When recruiters hire project managers they look for certain things in the resume which decides whether the manager is worth hiring or not. A project manager is a culmination of skills, achievements, certifications and experience and sometimes it becomes difficult to mention it all on a resume.
So, in a project manager CV, you have to customize it to the job requirements so the recruiters can catch the things on top they want in the project managers they are considering to hire.
If you’re a project manager and struggling to craft the perfect resume for your job, here are the top 5 pieces of advice you should always keep in mind.
1. Define Yourself Briefly
What’s the first thing you want to be noted when the recruiter picks your resume?
Name? Designation? Achievements? Experience? Short Brief?
Start with an appropriate title which shows how valuable you’re as a candidate. You can also list your degree and experience on top.
If you want your recruiters to think why you’re the right person for the job, give them the reasons. Know the job requirements and customize the top part according to the proposal. Also, know the keywords the hiring manager listed in his job ad and mention it on your resume.
Take notes from the examples:
- Senior Project Manager with 5 Years of Experience
- Managed a Team of 25 people with Successful Milestones
- Scrum Master, Certified Project Manager with 3 years of experience
Considering these examples, you can craft a title that fits your resume bet and give a point to the HR to consider it.
- Don’t Show Ambiguity
One of the common mistakes project managers make is showing ambiguity which can leave the recruiters with thoughts to hire you or not. Some examples are:
- Serving XYZ company for a long time
- Manage a huge time in a short time
After reading these lines, recruiters will always think, what have you achieved?
So, always be specific for using numbers and instead of bragging be honest about it such as:
- Managed a team of 10 people for 3 years and successfully generate a revenue of 2 million dollars.
Now tell, which one of the examples will click the recruiter?
If you have managed online projects or promotional videos then you can also mention the views you generated from the video. The point is to be specific with numbers so HR can come up with a better decision in your favor.
- Show your Achievements and Certifications
To select you as a project manager, a recruiter has to scrutinize your resume in-depth. Here, your achievements and certifications play a big role in convincing them. List down the project management certifications you have under your umbrella and also your achievements.
If you have achieved something great yet, must mention them, it will be the cherry on the cake.
Some examples are:
- Motivated a team to accomplish the never-ending project and successfully achieved it in 8 months.
- Successfully pulled out a massive revenue for the company and got listed as their best employee for showing great efforts.
Big or small, your achievements are the best in convincing your recruiters so you shouldn’t hide them at all.
- Mention the Tools You Know
There are several tools that offer great help to the project managers such as task management tool to handle the team remotely or project managers tool that gives you an edge to complete your task efficiently.
Also, the use of technology is quite common in the digital age so you should have some tools in your knowledge which will make you fit for the job. When hiring project managers recruiters also see the tools and software you know to manage your work efficiently. A great point to remember.
- Skills
A good project manager is known for his skills, soft and hard. So it’s a must to mention your PM methodologies skills and management skills you’re great at. It will make your resume worth the hire.
For example, the soft skills the manager should have are communication skills, managerial skills, negotiation skills and more. If you list these skills in your resume, it will get easier for the employer to think about your CV.
Now, it’s time to tweak your CV to customize it to the job you’re about to apply.
