Your Project Management resume or CV is most times the first thing that a recruiter or hiring manager sees before they decide whether to invite you for an interview or continue the process of knowing if you are the right candidate for the job. It is therefore essential that your CV or resume is written in a professional manner that makes it optimized to attract the attention of recruiters.
In this blog post, I will be sharing 6 things you can do to write a winning Project Manager Resume in order to get the attention of a recruiter:
1. Remove task-based activities and change them to result-oriented work experience:
Everyone can say they have done an activity beautifully you add a result that the activity produced, you are presenting your CV as a stronger CV, showing that you know the reason why you perform these activities and this was the outcome. The first thing you should do is to turn the activities that you have in your work experience section into results.
Example:
Let’s say that as a project manager, you produced different reports like progress reports and you presented it to the senior executives or a board of directors, maybe every week or every month- putting this plainly on your resume does not make your CV strong instead consider what result this activity achieved.
To do:
When you see any bullet point on your resume, ask: what was the result? What was the outcome or what did that activity achieve?
This is the correct way to write the above-mentioned experience:
I prepared reports and presented them to the stakeholders and senior executives which helped them make informed decisions and averted a risk to the budget which could have cost the project an additional 10% of the budget.
Now that you have put a result at the end of the activity, it will catch the hiring manager’s attention.
2. Have numbers on your resume
Let’s make reference to the earlier example about you presenting reports to senior executives. It is important to mention the many senior executive members you presented to. As a Project Management professional, the recruiter expects that you should be able to properly articulate information in front of senior stakeholders, it is therefore important that you give numbers. That way you are quantifying your capabilities as a Project Manager and it gives it more weight.
3. Your team members
Give the number of team members you worked with.
Give your CV an edge by stating what work environment you worked in with your team, was it a fast-paced or metrics type of environment?
By stating that you worked in a metrics type of environment it shows that you are able to negotiate and get resources that you need on your project and manage resource time effectively.
Example:
Do not do this:
I managed a team to deliver a project successfully
Do this instead:
I successfully managed a team of 10 practitioners in a fast-paced metrics environment to deliver a $10M project.
- Also, mention if it was a cross-functional team you worked with
“ A team of 10 cross-functional team members from IT, HR, Finance…”
4. Include Project Budget Figures:
State the total project budget (as shown in the example above) because it shows that as a project manager, you have the capabilities of managing up to “x” number of millions and thousands of dollar projects.
Example:
“I have managed projects with a total project budget of up to a $100,000,000”
This shows that you can effectively deliver projects which have high budgets of up to $100,000,000.
5. Include Project Results:
Include the results or outcomes of projects you have delivered and quantify them, for example:
“I improved business processes and made them more efficient by 30%”
“I increased the revenue of the organization by $0.5M by delivering the CSR project”
6. Use years instead of months in your work experience timeline:
This is for you if you have had gaps in your work experience section.
Instead of including the months alongside the year, you could list only the year.
For example:
Instead of Oct. 2020 – Oct 2021, you can write it as 2020 – 2021
Instead of Jan. 2022 to Jan. 2023, you can write it as 2022 – 2023
Putting the years instead of months helps close gaps and helps you to optimize your CV because when they see the gaps they make assumptions that keep them from contacting you after receiving your CV. During the interview, you can explain the reason for the gaps.
These are 6 things you can do to optimize your CV, this is not an exhaustive list but implementing these tips will help you get the recruiter’s attention.
If you found this useful please feel free to mention it in the communication section. Also, feel free to share any tips you have for optimizing your CV or resume.
About Ogaga Johnson, PMP, CSM
Ogaga Johnson, is a Project leader, Consultant, and Speaker.
She is passionate about helping professionals launch and grow successful and thriving careers in Project Management.
She has helped 150+ professionals to get into Project Management and advance their careers through her coaching programs.
Ogaga is social, connect and learn with her on LinkedIn or Instagram or YouTube
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