This might sound weird, but the biggest issue I’ve seen with most of the project manager resumes I reviewed is that… They don’t really highlight project management. Instead, a lot read like glorified job descriptions of general operations managers.

To create a compelling project manager resume, you need to tell a story that does justice to all the projects you managed: from setting the scope, to communicating with stakeholders, to managing timelines, budgets, and teams towards remarkable outcomes.

And this is exactly what you’ll learn from this article. Inside, you’ll find:

• Examples of 25+ project manager resumes, covering different industries and seniority levels.
• Insider tips about what really matters to recruiters hiring for PM roles.
• A step-by-step guide for putting together a project management resume that simply lands jobs.

Sample Project Manager Resumes

Take a look at some top-notch sample resumes for project managers across different industries and specializations. Find one that matches your profile and use it as a reference point (or feel free to steal it, just make sure to adjust the wording to reflect your career journey).

Note: these examples are organized first by role type, and then by experience level. Let’s start with different project management areas.

General Project Manager Resume

A General Project Manager’s resume should highlight a broad range of skills and experiences, showcasing versatility and adaptability. Emphasize leadership roles, successful project deliveries, and a strong foundation in project management methodologies. Highlight skills like budget management, team leadership, and problem-solving.

Construction Project Manager Resume

For a Construction Project Manager, the resume should underscore expertise in construction processes, budgeting, and safety regulations. Highlight your ability to manage timelines, coordinate with contractors and stakeholders, and oversee construction projects to successful completion. Show your proficiency in project management software specific to construction, along with certifications like PMP or CAPM.

IT Project Manager Resume

An IT Project Manager’s resume should focus on technical projects you’ve led, emphasizing your understanding of IT infrastructure, software development life cycles, and technology implementations. Show your ability to bridge the gap between technical teams and business stakeholders, ensuring projects meet both technical specifications and business objectives. Knowledge of agile methodologies, cybersecurity practices, and IT certifications can further bolster your resume.

Technical Project Manager Resume

Highlight your expertise in managing complex technical projects, your strong technical background, and your ability to communicate complex information clearly. Your resume should describe successful project deliveries, technical problem-solving skills, and your proficiency in project management tools and methodologies.

Marketing Project Manager Resume

For a Marketing Project Manager, your resume should emphasize your experience in leading marketing campaigns, understanding market trends, and working with creative teams. Show how you managed budgets, timelines, and project scopes, ensuring the successful delivery of marketing objectives. Skills in digital marketing tools, analytics, and stakeholder management will make your resume even stronger.

Agile Project Manager Resume

An Agile Project Manager’s resume should focus on your experience with agile methodologies, such as Scrum or Kanban. Highlight your ability to facilitate sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives, ensuring projects remain flexible and responsive to change. Showcase your leadership in fostering team collaboration, driving continuous improvement, and delivering value to customers.

Healthcare Project Manager Resume

In your Healthcare Project Manager resume, emphasize your understanding of healthcare systems, regulations, and technologies. Highlight your experience in managing healthcare projects, such as system implementations, process improvements, or compliance initiatives. Skills in stakeholder communication, risk management, and healthcare-specific project management methodologies are essential.

Software Project Manager Resume

A Software Project Manager should highlight experience in leading software development projects, from requirements gathering to deployment. Emphasize your understanding of software development methodologies, such as Agile or Waterfall, and your ability to work closely with development teams. Showcase your technical skills, project delivery successes, and your proficiency in using project management and software development tools.

Electrical Project Manager Resume

For an Electrical Project Manager, focus on your expertise in electrical systems, project planning, and execution within this highly specialized field. Highlight your ability to ensure compliance with electrical codes and safety standards, and your skills in coordinating with contractors and vendors. Mention any certifications relevant to electrical project management or engineering.

Engineering Project Manager Resume

An Engineering Project Manager’s resume should showcase your ability to lead engineering projects, combining your technical background with project management skills. Emphasize your experience in designing, planning, and executing engineering projects, ensuring they meet technical specifications, budgets, and timelines.

