Junior PPC Executive CV: How to Tailor It to Any Job Description (UK)

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) is a measurable discipline — and that is its great advantage for a CV. Where other marketing roles deal in soft metrics, PPC deals in ROAS, CPA, CTR, and conversion rate. If you have managed campaigns, you have numbers. Lead with them.

What PPC employers look for in a junior hire

Platform proficiency:

Google Ads: Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Performance Max
Meta Ads Manager: Facebook and Instagram campaigns
Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads): increasingly required for full-funnel coverage
Google Analytics 4: conversion tracking, attribution, audience building
Google Tag Manager: basic tag implementation, trigger configuration

Campaign management skills:

Keyword research: Keyword Planner, Semrush, Ahrefs
Ad copy writing and A/B testing
Bidding strategies: manual CPC, Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximise Conversions
Audience targeting: remarketing, customer match, lookalike audiences, in-market segments
Quality Score optimisation: relevance, landing page experience, expected CTR
Negative keyword management and search term analysis
Shopping campaign structure: feed management, product groupings, priority bidding

Reporting and analysis:

Google Ads reporting
Looker Studio (Data Studio) dashboard creation
Excel / Google Sheets pivot tables for spend and performance analysis

Certifications (list them — they are free and expected):

Google Ads Search Certification
Google Ads Shopping Certification
Google Ads Display Certification
Meta Blueprint Certification
Google Analytics Certification

Personal statement example

"Results-driven junior PPC professional with 18 months of hands-on Google Ads and Meta Ads campaign management experience across e-commerce and lead generation clients. Managed a combined monthly spend of £35k across 6 client accounts, consistently delivering ROAS above target benchmarks and reducing average CPA by 18% through negative keyword pruning and audience exclusion refinements. Google Ads Search and Meta Blueprint certified. Seeking a junior PPC executive role in a growth-oriented agency or in-house marketing team where I can expand my platform coverage to include Microsoft Ads and Performance Max."

Bullet points for a PPC CV

"Managed Google Ads Search campaigns for a B2C e-commerce client with a £12k monthly budget, optimising keyword bids, ad copy, and landing page alignment — improved ROAS from 2.8 to 4.1 over a 3-month period."

"Conducted a full negative keyword audit across a Google Ads account with 1,200 active keywords, identifying 340 irrelevant search terms responsible for 18% of wasted spend — implementing the exclusion list reduced CPA by £6.40 per conversion."

"A/B tested 4 pairs of responsive search ad headlines for a SaaS client, identifying a question-based format that improved CTR by 34% — rolled out across all ad groups within the campaign."

"Restructured a Google Shopping campaign from a single all-products ad group to a tiered priority structure, separating bestsellers into a Priority 2 campaign — increased impression share for high-margin products by 41%."

Skills section

Platforms: Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, Microsoft Advertising, Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager

Bidding: Target CPA, Target ROAS, Manual CPC, Maximise Conversions

Shopping: Google Merchant Center, product feed management, shopping campaign structure

Reporting: Looker Studio, Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP), Supermetrics

Certifications: Google Ads Search, Google Ads Shopping, Meta Blueprint, Google Analytics 4

Other: Semrush (keyword research), Optmyzr / Adalysis (automation tools, if applicable)

Agency vs in-house: what changes on your CV

Agency: Emphasise multi-client management, budget range across accounts, cross-sector experience, and reporting to client stakeholders.

In-house: Emphasise ownership and accountability for a single brand's performance, longer strategic horizons, cross-functional collaboration with creative, web, and data teams, and direct revenue/lead generation impact.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to have managed large budgets to apply for a junior PPC role?

No — junior roles are for developing budget management skills. If your current experience is small budgets or personal campaigns, state the budget clearly and focus on the skills developed and results achieved relative to the scale.

Should I run personal Google Ads campaigns to build experience?

Yes — even a small campaign budget (£50-£100 on a personal project or affiliate site) generates real campaign data and genuine experience. Document the setup, optimisation decisions, and results.

What is Performance Max and should I mention it?

Performance Max (PMax) is Google's automated campaign type that serves across all Google channels. It has largely replaced Smart Shopping campaigns and is widely used. Mention it if you have experience with it — PMax campaign setup, asset group creation, and audience signal configuration are all worth referencing.