievements of the Business Continuity Manager. They lack quantifiable metrics, such as the scale of projects managed or the percentage by which they reduced downtime or financial loss. Additionally, they do not mention any industry specialization, certifications, or technological proficiencies that could set the candidate apart in a competitive job market.

Writing an Exceptional Business Continuity Manager Resume Summary:

Business continuity manager resume summary examples:, strong summaries.

  • These summaries are strong because they clearly outline the candidates' extensive experience and specific achievements in the field of business continuity management. They demonstrate the ability to maintain high levels of operational uptime, manage IT disaster recovery, and reduce financial risks, all of which are critical competencies for a Business Continuity Manager. Furthermore, the use of quantifiable results, such as uptime percentages, reduction in recovery time, and financial loss mitigation, provides concrete evidence of their capabilities and impact, making these candidates highly attractive to potential employers.

Weak Summaries

  • The summaries provided are weak because they lack specificity and measurable achievements. They do not convey the scope of the candidate's experience or the impact of their work on their previous organizations. There is no mention of industry-specific knowledge, size or type of companies worked for, or any particular successes in minimizing downtime or financial loss during incidents. To improve, these summaries should include quantifiable results, specific skills, and unique experiences that differentiate the candidate from others in the field.

Resume Objective Examples for Business Continuity Managers:

Strong objectives.

  • These objectives are strong because they clearly articulate the candidates' relevant education, certifications, and foundational skills, which are essential for a Business Continuity Manager. They also demonstrate a commitment to applying their knowledge and skills to protect and enhance the resilience of the hiring organization, showing a proactive and value-driven mindset that is attractive to employers seeking to mitigate risks and ensure business continuity.

Weak Objectives

  • These objectives are weak because they are vague and fail to convey the candidate's specific qualifications, experiences, or achievements that would make them a strong fit for the role. They do not address how the candidate's background aligns with the key responsibilities of a Business Continuity Manager, such as developing and implementing continuity plans, conducting risk assessments, or managing recovery efforts. Additionally, they lack any mention of the candidate's ability to lead cross-functional teams, communicate effectively with stakeholders, or their understanding of industry-specific regulations, all of which are critical skills for a Business Continuity Manager.

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Speed up your resume creation process with the ai resume builder . generate tailored resume summaries in seconds., how to impress with your business continuity manager work experience:, best practices for your work experience section:.

  • Highlight your experience in developing and implementing business continuity plans and disaster recovery strategies, using specific examples of how you've minimized risk and ensured organizational resilience.
  • Quantify the impact of your business continuity strategies by mentioning metrics such as reduced downtime, cost savings, or percentage of recovery objectives met within targeted timeframes.
  • Detail your role in conducting business impact analyses (BIAs), risk assessments, and audits, emphasizing how your findings informed business continuity planning and decision-making.
  • Showcase your leadership in crisis management situations, including how you coordinated with cross-functional teams, managed communications, and led recovery efforts during actual disruptions.
  • Explain how you've trained and prepared staff for emergency response, including the development of training materials, drills, and exercises to enhance organizational preparedness.
  • Discuss your experience with maintaining business continuity documentation, such as policies, procedures, and recovery plans, ensuring they are up-to-date and compliant with industry standards and regulations.
  • Illustrate your ability to work with IT departments to ensure robust data backup, system redundancies, and cyber resilience as part of the business continuity framework.
  • Mention any certifications you hold that are relevant to business continuity management, such as Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) or Member of the Business Continuity Institute (MBCI), and how they've added value to your role.
  • Describe your experience with business continuity software and tools, and how you've leveraged them to streamline processes, improve response times, and enhance reporting capabilities.
  • Highlight your communication skills by detailing how you've developed and maintained relationships with key stakeholders, including vendors, emergency services, and government agencies, to support business continuity efforts.
  • Include any experience you have with international business continuity standards, such as ISO 22301, and how you've applied them to ensure global best practices within your organization.
  • Emphasize any innovative approaches you've taken to business continuity management, such as integrating new technologies or adapting to emerging threats, and the positive outcomes of these initiatives.
  • Lastly, ensure that your resume reflects the specific language and terminology used in the business continuity field, making it clear to hiring managers that you are well-versed in the industry's best practices and challenges.

Example Work Experiences for Business Continuity Managers:

Strong experiences.

  • Developed and executed a comprehensive business continuity plan for a multinational corporation, which was successfully activated during a major cyber-attack, minimizing operational downtime to under 4 hours and preventing an estimated $5M in potential losses.
  • Conducted regular risk assessments and business impact analyses across all departments, leading to the identification and mitigation of critical vulnerabilities, and enhancing the company's resilience to disruptions by 40% within two years.
  • Orchestrated a series of business continuity training and simulation exercises involving over 300 employees, resulting in a 75% improvement in response times and a significant increase in staff preparedness for potential business interruptions.
  • The examples provided for Business Continuity Managers demonstrate a robust understanding of risk management, proactive planning, and effective response execution. They highlight the candidate's ability to quantify achievements (e.g., minimizing downtime, preventing financial losses, improving resilience and response times) and showcase their strategic leadership in safeguarding the organization's operations. These experiences reflect a candidate who not only plans and prepares for potential threats but also delivers real-world results, making them a highly valuable asset to potential employers.

Weak Experiences

  • Assisted in the development and implementation of business continuity plans to minimize disruption during emergencies.
  • Conducted regular meetings with department heads to discuss and update business continuity strategies.
  • Provided training to staff on business continuity procedures and emergency response protocols.
  • Coordinated with IT department to ensure backup systems were in place for critical data and applications.
  • Helped organize annual business continuity exercises to test the effectiveness of response plans.
  • Documented incidents and responses to improve future business continuity planning.
  • Reviewed and updated business continuity documentation to reflect changes in organizational processes.
  • Monitored industry trends and regulatory requirements related to business continuity management.
  • Communicated with external vendors to ensure they align with our business continuity expectations.
  • The examples provided are vague and do not convey the scope or scale of the responsibilities held by the Business Continuity Manager. They lack quantifiable achievements or specific outcomes that demonstrate the effectiveness of the continuity plans implemented. To enhance these bullet points, the candidate should include metrics that show how their actions reduced downtime or financial loss, use more dynamic action verbs to describe their leadership role, and detail how their work directly contributed to the resilience and recovery capabilities of the organization.

Top Skills & Keywords for Business Continuity Manager Resumes:

Top hard & soft skills for business continuity managers, hard skills.

  • Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
  • Risk Assessment and Management
  • Business Continuity Planning (BCP)
  • Crisis Management and Response
  • Emergency Preparedness
  • IT Service Continuity Management
  • Regulatory Compliance and Standards (e.g., ISO 22301)
  • Contingency Planning
  • Business Continuity Strategy Development

Soft Skills

  • Leadership and Team Management
  • Communication and Presentation Skills
  • Collaboration and Cross-Functional Coordination
  • Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
  • Adaptability and Flexibility
  • Time Management and Prioritization
  • Strategic Planning and Vision
  • Decision Making and Risk Assessment
  • Conflict Resolution and Negotiation
  • Resilience and Stress Management
  • Active Listening and Feedback Incorporation
  • Emotional Intelligence and Relationship Building

Go Above & Beyond with a Business Continuity Manager Cover Letter

Business continuity manager cover letter example: (based on resume), resume faqs for business continuity managers:, how long should i make my business continuity manager resume.

The ideal length for a Business Continuity Manager resume is typically two pages. This length provides enough space to detail relevant work experience, skills, certifications, and education without overwhelming the reader. Here's why this is particularly relevant for Business Continuity Managers: 1. **Expertise and Experience**: Business Continuity Managers often have a wealth of experience, including crisis management, risk assessment, and business impact analysis. Two pages allow you to showcase a comprehensive career history and demonstrate how past roles have prepared you for the challenges of the position. 2. **Certifications and Education**: In this field, professional certifications such as the Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) or the Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP) are important. A two-page resume gives you space to list these credentials along with relevant education without sacrificing details about your work experience. 3. **Relevant Skills**: Business Continuity Managers

What is the best way to format a Business Continuity Manager resume?

The best way to format a Business Continuity Manager resume is to ensure that it is clear, concise, and tailored to highlight relevant experience and skills that align with the specific role being applied for. Here is a suggested format with explanations relevant to Business Continuity Managers: 1. **Contact Information:** - Include your full name, phone number, email address, and LinkedIn profile (if applicable). - Make sure this information is easily visible at the top of the resume. 2. **Professional Summary:** - Start with a brief summary (3-4 sentences) that encapsulates your professional background, key skills, and significant achievements in business continuity management. - This section should be tailored to the job description, emphasizing how your experience aligns with the needs of the potential employer. 3. **Core Competencies/Skills:** - List key skills that are relevant to business

Which Business Continuity Manager skills are most important to highlight in a resume?

When crafting a resume for a Business Continuity Manager position, it's important to highlight a mix of technical, managerial, and soft skills that demonstrate your ability to plan for, respond to, and recover from disruptive incidents. Here are some key skills to consider including: 1. **Risk Assessment and Analysis:** Show your ability to identify potential threats to the organization and assess the risks associated with them. This is a core function of business continuity planning. 2. **Business Impact Analysis (BIA):** Highlight your experience in conducting BIAs to determine the criticality of business functions and the impact of disruptions. 3. **Strategic Planning:** Emphasize your skills in developing and implementing business continuity strategies that align with organizational objectives. 4. **Crisis Management:** Demonstrate your ability to lead and manage during a crisis, making quick and effective decisions to mitigate impacts. 5. **Disaster Recovery:** Include your knowledge of disaster recovery planning, especially in IT systems, to ensure quick restoration of services and data. 6. **Emergency Response:** Show your experience in planning for and coordinating emergency response efforts, including evacuation plans and emergency operations centers. 7. **Communication Skills:** Highlight your ability to communicate complex business continuity plans to stakeholders at all levels

How should you write a resume if you have no experience as a Business Continuity Manager?

Writing a resume for a Business Continuity Manager position when you have no direct experience can be challenging, but it's not insurmountable. Here are some steps and tips to help you craft a compelling resume: 1. **Start with a Strong Summary**: Write a professional summary at the top of your resume that focuses on your strengths, transferable skills, and any relevant education or certifications. Highlight your understanding of risk management, crisis management, or any other related areas. 2. **Emphasize Transferable Skills**: Even if you haven't worked as a Business Continuity Manager, you likely have skills that are relevant to the role. These might include project management, analytical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and organizational skills. Make sure to highlight these in your resume. 3. **Include Relevant Experience**: Think about past roles and how they relate to business continuity. Have you been involved in risk assessments, emergency response planning, or disaster recovery efforts? Have you managed projects or teams? Describe

Compare Your Business Continuity Manager Resume to a Job Description:

  • Identify opportunities to further tailor your resume to the Business Continuity Manager job
  • Improve your keyword usage to align your experience and skills with the position
  • Uncover and address potential gaps in your resume that may be important to the hiring manager

Related Resumes for Business Continuity Managers:

Business continuity manager resume example, more resume guidance:.

