Proposal Writer Overview
Working as a Proposal Writer
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a proposal writer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.75 an hour? That's $55,644 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 4,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Proposal Writer Do
There are certain skills that many proposal writers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed detail oriented, technical skills and writing skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a proposal writer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 17.6% of proposal writers included proposal content, while 10.2% of resumes included subject matter experts, and 6.4% of resumes included powerpoint. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the proposal writer job title. But what industry to start with? Most proposal writers actually find jobs in the technology and professional industries.
How To Become a Proposal Writer
If you're interested in becoming a proposal writer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 51.2% of proposal writers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 31.4% of proposal writers have master's degrees. Even though most proposal writers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a proposal writer. When we researched the most common majors for a proposal writer, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on proposal writer resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a proposal writer. In fact, many proposal writer jobs require experience in a role such as technical writer. Meanwhile, many proposal writers also have previous career experience in roles such as editor or senior technical writer.
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Proposal Writer Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of proposal manager you might progress to a role such as program manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title marketing communications manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Proposal Writer
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Unitedhealth Group Inc. RFP Proposal Writer, Community & State-U.S. Telecommute RFP Proposal Writer, Community & State-U.S. Telecommute | Unitedhealth Group Inc. Unitedhealth Group Inc. | 01/23/2021 01/23/2021 | $64,80001/23/2021 $64,800 |
Robert Half Rfp/Proposal Writer Rfp/Proposal Writer | Robert Half Robert Half | 12/22/2020 12/22/2020 | $62,61012/22/2020 $62,610 |
Robert Half Proposal Writer Proposal Writer | Robert Half Robert Half | 12/17/2020 12/17/2020 | $95,00012/17/2020 $95,000 |
Randstad Technical Proposal Writer Technical Proposal Writer | Randstad Randstad | 11/24/2020 11/24/2020 | $41,74011/24/2020 $41,740 |
Sherpa Proposal Writer Proposal Writer | Sherpa Sherpa | 11/21/2020 11/21/2020 | $64,69711/21/2020 $64,697 |
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Proposal Writer Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Proposal Writer. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Proposal Writer Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Proposal Writer resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Proposal Writers
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
4. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Public
5. University of Houston
Houston, TX • Public
6. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
7. Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY • Private
8. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
9. SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY • Public
10. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Public
Top Skills For a Proposal Writer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 17.6% of proposal writers listed proposal content on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and technical skills are important as well.
- Proposal Content, 17.6%
- Subject Matter Experts, 10.2%
- Powerpoint, 6.4%
- Business Development, 6.0%
- Past Performance, 5.0%
- Other Skills, 54.8% See All Proposal Writer Skills
Best States For a Proposal Writer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a proposal writer. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, Georgia, Vermont, and West Virginia. Proposal writers make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $71,477. Whereas in Georgia and Vermont, they would average $67,214 and $65,850, respectively. While proposal writers would only make an average of $65,373 in West Virginia, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Massachusetts
$71,477
Avg. Salary
2. District of Columbia
$75,773
Avg. Salary
3. Vermont
$65,851
Avg. Salary
How Do Proposal Writer Rate Their Jobs?
Top Proposal Writer Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ proposal writers and discovered their number of proposal writer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Express Scripts was the best, especially with an average salary of $61,627. Aetna follows up with an average salary of $61,629, and then comes Phacil with an average of $65,391. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a proposal writer. The employers include Huron Consulting Group, Cornerstone OnDemand, and Coustic-Glo International Ceiling Maintenance
Proposal Writer Videos
