How I’d Write a Knowledge Manager Resume in 2026

When I got my first real documentation gig in my early 20s, I learned something that still shapes how I think about resumes, you’re not writing “about you.” You’re writing so someone else can make a decision fast.

Back then, I was interviewing SMEs, translating messy product knowledge into tutorials, and building processes so docs didn’t rot two weeks after launch. The writing mattered but the structure mattered more. The same is true for Knowledge Manager resumes.

And for KM roles specifically, the bar is even higher. Knowledge Managers are expected to safeguard organizational knowledge, capture tacit knowledge, and help organizations choose and implement the tools and processes that keep information discoverable. So your resume can’t be vague. It needs to feel like a Knowledge Manager touched it.

Below, I’m keeping the same core ideas as the original guide, but rewriting it into the exact structure I use when I’m trying to help someone land interviews.

Knowledge Manager Resume Checklist

A Knowledge Manager resume has one job: earn you the interview.

To do that, it needs to work in two worlds:

• Human review: A recruiter or hiring manager scanning for fit, proof, and clarity.
• ATS review: An Applicant Tracking System scanning for keywords, titles, and “clean” formatting it can parse.

If you build your resume for only one of those worlds, you’ll lose opportunities for dumb reasons.

Here are the steps I’d follow.

1. Write Your Resume Like You’re Writing It for “Someone Else”

This is the mindset shift that changes everything. When you’re writing your resume, you’re not writing a personal biography. You’re writing a document that creates the right impact on the person or ATS reviewing it.

The fastest way to get this right is to stop asking, “What do I want to say?” and start asking:

• What does this hiring org need solved?
• What proof would make them believe I’ve done it?
• What keywords will their ATS flag as “relevant”?

If you’re unsure what a KM role even expects, I’d skim Knowledge manager job description examples first, then mirror that language in your resume (without copying it). 

2. Decide Whether You’re Writing for Humans, ATS, or Both

In most hiring funnels, it’s both.

An ATS exists because companies can’t manually screen hundreds, or even thousands, of resumes. These tools scan for keyword matches and other signals to shortlist candidates. At the same time, your resume also needs to grab the attention of human reviewers, who will decide if you’re a fit.

To strike this balance:

• Make it parsable for ATS: Use standard section headings like “Work Experience” and “Skills.” Avoid tables, columns, or images, as ATS tools often struggle to read them.
• Make it readable for humans: Use clean formatting, short paragraphs or bullet points, and focus on accomplishments rather than responsibilities.

Example: Instead of cramming keywords into a single sentence like, “Skilled in knowledge management tools, taxonomy, and metadata structure,” weave them naturally into your experience section:

• “Improved findability by applying taxonomy and metadata rules in Confluence and SharePoint, reducing retrieval time by 30%.”

Formatting and language affect both audiences. Get this right, and you’ll move through both ATS and human reviews with ease.

3. Pick the Resume Format that Matches Your Career Situation

There are three common resume formats:

• Reverse-Chronological: Lists your work experience from most recent to oldest.
• Functional (Skills-Based): Focuses on your skills and competencies rather than your work history.
• Combination/Hybrid: Blends both approaches, highlighting relevant skills alongside a clear work history.

If you have real KM experience (or you’re applying for a Knowledge Manager or Senior Knowledge Manager role), I’d recommend reverse-chronological or hybrid formats. These formats are recruiter-friendly and more likely to pass ATS filters.

Choose the format that best aligns with your career situation, but ensure it’s easy to read and ATS-compatible.

4. Use an ATS-Safe Template So You Can Focus on Content

I’m not anti-template, I’m anti-template-that-breaks-your-resume.

A solid template or resume builder keeps you focused on content while maintaining a clean structure. Templates also save time by organizing your resume for you. That said, not all templates are ATS-friendly, and using the wrong one can hurt your chances.

To ensure your resume works for ATS:

• Avoid tables, columns, and images: Many ATS tools can’t parse these elements properly.
• Use standard headings: Stick to terms like “Work Experience,” “Skills,” and “Education” to ensure ATS understands your sections.
• Stick to a readable font and plain background: Avoid overly stylized fonts and decorative features that can confuse ATS.

By using an ATS-safe template, you can focus on showing your value without worrying about technical issues derailing your application.

5. Tailor Keywords Like a Knowledge Manager Would

If you’ve ever improved a knowledge base search experience, you already know how important keywords are. An ATS works like a search engine, but for resumes.