Risk Management

Business Continuity Manager Resume Examples

Writing a great business continuity manager resume is important because it is one of the first things a potential employer will see when they are considering you for a position. It is your opportunity to make a good first impression and sell yourself as the best candidate for the job.

Create your resume Select from 7 professional resume templates

If you're looking for inspiration when it comes to drafting your own business continuity manager resume, look no further than the samples below. These resumes will help you highlight your experience and qualifications in the most effective way possible, giving you the best chance of landing the business continuity manager job you're after.

Business Continuity Manager Resume Example

or download as PDF

Essential Components of a Business Continuity Manager's Resume

A Business Continuity Manager's resume is a critical document that showcases your ability to develop and oversee continuity plans during disruptions. This role requires expertise in risk management, strategic planning, and crisis management. Your resume should highlight these competencies along with your professional history in the field.

Below, we'll dissect the essential sections of a Business Continuity Manager's resume, explaining the significance of each and providing guidance to make your resume stand out to potential employers.

1. Contact Information

The contact information section is the gateway for employers to reach out to you. Ensure your details are clear, accurate, and up-to-date, including your name, phone number, professional email address, and possibly your LinkedIn profile.

How to List Contact Information for a Business Continuity Manager Resume

Place your name prominently at the top, use a professional email, and consider including a LinkedIn profile to demonstrate your engagement with modern business practices.

First impressions matter, so ensure your contact information is neatly presented and professional.

2. Professional Summary

The Professional Summary is a concise but compelling overview of your qualifications, skills, and experiences. It should quickly engage the hiring manager and encourage them to continue reading.

Highlight your relevant expertise in business continuity management, such as developing continuity plans and risk assessments, and showcase your ability to lead under pressure and solve problems effectively.

For example: "Seasoned Business Continuity Manager with over ten years of experience in designing robust continuity frameworks and leading successful recoveries. Proven track record in conducting detailed risk assessments and implementing effective disaster recovery strategies. Known for exceptional leadership and communication skills."

Emphasize your strengths succinctly, focusing on what you can offer to the employer.

3. Core Competencies/Skills

The role of a Business Continuity Manager is multifaceted, requiring a diverse skill set. Your resume should feature key competencies such as:

  • Risk Assessment: The ability to identify potential threats and assess their impact.
  • Strategic Planning: Developing and implementing effective business continuity plans.
  • Communication: Clearly conveying complex information to stakeholders at all levels.
  • Leadership: Leading teams during crises with strong decision-making and problem-solving skills.
  • Project Management: Managing multiple projects with proficiency in planning, organizing, and budgeting.
  • Technical Proficiency: Understanding IT systems and cybersecurity.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Knowledge of laws and regulations pertaining to business continuity.
  • Training & Development: Educating others in business continuity practices.
  • Crisis Management: Effectively managing crises and making quick decisions under pressure.
  • Adaptability & Flexibility: Responding effectively to changing risk environments.

Detailing these skills on your resume demonstrates your suitability for the Business Continuity Manager role.

Related : Business Continuity Manager Skills: Definition and Examples

4. Work Experience in Business Continuity Management

Relevant work experience is crucial for your resume. It provides a glimpse into your past roles and your ability to manage business continuity.

Detail your responsibilities and achievements, such as developing continuity strategies, conducting risk analyses, and leading recovery efforts. Highlight measurable successes, like reducing downtime or enhancing continuity plans.

Align your experience with the requirements of the job you're applying for, demonstrating that you possess the necessary skills and knowledge for the role.

5. Certifications and Training in Business Continuity Management

Certifications and training underscore your commitment to professional development and expertise in business continuity management.

Notable certifications include:

  • The Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) from DRII.
  • The Certified Business Continuity Manager (CBCM) from NIBCM.
  • The ISO 22301 Lead Implementer Certification .

Training in risk management, disaster recovery planning, and crisis communication is also valuable. These credentials distinguish you from other candidates and validate your dedication to organizational resilience.

Related : Business Continuity Manager Certifications

6. Education Background

Your educational background provides a foundation in business continuity concepts and practices. A Bachelor's degree in a relevant field is typically required, with some employers preferring an MBA or similar advanced degree.

Relevant certifications and training can enhance your profile. List your educational qualifications in reverse chronological order, including any notable achievements.

7. References

References can validate your skills and fit for the role of a Business Continuity Manager. Choose references who can attest to your abilities in managing continuity plans and handling crises.

Always obtain permission before listing someone as a reference and provide their full name, title, company, contact number, and email address.

While references are typically contacted later in the hiring process, having credible references on your resume can give you an edge.

In conclusion, a well-crafted resume that includes these key sections can significantly enhance your prospects as a Business Continuity Manager.

Related Resume Examples

  • Business Continuity Analyst
  • Business Development Manager
  • Business Project Manager
  • Business Account Manager
  • Business Operations Manager
  • Business Planning Manager

Business Continuity Manager Resume Example & Writing Guide

Strengthen your Business Continuity Manager resume with this comprehensive example and writing guide. Discover the essential sections to feature and learn how to describe your skills and experience effectively. Implement these tips to build a resume that catches the attention of hiring managers and positions you as a top candidate. Includes a downloadable resume template you can customize.

Business Continuity Manager

A Business Continuity Manager plays a key role in making sure a company can keep operating during a crisis. When looking for a new job in this field, your resume is your first chance to show employers you have the skills and experience they need.

This guide will walk you through the most important parts of a Business Continuity Manager resume. It breaks down what to include in each section and shares an example to help you see how it all comes together. By the end, you'll know how to put together a resume that grabs hiring managers' attention and lands you interviews.

Your resume should highlight your ability to create continuity plans, lead during emergencies, work with people across the company, and protect the business. It's also important to show your relevant certifications and training.

Ready to get started? Let's dive into crafting a Business Continuity Manager resume that will open doors to your next opportunity.

Common Responsibilities Listed on Business Continuity Manager Resumes

  • Develop and maintain comprehensive business continuity plans and strategies
  • Conduct risk assessments and identify potential threats to business operations
  • Establish and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and vendors
  • Coordinate and lead business continuity testing and exercise programs
  • Ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards
  • Develop and implement disaster recovery plans and procedures
  • Train and educate employees on business continuity policies and procedures
  • Manage and maintain business continuity planning tools and documentation
  • Collaborate with IT department to ensure system and data backups and recovery
  • Monitor and report on business continuity program effectiveness
  • Participate in incident response and crisis management activities
  • Develop and maintain business impact analyses and recovery strategies
  • Coordinate with emergency response teams and external agencies
  • Stay updated with industry best practices and emerging trends in business continuity

How to write a Resume Summary

Writing the summary or objective section of your resume is a critical step that can play a dominant role in grabbing the attention of potential employers. As a Business Continuity Manager, your goal should be to communicate the wealth of experience, skills, and knowledge you possess in a succinct yet comprehensive manner. This section should serve as the central narrative of your resume, articulating your overall value in a profound but precise way.

Identifying Your Skills

Begin by listing down the core skills you've amassed over your career. For a Business Continuity Manager, such skills may include strategic planning, incident management, risk identification and management, and problem-solving. Don't forget to mention your ability to work cross-functionally, manage teams, and liaise with different stakeholders.

Quantifiable Achievements

Highlighting quantifiable achievements can help underscore your claims. While expressing that you're skilled at risk management is helpful, supplementing such a statement with demonstrable results provides a compelling marker of your expertise. Did you implement a strategy that eliminated a significant percentage of potential disruptions? Have you helped the company save money by introducing efficient continuity systems? These details matter, so make them count.

Fine-Tuning The Language

Save the industry jargon for the job-specific part of the resume. The summary or objective section must be simple and easy to comprehend. Don't bury your skills and achievements under complex lingo. Keep it readily understandable to anyone who might view your resume, including those not directly familiar with your role's intricasies.

Speaking to Employer's Needs

Your summary or objective should also resonate with potential employers. Do your research to gauge their specific needs and tailor your resume to match those requirements. This level of customization can not only demonstrate you've done your homework, but it can also prove your dedication and interest in the role beyond mere job application.

The Art of Brevity

Finally, summarize your professional career, skills, and successes in brief, impactful sentences. Turn away from using lengthy explanations; they can dilute the essential message you're trying to convey. Be direct, be concise, and leave your potential employer eager to learn more about you.

Please remember, the summary/objective section is not a one-size-fits-all. It's all about presenting yourself authentically while aligning your goals and experiences with the job role. A well-written summary can bring your application to life, providing the ammo it needs to cut through the noise and push your candidature to the next level. And that's precisely what we aim to achieve.

Strong Summaries

  • Accomplished Business Continuity Manager with over 10 years of experience developing and executing successful business continuity plans, risk assessments, destruction recovery strategies, and enterprise resiliency programs. Excellent leadership skills with a proven record in managing a team of business continuity professionals. Actively participated in audits with regulatory agencies and successfully mitigated penalties due to non-compliance issues.
  • Highly skilled Business Continuity Manager with 15+ years of experience in creating and implementing business continuity and disaster recovery strategies. Recognized for expertise in risk management and mitigating operational losses. Acted as primary point of contact during disruptions, directing recovery efforts and communicating with stakeholders to maintain business operations.
  • Results-oriented Business Continuity Manager with proven skills in project management, risk assessment, and disaster recovery planning. Holds a Certified Business Continuity Planner (CBCP) designation. Led the enterprise-wide business continuity strategy development, resulting in a 20% increase in company resiliency.
  • Forward-thinking Business Continuity Manager with a decade of experience in driving organizational resilience. Adept in formulating strategic plans, improving internal processes, conducting business impact analyses, and achieving regulatory compliance. Skilled in building relationships with stakeholders and coaching teams in crisis management.

Why these are strong ?

These examples show a good practice because they are clear, concise, and packed with relevant terminology and measurable achievements. It highlights the candidate's experience, necessary skills, achievements, and certifications, making it apparent that they are well-equipped to handle the roles and responsibilities of a Business Continuity Manager. It's a good practice to put such kind of information in your Professional Summary as it could instantly give a good impression to the hiring manager or employer.

Weak Summaries

  • Business Continuity Manager with years of experience. I have done things.
  • Experienced Business Continuity Manager. I like to play golf and watch TV in my leisure time.
  • Reliable Business Continuity Manager. My goal in life is to travel the world.
  • As a Business Continuity Manager, I don't like complacency and always look for changes, no matter the impact on business operations.
  • I have been a Business Continuity Manager for a few years and trust me it's really hard.
  • Business Continuity Manager. I take things as they come and do not like to plan ahead.