HR Project Manager Resume

Highlight your experience in managing HR projects, such as implementing HR systems, conducting workforce planning, or leading organizational change initiatives. Your resume should showcase your understanding of HR processes, your ability to work with cross-functional teams, and your skills in managing project timelines and budgets.

Real Estate Project Manager Resume

A Real Estate Project Manager’s resume should focus on your experience in managing real estate projects, such as development, renovations, or property acquisitions. Highlight your ability to coordinate with contractors, navigate zoning laws, and managing budgets and timelines. Skills in real estate market analysis, stakeholder management, and familiarity with real estate software will give you bonus points.

Architecture Project Manager Resume

For an Architecture Project Manager, your resume should emphasize your experience in overseeing architectural projects from concept to completion. Highlight your ability to coordinate with clients, contractors, and design teams, ensuring that projects meet design specifications, budgets, and schedules. Showcase your architectural design skills, understanding of building codes, and proficiency in architecture-specific software.

And here are some sample resumes for PMs on different stages of their careers.

Entry-Level Project Manager Resume

An Entry-Level Project Manager resume should focus on educational background, project management coursework, and any relevant internships or volunteer experiences. Highlight soft skills like leadership, communication, and the ability to work well in a team. Any experience with project management tools, even in a learning environment, will further boost your resume.

Assistant Project Manager Resume

For an Assistant Project Manager, your resume should highlight your experience supporting project managers in the successful delivery of projects. Emphasize skills in project documentation, scheduling, and stakeholder communication, showcasing your ability to manage project components under supervision. Highlight any specific tools or software you’re proficient in, as well as your ability to work collaboratively with teams and manage minor projects or project segments independently.

Associate Project Manager Resume

An Associate Project Manager's resume should showcase a mix of project management experience and skills in leading smaller projects or significant portions of larger projects. Highlight your ability to manage timelines, budgets, and resources, demonstrating your growing expertise in project management methodologies. Emphasize successful project outcomes, your role in achieving those outcomes, and your ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams. Mention any project management certifications you've obtained.

Senior Project Manager Resume

A Senior Project Manager resume should demonstrate a track record of successfully leading and delivering complex projects. Emphasize your leadership skills, strategic planning abilities, and your expertise in managing large budgets and diverse teams. Highlight your experience in stakeholder management, risk management, and your ability to navigate challenging project obstacles. Showcase specific examples of projects you've led, noting the impact and value delivered to the company. Include any advanced project management certifications or continuous education.

How to Write a Project Manager Resume

Short answer:

Focus on your leadership skills, project outcomes, and the exact methodologies you used to deliver the projects you’ve managed. Create a professional header with your name contact details. Right below, write a 2–3 sentence resume summary outlining your most significant accomplishments. Describe your work history in reverse-chronological order, focusing on successful projects delivery and the methodologies used. Then, cover your education, including professional certifications, list key skills, and add extra sections such as projects portfolio, publications, or volunteer work. 

Include all the necessary sections in the correct order

Here’s the correct order of sections for most project manager resumes:

• Header with contact information
• Resume summary or objective
• Work experience
• Education
• Skills
• Certifications

Depending on your current career situation, you can also throw in some additional sections. For instance:

• Projects portfolio (especially if you’ve done a lot of freelance work)
• Volunteer experience
• Conference participation
• Publications
• Professional associations

Include everything that shows you’re capable of doing what the job requires. Make every section count. If it doesn’t clearly highlight your skills, it doesn’t belong on your resume.

If you have less than five years of relevant experience, keep your resume 1-page long. For more senior project managers, a two-page resume is fine.

More details here: What Sections to Include on Your Resume?

Now, I’ll give you a high-level overview of how to write each section, going from top to bottom. Well… almost. The only exception is the resume summary section. While it comes right after your contact info, it’s actually easier to write it last. More on that in a sec.

Create a professional resume header

• Start with your name and contact information. Include the basics: your full name, phone number, professional email address, location, and LinkedIn profile. A link to your portfolio or personal website can also add credibility and help you make a more professional first impression.
• Right below your name, clearly state your professional title (e.g., Senior Project Manager). This sets expectations and asserts your position in the field.