Here’s how to tailor your resume effectively:

• Pull keywords from the job description: Match the exact language used, including plural forms, abbreviations, and formatting (e.g., “3 years” vs. “three years”).
• Focus on hard skills, titles, tools, and credentials: If you’ve worked with knowledge management tools (e.g., SharePoint, Confluence), governance frameworks, or content operations systems, name them explicitly.
• Translate skills into proof: Don’t just list skills, use them in context. For example, instead of “Knowledge Management Tools,” write: “Implemented SharePoint to improve document findability by 30%.”

Example:

• Generic: “Experienced with knowledge management tools.”
• Tailored: “Optimized a Confluence knowledge base, reducing retrieval time by 20% through improved taxonomy and metadata rules.”

If you’re unsure what skills to highlight, start with a checklist like essential knowledge manager skills and focus on the ones you can prove with real outcomes. Tailoring your keywords isn’t just about passing ATS, it also shows hiring managers you understand the role and its priorities.

6. Put a Professional Profile at the Top (and Keep It Tight)

A professional profile is the fastest way to tell a recruiter, “Here’s what you’re getting.” It’s a brief summary that highlights your most relevant skills and the value you bring to the role.

The key to writing an effective professional profile:

• Keep it near the top: Place it right below your contact information so it’s visible during a quick scan.
• Keep it concise: Aim for ~4 sentences, long enough to provide value but short enough to hold attention.
• Include key details: Mention your title, years of experience, and 2–3 strengths or accomplishments that align with the role.

This section should feel like a “KM case study headline,” not a vague or generic summary.

By keeping your professional profile tight and targeted, you’ll make a strong first impression that immediately resonates with recruiters.

7. Don’t Mess Up the Basics: Contact Info and Section Headings

This might sound obvious, but I’ve seen people lose interviews because their resume was frustrating to read.

Make sure your contact info is clean and complete:

• Name: Use your full name for professionalism.
• City/Location: Include your current city or the location you’re targeting.
• Email: Use a professional email address (e.g., avoid casual addresses like [email protected]).
• Phone: Add a reliable phone number.
• LinkedIn: Include a custom URL (e.g., linkedin.com/in/yourname) to make it easy for recruiters to view your profile.

Use standard section headings:
ATS tools rely on clear headings to parse your resume. Stick to common terms like:

• Work Experience
• Skills
• Education
• Certifications

By nailing these basics, you ensure your resume is easy to read and doesn’t get held back by technical issues.

8. Make Your Work Experience Read Like Outcomes, Not Duties

Your work experience section is the main event. For Knowledge Manager roles, this section needs to demonstrate your suitability by focusing on the results you’ve achieved, not just the tasks you’ve performed.

How to Write It:

1. Start with 1–2 lines describing the scope of your role. For example:
   • “Led a team of 5 to manage a 3,000-article knowledge base using Confluence and SharePoint, serving 500+ employees globally.”
2. Follow with bullet points that highlight measurable outcomes.

Examples of Outcome-Driven Statements:

• Improved findability by rebuilding taxonomy and metadata rules, reducing retrieval time by 30%.
• Reduced repeat questions by standardizing templates and retiring 200+ outdated documents.
• Built governance (owners, review cadence, KPIs) to keep content 90% up-to-date.
• Partnered with support, training, and product teams to convert tacit knowledge into self-serve content, increasing adoption by 25%.

Include metrics wherever possible to quantify your impact. Metrics like search success rates, ticket deflection, or reduced onboarding time show the value you brought to the role.

By focusing on outcomes, you’ll show how your work directly benefits the organizations you’ve supported, making a stronger impression on recruiters and hiring managers.

9. Show You Can Lead (Because KM Is Influence-Heavy)

A lot of people think Knowledge Management is just an “individual contributor documentation job.” It’s not.

Knowledge Managers lead through influence, across departments, stakeholders, and often without direct authority. You’ll align teams, build a culture of sharing, and rally people around a shared vision. If your resume doesn’t reflect leadership, you risk being categorized as a “documentation specialist” even if you’ve done strategic KM work.

Where Leadership Should Show Up in Your Resume:

• Building governance models.
• Running training programs.
• Driving adoption campaigns.
• Managing stakeholders and review workflows.
• Owning a KM roadmap.