Why these are weak ?

A good professional summary in Business Continuity Manager resume should reflect the candidate's expertise, skills, and significant achievements in the field. The first, second, third example lacks further detail and doesn't describe the specific expertise or achievements. The fourth example implies a disregard for the stability of business operations, which is a red flag in business continuity management. The fifth example displays a lack of enthusiasm and motivation, with a negative tone that would be off-putting to employers. The last example shows a lack of strategic planning and foresight; crucial qualities for a Business Continuity Manager. This showcases a lack of professionalism and dedication in those roles. A professional summary should be concise, professional, and customized to the job you’re applying for.

Showcase your Work Experience

The employment landscape is continuously evolving, demanding that job seekers master the art of selling their skills and experiences effectively. One of the most vital sections in your resume is the 'Work Experience' segment. But why is it so indispensable? And how, as a Business Continuity Manager (BCM), can you present your work background in ways that highlight your expertise and enhance your chances of landing your dream job?

Understanding the Importance of the 'Work Experience' Section

The Work Experience section of your resume serves a fundamental purpose - it helps possible employers understand the breadth and depth of your professional journey. More specifically, the section reveals where you've worked, the roles you undertook, your accomplished tasks, and most importantly for a BCM, it represents the scope of crises and business impediments you've successfully navigated.

Your past experiences carry substantial weight in informing potential employers about your potential futures. Yet, many still struggle to efficiently communicate their work history. Though the best approach depends largely on one's personal career story, certain universal strategies can enhance the effectiveness of this crucial resume segment.

Illuminating Your Path as a Business Continuity Manager

Firstly, it's essential to understand that each job position has different nuances and requirements. As a BCM, your work entails the coordination of activities to enable the recovery of the organization as swiftly as possible while minimizing losses. Therefore, your work experience should highlight your risk management strategies, your ability to develop contingency plans, amongst other duties. But how do you approach it and what steps can you take?

Begin With Job Titles and Employers

At the outset, draft a clear list of your past jobs, specifying your role titles and the organizations you navigated. Capture the names of your previous employers, the duration of employment, and locations you've operated within.

Quantify your achievements and impact using concrete numbers, metrics, and percentages to demonstrate the value you brought to your previous roles.

Action Verbs Are Key

Effective bullet points commence with potent action verbs. As a BCM, terms such as 'coordinated', 'directed', 'evaluated', or 'implemented', could effectively communicate the nature and impact of your work.

Highlight Specific Achievements

As you summarize your duties, strive to highlight your accomplishments and quantify them if possible. Whether you developed efficient channels that reduced system downtime by 20% or managed a team that consistently met recovery objectives, let your accomplishments shine. These successes should mirror the job description, showing your alignment with the sought-after role.

Be SEO-Conscious

Just like search engines, HR-softwares scan for specific keywords to sift through a sea of resumes. Understand what competencies and skills employers seek in a BCM. Ensure these keywords feature in your Work Experience section naturally, to enhance your relevancy score.

Your Work Experience section is not just a run-down of your job history, but a comprehensive essence of your professional journey. Mindfully curating this segment, making it succinct yet richly informative, can prove pivotal in landing your next role. Keep in mind; the aim is not to detail every task ever undertaken but to demonstrate alignment with the prospective employer's needs while showcasing your expertise and proficiency as a BCM.

Strong Experiences

  • Designed and instituted a business continuity plan that reduced potential financial loss by 35%
  • Led a team of 5 in the execution and evaluation of emergency simulations to maintain organizational readiness
  • Implemented a risk management framework to guide in decision making processes during crises
  • Developed policies and procedures to align with regulations and compliance requirements
  • Organized training and awareness programs to build a company culture of preparedness
  • Conducted regular inspections of the preparedness of operational activities and resources
  • Managed incident response teams to mitigate various types of disruptions

These are good examples because they detail specific actions taken as a Business Continuity Manager and are measurable with concrete numbers or actions. They show leadership, responsibility and initiative, which are key elements for a Business Continuity Manager role. Also, they explicitly illustrate how the candidate could add value to a company, such as reducing financial loss, aligning to compliance requirements and building a culture of preparedness.

Weak Experiences

  • Responsible for things related to business continuity
  • Did some tasks related to the position
  • Worked on some projects for the company
  • Did stuff related to business continuity management
  • Participated in some business continuity related activities

The above examples are considered bad practices for several reasons. Firstly, they are too vague and fail to give any specific information about what the person did in their role as a Business Continuity Manager. This kind of vague language does not effectively communicate to potential employers what competencies and skills the candidate might bring to the role. Secondly, using informal language such as 'did stuff' and 'did some tasks' is unprofessional and may give a negative impression. Thirdly, they are passive phrases that don’t show results or accomplishments. Good bullet points should precisely detail the actions taken and their end results, preferably backed with facts and figures.

Skills, Keywords & ATS Tips

Are you working on your Business Continuity Manager (BCM) resume and wondering about the importance of hard and soft skills? Additionally, are you puzzled as to how keywords, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and matching skills tie together? This article will shed some light on these topics, using simple and clear language.

The Importance of Hard & Soft Skills

In your BCM resume, both hard and soft skills play vital roles. Hard skills are your technical skills, the tangible abilities that can be measured and are often learned through schooling or on-the-job training. They comprise your knowledge and expertise in business continuity planning, risk assessment, disaster recovery, and IT risk. These can make you stand out as a competent candidate who can perform the tasks associated with the job.

On the other hand, soft skills are your interpersonal talents, which are not as easily quantifiable. Your communications skills, leadership abilities, and problem-solving traits fall under this category. These skills show potential employers that you have the necessary aptitude to collaborate with teams, lead projects, and handle crises.

A combination of hard and soft skills paints you as a well-rounded candidate — it allows you within a BCM context to efficiently manage business continuity processes and effectively communicate these processes and their resulting impacts to relevant stakeholders.

The Connection Between Keywords, ATS, and Matching Skills

Now, let's talk about keywords, ATS, and matching skills. ATS is a software used by the majority of companies to screen resumes. It's designed to identify and push forward those resumes that hold the most relevant keywords mentioned in a job description.

Keywords are specific words or phrases that employers look for in resumes to indicate whether a candidate possesses the desired skills. In a business continuity manager's position, these might include 'Disaster Recovery Planning,' 'Business Continuity,' 'Risk Assessment,' 'Crisis Management,' and 'IT Risk.'

Therefore, your resume should do its best to reflect the specific hard and soft skills, qualities, and experience that the job ad mentions. This increases the chances of your resume making it past the automated initial ATS review stage. The corresponding skills listed in your resume helps match your skills with what the employer is looking for.

The aim isn’t to stuff your resume with keywords, but to ensure you present the relevant skills and attributes in a meaningful way that aligns with the job you’re applying for. This both validates your value proposition to the future employer and improves your chances of your resume being noticed by an ATS.

Remember, the primary purpose of integrating keywords and ATS into your resume preparation is to ensure that your unique blend of hard and soft skills doesn't just blend into the background but is focused and channeled directly towards the employer's needs.

So, summarizing, hard and soft skills in a BCM resume are essential to showcase your all-round ability to handle the job's technical aspects and interact effectively with people. At the same time, knowing how to navigate ATS and use keywords can boost your chances of matching your skills with your potential employer's requirements, making you a standout candidate.

Top Hard & Soft Skills for Full Stack Developers

Hard skills.

  • Risk Management
  • Business Impact Analysis
  • Disaster Recovery Planning
  • Crisis Management
  • Emergency Response
  • IT Continuity
  • Supply Chain Resilience
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Business Continuity Standards
  • Data Protection
  • Incident Response
  • Business Resilience
  • BCM Software
  • Risk Assessment
  • Critical Infrastructure Protection
  • BCM Frameworks

Soft Skills

  • Communication
  • Problem-Solving
  • Adaptability
  • Decision-Making
  • Stress Management
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Attention to Detail
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Time Management
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Flexibility
  • Critical Thinking
  • Organizational Skills
  • Strategic Planning
  • Negotiation

Top Action Verbs

Use action verbs to highlight achievements and responsibilities on your resume.

  • Implemented
  • Coordinated
  • Facilitated
  • Communicated
  • Collaborated
  • Established

Adding your education and certificates to your resume adds value to your profile as a Business Continuity Manager. You should start by listing your university degree under an 'Education' heading. Include the name of the institution, the title of the degree, and the years attended. Certificates can go in a separate 'Certifications' section. List the certificate title alongside the issuing body, the month and year earned, and any relevant scores if applicable. It's that simple, yet effective!

Resume FAQs for Business Continuity Managers

What is the ideal resume format for a business continuity manager.

The most recommended resume format for a Business Continuity Manager is the reverse-chronological format. This format highlights your work experience in a clear and organized manner, starting with your most recent position.

How long should a Business Continuity Manager resume be?

A Business Continuity Manager resume should typically be one page in length. However, if you have extensive experience or certifications, it can extend to two pages. The key is to be concise and highlight only the most relevant information.

What keywords should be included in a Business Continuity Manager resume?

Some essential keywords to include in a Business Continuity Manager resume are: risk assessment, disaster recovery, business impact analysis, crisis management, emergency response, continuity planning, and compliance.

How can I quantify my achievements on a Business Continuity Manager resume?

Quantifying your achievements is crucial in a Business Continuity Manager resume. Include metrics such as the number of successful recovery tests conducted, the percentage of downtime reduced, or the amount of financial losses prevented due to your efforts.

Should I include certifications on my Business Continuity Manager resume?

Yes, it is highly recommended to include any relevant certifications on your Business Continuity Manager resume. Certifications such as CBCP (Certified Business Continuity Professional), CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), or PMP (Project Management Professional) can significantly enhance your credibility and demonstrate your expertise in the field.

A Business Continuity Manager prepares and maintains plans to ensure critical business functions continue during disruptive events like natural disasters or system failures. They conduct risk assessments, develop response strategies, and lead testing exercises. When writing a resume for this role, highlight experience performing business impact analyses, implementing disaster recovery plans, and facilitating continuity drills. Emphasize skills in risk management, incident response coordination, and business process analysis. Detail your ability to deploy continuity solutions across departments and communicate effectively with executive leadership.

Accomplished Business Continuity Manager with over a decade of experience in developing and implementing comprehensive strategies to ensure uninterrupted operations during crises. Proven track record of minimizing downtime, protecting assets, and maintaining productivity in fast-paced environments. Adept at collaborating with cross-functional teams to identify potential risks and create robust contingency plans.

