Case Manager Resume: 5 Tips to Stand Out + Examples

A persuasive case manager resume is vital to improving your chances of landing your next job. If done right, your resume can help open doors and increase the number of job interviews you receive.

To get your foot in the door, then, you'll need to make sure you've got a resume that attracts potential employers.

In this article, you'll learn how to do just that by exploring five impactful tips that will ensure you put your best foot forward. At the end, you'll also find a list of job titles that are often used to describe case manager positions and explore cost-effective courses that can help you develop job-relevant skills today.

What is a case manager?

Case managers create, coordinate, and manage an individual's care plan as they receive physical or mental care from a physician or other health care professional.

Tasked with ensuring their clients receive the best possible care, case managers track their clients' recovery progress, communicate with their health care providers, and help them access the resources they need to complete their plan of care. Case managers also evaluate and assess the success of a plan and make adjustments as needed with approval from the patient’s provider.   

There are many different types of case managers, including mental health case managers, social work case managers, and registered nurse (RN) case managers. Case managers may work in hospitals, government agencies, rehabilitation clinics, and other community and health care facilities.

Read more: What Is Case Management? Definition, Process, and Models

Case manager vs. social worker: What’s the difference?

Social workers help individuals, families, and other groups as they deal with various life difficulties, such as mental health problems, adoption or foster care, and managing illnesses. Social workers who have undergone clinical training to become clinical social workers, furthermore, can provide therapeutic services to their clients and diagnose illnesses, diseases, or other disorders.

Case managers, meanwhile, coordinate treatment plans and programs that advocate for patient care. Case managers may offer emotional support and work with an individual’s family. In some cases, seeking counselors or the help of outside professionals and other resources who can offer therapy is part of the job of a case manager. 

5 Tips for your case manager resume

A compelling case manager resume clearly demonstrates your skills as a case manager through what you include on your resume and how it is written and presented. Here are five tips to help you craft the best possible resume:

1. Craft a compelling case manager resume summary.

A resume summary gives hiring managers a quick overview of your relevant professional skills, experience, and goals. Located just under your contact information at the top of your resume, your summary should only be two to four lines long and speak to how you would be a good fit for the specific case manager position to which you are applying.

The resume summary is crucial because it acts as a “hook” to pull in hiring managers. Start by summarizing your relevant professional case manager experience, or your educational qualifications if you don't yet have any work experience yet. Next, highlight any relevant skills you may possess that make you a good fit for the job. Finally, close out the summary with your intentions for the job, mentioning any long-term career goals it may converge with.

When formatting your statement, use the following three steps: 

• Begin with an adjective statement that states who you are. The adjective you use should describe you as a case manager and be relevant to the position.

• Next, include your experience followed by qualifications, skills, and achievements.

• Close with your hopes and intentions with this employer. Avoid talking in the first person, and use strong, action words. 

Case manager resume summary examples

1. Passionate case manager with 10 years of experience seeking employment at City Hospital. Eager to use mental health case management skills and psychology to provide quality patient care. Managed 15 caseloads per week at ABC Hospital, supporting patients and families. CCM certified with a bachelor’s degree in social work. Hoping to be a part of the City Hospital community and devoting a career to mental health rehabilitation. 

2. Diligent case manager with over five years of experience assisting clients with building coping skills to address specific life challenges. Seeking a position as a case manager at ABC hospital. Skilled in mediating family conflict and advocacy for patient mental health. Managed and supervised 25 caseloads a week at Acme Hospital. Passionate about building my career as a case manager in the mental health space. 

3. Recent graduate with a bachelor's degree in social work seeking an opportunity to use internship experience to help juvenile inmates access resources necessary for rehabilitation. Empathetic, patient, and trained to work with juveniles in a rehabilitation setting. Seeking an opportunity to build skills and make a difference in the lives of juveniles in need of support services. 

2. Keep the format simple and easily scanned.

Your resume's layout, design, and format should be as simple and clear as possible to ensure that hiring managers can easily read it. At a glance, here's what you need to do to keep your resume in top shape:

• Margins: Typically, you should have a one-inch margin on all four sides of your case manager resume. In the event that you have some overhang, you may go down to a half-inch margin on all sides. Make sure to be consistent across all application materials.

• Font: Pick an easy-to-read font face that isn't distracting, such as Times New Roman, Garamond, Cambria, and Didot. Throughout your resume, the font should be between 10.5 - to 12- point size for easy reading, but headers can typically be two to four points larger. 

• Headings: Put headings in bold and format them on the left side of your resume, so the reader's eyes can easily find the headings that are most important to them.

• Bullet points: Bullet points can break up paragraphs and enhance the readability of a resume, but too many bullet points can look crowded and confusing. Use bullet points to describe the specific duties and responsibilities you held at a previous job. 

• Line spacing: A generally accepted line spacing format for resumes is a 1.0 to 1.5 line spacing between text. You can use double lines after heading. Maintaining this tighter line spacing can accommodate the content you want to include on your resume while keeping the length under two pages. 

• Aim for two pages: If you have under 10 years of experience as a case manager, try to keep your resume to one page. An experienced case manager should craft a two-page resume, but no more.