Use action verbs like “led,” “influenced,” or “aligned” to signal leadership. Pair them with measurable outcomes to prove the impact of your efforts.

Leadership is a core part of KM. Highlighting it in your resume shows recruiters you can do more than manage content, you can drive meaningful change across the organization.

10. Prove You Understand Information Architecture and Strategy

Two areas separate a “knowledge base editor” from a true Knowledge Manager:

• Information Architecture
• Business Strategy

Information Architecture
This is a core skill for Knowledge Managers. It includes structuring knowledge bases, deploying collaborative workplace tools, and building directories that make information easy to find and use.

Business Strategy
Knowledge Management is ultimately a business initiative, so your resume needs to show that you understand organizational priorities and can align KM strategy to business objectives.

Example for a Resume:

• “Aligned KM initiatives with ticket deflection goals, reducing support requests by 25% within six months.”
• “Created KPIs to track content health and adoption, delivering quarterly reports to leadership to guide decision-making.”
• “Partnered with leadership to prioritize high-impact workflows, resulting in a 10% increase in customer self-service usage.”

By demonstrating expertise in both information architecture and strategy, you’ll show recruiters that you can manage knowledge systems while driving business results. These are the key traits of a successful Knowledge Manager.

11. Use Certifications to Strengthen Credibility (Especially If You’re Pivoting)

Certifications aren’t mandatory, but they can create an instant credibility boost, especially if you’re transitioning into Knowledge Management from another field.

The guide highlights two key benefits of certifications:

• They prove you have skills beyond the job description: Certifications validate expertise in specific KM tools or methodologies.
• They signal professional experience: Some certifications require practical experience, which adds weight to your resume.

How to List Certifications on Your Resume:
Include the following details:

• Certification title
• Issuing organization
• Date earned (or expiration date, if applicable)
• A brief descriptor (optional)

And if you want something aligned to the role, the guide references Technical Writer HQ’s knowledge management certification.

12. Build Your Skills Section Like a “Skills System,” Not a Dumping Ground

Your skills section is one of the most important parts of your resume. The guide recommends two approaches:

1. List skills in a separate, dedicated section.
2. Weave them into your experience section.

For Knowledge Manager resumes, I prefer a dedicated skills section because it helps both ATS and human reviewers quickly identify your fit for the role.

How to Build a Strong Skills Section:

• Keep it curated: Include 10–15 targeted skills that match the job description. Avoid the temptation to list 40+ vague skills.
• Use job-specific keywords: Pull from the job description to align with ATS filters.
• Balance technical and non-technical skills: Highlight both KM discipline knowledge (e.g., taxonomy, information architecture) and management abilities (e.g., stakeholder collaboration, governance building).

Don’t forget the “manager” part of Knowledge Manager. Recruiters want to see both your technical expertise and your ability to lead and influence teams.

By keeping your skills section focused and relevant, you’ll make it easier for recruiters and ATS to see your qualifications at a glance.

Skills

13. Add Languages Only If It Helps Your Target Roles

Languages are optional, but they can be a real differentiator, especially in global organizations. Bilingual or multilingual Knowledge Managers often bring added value by supporting global business relationships, cross-cultural teams, or international knowledge sharing.

When to List Languages:

• If the role involves international teams or clients.
• If the job description mentions language requirements.
• If the organization operates in multiple countries and values multilingual capabilities.

How to Include Languages on Your Resume:

• List languages in a dedicated section or under your skills.
• Indicate your proficiency level (e.g., fluent, conversational, basic).

If languages aren’t relevant to the role, don’t include them. Focus instead on skills or experience that directly align with the job’s priorities.

By tailoring this section to roles where language skills are a real asset, you’ll make your resume stand out without adding unnecessary details.

14. Avoid the Mistakes That Quietly Kill Interviews

Even a strong resume can fail if it includes common mistakes. The guide highlights several resume pitfalls, and I agree with the most critical ones.

Top “Silent Killers” to Avoid:

• Using the same resume for every application: Employers can tell when a resume feels generic. Tailor your resume to each role by mirroring the job description’s language and highlighting the most relevant experience.
• Stuffing the resume with design elements ATS can’t parse: Tables, columns, or images might look good but can confuse ATS and cause your resume to be skipped.
• Adding salary requirements: Including salary expectations can end the conversation prematurely or make you seem inflexible. Leave this discussion for later in the hiring process.
• Burying the work that matters: Key elements like governance, strategy, adoption, and measurable outcomes should always be front and center. Don’t let them get lost under generic responsibilities.