  • Developed and executed a comprehensive Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that reduced downtime by 40% during a major system outage
  • Conducted regular risk assessments and business impact analyses to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities
  • Collaborated with IT, HR, and other departments to create and maintain disaster recovery plans and incident response procedures
  • Trained over 500 employees on emergency preparedness and business continuity best practices
  • Implemented a cloud-based disaster recovery solution that reduced recovery time objectives (RTO) by 50%
  • Assisted in the development and maintenance of business continuity plans for key clients across various industries
  • Conducted business impact analyses and risk assessments to identify critical processes and systems
  • Developed and tested disaster recovery plans for IT infrastructure and applications
  • Facilitated tabletop exercises and simulations to validate the effectiveness of continuity plans
  • Provided training and guidance to clients on business continuity best practices and industry standards
  • Conducted business impact analyses and risk assessments for clients in the financial services industry
  • Developed and maintained business continuity plans and disaster recovery procedures
  • Assisted in the development and execution of testing and exercise programs to validate continuity plans
  • Analyzed test results and provided recommendations for improvement
  • Maintained documentation and reporting on business continuity program activities and metrics
  • Business Continuity Planning
  • Disaster Recovery
  • Emergency Preparedness
  • Contingency Planning
  • IT Disaster Recovery
  • Tabletop Exercises
  • Plan Testing and Validation
  • Vendor Management
  • Project Management
  • Data Center Operations

Business Continuity Simplified

By Andy Marker | December 17, 2018 (updated October 24, 2021)

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Unexpected work interruptions can cripple a business and cause millions of dollars in expenses and lost business. Learn about the importance of business continuity planning and management from experts. 

In this article, you’ll learn the definition of a business continuity plan and the primary goal of business continuity planning . Additionally, you’ll learn the steps involved in business continuity planning and about the business continuity lifecycle .

What Is Business Continuity Management?

In business continuity management (BCM) , a company identifies potential threats to its activities and the threat impact. The company then develops plans to respond to those threats and continue activities through any crisis.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) describes how a business will continue to run during and after a crisis event. The BCP details guidelines, procedures, and work instructions to aid continuity.

To learn more about writing a plan, see our how-to guide to writing a business continuity plan .

What Is Business Continuity Planning?

Business continuity planning (BCP) refers to the work a company does to create a plan and system to deal with risks. Thorough planning seeks to prevent problems and ensure business processes continue during and after a crisis.

Business continuity planning ensures that the company deals with disruptions quickly, and minimizes the impact on operations. Business continuity planning is also called business resumption planning and continuous service delivery assurance (CSDA) .

What Is the Primary Goal of Business Continuity Planning?

The main goal of business continuity planning is to support key company activities during a crisis. Planning ensures a company can run with limited resources or restricted access to buildings. Continuity planning also aims to minimize revenue or reputation losses.   

A business continuity plan should outline several key things that an organization needs to do to prepare for potential disruptions to its activities, including the following:

  • Recognize potential threats to a company.
  • Assess potential impacts on the company’s daily activities.
  • Provide a way to reduce these potential problems, and establish a structure that allows key company functions to continue throughout and after the event.
  • Identify the resources the organization needs to continue operating, such as staffing, equipment, and alternative locations.

Business Continuity Planning Steps

A business continuity plan includes guidelines and procedures to guide a business through disruption. The efforts to create a plan are the same for large or small organizations. A simple plan is better than no plan. 

The basic steps for writing a business continuity plan are as follows:

  • Create a governance team.
  • Complete your business impact analysis (BIA) and risk assessment documents.
  • Document your plan. Remember to include detailed guidelines and procedures that cover key processes and facilities.
  • Test and update the plan regularly.

The Business Continuity Management Lifecycle

Business continuity management includes preparing for and handling unexpected events. BCM has a six-step lifecycle. This cycle repeats during both in regular business times and crises, as you take the right steps to keep activities always running.

The BCM lifecycle includes the following points:

  • Mitigate Risk: Proactively identify business continuity risks to your company, and plan how your company will respond.
  • Prepare: Train staff on your business continuity plan and ensure they understand what they need to do to help the business respond.
  • Respond: Ensure that your company and all employees respond appropriately to a crisis. Be prepared to adapt in the moment.
  • Resolve: Ensure that the company plans how to communicate effectively with staff and that it does so appropriately during the crisis.
  • Recover: Inform employees, customers, and other important people about the status of the crisis and your company’s response.
  • Resume: Communicate with employees and others after the crisis ends.

What Are Business Continuity Risks or Events?

Also called business continuity events, business continuity risks are the most common events that can disrupt a company’s regular operations — these can be natural and human-made crises. Defining these risks is a vital part of business continuity planning.

Such events might include the following:

  • Severe weather
  • Natural disasters (tornadoes, floods, blizzards, earthquakes, fire, etc.)
  • A physical security threat
  • A recall of a company’s product
  • Supply chain problems
  • Threats to staffing and employee safety
  • Accidents at an organization’s facilities
  • Destruction to a company’s facilities or property
  • Power disruptions
  • Server crashes
  • Failures in public and private services (communications, transportation, safety, etc.)
  • Environmental disasters, including hazardous materials spills
  • Network disruptions
  • Human error/human-made hazards
  • Stock market crashes
  • Cyber attacks and hacker activity

Any of these triggers can result in broader problems for a company, such as danger or injury to staff and others, equipment damages, brand injury, and loss of income and net worth. Business continuity management and planning address and mitigate these contingencies.

What Is a Business Continuity Strategy?

A business continuity strategy is more often called a business continuity plan. The strategy includes the processes and structure a company uses to manage an unexpected event.

Some people consider business continuity strategy to be a step in the planning process. In the strategy phase, business continuity planners describe the overall approach a company should take to prevent, manage, and recover from a crisis.

An Overview of Business Continuity Management and Planning

There are several goals, key elements, and benefits to business continuity management and planning. The primary goals of management and planning are as follows:

  • Build Company Resiliency: Doing so means that your company’s tools, buildings, and operations are resistant to — and not greatly affected by — most disruptions.
  • Create a Plan for Recovery (with Contingencies that Aid in That Recovery): If a major event does cause problems, you should have a plan for how to recover quickly. That plan will include contingencies. For example, you should plan for how key operations will resume if there is a widespread power outage.

Business continuity management and planning generally cover the following areas, with differences depending on the organization and industry:

  • Disaster Recovery: Disaster recovery involves recovering technology after a disruptive event. You can learn more about disaster recovery and download free templates in our comprehensive article .
  • Emergency Management: Emergency management focuses on avoiding and mitigating catastrophic risks to staff and communities.
  • Business Recovery: Considered part of business continuity, business recovery centers on short-term activities after a disruptive incident. The short-term is sometimes defined as less than 60 days.
  • Business Resumption: This describes the longterm phase of recovery (60 or more days after an even), wherein the company returns to near-normal conditions.
  • Crisis Management: Crisis management focuses on communicating with stakeholders during and after a crisis, and controlling damage during the event. To learn more, read our comprehensive guide to crisis management .
  • Incident Management: Incident management is an ITIL (previously known as Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework for reducing or eliminating downtime after an incident.
  • Contingency Planning: This covers outlier risks that are unlikely to occur but which could have disastrous results.

business continuity plan resume

“A well managed business continuity management program will help protect people, assets, and business processes,” says Scott Owens, founder and managing director of BluTinuity , a business continuity firm based in New Berlin, Wisconsin. “It may not be able to prevent all incidents. But it can reduce the likelihood of incidents, decrease response time, and lower the cost and impact of an incident.”

Key Elements of Business Continuity Management

All business continuity management programs should include a number of key elements, which serve to ensure that your plan is positioned for success and that you regularly update and improve it.   

These important elements include the following:

  • Governance: This is the structure and team your business sets up to create and monitor the program.
  • Business Alignment: This section details how your company’s current business continuity management and planning processes compare to expert approaches and industry standards.
  • Continuity Strategy and Recovery Strategies: Include a detailed plan that assesses risks to your organization and how you can recover, should those risks become reality.
  • Plan Documentation: Provide details on the plan that everyone in your company can access. To get started, see our roundup of free business continuity plan templates .
  • Tactical Implementation: This section includes details on the specific ways your company plans to recover from certain types of incidents.
  • Training: In this section, detail how you will train your staff to understand the business continuity plan and their role in it.
  • Testing: Include real-world simulations of a crisis event, and test how your company and its employees respond and the effectiveness of your business continuity plans.
  • Maintenance: Make changes to the plan where necessary to increase its effectiveness.
  • Monitoring: This section details how you will continue to compare industry standards and expert advice to how your plan is working.

To learn about formal requirements for business continuity planning and management, see our comprehensive article on the ISO 22301 standard . 

The Costs of Business Continuity Management

The costs to do an appropriate job of business continuity management can be significant. However, some reports say that the cost of unforeseen downtime may be as much as $2.5 billion a year for Fortune 1000 companies.

Kurt Engemann, Ph.D., is Director of the Center for Business Continuity and Risk Management at Iona College in New York, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management and author of Business Continuity and Risk Management: Essentials of Organizational Resilience . In the book, he says that costs for business continuity preparation do not only include the groundwork to assess a company’s risks and plans to manage those risks. Rather, they also cover the needed backup facilities and equipment and company assets for emergency response. In addition, costs must cover resources for training employees and testing the plan.

Some experts have estimated that business continuity management and planning within only the crucial information technology aspects of companies can cost two to four percent of the information technology budget. But the costs are necessary, and worth it in the long run, according to business continuity experts.

“There is an initial outlay of a modest amount of money that will lessen the financial impact of a possible future crisis,” Engemann writes in his book. “Similar to an insurance policy, the financial benefit of BCM must be viewed from a long-term prospective.”

When an organization’s top executives complain about the costs, Owens says, “Ask them what it would cost their organization for an hour of downtime. Or eight hours. Or 24 hours. Chances are the cost — financial, operational, and to brand and reputation — of having key business functions unavailable for an extended period are significant. They will most likely find business continuity management to be worth the investment.” 

Benefits of Business Continuity Management

Like Engemann, Owens points out that there are significant benefits to the investment organizations make in business continuity management, including the following:

  • Mission Critical Processes: If you understand your key processes, you can plan to protect them and prioritize their recovery.
  • Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Laws or regulations require companies in some industries to implement a formal business continuity management system.
  • Satisfying Demands from Other Organizations: Some groups and companies may require that your company sets up BCM before they do business with you.
  • Insurance Payments: To get the maximum payments from an insurance policy after an event, a company must have suitable business continuity management policies in place.
  • Reputation Management: Your business’s brand will be greatly helped or hurt, depending on how an unforeseen event affects its operations.
  • Competitive Advantage: A strong business continuity plan can offer your company the advantage over peers who are not as well prepared.
  • Seamless Recovery: Cloud-based technologies make data backup, remote work, and business recovery affordable and accessible. Groups and businesses of all sizes can benefit from such tools. See our article on cloud computing for business continuity to learn more.
  • Time Savings: Planning prevents teams from scrambling at the last minute to cobble together a recovery effort. Strong planning helps you get back online — and back on track — faster.