3. Demonstrate your skills.

Your resume should demonstrate to potential employers the competencies that make you a strong candidate for that particular case manager position. Remember that there are many different types of case managers, so tailoring your competencies to the position is essential. 

You may not need to list every quality that makes you a great case manager. Instead, highlight key skills that would be attractive to a particular employer or industry. Consider these general competencies to include on your case manager resume: 

• Mental health diagnoses

• Effective communication skills

• Teaching 

• A desire to help others

• Care and Empathy

• Organization and planning

• Clinical skills 

• Rehabilitation & recovery programs

• Cultural sensitivity

• Diversification awareness

• Advocacy skills

• Evaluating and facilitating medical needs

• Optimizing human services

• Monitoring patient’s health

• Aptitude for teamwork

• Negotiation skills

• Patience

• Accountability

• Critical thinking skills

• Problem-solving skills

Keep an eye on case manager resume keywords

Many employers now use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to manage resumes. Typically, these systems use software to scan resumes for relevant keywords, which are generated by analyzing the job description for the position. To help you get noticed by the system, it can be wise to include some relevant keywords and phrases used in the job description.

Read more: Resume Keywords: How to Find the Right Words to Beat the ATS

4. Highlight your achievements.

On your case manager resume, achievements are things you have earned, built, designed, or initiated using skills relevant to case management. Achievements vary widely by where you work as a case manager, your experience, your education and credentials, and the area of case management in which you work. 

Achievements can be tied to work experience. A few examples of case manager achievements may include: 

• Developed an intervention plan to advocate for maintaining positive, open, and respectful communication with clients, families, and other members of a client’s support team.

• Created an initiative that provided free resources to the families of rehabilitation patients within the city of Townsville. 

• Led county-wide educational programs educating youth and families about mental health services in the community. 

5. Emphasize your education and professional qualifications.

The educational requirements to become a case manager include a high school diploma at a bare minimum, but many employers require a bachelor’s degree in health care management or a related field. Other common degrees you may earn if you want to become a case manager include social work, health and human services, or nursing. 

Some case managers who do not work in the health care industry, like legal case managers or correctional case managers, may have degrees in social sciences or criminal justice. Some employers may also prefer candidates with a master’s degree.

If you have professional certification, then you should also make sure to include it on your resume. Some common professional certifications for case managers include the following:

• Certified Case Manager (CCM) certification:  Offered by the Commission for Case Manager Certification, or CCMC, this credential requires you to meet one educational requirement and one experiential requirement to sit for the exam. Requirement options include licensure (if you have an RN license, for example), a degree, or already certified by another professional organization. Experiential requirements include either 12 months of supervisory experience in case management, 12 months of supervised experience by a CCM, or 24 months of unsupervised case management experience. Upon passing the CCM exam, you earn the title of a board-certified case manager. 

• ACM (Accredited Case Manager) certification:  This credential is designed for case managers working in health care, specifically registered nurses and social workers. The two-part exam that leads to certification tests competencies needed to work in the health care delivery system, so the requirements for this certification are tied to experience in health care. Educational prerequisites for the ACM certification include a valid RN or social worker license or a bachelor’s or master’s degree. Experiential requirements require all applicants have at least one year of experience in a supervised paid position as a case manager. 

Don't forget your cover letter.

A cover letter is your chance to address a specific employer directly. Tell the employer directly why you would be the best candidate for the position. It’s acceptable and typically encouraged to let your personality come through in the cover letter.

This might mean talking a little about why you chose this profession or revealing more about why you’re passionate about the field.

Read more: How to Write a Cover Letter and Get Noticed

Case manager job titles

You can find quite a few job types that fall under case manager, depending on the population you serve, the industry, your employer, your location, your experience, and your level of education. Here are some common case manager job titles, along with the average total annual salary for each one (according to Glassdoor):

• Hospital case manager: $61,225 [1] 

• Nurse case manager: $93,443 [2]

• Home health case manager: $68,825 [3]

• Medical case manager: $55,934 [4]

• Social work case manager: $62,931 [5]

• Mental health case manager: $55,867 [6]

• Clinical case manager: $62,792 [7]

• Substance abuse case manager: $57,428 [8]

• Legal case manager: $61,832 [9]

• Rehabilitation case manager: $54,456 [10]

• Child case manager: $46,633 [11]

• Juvenile case manager: $51,936 [12]

• Geriatric case manager: $67,113 [13]

• Forensic case manager: $63,314 [14]

• Correctional case manager: $53,323 [15]

Note: Total pay is the combined amount of Glassdoor users’ reported average salary and additional pay, which could include profit sharing, commissions, cash bonuses, or tips. 

Read more: Case manager salary: Your 2022 Guide

Get job-ready with Coursera

Go above and beyond the basic requirements for a case manager position and consider enrolling in a course that can teach you strategies to become a better case manager. 

In Imperial College London's Health Systems Development Specialization, you'll gain insight into a range of disciplines, including organizational behavior, health policy, information systems, and human resources. Get started today by exploring the field and building your case manager resume.