Underwriter Resume:Templates, Examples & Essential Skills

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More than 6.6 million Americans are employed in the finance industry. This easily makes underwriting, among other related industries,  a cutthroat business that requires top skills and extensive experience.

Underwrites are an essential part of the finance sector, especially when it comes to banking, loans, and insurance. An underwriter plays a vital role in a company and assesses potential risks for finance brands. Dealing with numbers, statistics, reports, and calculating risk data can be a serious demand, so companies are only after the best candidates in the field. 

When looking for a job as an underwriter, consider that your experience, education, and competencies will come first. In other words, to score the job, you will need a sublime resume. And this is where we come into the picture. From the most functional resume templates to learning the best soft and hard skills, here is an all-encompassing underwriter resume to get you started. 

Underwriter Resume Sample

In an underwriter resume, you first have to make sure to emphasize your professional competencies and relevant work experience – without sounding inferior.

Learning how to write a resume requires considering these two factors, alongside your education and your personal skills will set you apart from the crowd of applicants.

Some of the key points to include in your overall resume include:

• Name and contact details;
• A career summary or objective;
• Work history;
• Education;
• Soft and hard skills;
• Additional sections

These points make your resume clean and understandable, and easy for the recruiter to scan through it.  With our help, your professional underwriter resume should look like this:

Resume Example

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[Sarah Mackenzie]

[Underwriter]

[8932 Girard Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55420 | 305-841-2220 | sarah.mac@email.com]

Summary

A result-driven underwriter with substantial experience in reviewing risk in insurance underwriting. Illustrates attention to detail and strong people skills. 

Experience 

Underwriter

Millenial Credit Union, Bloomington, Minnesota

Jun 2018 — Apr 2022

• Delivered customer assistance with billings, adjustments, and cancellations for insurants;
• Harvested data to assess potential risk for potential clients;
• Penned quotes and arranged terms in coordination with brokers

Key achievements:

• Organized a system for accurate detection of high-risk clients

Insurance Underwriter

Astra Bank, Maple Grove, Minnesota

Feb 2015 — May 2018

• Utilized specialized software to process statistical data; 
• Inspected policy applications factoring in applicants’ age and driving records;
• Compiled policies and distinct policy terms and conditions

Key achievements:

• Tutored three junior underwriters

Education 

BA in Finance

Franklin University, Maple Grove, MN

2010— 2014

Skills

• Analytical skills
• Attention to detail
• Financial negotiating
• Organization
• Research skills

Certifications

• Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), 2015
• Certified Risk Manager, 2017

Languages

Italian – Fluent

Interests

• Making herbariums
• Noir films

Including professional fortes is the way to nail your resume. This template gives the recruiter insight into the candidate’s competence, background, and multiple skills and interests without sounding boring.   

To properly showcase your analytical skills, resort to templates to guide you. Always include social media profiles (LinkedIn works best for professional engagements) to introduce yourself on multiple layers. 

Recruiters appreciate receiving a resume that’s to the point and easy to follow. Compiling a strong underwriter resume lets the recruiter pinpoint your professional competencies and determine whether you’ll be a good fit for the job.

Choosing the right resume format can help you showcase your strengths and downplay your drawbacks. In general, there are three types of resume formats: the reverse-chronological, the functional, and the combination (or hybrid) resume. 

• The reverse-chronological format highlights experience. It showcases working experiences starting from the most recent one and moving backward to the first. It is best used when candidates have had at least two years of experience as an underwriter. If you don’t have an employment gap longer than four months, you can benefit from the reverse-chronological resume format;
• The functional resume format works best with emphasizing skills over experience.
  It is the most efficient resume format for candidates who still haven’t gathered that much experience, or are fresh out of school;
• The combination resume format is the perfect pick for job seekers looking to increase the value of their work experience thus far and showcase their set of skills. This type of resume is perfect for experienced underwriters looking to apply for a Senior Underwriter position, for instance.

One of the most important things to remember when putting together your underwriter resume is that the summary or the objective should be written by you – and apply to you exclusively.

When you sum up your professional experience or showcase your most significant traits, you are writing a resume summary or a resume objective, respectively. To understand these in more depth, you can always turn to readymade resume templates.

When writing your resume summary or objective, it’s vital to keep it short and precise. 3 to 4 sentences describing your key achievements and previous experience will be enough. 

For instance, if you have working experience in other fields but not as an underwriter, you should write a resume objective rather than a summary. The reason for this is that the resume objective will showcase your abilities and competencies, rather than focus on the fact that you lack experience. 

On the other hand, a resume summary will be best used by candidates with an abundance of experience since it allows them to showcase key achievements and responsibilities on the job.

Writing the objective of your resume should tell the recruiter you are a go-getter who is looking for a job to put his professional capabilities and skill sets into use. At the same time, it is crucial to remember not to overplay your lack of experience, or draw attention to your professional flaws.

A resume objective is basically an intro to your professional journey. It is at the forefront of your resume and it is the first thing the recruiter will see. With this in mind, you can probably imagine how important it is to fashion a compelling resume objective.

Here’s what an underwriter’s resume objective should look like:

And this is what your resume objective should not look like:

Obviously, the first example amplifies the best of what the candidate has to offer professionally. The vocabulary is precisely selected, and all wording is summarized for optimal readability.
At the same time, the second example lacks character, precision, pizzazz, and factuality.  