Michael Herrera, CEO of MHA Consulting , a business continuity and disaster recovery firm, cites two other significant benefits: 

  • Keeping Customers and Avoiding Major Financial Losses: Getting operations back to normal quickly after an event means your company loses less money.

business continuity plan resume

“Your customers aren’t as patient as you think they are,” Herrera explains. “They expect you to have a business continuity system and they expect you to be up and running. Their patience does run out.”

  • Improving Day-to-Day Operations: Herrera says his firm’s clients often discover how business continuity planning gives them insights into the day-to-day operations of their company. “It really can help you with process improvement and getting a good understanding of what your business does every day.”

Additionally, strong business continuity planning will enable you to do the following:

  • Officially declare a disaster and alert senior management.
  • Assist in the development of an official public statement regarding a disaster and its effects on a business.
  • Monitor your business’s progress and present the recovery status.
  • Provide ongoing support and guidance to teams with pre-planned operations.
  • Review critical processing, schedules, and backlogs to keep everyone up to date on status.
  • Ensure businesses have both the resources and the information to deal with an unforeseen emergency.
  • Reduce the risk that an emergency might pose to employees, clients, and vendors, etc.
  • Provide a response for both man-made and environmental disasters.
  • Improve overall business communication and response plans.
  • Summarize both the operational and the financial impacts resulting from the loss of critical business functions.
  • Allow businesses to plan for a loss of function that has potentially larger, more severe consequences.

See our article on the importance and benefits of business continuity planning to read more expert examples of how business continuity can bolster your company. 

Key Business Continuity Management and Planning Considerations

Companies don’t have to face business continuity planning alone. There are a variety of tools and services that can help, including the following:

Consultant Services

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of consultants and companies that can provide help with developing your business continuity plan. Below are a few things to think about in choosing one:

  • How experienced are they? How long have they been around?
  • What’s their reputation as a company? What do their clients say about them?
  • Are they focused on a specific industry or area of business continuity, or do they have experience with a range of industries and a broad spectrum of business continuity?
  • How do they think about business continuity (as a somewhat separate practice or something that needs to be ingrained within your organization)?
  • How aligned is their advice with standards in your industry?

Business Continuity Software

There are also hundreds of pieces of business continuity software on the market. Here are some things to consider:

  • Are you looking for software that will automate the development of plan components, or software that offers more in-depth help during the planning phase?
  • What is the history of the software and the company behind it? How long has this particular software been on the market and what is the history and the reputation of the company behind it?
  • Is the software being continually updated and improved?

Below are some specifics to consider as you test drive the software:

  • Does it have an easy-to-use interface?
  • Does it cover all aspects and components of business continuity, including business impact analysis and risk assessment ?
  • Does it include sufficient storage for your company’s supporting documents?
  • Does it provide secure portable access via mobile or other technologies, if a crisis interrupts your information technology systems?
  • Does it provide strong data analytics?
  • Is it secure and private?

Primary Things Your Organization’s Business Continuity Management System Should Accomplish

While your business continuity management system will have various elements and details, there are some primary things it should do for your organization. They correspond to the key elements listed earlier in this article. 

For example, a BCM system should help do the following: 

  • Understand your company’s needs for business continuity and disaster preparedness. A BCM system should be able to assist company leaders in understanding the need for a business continuity management policy.
  • Understand which processes should be recovered and in what order.
  • Establish business continuity metrics to gauge success.
  • Plan for communicating with customers, staff, and other stakeholders.
  • Determine what tools, technology, and staffing are required to restore activities and support customers.
  • Establish remote-work support or relocation plans for staff and activities.
  • Implement ways to continually assess and manage continuity risks.
  • Monitor and review how its business continuity management system is working.
  • Continually improve the system.
  • Respond effectively in a real-world crisis, and allow the business’s critical operations to continue and all operations to resume quickly.

Although nobody wants to think about disasters or the effort needed to prepare to meet and mitigate crises, the alternative is the potential loss of reputation, income, or the entire business. In sum, planning translates to determining your key processes, equipment, and tools, and applying basic recovery strategies. 

The Importance of Senior Organizational Leaders Strongly Supporting Your Business Continuity Management and Planning

Your senior leaders must strongly support your company’s business continuity management plan for it to succeed. Such leadership is key as storms, floods, pandemics, and data breaches increase in force and frequency.

business continuity plan resume

“Make sure senior management is committed to the planning, development, execution, and implementation of a business continuity/disaster recovery program,” says Paul Kirvan , a business continuity consultant and a fellow of the Business Continuity Institute with 25 years of experience in business continuity work. “Otherwise, it simply won’t happen. Such programs work best if they have top-down support and funding, as opposed to being developed from the ground up.”

Business Continuity Plan Test Types

Testing verifies the effectiveness of your plan and provides training for participants. To ensure better communication, include suppliers, vendors, and other stakeholders in exercises. If appropriate, also consider including local emergency preparedness officials.  

There are four types of testing, and each requires increasing levels of planning, resources, and focus. You should try to run each type of drill regularly.

  • Plan Review: Plan reviews are often the first test applied to a new plan. In this test, top management and some key BCP personnel review the relevance and completeness of a plan. Such a review can verify risk and BIA results, and help you check for gaps and inconsistencies among continuity documents.
  • Tabletop or Structured Walkthrough: A tabletop test requires more preparation and time. It provides a role-playing exercise for recovery teams.
  • Simulation or Walkthrough Drill: In a walkthrough drill, your continuity team physically completes the type of tasks they'd find in a crisis. They may practice evacuating a building during a fire, restoring a backup, or switching to another communication frequency.
  • Functional or Live Scenario: Functional tests include a complete physical drill of continuity plans. Live tests may focus on one aspect of the plan or include the complete plan. They may include one part of the company or all team members.

Be sure to document what happened in the test so everyone involved in the exercise — and especially those who created the plan — can understand what did and didn’t go well, and can revise as necessary.

Business Continuity Management Policy Statement

A business continuity policy statement is a written document that outlines an organization’s business continuity management program. The policy statement should be communicated to all employees and should be signed and endorsed by the organization’s senior management.

See real-world examples of a business continuity policy statement .

Cultivating Awareness of Business Continuity Plans

The best business continuity system is useless if no one knows about it. Find ways to promote your plans in daily company activities, and discuss business continuity regularly in company and team meetings. Also, be sure to include the business continuity manager in cross-functional planning meetings so they can represent the business continuity perspective. Above all, exercise your plan, test your plan, and then test again.

What Is the Importance of a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan is vital to ensure that your company mitigates downtime during a crisis. Resuming activities quickly after an event also helps ensure your company’s financial health.

How to Write a Business Continuity Plan

It is crucial that your company set up a group of people to help create your business continuity plan. The group should include senior leadership, experts, and staff. A simple, practical plan is the best plan. At a minimum, include continuity team roles and duties, and team member contact information. You should also add guidelines and checklists for dealing with unforeseen events. 

Daily business functions rely on many resources — human, utilities, machines, and even paper, pens, and pencils. Business recovery after a disruptive event is no different. See our in-depth article on writing a business continuity plan for a complete list of resource types you may want to include in a plan.

You can ask certain questions as you form your strategy, and a business continuity plan usually includes common resources and elements. See our article on how to write a business continuity plan to learn more.

Business Continuity Plan Template

business continuity plan resume

This template can help you document and track business operations in the event of a disruption/disaster to maintain critical processes. The plan includes space to record business function recovery priorities, recovery plans, and alternate site locations. Plan efficiently for disruption and minimize downtime, so your business maintains optimal efficiency.

Download Business Continuity Plan Template

Word | PowerPoint | PDF

You’ll find other most useful free, downloadable business continuity plan (BCP) templates, in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and PDF formats in this article . 

What Is a Business Impact Analysis and Why Is It an Important Part of a Business Continuity Plan?

A business impact analysis (BIA) is one of the most important parts of business continuity planning. The analysis considers how an unforeseen disruption could affect a company. BIA results also suggest how a business can recover from a crisis.

The business impact analysis will include details on the following:

  • Recovery time objectives that outline the organization’s goals relating to how quickly various services and processes will resume after an event
  • Financial impact of an incident
  • Impact on customers
  • Other possible impacts of an incident
  • How the organization will prioritize recovery steps
  • How the organization will prioritize critical services or products
  • Identification of potential revenue loss
  • Identification of additional expenses the organization will incur because of the event
  • Identification of insurance an organization has or needs to have
  • Identification of an organization’s dependencies on other agencies, companies, and providers

See our business impact analysis toolkit to find guidelines and templates to get started.

Risk Mitigation for Business Continuity

Risk assessment is one of the first steps in preparing your business continuity plan. 

Risk management includes identifying and ranking risks, and risk control includes identifying policies and procedures to avoid and contain risks. 

To learn more about risk management , read our comprehensive guide.

The Importance of Periodically Testing an Organization’s Business Continuity Plan

Even the best business continuity plans are useless if you do not continually test them in real-world mockups. Testing helps you continuously improve procedures, and also keeps plans synched with current business context.

Robert Sollars, a security trainer and consultant from Mesa, Arizona, says, “You must exercise your plan and train your employees in it. This can be costly and unwieldy at times, but it is an absolute must. I liken this to buying a Lamborghini and letting it sit in the garage, never starting it up, never driving it, never doing anything but admiring it. Your plan must be taken out and test driven at least two to three times per year. If you don’t test it, then when the real thing pops you will realize what the books, consultants, and experts have told you is useless for your organization. Testing it allows you to figure out the bugs and tweak the necessary items to make it more efficient and effective.”

Owens adds, “If you haven’t tested your plans, you aren’t ready for a disaster.”

You can do some testing through simpler table top exercises — for example, by talking through hypothetical incidents with your team. But Owens and other business continuity experts say organizations should also periodically do exercises that more closely mimic a real-world event.

“Organizations need to move … to progressively more complex scenarios, involving cross-functional teams and interdependent systems and processes,” he writes in a blog post about business continuity. “This is the only way that a company can get outside its comfort zone to truly understand if what they have designed will really work. My preference is to involve role-playing, actors, and include participation from vendors, business partners, and local law enforcement when appropriate. This will almost always result in lessons learned and opportunities to improve the plan, which is another great outcome.”

The most important result from testing your plan is an understanding of where theoretical solutions won’t work in real events. This understanding will then allow your organization to amend the plan to be more effective.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan Governance Committee?

Many companies set up a business continuity plan governance committee, which consists of staff members and senior leaders (their continuity efforts is vital). Governance tasks include writing the business continuity plan and supervising ongoing plan maintenance.  