If your resume doesn’t feel like it was written with the employer’s needs in mind, it’s unlikely to get noticed, no matter how qualified you are.

15. Repurpose Your Resume Into LinkedIn (So Your Brand Stays Consistent)

Once your resume is solid, don’t treat it like a one-and-done document. The guide highlights an important move: use your resume content to refresh your LinkedIn profile. Recruiters search LinkedIn for candidates, so keeping your profile aligned with your resume ensures a consistent and professional brand.

How to Repurpose Your Resume for LinkedIn:

• Headline: Translate your resume’s professional profile into an engaging LinkedIn headline.
• About Section: Use the summary from your resume but expand it into multiple short paragraphs. Add a clear call-to-action (e.g., “Feel free to connect if you’re looking for a KM professional to build scalable systems.”).
• Experience: Copy outcome-driven bullet points from your resume and adapt them into concise LinkedIn descriptions.
• Skills: Match the skills section of your resume to LinkedIn’s Skills & Endorsements section. Prioritize ATS-friendly terms like “Knowledge Management Systems,” “Taxonomy Design,” and “Governance Frameworks.”

If you want a structured way to do that (and keep your narrative consistent), use How to optimize a Knowledge Manager LinkedIn profile as your next step. 

A Knowledge Manager resume is a knowledge artifact. Like any good KM system, it should be structured, measurable, and aligned with its user’s needs (the employer). If it’s vague, bloated, or hard to navigate, it won’t perform, no matter how talented you are.

Salary and Career Outlook

Knowledge Manager pay can swing a lot depending on your location, industry, and what your KM “lane” really is. If your work leans into knowledge management systems, information system strategies, and data governance, you’ll often see different ranges than someone focused on a corporate knowledge base, enablement, or content ops.

And if you bring adjacent qualifications, like a bachelor’s degree in business, an information technology qualification, or a computer science background (especially when KM overlaps with data security and control or disaster recovery), that can shift your ceiling too.

Because salary data changes constantly, I don’t hardcode numbers here. Instead, I recommend checking a live salary page that updates by state/city so you can get local salary info for your situation and align it to your career goals: Indeed: Knowledge Manager salaries (location breakdowns)

FAQ

Here are the most frequently asked questions about creating a knowledge manager resume.

What should a Knowledge Manager resume focus on most?

Impact. Prioritize outcomes like reduced time-to-answer, higher self-service rates, better search success, faster onboarding, or improved customer/support efficiency. Then explain how you achieved those results through governance, taxonomy, workflows, tooling, or enablement.

What are the best metrics to include on a Knowledge Manager resume?

Use metrics that prove your KM system is working. Examples include:

• Search success rate or reduction in zero-result searches.
• Deflection rate (tickets avoided).
• Time saved per agent/employee.
• Onboarding time reduced.
• Content health (freshness, review compliance).
• Adoption metrics (active users, views, contribution rates).

How do I write resume bullets for Knowledge Management work?

I like a simple pattern: Problem → Action → Result. Example: “Reduced duplicate content by building governance + review cycles, cutting outdated pages by 40% and improving search success.”

Should I list tools on my Knowledge Manager resume?

Yes, but keep it relevant. Include the platforms you’ve actually used (e.g., knowledge base, intranet, search, analytics, ticketing). Pair tools with measurable outcomes so your resume doesn’t read like a shopping list.

What skills should I include for a Knowledge Manager role?

The strongest skills cluster around:

• Information Architecture: Taxonomy, metadata, navigation.
• Governance and Content Operations: Frameworks, compliance, workflows.
• Stakeholder Management and Change Management: Cross-departmental collaboration.
• Enablement: Training, adoption campaigns, internal communications.
• Analytics and Continuous Improvement: Measuring and optimizing KM systems.

How do I tailor my resume for different Knowledge Manager jobs?

Mirror the job description, but only where it’s true. If the role leans internal (enablement + intranet), lead with adoption and onboarding wins. If it’s customer support KM, lead with deflection, CSAT, and ticket reduction. Adjust your top summary + first 3–5 bullets to match the target role.

If you are new to knowledge management and are looking to break-in, we recommend taking our Certified Knowledge Manager Course, where you will learn the fundamentals of being a knowledge manager, and how to stand out as a technical writing candidate.