According to PMI’s Industry Growth Forecast, 15.7 million new project management roles will be created globally across seven project-intensive industries between 2010-2020. While it is projected that there will be a spurt in project management roles, the race to attain a job in the said role is bound to become increasingly challenging with each passing year.
If you have not heard back from a recruiter in the past, your resume is probably at fault. To increase the likelihood of a shortlist, transforming your resume is a trick you should master.
The below-listed essentials of a project management resume is a great place to begin:
1. Make your Header and Profile Title stand out
You need to make sure that your resume has its unique identity because you wouldn’t want it to get lost in a sea of resumes, right?
This is where your resume header comes in.
Simply put, your name is the de-facto resume header. If you have been writing “CV” or “Resume” to label your project management resume, stop right away. Instead, write your real full name at the extreme top part of your resume.
Doing this will give your resume a unique identity of its own.
Additionally, make sure that your profile title is also up-to-mark and correctly presented in your resume.
A profile title helps you tell the story of your career trajectory in one glimpse. Whether it’s your functional industry or seniority level, your profile title helps you showcase it all.
As a project manager, you should follow the guidelines below to write your profile title:
Provide only your accurate profile title because exaggerating it can make it seem like you are lying to the recruiters and that can cause you the chances of a potential shortlist!
2. Don’t flood your project management resume with irrelevant details
A major blunder that most professionals including project managers tend to make is in flooding their resumes with irrelevant information. Most professionals make this mistake in the personal information section of their resume.
For instance, many professionals have been guilty of writing trivial information in their resume which just does not make sense. From marital status, to sexual preference, to religious beliefs; certain information such as these are absolutely unnecessary and should not be replicated in your resume unless it is explicitly asked for.
Moreover, they end up cluttering your resume, which means that your resume bulks up without helping you advance your job application.
You can’t be shortlisted for your resume if your resume focuses too much on irrelevant information as it then shifts the focus away from important aspects of your career.
Thus, be extra cautious while filling the personal information section of your project management resume. As a general rule, provide only the following details in this section:
Providing the above information will help a recruiter get in touch with you via email or a telephonic dialogue, given they find you fit for the project management job.
So do yourself a favor, and don’t clutter your resume with irrelevant details.
3. Compose an effective Resume Summary
On average, the recruiters spend a mere 6-10 seconds on a resume, so you need to keep them hooked.
They should be interested in what you have to say. This is why you need to give them what they want. A great way to do this is by writing an effective summary.
An ideal resume summary is one that is 3-5 lines long and packed with relevant information. It should communicate details such as the number of years you have worked and your career highlights. Additionally, it should also show signs of your efficiency in project management.
Here’s an example of what an ideal summary for a project manager should look like:
‘5+ years experienced Project Manager with a proven track record of managing multi-million dollar projects for top clients like BCG, EY, and Goldman Sachs, etc with extensive experience in managing projects across R&D, F&B, and Finance companies. Highly efficient in optimizing processes by employing effective Project Management & Quality Management Principles. Adept at leading development projects and managing teams of 10-15 executives to meet the deliverables at the stipulated turn-around-time.’
A project management resume like the one we have mentioned above is effective as it communicates key aspects of the project manager’s career such as:
4. Frame an informative and result-oriented Professional Experience Section
A recruiter mainly scrutinizes the work experience details in your resume.
It gives them an insight into your roles & responsibilities, thus acting as a window to the kind of responsibilities that you can actually be delegated with.
The best way to curate your professional experience section is by framing your statements in one-liners points and listing the similar points under unique subheadings. Once you are done organizing them, highlight your most significant skills and achievements or contributions by marking them in bold.
Another best practice to curating your work experience details is by focusing on numbers.
Using performance figures helps you show the visible extent of your contributions.
Here’s an example:
Project Optimization
5. Showcase the details of your educational qualification
You can become a project manager in two ways:
While there is no hard and fast rule to tell which route is better, it certainly does wonders for your resume if you have a management degree and are able to showcase the details of it in your resume.
Moreover, whether you have a masters in business management or not, just talking about your educational details in your resume can help you attain extra brownie points from the recruiter than someone who doesn’t.
A project manager with a masters degree is more likely to be hired over a project manager who holds a bachelor's degree. However, the scales might be in favor of the latter if he/she has a more impressive work portfolio.
Either way, it is considered best industry practice to mention your educational details in your resume, so don’t think too much and simply do the needful!
ConclusionTo conclude, here’s a quick look into the main highlights of this article:
Author’s Bio:
Aditya Sharma
On a quest to help professionals across the world land their dream jobs, Aditya lives and breathes Hiration — an AI-powered online resume builder and platform to help job-seekers find their way in the treacherous job market — where he’s a Co-Founder and the unofficial CPO (Chief Problem-solving Officer). He likes to code away his days and nights when he’s not busy disrupting the career space.
If you have not heard back from a recruiter in the past, your resume is probably at fault. To increase the likelihood of a shortlist, transforming your resume is a trick you should master.
The below-listed essentials of a project management resume is a great place to begin:
1. Make your Header and Profile Title stand out
You need to make sure that your resume has its unique identity because you wouldn’t want it to get lost in a sea of resumes, right?
This is where your resume header comes in.
Simply put, your name is the de-facto resume header. If you have been writing “CV” or “Resume” to label your project management resume, stop right away. Instead, write your real full name at the extreme top part of your resume.
Doing this will give your resume a unique identity of its own.