The committee is often responsible for the following duties:

  • Approving the governance structure of the committee
  • Clarifying the roles of committee members and others working on the plan
  • Overseeing the creation of working groups to develop and implement the plan
  • Providing overall direction and communicate important information to employees
  • Approving the continuity plan and essential specifics within it
  • Setting priorities within the plan

The committee often includes the following members:

  • A senior leader from the business, often the sponsor
  • A business continuity manager and assistant manager
  • The company employee, or outside consultant, who will serve as overall coordinator of the business continuity plan
  • The company’s security officer
  • The company’s chief information officer, or information technology leader
  • Representatives from the company’s business department, to help with the business impact analysis
  • An administrative representative

How to Cultivate Resilience in Your Organization

A resilient organization has the tools and abilities to survive a disruptive event, and also regularly looks for new threats and adapts to changes in the organizational and industry landscape. Resilience experts recognize two types of resilience: reactive resilience uses a company’s existing processes to meet and overcome a crisis; proactive resilience anticipates disruptions and considers methods to prevent problems.  

Real World Example: Lessons Learned About Business Continuity from the Terrorist Attacks of Sept. 11, 2001

Organizational leaders and business continuity experts learned a lot from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Worst of all, the attacks killed thousands of people. But they also severely disrupted communications, financial transactions, and some commerce in New York City and throughout the world.

The following are among the lessons learned:

  • Business continuity plans must be tested frequently, and updated where needed.
  • The plans must assume a wide range of threats.
  • The plans must take into account how much companies, agencies, and other entities depend on each other.
  • Key people from any organization must be available and reachable when an incident happens.
  • The ability to communicate, especially through landline phones, cell phones, and the internet, is vital.
  • Sites that organizations use for backup of their digital information should be located at a distance from their primary information technology site.
  • Employee support and counseling may be important during and after a crisis.
  • An organization should store copies of its business continuity plan at a location apart from its primary location.
  • Security perimeters around the scene of an incident may be large, which may affect employees’ access to organization facilities for long periods.

Legislation Governing Some Business Continuity Management and Planning

The United Kingdom did approved the Civil Contingencies Act in 2004, which requires businesses to have business continuity plans in place.

Some industries do have regulatory bodies that may impose business continuity requirements within those industries. For instance, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private self-regulatory organization overseeing the U.S. financial securities industry. FINRA established FINRA Rule 4370. This rule requires securities firms to create and maintain written business continuity plans. Utility bodies, such as North American Electric Reliability Corporation ( NERC ) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ( FERC ), also require continuity plans.

Guidelines, Standards, and Resources Providing Guidance on Business Continuity Management and Planning

Organizational leaders can use a number of standards set by industry and other groups to guide their business continuity planning and management programs. Below are some commonly used standards:

  • ISO 22301 : Developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a standard-setting body, this group of standards sets out appropriate business continuity management practices. Learn more about how this standard can help businesses of all sizes in our guide to ISO 22301 . 
  • NFPA 1600 : Developed by the National Fire Protection Association, the standard is one of the most widely recognized in the U.S. on emergency preparedness and business continuity.
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology SP 800-34 : Sets contingency planning standards for federal information systems in the U.S.
  • SPC-2009 — Organizational Resilience : Security, Preparedness and Continuity Management Systems provides critical business and infrastructure security standards developed by the American Society for Industrial Security.
  • ISO 27000 : Standards for security in information technology systems, which include standards for business continuity in information technology. Learn more about ISO 27000 and find free checklists and templates . 
  • DRI International : Professional Practices for Business Continuity Management
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): Continuity Guidance Circular: Continuity Guidance for Non-Federal Entities: An 86-page formal document, the circular presents FEMA’s perspective on how businesses can prepare for disasters.
  • Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety: Open for Business Continuity Toolkit: This site offers a video, FAQ, and downloadable continuity planning tools.

What Is the Business Continuity Institute?

The Business Continuity Institute (BCI), based in the United Kingdom, is a non-profit professional organization providing education, certification, and leadership on business continuity management. The Institute has more than 8,000 members in more than 100 countries.

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How to create an effective business continuity plan

A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an event..

Professional Meeting: Senior Businesswoman and Colleague in Discussion

The tumultuous events of the past several years have impacted practically every business. And with the number of extreme weather events, cyberattacks, and geopolitical conflicts continuing to rise, business leaders are bracing for the possibility of increasingly more frequent impactful incidents their organizations will need to respond to.

According to PwC’s 2023 Global Crisis and Resilience Survey , 96% of 1,812 business leaders said their organizations had experienced disruption in the past two years and 76% said their most serious disruption had a medium to high impact on operations.

It’s little wonder then that 89% of executives list resilience as one of their most important strategic priorities.

Yet at the same time, only 70% of respondents said they were confident in their organization’s ability to respond to disruptions, with PwC noting that its research shows that too many organizations “are lacking the foundational elements of resilience they need to be successful.”

A solid business continuity plan is one of those foundational elements.

“Every business should have the mindset that they will face a disaster, and every business needs a plan to address the different potential scenarios,” says Goh Ser Yoong, head of compliance at Advance.AI and a member of the Emerging Trends Working Group at the professional governance association ISACA.

A business continuity plan gives the organization the best shot at successfully navigating a disaster by providing ready-made directions on who should do what tasks in what order to keep the business viable.

Without such as a plan, the organization will take longer than necessary to recover from an event or incident — or may never recover at all.

What is a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a strategic playbook created to help an organization maintain or quickly resume business functions in the face of disruption, whether that disruption is caused by a natural disaster, civic unrest, cyberattack, or any other threat to business operations.

A business continuity plan outlines the procedures and instructions that the organization must follow during such an event to minimize downtime, covering business processes, assets, human resources, business partners, and more.

A business continuity plan is not the same as a disaster recovery plan , which focuses on restoring IT infrastructure and operations after a crisis. Still, a disaster recovery plan is part of the overall strategy to ensure business continuity, and the business continuity plan should inform the action items detailed in an organization’s disaster recovery plan. The two are tightly coupled, which is why they often are considered together and abbreviated as BCDR.

Why business continuity planning matters

Whether you operate a small business or a large corporation, it’s vital to retain and increase your customer base. There’s no better test of your capability to do so than right after an adverse event.

Because restoring IT is critical for most companies, numerous disaster recovery solutions are available. You can rely on IT to implement those solutions. But what about the rest of your business functions? Your company’s future depends on your people and processes. Being able to handle any incident effectively can have a positive effect on your company’s reputation and market value, and it can increase customer confidence.

Moreover, there are increasing consumer and regulatory expectations for both enterprise security and continuity today. Consequently, organizations must prioritize continuity planning to prevent not only business losses, but financial, legal, reputational, and regulatory consequences.

For example, the risk of having an organization’s “license to operate” withdrawn by a regulator or having conditions applied (retrospectively or prospectively) can adversely affect market value and consumer confidence.

Building (and updating) a business continuity plan

Whether building the organization’s first business continuity plan or updating an existing one, the process involves multiple essential steps.

Assess business processes for criticality and vulnerability: Business continuity planning “starts with understanding what’s most important to the business,” says Joe Nocera, principle in the cyber risk and regulatory practice at PwC, a professional services firm.

So the first step in building your business continuity plan is assessing your business processes to determine which are the most critical; which are the most vulnerable and to what type of events; and what are the potential losses if those processes go down for a day, a few days, or a week.

“This step essentially determines what you are trying to protect and what you are trying to keep up for systems,” says Todd Renner, senior managing director in the cybersecurity practice at FTI Consulting.

This assessment is more demanding than ever before because of the complexity of today’s hybrid workplace, the modern IT environment, and the reliance on business partners and third-party providers to perform or support critical processes.

Given that complexity, Goh says a thorough assessment requires an inventory of not only key processes but also the supporting components — including the IT systems, networks, people, and outside vendors — as well as the risks to those components.

This is essentially a business impact analysis.

Determine your organization’s RTO and RPO: The next step in building a business continuity plan is determining the organization’s recovery time objective (RTO), which is the target amount of time between point of failure and the resumption of operations, and the recovery point objective (RPO), which is the maximum amount of data loss an organization can withstand.

Each organization has its own RTO and RPO based on the nature of its business, industry, regulatory requirements, and other operational factors. Moreover, different parts of a business can have different RTOs and RPOs, which executives need to establish, Nocera says.

“When you meet with individual aspects of the business, everyone says everything [they do] is important; no one wants to say their part of the business is less critical, but in reality you have to have those challenging conversations and determinations about what is actually critical to the business and to business continuity,” he adds.

Detail the steps, roles, and responsibilities for continuity: Once that is done, business leaders should use the RTO and the RPO, along with the business impact analysis, to determine the specific tasks that need to happen, by whom, and in what order to ensure business continuity.

“It’s taking the key components of your analysis and designing a plan that outlines roles and responsibilities, about who does what. It gets into the nitty-gritty on how you’re going to keep the company up and running,” Renner explains.

One common business continuity planning tool is a checklist that includes supplies and equipment, the location of data backups and backup sites, where the plan is available and who should have it, and contact information for emergency responders, key personnel, and backup site providers.

Although the list of possible scenarios that could impact business operations can seem extensive, Goh says business leaders don’t have to compile an exhaustive list of potential incidents. Rather, they should compile a list that includes likely incidents as well as representative ones so that they can create responses that have a higher likelihood of ensuring continuity even when faced with an unimagined disaster.

“So even if it’s an unexpected event, they can pull those building blocks from the plan and apply them to the unique crisis they’re facing,” Nocera says.

The importance of testing the business continuity plan

Devising a business continuity plan is not enough to ensure preparedness; testing and practicing are other critical components.

Renner says testing and practicing offer a few important benefits.

First, they show whether or how well a plan will work.

Testing and practicing help prepare all stakeholders for an actual incident, helping them build the muscle memory needed to respond as quickly and as confidently as possible during a crisis.

They also help identify gaps in the devised plan. As Renner says: “Every tabletop exercise that I’ve ever done has been an eye-opener for everyone involved.”

Additionally, they help identify where there may be misalignment of objectives. For example, executives may have deprioritized the importance of restoring certain IT systems only to realize during a drill that those are essential for supporting critical processes.

Types and timing of tests

Many organizations test a business continuity plan two to four times a year. Experts say the frequency of tests, as well as reviews and updates, depends on the organization itself — its industry, its speed of innovation and transformation, the amount of turnover of key personnel, the number of business processes, and so on.

Common tests include tabletop exercises , structured walk-throughs, and simulations. Test teams are usually composed of the recovery coordinator and members from each functional unit.

A tabletop exercise usually occurs in a conference room with the team poring over the plan, looking for gaps and ensuring that all business units are represented therein.

In a structured walk-through, each team member walks through his or her components of the plan in detail to identify weaknesses. Often, the team works through the test with a specific disaster in mind. Some organizations incorporate drills and disaster role-playing into the structured walk-through. Any weaknesses should be corrected and an updated plan distributed to all pertinent staff.

