Project Manager Resume Example & Writing Tips for 2022

We live in a world where we have the possibility to dream big, even making our dreams come true. Some people dream of expanding their businesses and really putting themselves out there. Here is where project managers come in.

Project managers are tasked with planning, organizing and directing projects for an organization or company, and ensuring they're done on time, on budget and within scope.

Now, to become a project manager, you do need the following:

Minimum of a Bachelor's Degree
Work experience in the field or a related field

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, project manager positions are at a 4% growth rate, which is faster than average. With that said, there are currently 1,444,420 jobs in the market right now.

If you're looking to grow as a project manager, one thing that is important is to have a project manager resume and keep it updated, even if you're already working with your dream company.

Luckily for you, we're here to help you grow your resume and allow it to really showcase what you've got.

In this article, we are going to go over the following 6 steps that will help take your resume to the next level:

How to format your resume
How to write a resume summary
How to describe your work experience
How to list your key skills
How to add your certifications
How to add your education

1. Format your resume like a professional

There's a lot of competition in the business world, and when it comes to applying to jobs and actually getting hired, there's just as much.

To truly impress hiring managers, it is crucial to correctly format your resume.

Be sure to include the following sections in your resume:

Resume summary
Contact information
Skills
Work experience
Education
Languages
Certifications

Tip: If you're part of an organization relevant to the field or have any relevant hobbies, if you've got the space, feel free to create sections for them in your resume.

There are three ways to choose from to correctly format your resume:

Reverse-chronological, which emphasizes your previous work experience
Functional, which highlights your key skills
Hybrid, which combines the previous formats

As a project manager, you want to use the hybrid format to highlight the work you've done and the skills you have.

If you're applying to your first project manager position and have more skills to offer than actual experience, considering selecting the functional format.

Tip: Since the field is growing, hiring managers may be receiving tons of resumes and applications for the job. Look over the job listing and implement some details and keywords listed to your resume to ensure it at least gets looked over.

Take a look at our guide on how to format your resume if you want to learn more.

2. Write an impressive and professional resume summary

We live in a busy world, and businesses are busy, too. Oftentimes, resumes are only looked at for only 6-7 seconds. Therefore, you can make your resume stand out to hiring managers by including a resume summary at the top of your resume.

A resume summary is a 1-2 sentence blurb that summarizes the important stuff on your resume. Including a resume summary shows hiring managers that you don't want to waste their time. It also makes your resume look more professional, which can help you land the job.

Here are some things to include in your resume summary:

Years of experience
Kind of experience
Achievements
Personal characteristics

Tip: Sometimes, it's easier to write your resume summary after you have already written your resume. That way, you can pick and choose what you want to include.

‍
Here's an example of what your resume summary can look like as a project manager:

Enthusiastic and detail-oriented project manager with 9+ years experience growing revenue for multiple organizations and companies. Have improved quality in businesses by 22% and cut costs by 15% while maintaining a motivated energy.

Need more help writing a professional resume summary? Our guide on writing resume summaries has tons of examples.

3. Describe your professional work experience

To become a project manager, you do need experience working with businesses or around the field. This could be on an assistant level or through training.

With that said, it's time to go over what you should be putting in the work experience section of your resume.

When listing your work experience, it is important to go in reverse-chronological order. This shows hiring executives your most recent job experience and what you learned or mastered in that job.

Tip: When listing your work experience, it's also important to highlight the specifics you did on the job and use good verbs.

Here are some job descriptions examples you can include in your resume as a project manager:

Developed and maintained solid client relationships; encouraged a collaborative approach with departmental team members.
Educated clients on cost savings and opportunities aligned with their marketing efforts.
Partnered with outside agencies in managing clients’ promotional and marketing efforts.
Wrote creative briefs on complex projects and interpreted them for project teams in order to lead communication strategies and implement marketing efforts.
Collaborated on creative development and direction with client, design and production teams.
Provided feedback to project team during internal creative reviews.
Presented concepts to clients, obtained feedback and translated that feedback for the project team.
Reviewed client change requests and responded with schedule/cost impacts along with alternatives.
Managed expectations with clients and departmental teams.
Negotiated timelines and budgets and ensured that all deadlines are maintained.
Represented the interests of the client in interactions with project teams.
Ensured all regulatory, legal and compliance and branding guidelines are followed.
Provided final sign-off on projects to ensure compliance with creative brief and project specifications.
Served as lead for a wide range of initiatives, including Systemic Equality Agenda projects and special assignments tasked by the Chief Communications Officer, including establishing objectives, determining priorities, identifying risks, managing progress, gaining cooperation of others, assisting in resolving potential conflicts, and managing communications.
Designed and implemented methods for tracking deliverables, schedules, and metrics for projects, providing clear tasks and accountability for project workstream leaders and team members to ensure deliverables adhere to internal quality standards.
Created and maintained comprehensive project documentation, providing a clear historical record of decisions, systems, procedures and communications involved in each project’s completion.
Managed the seamless transition of completed projects to long-term owners of related workstreams, including creating and implementing effective roll-out plans, conducting post-completion evaluations to determine successful/unsuccessful project elements, and training of long-term workstream owners.
Executed specific tasks within projects, including drafting communications, systems build-out and testing, and creating project evaluation and presentation materials.
Established and maintained a relationship management database to facilitate smooth navigation of partnerships, coalitions, and relationships with other advocacy, community, grassroots, grass tops, and movement organizations.
Provided the Chief Communications Officer and other leadership regular updates on the progress of projects.

Want more tips and tricks on how to write your work experience description? Check out our guide on describing your work experience.

4. List your key skills

As a project manager, it is crucial for you to have certain interpersonal skills:

Communication skills
Decision-making skills
Leadership skills
Management skills
Problem-solving skills
Time-management skills

On top of that, there are other key skills you can include on your resume that will show hiring managers you're qualified for the position.

Here are some examples of hard skills as a project manager:

MS Office
Project Scheduling
Strategic Planning & Analysis
Business Development
Business Management

Tip: You can also include languages as key skills if you don't have the space to make them their own section or simply don't want to.

Having trouble identifying your skills? We have a guide with 100+ key skills you can include in your resume.

5. Add certifications to your resume

While certifications are not a requirement to land a project manager position within a company, they can definitely help.

Oftentimes, you can get business certifications directly through your university, but if this is not an option, there are online programs you can complete as well.

Here are some certifications that you can get and include in your resume:

Project Management Certificate (PMP)
Project Management Certificate (CAPM)
Project Management Professional Certificate (PgMP)

If you're looking for more certifications to include in your resume or want to know how to correctly list them, check out our guide.

6. Add your education to your resume

As we mentioned earlier, you need a minimum of a Bachelor's degree to land a project manager position. Even then, an MBA will make you look even more attractive to hiring managers.

To assure you have a chance at getting hired, it is crucial to add your education to your resume.

With that said, here is how you should be listing your education in your resume:

New York University
New York, NY
2010 — 2012
MBA in Business Management

NYU Stern School of Business
New York, NY
2006 — 2010
Bachelor of Science in Business Management

Tip: If you're low on resume space and got your MBA at the same university you got your Bachelor's degree in, just list your MBA and make sure to add up the years it took you to get both degrees.

Need more helping listing your education? Don't know if to include your GPA? We have a guide that will help you list your education in 2021 with examples and tips.

Key Takeaways

As a project manager, your job is to help companies and businesses grow. As resume builders and experts, it is our job to help you grow by creating and building a resume that will land you any job with any company.

We know we've covered a lot, so here's a summary of everything we've covered: