Project Manager Resume Examples and Writing Tips

Key sections to include in a project management resume

Most project manager resumes follow the structure of the resume example above: a header with contact details, a resume summary, work history, education, and skills. Some job seekers also add optional sections, like languages or volunteer work.

Let’s take a look at these resume elements more closely, including realistic examples to get you inspired.

The beginning of your resume, the header, should be short and sweet – include your personal details and contact information, including:

Full name
Job title
Phone number
Email address
Location (city and state)
LinkedIn URL

Having all this information in one easy location makes it simple and straightforward for the hiring manager to contact you if they want to schedule an interview. It also gives them a couple of options, depending on if they prefer phone or email.

Here’s a project manager resume sample header:

Terry Alexander
Project Manager
555-3187
terryalex@gmail.com
Boulder, CO
linkedin.com/terryalexander/

Resume objective or summary

Your resume summary or objective will be the first thing the hiring manager reads. Both concepts are similar – a two- to four-sentence professional description – but slightly different:

Resume summary: A brief description of your work experience and achievements
Resume objective: A brief description of your skills and professional goals

Most job seekers have an established work history, so they opt for a resume summary. Objectives are usually reserved for students and people switching careers.

To get you started, here’s a project manager resume sample summary:

“Energetic project manager with 4 years of experience managing marketing projects for agencies. Skilled in communicating with and managing stakeholders, leading teams, and estimating budgets. Maintained a 98% stakeholder satisfaction rate through more than 200 projects.”

Work experience

This section is the most important element in nearly every resume. Hiring managers want to understand your relevance to their open role and your work history is the easiest way to tell them.

Start by listing your job title, and then add the company name, location, and date of employment. Underneath those details, add a bullet point list of accomplishments.

Here’s a quick example:

Project Manager
Think Stars, Denver, CO
March 2022 – February 2024

Managed internal and external stakeholders expertly, answering questions and resolving conflicts promptly, leading to 99% client satisfaction
Provided guidance to a team of 20+, ensuring a smooth workflow and strict deadline adherence
Implemented the MOCHA project management framework to organize all team members and clarify roles, leading to a 10% productivity increase

Keep in mind that the formatting differs slightly, depending on the resume template you use. For example, CVwizard’s Horizontal template places the employment date to the right of your job title.

Education

Most project manager roles don’t require a college degree, but it’s still a good idea to list any education you have, as employers generally prefer candidates who have a bachelor’s degree.

Keep this section brief, but informative. Provide the name of your degree, the institution where you received it, and your graduation date. Here’s an example:

Bachelor’s in Business Administration
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
October 2016 – May 2020

Hard skills

Technical skills help project managers plan and execute projects, as well as monitor their progress with PM software. These learned skills are essential for a solid project manager resume to show recruiters you have the abilities they need.

Here are the most common hard skills for a project management resume:

Project development
Project management software
Project scheduling
Stakeholder management
Budgeting
Risk management
Project management methodologies (such as Scrum, Waterfall, and Agile)
Microsoft Office and Google Workspace
Project planning and execution
Team coordination

Soft skills

Soft skills are too often ignored or underestimated when they’re vital for outstanding project management. Interpersonal skills like communication and empathy give project managers the ability to speak to stakeholders and manage potential conflict, leading to excellent outcomes.

Here are the top soft skills for project manager resumes:

Communication
Leadership
Negotiation
Conflict-resolution
Problem-solving
Attention to detail
Decision-making
Ethics and compliance
Emotional intelligence
Value creation

Optional sections

Extra sections add more depth and flavor to your resume, helping you stand out to recruiters. These sections include:

Volunteer work
Languages
Hobbies and interests
Certifications

The section that’s most relevant to project managers is “Certifications.” Many project manager job ads require project management certifications; most commonly the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification from PMI. Other common certifications are:

Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
Certified Project Management Practitioner (CPMP)
Master Project Manager (MPM)

Tips for Writing a project manager resume

You’ve laid the perfect foundation – now let’s apply a few extra tips and tricks to make your project manager resume perfect.

Quantify your achievements

Listing standard work responsibilities doesn’t tell the hiring manager anything. It reads like a to-do list and simply tells them you completed your work tasks:

“Communicated with teammates, planned projects, advised management on project best practices.”

The best way to provide your work history is through quantified achievements. This gives your accomplishments measurable success and solid outcomes, which gives hiring managers a firm grasp of your competence. Here’s an example:

“Communicated with teammates, providing feedback and resolving conflict, which led to a 15% increase in efficiency.”

Use project management terminology

Make sure you’re using industry-specific terminology in your project management resume. PMs use a certain vocabulary:

"Stakeholder:" Customer

"Resources:" Software, assets, employees, and anything that contributes to a project

"Deliverable:" Products you expect at the end of the project

"Dependencies:" Tasks that rely on the completion of other tasks

"Scope": The goals, deadlines, and products of a project

It’s more than using “buzzwords.” Using the correct terminology ensures your speaking to the employer in a way they understand and can directly correlate to their open role.

Tailor your resume to each position

Resumes should never be copy / pasted to every position you apply for. Ensure you tailor each resume to the job ad, including relevant keywords and skills.

Customizing each resume makes your application more relevant to the open role, increasing your odds of hooking an interview. It’s also the best way to build an ATS resume – which means you optimized your application for applicant tracking systems.

Looking for more tips and tricks? Browse our collection of resume articles for even more advice.

Create a great project manager resume and stand out

Proving your skills and securing a PM role can be a tall order, but with the right project manager resume, you can land your dream job. Just follow our tips:

Quantify your achievements
Use project management terminology
Tailor your resume to each job post
Grab the recruiter’s attention with an eye-catching resume summary
Include your PM certifications

Ready to take action? Jump over to CVwizard’s Resume Builder to create a project management resume that showcases your top qualifications.