Are you a project manager? If so, you should be proud of your accomplishments. And if you’re looking to land a new job, you need to make sure that your resume speaks to the qualities employers are looking for.
But how do you do that? It’s not easy—there are tons of different qualities that potential employers want out of their project managers and it can be hard to figure out which ones are most important.
That’s why we’ve written this guide! Here we’ll walk through all the different things that make up a good project manager resume and explain why they matter. We’ll also give you tips on how to put them together into an impressive document that will really get your foot in the door.
Let’s get started!
Methodology
To build our project manager resume guide, we analyzed 51 project manager resumes and 27 project manager job postings using machine learning to identify the most common elements of good project manager resumes and the things employers ask for most often when hiring.
We’ve also built a database of over 600,000 publicly available resumes from different professions & analyzed how the best resumes were written.
It’s always good to make your resume unique and to follow best practices. This guide will help you understand what you need to include to make it competitive based on a large set of data from real resumes and real job listings.
You can read about our methodology in more detail here.
Project manager resume objective data + project manager objective examples
Do project manager’s need to include an objective on their resume?
The general advice for resume objectives and professional summaries is still true (read our guide on resume objectives), but here’s what the data says for project manager’s specifically:
- 41% of project manager’s included an objective section
- 35% of project manager’s included a professional summary
- 35% of project manager’s included neither an objective nor a summary
Project manager resume objective examples
Lifelong project manager seeking a new employment. Experience working with teams and executing new initiatives to meet organization KPIs .
Lifelong project manager seeking a new employment. Strong record working collaborative and executing key initiatives to help meet company-wide targets .
Results driven leader with extensive expertise offering team leadership, project management, and technical innovation within the energy industry. Certified PMP by PMI and APM by Westinghouse with a proven ability to promote synergy among executive teams and customers that results in cost efficient and timely and safely project delivery. Effectively navigates complex business priorities and offers strategic direction for organizational improvement, efficiency, and innovation.
Secure a responsible career opportunity to fully utilize my training and skills as a project manager, while making a significant contribution to the success of the company.
Experienced project manager with both proficient negotiating and project management skills. Action-oriented with a strong ability to communicate effectively with technology, executive, and business audiences. Self-motivated results-driven leader with more than 35 years of experience in planning, developing and implementing directives. Demonstrated ability to complete tasks accurately despite both interruptions and competing workplace demands. Hardworking and knowledgeable, possessing not only business acumen, but also an engaging personality.
Skills for project manager resumes
The best skills to put on any resume will be the ones most relevant to the job, but based on our analysis, these skills are among the most common on project manager resumes, which means they can be a strong foundation and are probably good to list on yours (if you’ve got them).
To learn more about how to fully leverage your skills section, check out our guide to resume skills.
*Note: our machine learning essentially picks up common words and phrases in skill sections, so you may have to extrapolate what skills are needed based on your own professional experience.
Most common project manager resume skills
Most common hard skills for project manager resumes: management, construction, sales, operations, and scheduling.
Most common soft skills for project manager resumes: analytical skills, business skills, communication skills, decisionmaking skills, and leadership skills.
Other good project manager resume skills
- Communication
- Leadership
- Organization
- Negotiation
- Team management
- Time management
- Risk management
- Problem-solving
- Budget management
- Motivation
- Technical writing
- Adaptability
- Technical skills
- Reporting skills
- Active listening
- Research skills
Project manager skills section examples
Note: we formatted all these examples the same way here for the sake of simplicity, but you can read about skills section formatting in our guide to resume formatting.
Project manager skills example 1
Communication | management | organization | negotiation | construction | sales| team management
Project manager skills example 2
Leadership | analytical skills | time management | business skills | risk management | communication skills | problem-solving
Project manager skills example 3
Reporting skills | budget management | leadership skills | decisionmaking skills | technical writing | business skills | adaptability
Work experience for project manager resumes
Work experience is perhaps the most important part of any resume, and it’s no different for project manager resumes.
For more detailed info on work experience sections specifically, check out our guide for writing a good work experience resume section and our guide for building a resume with no experience.
In general, when applying for project manager jobs, you want to highlight the experience most relevant to each specific position. Here are a few samples.
Project manager work experience examples
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Project Manager
Astonishing Studio, 2019-2022
Responsibilities
- Collaborate with architects, engineers, and other construction specialists
- Ensure that the project complies with legal requirements, such building and safety codes
- Interpret and explain contracts and technical information to other professionals
- Monitor projects and report progress and budget matters to the construction firm and clients
- Prepare cost estimates, budgets, and work timetables
WORK EXPERIENCE
Associate Project Manager
Hooli, 2017-2022
Responsibilities
- Respond to work delays, emergencies, and other problems with the project
- Select subcontractors and schedule and coordinate their activities
- Coordinate internal resources and third parties/vendors for the flawless execution of projects
- Ensure resource availability and allocation
- Develop a detailed project plan to track progress
WORK EXPERIENCE
Project Manager Intern
Astonishing Studio, 2010-2015
Responsibilities
- Report and escalate to management as needed
- Use appropriate verification techniques to manage changes in project scope, schedule and costs
- Developing project scopes and objectives, involving all relevant stakeholders and ensuring technical feasibility
- Monitor project progress and set deadlines
- Ensure stakeholder satisfaction
Education for project manager resumes
Unless you’re applying for academic positions or don’t have any work experience, your work history will be more important than your education.
Still, education is usually listed on resumes, and often, project manager job postings list a minimum education requirement.
See our guide for education on resumes for more detailed information.
Data from our sample of 51 project manager resumes
- 0% project manager resumes listed an associate’s degree
- 47% project manager resumes listed a bachelor’s degree
- 53% project manager resumes included a masters degree
- 0% project manager resumes mentioned a doctoral degree
Project manager resume education examples
EDUCATION
Master of Arts
Mount St. Joseph University, 2019
Awards & Honors
- Magna Cum Laude
- Class Rank Recognition
- Summa Cum Laude
EDUCATION
Associate of Applied Arts
Alliance Medical and Health Sciences College, 2017
Certifications for project manager resumes
Not every job requires certifications, but certifications can almost always improve your odds of landing an interview, and there certifications for (or related to) nearly all jobs.
In fact, we wrote a playbook for listing certifications on resumes.
Here are a few certifications that can help project manager’s specifically, according to CareerOneStop.
Project manager certification examples
CERTIFICATIONS
GIAC Certified Project Manager
Global Information Assurance Certification, 2019
Certified Scrum Product Owner
Scrum Alliance, 2017
CERTIFICATIONS
GIAC Certified Project Manager, Certified Education Technology Leader, Certified IT Consultant
Project manager resume action verbs
After analyzing over 600,000 resumes, we built a huge library of of action verbs and cross-referenced it with our sample of 51 project manager resumes and job postings to find which action verbs are most commonly used by project manager’s and project manager employers.
The most common action verbs on project manager resumes are: design, engineer, program, field, and develop.
The most common action verbs on project manager job postings are: lead, process, manage, plan, and review.
Other action verbs for project manager resumes:
- Monitor
- Upgrade
- Guide
- Report
- Track
- Direct
- Assist
- Drive
- Complete
- Establish
- Monitor
- Upgrade
- Guide
- Report
- Track
Full project manager resume example
We created a couple complete project manager resume examples to help you see how all this fits together. Yours can be better than this. This is just a basic illustration.
To see “perfect” examples, check out our showcase of resume examples.
Project manager resume example
Megan Miller
Project Manager
641 Jennifer Lane, Raleigh, NC
Executive-Level Program Manager with 17 years of Information Technology (IT) and business management experience in both the public and private sector with key emphasis infrastructure management Oracle EBS -Financials expertise IT compliance/SOX project management vendor management and program management.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Project Manager
Astonishing Studio, 2019-2022
Responsibilities
- Promoted transparency among core team, engineering, supply chain management, finance, legal, marketing, and other teams to drive productivity.
- Execute strategic direction regarding the improvement of customer facing engineering and technical services, establishing and leading dynamic teams to install, replace, and commission company supplied equipment.
- Lead the selection, development, and management of a cross functional team of engineers and support technicians, harnessing team strengths to drive customer, technical, and business objectives.
- Cultivate relationships with customers and suppliers to manage requests for plant modifications and commissioning.
Associate Project Manager
Hooli, 2017-2022
Responsibilities
- Effectively lead interdisciplinary technical and engineering teams while synergizing cross functional groups and external contingent labor suppliers, ensuring superior client services to drive a $25M+ increase in revenue while slashing project costs by $800K annually.
- Source, recruit, and manage top tier talent by fostering solid partnerships with internal and external recruitment firms, including System One in the US, Thomas Thor Associates in the UAE, and KONEC in South Korea.
- Interpreted multi million US dollar Equipment Supply contract to develop project specific guidelines on how to deploy resources in the UAE in compliance with the contract, company policies and US export controls laws and regulations.
- Develop multi million US dollar proposals for additional work on existing projects and for future projects, including collection of scope, schedule, cost, risk and resource information.
Project Manager Intern
Astonishing Studio, 2014-2015
Responsibilities
- Establish training standards to ensure optimal efficiency, evaluating operations and personnel to identify areas for training improvement and skill growth that saved 40+ man hours per individual on each project.
- Played an integral role in the coordination and management of post shipment operations, identifying and mitigating technical issues to maintain contractual requirements and financial priorities.
- Promoted transparency among core team, engineering, supply chain management, finance, legal, marketing, and other teams to drive productivity.
- Established a project team and coordinated all aspects of design, material procurement, and outsourcing to results in the assembly, testing, inspection, and shipment of the re engineered safety system to the site for installation and testing.
CERTIFICATIONS
Data Governance and Stewardship Professional – Executive Management
Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals, 2019
Certified Scrum Professional
Scrum Alliance, 2017
SKILLS
Communication | team management | sales | communication skills | analytical skills | scheduling | budget management
EDUCATION
Master of Arts
Mount St. Joseph University, 2019
Associate of Applied Arts
Alliance Medical and Health Sciences College, 2017
What experts say about project manager resumes
Before we wrap it up, we want to leave you with some advice from other experts we admire.
“Map what they’re asking for (in the job description) to what you are presenting on your resume.” – Secrets to a Great Project Management Resume – Project Management Training
” By far the most important tip if you really want a recruiter or hiring manager to see your CV and take it seriously is to have a simple structure.” – 10 Project Management Resume / CV TIPS | WITH REAL LIFE EXAMPLES – GET THAT INTERVIEW!
” Remember that your resume is a marketing tool designed to sell you to potential employer.” – How to Build a Standout Project Manager Resume + Examples Provided
Finalizing Your Project Manager Resume
Thanks for reading our guide!
We hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, we’d love to hear from you. Tell us what you liked best, what you think could be improved, or just say hi!