Some experts also advise a full emergency evacuation drill at least once a year.

Meanwhile, disaster simulation testing — which can be quite involved — should still be performed annually. For this test, create an environment that simulates an actual disaster, with all the equipment, supplies and personnel (including business partners and vendors) who would be needed. The purpose of a simulation is to determine whether the organization and its staff can carry out critical business functions during an actual event.

During each phase of business continuity plan testing, include some new employees on the test team. “Fresh eyes” might detect gaps or lapses of information that experienced team members could overlook.

Reviewing and updating the business continuity plan should likewise happen on an ongoing basis.

“It should be a living document. It shouldn’t be shelved. It shouldn’t be just a check-the-box exercise,” Renner says.

Otherwise, plans go stale and are of no use when needed.

Bring key personnel together at least annually to review the plan and discuss any areas that must be modified.

Prior to the review, solicit feedback from staff to incorporate into the plan. Ask all departments or business units to review the plan, including branch locations or other remote units.

Furthermore, a strong business continuity function calls for reviewing the organization’s response in the event of an actual event. This allows executives and their teams to identify what the organization did well and where it needs to improve.

How to ensure business continuity plan support, awareness

One way to ensure your plan is not successful is to adopt a casual attitude toward its importance. Every business continuity plan must be supported from the top down. That means senior management must be represented when creating and updating the plan; no one can delegate that responsibility to subordinates. In addition, the plan is likely to remain fresh and viable if senior management makes it a priority by dedicating time for adequate review and testing.

Management is also key to promoting user awareness. If employees don’t know about the plan, how will they be able to react appropriately when every minute counts?

Although plan distribution and training can be conducted by business unit managers or HR staff, have someone from the top kick off training and punctuate its significance. It’ll have a greater impact on all employees, giving the plan more credibility and urgency.

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What Is A Business Continuity Plan? [+ Template & Examples]

Swetha Amaresan

Published: December 30, 2022

When a business crisis occurs, the last thing you want to do is panic.

executives discussing business continuity plan

The second-to-last thing you want to do is be unprepared. Crises typically arise without warning. While you shouldn't start every day expecting the worst, you should be relatively prepared for anything to happen.

A business crisis can cost your company a lot of money and ruin your reputation if you don't have a business continuity plan in place. Customers aren't very forgiving, especially when a crisis is influenced by accidents within the company or other preventable mistakes. If you want your company to be able to maintain its business continuity in the face of a crisis, then you'll need to come up with this type of plan to uphold its essential functions.

Free Download: Crisis Management Plan & Communication Templates

In this post, we'll explain what a business continuity plan is, give examples of scenarios that would require a business continuity plan, and provide a template that you can use to create a well-rounded program for your business.

Table of Contents:

What is a business continuity plan?

  • Business Continuity Types
  • Business Continuity vs Disaster Recovery

Business Continuity Plan Template

How to write a business continuity plan.

  • Business Continuity Examples

A business continuity plan outlines directions and procedures that your company will follow when faced with a crisis. These plans include business procedures, names of assets and partners, human resource functions, and other helpful information that can help maintain your brand's relationships with relevant stakeholders. The goal of a business continuity plan is to handle anything from minor disruptions to full-blown threats.

For example, one crisis that your business may have to respond to is a severe snowstorm. Your team may be wondering, "If a snowstorm disrupted our supply chain, how would we resume business?" Planning contingencies ahead of time for situations like these can help your business stay afloat when you're faced with an unavoidable crisis.

When you think about business continuity in terms of the essential functions your business requires to operate, you can begin to mitigate and plan for specific risks within those functions.

business continuity plan resume

Crisis Communication and Management Kit

Manage, plan for, and communicate during your corporate crises with these crisis management plan templates.

  • Free Crisis Management Plan Template
  • 12 Crisis Communication Templates
  • Post-Crisis Performance Grading Template
  • Additional Crisis Best Management Practices

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Business Continuity Planning

Business continuity planning is the process of creating a plan to address a crisis. When writing out a business continuity plan, it's important to consider the variety of crises that could potentially affect the company and prepare a resolution for each.

Business Continuity Plan

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Business Continuity Consultant Resume Sample

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Create a Resume in Minutes with Professional Resume Templates

Work Experience

  • Offers management consultancy advice and practical assistance on Business Continuity matter throughout the client’s organization
  • Develop advanced program initiatives and guide their implementation into a final product or service that has impact across departments or enterprise wide
  • Planning and preparation of communications, requiring skill, tact, persuasion and/or negotiation to accomplish the objectives of the communications
  • Educate and communicate business continuity requirements, policies, standards and procedures to business/internal stakeholders as they relate to projects and strategic initiatives
  • Keep up to date on emerging business resiliency trends, new methods and best practices
  • Business continuity experience not a director level role
  • Work independently, with guidance in only the most complex situations
  • Oversee the risk acceptance process focusing on business continuity and recovery concerns and participate in the review and enhancement of the vendor assessment processes. Ensure risks are documented and accepted at the correct level of the organization
  • Consult with lines of business on business continuity processes and capabilities in order to properly assess a vendor’s recovery strategies and determine vendor risk. Properly identify vendor risks and provide a risk summary rating. Provide proper context to the business on requirements to resolve vendor risks
  • Execute and maintain the Business Impact Analysis to ensure the business continuity program is aligned with and supportive of critical business functions
  • Execute and maintain enterprise-level business continuity strategies and plans. Ensure consistent documentation of business continuity plans and procedures across the enterprise -10%
  • Design, implement and improve cross-functional programs that enable the recovery of critical business functions and systems. Define, document and implement specific business continuity processes (process flows, roles and responsibilities, supporting documents and procedures)
  • Plan, conduct, and evaluate Business Continuity exercises including those with vendors to test the adequacy of existing plans and strategies. Update procedures and plans regularly
  • Utilize enterprise-wide business continuity planning tool and vendor risk assessment tools to document findings and risks
  • Applicable experience
  • Strong understanding of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery concepts
  • Self-starter and able to thrive in a highly dynamic, collaborative environment
  • Excellent planning, organizational, negotiation and client service skills
  • Previous business and/or project experience
  • Demonstrated bias for action and driving change
  • Work with and influence at all levels, including senior management
  • To contribute to write policies and standards, including the alignment among stakeholders
  • To assist in ensuring a consistent and adequate level of business continuity, in compliance with Rabobank corporate business continuity policy and all relevant local-and international laws and regulations globally
  • To assist developing and maintaining the Global Business Continuity program vision and short and long term objectives globally

Professional Skills

  • Strong interpersonal skills, ability to maintain strong relationships within the team and with business partner
  • Excellent oral / written communication and presentation skills
  • Advanced computer skills in the Microsoft Suite of products (PowerPoint, Excel, Word)
  • Advanced excel, word, PowerPoint and Visio skills
  • Advanced communication skills and ability to relate to and influence employees at all levels
  • Experience in exercise and training management at the organizational level
  • Experience in enterprise level key metric development and reporting methodologies

How to write Business Continuity Consultant Resume

Business Continuity Consultant role is responsible for negotiation, software, training, security, planning, reporting, insurance, travel, design, advanced. To write great resume for business continuity consultant job, your resume must include:

  • Your contact information
  • Work experience
  • Skill listing

Contact Information For Business Continuity Consultant Resume

The section contact information is important in your business continuity consultant resume. The recruiter has to be able to contact you ASAP if they like to offer you the job. This is why you need to provide your:

  • First and last name
  • Telephone number

Work Experience in Your Business Continuity Consultant Resume

The section work experience is an essential part of your business continuity consultant resume. It’s the one thing the recruiter really cares about and pays the most attention to. This section, however, is not just a list of your previous business continuity consultant responsibilities. It's meant to present you as a wholesome candidate by showcasing your relevant accomplishments and should be tailored specifically to the particular business continuity consultant position you're applying to. The work experience section should be the detailed summary of your latest 3 or 4 positions.

Representative Business Continuity Consultant resume experience can include:

  • Have knowledge of Business Continuity and Resilience regulatory requirements and industry standards, including BA23; BCI Good Practice and ISO 22301
  • Preparing periodic the Global Business Continuity Dashboard (reports)
  • Coordinating with our threat and risk specialists the conduct of malicious and non-malicious risk assessments
  • Coordinating with our organisational design and change specialists change management programmes; and
  • Be willing to travel for work, including working on client site
  • To oversee the mandatory BC review and testing activities

Education on a Business Continuity Consultant Resume

Make sure to make education a priority on your business continuity consultant resume. If you’ve been working for a few years and have a few solid positions to show, put your education after your business continuity consultant experience. For example, if you have a Ph.D in Neuroscience and a Master's in the same sphere, just list your Ph.D. Besides the doctorate, Master’s degrees go next, followed by Bachelor’s and finally, Associate’s degree.

Additional details to include:

  • School you graduated from
  • Major/ minor
  • Year of graduation
  • Location of school

These are the four additional pieces of information you should mention when listing your education on your resume.

Professional Skills in Business Continuity Consultant Resume

When listing skills on your business continuity consultant resume, remember always to be honest about your level of ability. Include the Skills section after experience.

Present the most important skills in your resume, there's a list of typical business continuity consultant skills:

  • Exercise design and implementation experience
  • Several years’ experience in Vendor Risk Management as is related to Business Continuity
  • Experience in project management and consultancy, technical development, support and operation, and/or audit
  • Proven knowledge in risk assessment and internal control desired
  • Assisting in further developing the BC framework components
  • Assisting in Business Continuity Quality reviews

List of Typical Skills For a Business Continuity Consultant Resume

Skills for senior business continuity consultant resume.