Additionally, make sure that your profile title is also up-to-mark and correctly presented in your resume.
A profile title helps you tell the story of your career trajectory in one glimpse. Whether it’s your functional industry or seniority level, your profile title helps you showcase it all.
As a project manager, you should follow the guidelines below to write your profile title:
- If you are a senior in your profession then you should mention ‘Senior Project Manager’ as your profile title.
- You can also go in-depth by mentioning your functional product alongside your designation details. For instance, if you’re a project manager in the F&B department, write your profile title as ‘Project Manager - F&B’.
Provide only your accurate profile title because exaggerating it can make it seem like you are lying to the recruiters and that can cause you the chances of a potential shortlist!
2. Don’t flood your project management resume with irrelevant details
A major blunder that most professionals including project managers tend to make is in flooding their resumes with irrelevant information. Most professionals make this mistake in the personal information section of their resume.
For instance, many professionals have been guilty of writing trivial information in their resume which just does not make sense. From marital status, to sexual preference, to religious beliefs; certain information such as these are absolutely unnecessary and should not be replicated in your resume unless it is explicitly asked for.
Moreover, they end up cluttering your resume, which means that your resume bulks up without helping you advance your job application.
You can’t be shortlisted for your resume if your resume focuses too much on irrelevant information as it then shifts the focus away from important aspects of your career.
Thus, be extra cautious while filling the personal information section of your project management resume. As a general rule, provide only the following details in this section:
- Contact number
- Email Address
- Current Location
Providing the above information will help a recruiter get in touch with you via email or a telephonic dialogue, given they find you fit for the project management job.
So do yourself a favor, and don’t clutter your resume with irrelevant details.
3. Compose an effective Resume Summary
On average, the recruiters spend a mere 6-10 seconds on a resume, so you need to keep them hooked.
They should be interested in what you have to say. This is why you need to give them what they want. A great way to do this is by writing an effective summary.
An ideal resume summary is one that is 3-5 lines long and packed with relevant information. It should communicate details such as the number of years you have worked and your career highlights. Additionally, it should also show signs of your efficiency in project management.
Here’s an example of what an ideal summary for a project manager should look like:
‘5+ years experienced Project Manager with a proven track record of managing multi-million dollar projects for top clients like BCG, EY, and Goldman Sachs, etc with extensive experience in managing projects across R&D, F&B, and Finance companies. Highly efficient in optimizing processes by employing effective Project Management & Quality Management Principles. Adept at leading development projects and managing teams of 10-15 executives to meet the deliverables at the stipulated turn-around-time.’
A project management resume like the one we have mentioned above is effective as it communicates key aspects of the project manager’s career such as:
- It tells the recruiter that the project manager has over 5 years of work experience.
- It communicates the functional industry of experience. In this case, it is R&D, F&B, and Finance.
- It demonstrates the Project Manager’s career highlights and mentions the top clients.
- It shows the Project Manager’s commitment to getting work delivered on time.
- It also showcases the Project Manager’s experience in managing teams, thereby showcasing leadership abilities.
4. Frame an informative and result-oriented Professional Experience Section
A recruiter mainly scrutinizes the work experience details in your resume.
It gives them an insight into your roles & responsibilities, thus acting as a window to the kind of responsibilities that you can actually be delegated with.
The best way to curate your professional experience section is by framing your statements in one-liners points and listing the similar points under unique subheadings. Once you are done organizing them, highlight your most significant skills and achievements or contributions by marking them in bold.
Another best practice to curating your work experience details is by focusing on numbers.
Using performance figures helps you show the visible extent of your contributions.
Here’s an example:
Project Optimization
- Managing project budgets of USD ~300 Million and handled the project life cycle of new product to boost sales by 70%
- Accounting for savings & contingencies by analyzing prime project buyout of USD 1 Billion
5. Showcase the details of your educational qualification
You can become a project manager in two ways:
- You obtain a business degree and directly get into managerial roles
- You work your way up the corporate ladder and eventually become a project manager
While there is no hard and fast rule to tell which route is better, it certainly does wonders for your resume if you have a management degree and are able to showcase the details of it in your resume.
Moreover, whether you have a masters in business management or not, just talking about your educational details in your resume can help you attain extra brownie points from the recruiter than someone who doesn’t.
A project manager with a masters degree is more likely to be hired over a project manager who holds a bachelor's degree. However, the scales might be in favor of the latter if he/she has a more impressive work portfolio.
Either way, it is considered best industry practice to mention your educational details in your resume, so don’t think too much and simply do the needful!
ConclusionTo conclude, here’s a quick look into the main highlights of this article:
- Write your name at the top of your resume and correctly present your profile title.
- Don’t go overboard with personal information details. When it comes to resumes, less is more. Simply mention your email ID, mobile number, and location details in your resume to enable an interested recruiter to get in touch with you.
- Your resume summary should be effectively composed and should ideally not be over 5 lines long.
- The details of your work experience should focus on the results of your professional contributions in the form of performance figures wherever possible.
- You should never skip out on mentioning your educational information details.
Author’s Bio:
Aditya Sharma
On a quest to help professionals across the world land their dream jobs, Aditya lives and breathes Hiration — an AI-powered online resume builder and platform to help job-seekers find their way in the treacherous job market — where he’s a Co-Founder and the unofficial CPO (Chief Problem-solving Officer). He likes to code away his days and nights when he’s not busy disrupting the career space.
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