Project Manager CV Example

Project managers ensure the smooth execution of projects in any industry, making them essential to most business models.

But despite the strong outlook for project management as a career, competition for the best PM jobs is fierce, with employers often sifting through dozens of applications to pick candidates to interview. So even if you’re perfect for the job, it’s easy for your CV to get lost on the recruiter’s desk.

Follow these three tips to ensure your project manager CV the attention it deserves:

1. Know your niche

Project management is an incredibly broad field to work in, and different employers look for different qualities when selecting a new project manager.

Therefore, it’s important to consider your employer’s industry when writing your CV.

Being familiar with trends, skill gaps, and the market in which the employer operates makes for better project planning because it positions you to better understand the challenges that employers are facing.

Tailor your project management CV to your employer’s industry to demonstrate your utility to their specific goals and objectives. Here are a couple of industry-specific project manager CVs to give you an idea of how this works.

 

2. Emphasise your main strengths in your personal statement

Do you have a Professional Project Manager (PMP) certificate or experience handling budgets of over £500K? Then say so in your personal statement!

Employers seek out new project managers with the specific knowledge, experience, and business acumen to help their businesses succeed. Your personal statement (also known as a CV profile) is the place to show them that you’ve got what they need.

Below is an example of a personal statement from a project manager CV that’s effective because it:

• starts with a strong adjective to set the tone of the application
• highlights a specific area of PM expertise and a PM certification
• describes a noteworthy achievement, backed up with hard numbers

When deciding what to include in your personal statement, consider how your previous accomplishments relate to the role you would have in the hiring company. For example, experience developing information products and writing status reports might be good experiences to foreground if you’re applying for a job where risk assessment are key responsibilities.

3. Highlight your project manager skills

As a project manager, you should have a diverse portfolio of skills, including:

• hard skills, or abilities you’ve learnt from training or experience
• soft skills, or personality traits, like working effectively with others

Prominently showcase your abilities to illustrate how you can excel as a project manager. To fit the most relevant skills on your CV, sprinkle them naturally throughout your CV.

When deciding which skills to emphasise, you should consider your employer’s industry, business model, and your potential role within their organisation.

For example, if you work in renewable energy, highlight your understanding of environmentally sustainable processes like environmental impact assessment (EIA) and carbon offsetting. Also feature skills that apply to all project management roles, such as budgeting or holding performance reviews.

When you write a project management CV, it’s also crucial to showcase your relevant computer skills. Mention specific tools you’ve used to:

• improve workflow and maximise productivity (Trello and Kanban)
• track performance (Asana and ProofHub)
• analyse data (Airtable and MicroStrategy)

Here are a few more hard and soft skills to work into your project manager CV:

Project manager hard skills	Project manager soft skills
Cost management	Ideation
Budgeting	Problem-solving skills
Negotiation	Active listening
Scrum management	Observation
Agile management	Leadership skills
Contract negotiation	Time management
Risk management	Communication skills
Project scheduling	Customer service skills

4. Include key project management metrics and back up your experience with hard numbers

Project management is a results-driven field, so employers will want to see what you’ve achieved in previous roles.

Clearly outline what you can do for the employer by using key project management metrics to illustrate your previous achievements.

Key project management metrics

• Project completion rate: the percentage of projects that the Project Manager has successfully completed
• Cost performance index (CPI): project’s cost efficiency measured by comparing the actual cost of the project to the planned cost
• Schedule performance index (SPI): project schedule efficiency expressed by comparing the project duration to the planned duration
• Risk management effectiveness: measures the effectiveness of risk management strategy using the number and severity of risks encountered and the success rate of mitigation efforts
• Customer satisfaction: high customer satisfaction rating is evidence of the project manager’s ability to deliver successful outcomes

Quantify your proudest achievements on your CV with hard numbers. Below are work experience section bullets from a project manager CV that use precise numbers to impress the recruiter:

• Spearheaded project planning and managed internal resources, which improved project output by 31%
• Lead planning and management of 10+ projects monthly, and formulate strategies to improve processes
• Manage team of 20 direct reports, ensuring quality and on-time completion

This project manager uses numbers to give context to the size and scale of the projects they’ve managed.

Hard numbers reveal what you’re capable of as a project manager. When used effectively, data shows, not just tells why you’re a great candidate.

And to really spice up that data, add action verbs to your bullet points to emphasise your project management skills and show enthusiasm for the work you do.