  • Designing and assisting implementation of an entire business continuity management system
  • Leading on elements of business continuity such as business impact assessments, or development of emergency response plans
  • In a responsible business continuity planning or testing, or management support role
  • Deliver accurate and timely program management tracking and status reports, including Supplier Risk Management activities, and executive reports
  • Supply Chain Training and/or certification

Skills For Technology Business Continuity Consultant Resume

  • Basic familiarity and understanding of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
  • Discuss with users on the BC plans structure according to the guidance developed by Regional team
  • Ensure all required activities and test had been done according to the schedule
  • Lead projects with key suppliers and internal Verizon function owners to develop and conduct relevant and challenging tests of their business continuity plans
  • Drive the completion of action items identified during exercises and other program activities with relevant suppliers and internal teams
  • Worked in both in-house business continuity and consultancy roles
  • Self-starter who works well under pressure
  • Interact with all levels of employees, including executives, involved in the maintenance, review, approval, testing, and communication of business continuity and crisis management plans
  • Expertise in, and can speak authoritatively about, any hazards that potentially threaten Exelon’s continuity of business; recommend appropriate response and recovery strategies

Skills For Response Readiness Business Continuity Consultant Resume

  • Senior level expertise in business continuity planning, business impact analysis, crisis/incident management, emergency preparedness, and tools/systems associated with these functions
  • Able to work long hours in ambiguous environments, under demanding time constraints, with increased responsibilities, independently or in teams, while meeting critical deadlines, when necessary
  • Strong experience in business continuity practices and principles
  • Experience with Fusion Risk Management solution
  • Hold membership of Business Continuity institute or relevant experience with a commitment to pursue a relevant professional qualification
  • Have the wherewithal and desire to build relationships and rapport with internal and external stakeholders, including clients
  • Have the ability to concisely convey information verbally, through presentations and written in report/written format
  • Be an enthusiastic team member but equally able to work independently with limited supervision

Skills For IT Business Continuity Consultant Resume

  • Be confident in the use of the Microsoft suite of applications
  • Already hold relevant industry association membership eg Business Continuity Institute, Disaster Recovery Institute
  • Facilitate scenario based exercises to improve the capability of clients’ incident management teams
  • CBCP, MBCP or related business continuity certification
  • Resilient and motivated self-starter who relishes a challenge. Able to think on your feet and make decisions
  • Pick up diverse business areas and quickly understand business objectives/structure or function
  • Communicate resilience and continuity issues and constraints to technical and non-technical colleagues/audiences
  • To provide guidance to and coordinate staff efforts in the development and maintenance of the business continuity deliverables

Skills For Business Continuity Consultant Resume

  • To monitor status and to assess quality of these deliverables and to intervene promptly and adequately if results tend not to be (fully) achieved
  • To raise and maintain awareness, and to share knowledge on BCM topics with relevant internal stakeholders
  • To support and facilitate the Crisis Management Organization in crisis situations
  • To train staff with Business Continuity tasks in the basics of BCM in general and in the Global standards and tools in particular
  • Manage the business continuity project status from Manulife global initiatives
  • Work with the country Business Continuity Management (BCM) and users to revisit the Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and BC plans
  • Ensure the content of the plans meet Corporate BC/DR policies and standards
  • Knowledge of regulatory, compliance, and industry standards as it relates to business continuity
  • Lead designated initiatives with internal technical teams and key suppliers to identify opportunities to improve existing or develop new technical disaster recovery and business continuity plans
  • Lead designated technical risk assessments of existing Verizon and supplier technical systems, infrastructure, and related third-parties
  • Identify and recommend viable preventative measures to minimize the likelihood of a disruption to Verizon and critical supplier technical systems, and follow through on the results of selected implementations with the appropriate teams
  • Lead projects with internal technical teams and key suppliers to develop and conduct relevant and challenging tests of their technical disaster recovery plans
  • Lead designated aspects and coordinate with internal Network and IT system owners and other Business Continuity program personnel on system planning and testing activity to enhance reliability, availability, and performance of functions, systems, and suppliers
  • Lead initiatives with key suppliers and internal Verizon function owners to identify opportunities to improve existing or develop new business continuity plans
  • Support outreach team with a variety of activities, including responses to customer inquiries, updates to customer facing and internal awareness materials, and supporting the planning and logistics for conferences and outreach events
  • Support the development of relevant and challenging exercises in support of the Incident Management Structure and teams
  • Ensure compliance with Business Continuity program requirements for designated suppliers and internal functional teams, through participation and engagement in plan development activities for hands on knowledge of expectations, strategies and tools
  • Coordinate designated components of the Business Continuity program such as: business impact analysis updates, risk assessments, document management, contact list maintenance, Emergency Operation Center resources, notification systems, and business continuity planning software
  • Support internal teams and suppliers during actual incident responses, for example researching threats, impacts and resources, to include deployment for on-site support, as appropriate
  • Execute and maintain enterprise-level business continuity strategies and plans. Ensure consistent documentation of business continuity plans and procedures across the enterprise
  • Strong understanding of Business Continuity, Risk Analysis and Disaster Recovery concepts
  • Organisational change experience
  • Previous experience in financial services
  • Mentor junior-level team members
  • Certificate Business Continuity Institute (CBCI)

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COMMENTS

  1. 5 Business Continuity Manager Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

    A business continuity manager must showcase a robust understanding of emergency response protocols. Highlight your expertise in developing and implementing disaster recovery plans that ensure minimal disruption. Demonstrate your ability to lead cross-functional teams during crises with decisiveness and resilience.

  2. Business Continuity Planning Resume Sample

    Business Continuity Planning Consultant. 08/2010 - 04/2016. New York, NY. Follows policies and procedures; completes tasks correctly and on time; supports the company's goals and values. Implement tactics and manage prioritized projects to accomplish goals and strategies, and consult with business units to produce, maintain, and test global ...

  3. Business Continuity Planning Resume Samples

    Skills. Three (3) - five (5) years experience in the design development and management of business continuity planning program. One (1) - three (3) years experience with mentoring supervising or managing a small team. Proficient and broad knowledge in business continuity recovery processes concepts strategies and methodologies including ...

  4. Business Continuity Manager Resume Samples

    The Guide To Resume Tailoring. Guide the recruiter to the conclusion that you are the best candidate for the business continuity manager job. It's actually very simple. Tailor your resume by picking relevant responsibilities from the examples below and then add your accomplishments. This way, you can position yourself in the best way to get ...

  5. Business Continuity Manager Resume Example

    For example, you might say, "Developed and implemented a comprehensive business continuity plan that reduced potential operational downtime by 30%." This showcases your skills and the tangible outcomes of your work. Remember to tailor your resume to the specific role you're applying for, emphasizing the most relevant skills and experiences.

  6. Business Continuity Manager Resume Examples & Samples for 2024

    Find the best Business Continuity Manager resume examples to help improve your resume. Each resume is hand-picked from our database of real resumes. ... Created corporate wide Business Continuity Plan for all service centers, reporting to the CIO, working directly with Vice Presidents from each line of business. 0-5 years of experience.

  7. Business Continuity Resume Samples

    Business Continuity Spec Resume Examples & Samples. Performs risk analysis for business areas to identify points of vulnerability and recommend crisis business disruptions and reduction strategies. Establishes crisis recovery testing methodologies; plans and coordinates the testing of recovery support and business resumption procedures in ...

  8. 1+ Business Continuity Manager Resume Examples [with Guidance]

    Here is a suggested format with explanations relevant to Business Continuity Managers: 1. **Contact Information:** - Include your full name, phone number, email address, and LinkedIn profile (if applicable). - Make sure this information is easily visible at the top of the resume. 2.

  9. Business Continuity Manager Resume Examples and Templates

    A Business Continuity Manager's resume is a critical document that showcases your ability to develop and oversee continuity plans during disruptions. This role requires expertise in risk management, strategic planning, and crisis management.

  10. Business Continuity Resume Sample

    Business Continuity. 02/2013 - 02/2016. Los Angeles, CA. Leads and develops regular and periodic testing exercises and a maintenance schedule to validate the capability of the recovery and contingency plans; implements approved solutions and reports back on the results. Leads business continuity risk analysis process and educates leaders across ...

  11. Business Continuity Manager Resume Example & Writing Guide

    In a business continuity manager's position, these might include 'Disaster Recovery Planning,' 'Business Continuity,' 'Risk Assessment,' 'Crisis Management,' and 'IT Risk.' Therefore, your resume should do its best to reflect the specific hard and soft skills, qualities, and experience that the job ad mentions.

  12. Business Continuity Specialist Resume Sample

    Senior Business Continuity Specialist. 05/2012 - 10/2017. San Francisco, CA. Participates in budget related activities, such as developing and monitoring the business continuity department budget. Includes compiling data, monitoring expenses, responding to inquiries, explaining variances, and providing rationale and recommendations.

  13. Business Continuity Specialist Resume Samples

    Guide the recruiter to the conclusion that you are the best candidate for the business continuity specialist job. It's actually very simple. Tailor your resume by picking relevant responsibilities from the examples below and then add your accomplishments. This way, you can position yourself in the best way to get hired.

  14. Business Continuity Management Resume Sample

    Business Continuity Management. 04/2011 - 02/2016. Detroit, MI. Strong interpersonal, leadership and organizational skills to effectively communicate with Technical and Business stakeholders. Proven leadership capability that can extend beyond the formal span of control, influencing both senior stakeholders, peers and staff across the unit.

  15. Business Continuity Management Resume Samples

    Ensure that Business Continuity program components (Business Impact Analysis, Risk Assessments, plans, strategies, etc.) are up to date and effective. Assist in the management and development of all elements of the BCM cycle. Manage emergency communications with Crisis Management Committee members, employees and emergency communications tools ...

  16. All about Business Continuity Planning

    Business continuity planning (BCP) refers to the work a company does to create a plan and system to deal with risks. Thorough planning seeks to prevent problems and ensure business processes continue during and after a crisis. Business continuity planning ensures that the company deals with disruptions quickly, and minimizes the impact on operations.

  17. How to create an effective business continuity plan

    A business continuity plan (BCP) is a strategic playbook created to help an organization maintain or quickly resume business functions in the face of disruption, whether that disruption is caused ...

  18. What Is A Business Continuity Plan? [+ Template & Examples]

    1. Operational. Operational continuity means that the systems and processes your business relies on are able to continue functioning without disruption. As these processes are critical to business operations, it's important to have a plan in place in case disruption occurs so you can minimize the loss of revenue. 2.

  19. Business Continuity Manager Resume Sample

    Business Continuity Manager, Risk Management. 07/2010 - 05/2013. San Francisco, CA. Continuation of current communication strategy to keep business units up to date and aware of the status of the BCP program and upcoming requirements. Collaborate with business areas to identify and plan mitigation efforts, business continuity recovery ...

  20. 9 Professional Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Templates

    A business continuity plan (BCP) is a playbook that explains the procedures your company must follow to maintain or resume operations in the event of a risk or crisis. These risks may include cyberattacks, civic unrest, human errors, pandemics, natural disasters or other threats. This plan covers your essential business processes, human ...

  21. Business Continuity Analyst Resume Samples

    The Guide To Resume Tailoring. Guide the recruiter to the conclusion that you are the best candidate for the business continuity analyst job. It's actually very simple. Tailor your resume by picking relevant responsibilities from the examples below and then add your accomplishments. This way, you can position yourself in the best way to get ...

  22. Business Continuity Analyst Resume Sample

    Business Continuity Analyst. 10/2012 - 04/2016. Los Angeles, CA. Coordination and support of global AIG locations and functions to establish and test continuity plansinvolving all aspects of business disruption exercises and actual business disruption events which could require working non-standard work hours.

  23. Business Continuity Consultant Resume Sample

    Business Continuity Consultant. 09/2010 - 08/2017. Houston, TX. Oversee the risk acceptance process focusing on business continuity and recovery concerns and participate in the review and enhancement of the vendor assessment processes. Ensure risks are documented and accepted at the correct level of the organization.