Here we’ve provided a guide to writing a winning project manager resume. You’ll find tips for writing your headline and summary, plus important hard skills and soft skills to include on your resume.

Project Managers play an important role in many industries, and demand for project management specialists is growing. In 2017, the Project Management Institute predicted that PM roles will increase exponentially over the following ten years.

Great news if you’re a project manager or considering becoming one. But, as with any well paying role, competition is high. You’ll need a good, ATS-friendly resume to get your foot in the door.

The Project Manager’s Resume Headline and Summary

A well-crafted, tailored resume headline and resume summary are essential to any good resume. Here’s how to write a headline and summary statement that will grab a recruiter’s attention.

Writing the Perfect Resume Headline

For project manager resumes, headlines should include the term “Project Manager” along with role-specific terms. When possible, include the job title as listed in the job description. This is typically the most important keyword on your resume.

It’s also a good idea to include something that can immediately qualify you as a standout candidate, such as your experience or specialized education.

Here are some examples of standout project manager resume headlines:

Seasoned Construction Project Manager with 15 Years Experience

Capital Project Manager with Lean Manufacturing Leadership Skills

Detail-Oriented IT Project Manager with 3 Years Software Development Experience

Writing Your Resume Summary Statement

Resume summary statements are designed to give recruiters and hiring managers a quick look at your skills and experience. Include a summarized report of your work history, your most relevant skills, and any accomplishments you want recruiters and hiring managers to see right away. Try to include important keywords from the job description.

Project Manager Resume Skills

Project Managers are some of the most multi-skilled individuals in the professional world. They must possess both industry-specific abilities and the skills required to manage projects.

General Project Manager Resume Skills

Hard skills:

project management

budgeting

staffing

coaching

project planning

project documentation

financial analysis

risk management

process improvement

PMP

Soft skills:

multitasking

communication

delegation

project scoping

leadership

coordination

attention to detail

creativity

problem solving

conflict resolution

Industry Specific Skills

In addition to displaying general project management skills on your resume, you’ll also need to demonstrate your industry specific abilities. Below we’ve listed the skills commonly desired for prevalent project management roles.

If you don’t see your industry below, or would like to find more targeted skills for your resume, try the Jobscan resume checker to scan your resume against any job description.

IT Project Manager Resume Skills

computer science

PMP certification

CISM

vmware

network administration

disaster recovery

data center

Basecamp

Asana

Microsoft Office

Finance Project Manager Resume Skills

accounting

oracle

financial planning

developing budgets

forecasting

data gathering

financial due diligence

statistics

balance sheets

certifications

Construction Project Manager Resume Skills

construction management

regulatory

compliance

engineering

contracts

safety

drawings

subcontractor

architecture

Want more targeted skills and keyword suggestions?

Scan your resume beside any job description below and see your free skills match report.

Choosing the Right Resume Format

Because project management roles require so many specific skills, a functional resume format might stand out as the most obvious choice. However, work history and proven success are also important to recruiters. For these reasons, we think a hybrid resume format is the ideal choice.

A hybrid resume format allows you to display your skills while also giving recruiters and hiring managers a chronological look at your experience.

Bring on the Certifications

Certifications, education, and other knowledge-based qualifications are great to have and should be included on your project manager resume.

Unless you are working with a high school diploma and work experience alone, a certifications and/or education section on your resume is a great thing to have.

IT project managers, for example, often have to have at least a working knowledge of the systems they’re overseeing development for. Having a certification in those systems is a big plus in the eyes of many companies.

If you don’t have certifications, think about obtaining some. If you have a job already that provides free or incentivized classes and/or certification tests, these could prove useful in future job searches.

Further reading:

Top Resume Skills (and How to List Them)

The Jobscan Resume Writing Guide