It’s probably safe to say that recruiters are especially after finding experience-rich candidates. The essence of your underwriter resume is centered around your work experience. As a potential employee, you need to showcase yourself in the best possible light, without over or underselling yourself. 

Here’s how to detail your experience in your resume: 

• List your experiences starting with the most recent one;
• Match your assets to the job requirements;
• Substantiate your soft skills;
• Incorporate key achievements and awards;
• Use bullet points beginning with resume power words;
• Highlight achievements over job responsibilities;
• Avoid large chunks of text.

Underwriter Resume Examples: Experience

The experience section in your underwriter resume should contain brief and precise information on your most recent professional engagements, starting with the latest one. 

Even if you might have a ton of experience and have worked with as many as 10 different employees, you should not include all of them. Anywhere from 2 to 3 previous work experiences are enough to include in your resume. Anything more than that will only clutter your content and possibly render the recruiter uninterested.

Your experience section should look something like this:

And this is what a clumsily written experience section looks like:

The first example showcases the most recent working experience and provides concise information about the candidate’s job responsibilities. 

The second example is practically bad and presents the candidate as someone who was forced to do the work without providing actual information on why they might be a top fit for the company. 

The education section is as important as the experience section. Even though underwriters can have a stellar career with only a high school diploma, recruiters favor at least a Bachelor’s degree.

To showcase yourself the right way, here is what to include in your education section:

• The name of the university;
• The year of graduation;
• The degree obtained

In the case you have just gotten your BA or Master’s Degree, make sure to include the subjects you majored in and also provide any certifications, courses, or awards you have received. 

Speaking of courses, you can see examples of how to include coursework in your resume and present yourself as a viable candidate.

Underwriter Resume Education Section

Showcasing your education should be done in a way to show the recruiter your educational proficiency and give them an insight into your transferable skills.

Other than mentioning the name of the educational institution you attended, you can also mention any courses you’ve taken that might help your position as a candidate. Listing any relevant courses might get you extra points with the recruiter. 

Remember to use bullet points, as they are always the most efficient attention-grabbers.

After you’re done outlining your education section, it should look something like this:

And here is how not to present your education:

When it comes to spotlighting your skills, know that not all of them matter. 

Recruiters won’t be interested in knowing you are good at making pasta with only 2 ingredients – it’s probably a skill worthy of mentioning if you were applying for a chef’s position. If you know how to speak to people – make that known, since it works well with the nature of the job you want. List it as a soft skill, and choose other similar skills to help you enhance your resume. 

Make a general list of all of your skills and compare them to the job requirements. After you’ve narrowed down the choice, include only five of your most valuable soft and hard skills that recruiters might find appealing for the position.

Remember to use a list for your skills – it will allow recruiters to easily scan through and focus on what’s relevant to the job description. Using skills as keywords here is also wise. 

Aside from your work experience, educational background, and skillset, adding extra info about your achievements, certificates, and projects can enhance your professional profile.

The importance of adding extra sections in your resume is because recruiters like getting to know a candidate of interest. If you made it this far, you can expect to be at least shortlisted from a group of applicants. 

As for what to list in your Other section, here is a short list of other mention-worthy aspects:

• Awards. Received a “Fastest data-entry employee of the Year” award? List it. 
• Certificates. If a recruiter knows you are a certified International Accredited Business Accountant, you stand a bigger chance of landing the job;
• Languages and proficiency. Showcasing on your resume your language abilities allows recruiters to see you as someone that the company can send abroad on a business trip;
• Volunteer work or internships. Mentioning any internships or volunteering is always a good idea and allows recruiters to see you as a versatile worker, willing to contribute.

Underwriter Resume Sample Extra Sections

By following our guidelines, you’ll learn what makes the cut in your Other section, and what doesn’t. The reason behind adding extra sections in your resume is that it presents a somewhat different side of you that recruiters have not met yet. 

For instance, if you have done some underwriting work for an underprivileged client pro bono, recruiters will appreciate the extent to which you have gone to help – it paints you as a people-person, among other traits.

Well-rounded extra sections in your underwriter resume should look like this:

And here’s what to avoid writing:

An underwriter’s resume should be packed with relevant information. It should also be easily readable and showcase industry-specific skill sets. Of course, underwriter employers might have different requirements from candidates, so ensure to tailor your resume before sending it, so it applies to that particular job.  Ensure to incorporate all of those aspects for a bulletproof resume on your hand that might just land you your dream job.

Before we go, here is a handy checklist to guide you in creating the best underwriter resume. 

• Use a reverse-chronological resume format to showcase your experiences. Always start from the most recent one and move backward;
• Boast your relevant skills – use up to 5 soft and hard skills, each;
• Use bullet points to emphasize important aspects;
• Make the most out of power words – action words grab the attention of readers and show both competence and confidence. Mention keywords of value to the job, too. 
• Put together a persuasive resume objective (if you lack the experience), or a resume summary (if experienced) for maximum effect and readability. 

And, there you have it, a guide to writing the finest underwriter’s resume. Apply your heart out and feel free to resort to more of our professional templates! Best of luck in your application process!