For more information, see: How to Create a Resume Header

Describe your work history

• Use reverse-chronological order. List your positions starting with the current or the most recent one. 
• In each entry, include your job title, company name, location, and dates of employment.
• Below each position, write 3–7 bullet points—the more recent the position, the more bullet points you should include. Describe your responsibilities and, more importantly, your accomplishments. 
• Use action verbs and quantify your achievements (e.g., “Led a team of 10 in delivering a $2M project, under budget by 15%, and two weeks ahead of schedule”).
• If specific PM methodologies or approaches were pivotal in your roles (e.g., Agile, Scrum), weave these details into your descriptions. This will also help you pass ATS scans.

Learn more about the best practices of this section with our detailed guide on how to describe your work experience on a resume.

List your degrees and detail professional learning

• In the education section, list your highest degree first, including the degree type, major, and institution.
• If you have some relevant work experience, include only the name of your school and the degree you got. If you’re an entry-level candidate, you can add some more detail to your education section—list relevant coursework, extracurricular activities, and academic achievements.
• If you have project management certifications (e.g., PMP, PRINCE2), either include them in an “Education and Certifications” section, or create a separate “Certifications” section and place it right below.

For an in-depth guide on how to describe your education on a resume, see: How to List Education on a Resume

List your most relevant skills in the skills section

• Include a mix of technical skills (e.g., project management software, budgeting tools) and methodologies (e.g., Agile, Waterfall) that you are proficient in.
• Add in some soft skills such as leadership, communication, and teamwork. Perhaps harder to quantify, but these demonstrate your capacity to lead and manage successfully.
• You can use two separate subsections, one for hard skills, one for soft skills, or just list all the skills under one heading.
• Match your skills to the description of the job you’re applying for. I’m not saying you should just dump all the skills the PM position requires (especially if you don’t really have them), but highlight those areas of expertise where your knowledge overlaps with the job ad.

Need some inspiration to get started? Here are some good skills to feature on your project management resume.

Software skills for project management resumes:

• Microsoft Project
• Asana
• Trello
• JIRA
• Smartsheet
• Slack
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Teams
• Basecamp
• SAP

Project management methodologies:

• Agile
• Scrum
• Kanban
• Lean
• Waterfall
• Six Sigma
• PRINCE2
• PMBOK
• Critical Path Method (CPM)
• Adaptive Project Framework (APF)

Key soft skills for project managers:

• Leadership
• Communication
• Time Management
• Problem-Solving
• Teamwork
• Adaptability
• Negotiation
• Conflict Resolution
• Decision-Making
• Empathy

For a full-blown guide on listing skills on a resume, visit: How to Put Skills on a Resume

Use additional sections as further proof of your fit

Additional sections add depth to your resume and back up your claimed expertise. Good examples of extra sections to add to a project manager resume are:

• Professional associations. Membership in industry organizations (e.g., PMI) can showcase your commitment to the field.
• Projects portfolio. A resume section dedicated to significant projects you’ve led, specifying your role, the challenges faced, and the outcomes, can provide concrete examples of your expertise in action.
• Publications. If you’ve contributed to industry journals, or even project management blogs, definitely list your publications in a separate section.
• Conference attendance. This is ideal to include when you’ve given talks at conferences. If you’re at the beginning of your career, listing industry conferences you attended can show you’re serious about your career development.

Highlight the most relevant information in a resume summary

Once you’re done writing your project management resume, give it a full read. Pick the most relevant information and compile it into a summary paragraph. Place it right under the resume header.

• Be brief and to-the-point. In 3–4 sentences, sum up your career highlights, core competencies, and what you bring to the table. Consider this your chance to answer, “Why should you hire me?” Tailor this section to match the employer’s needs outlined in the job description.
• Use value-oriented language. Focus on how you can add value to the potential employer, mentioning specific outcomes you hope to deliver or achievements you’ve led teams to in the past.

Once you’ve completed the core sections of your resume, you can use Rezi AI Resume Summary Generator to automatically create a powerful summary, tailored to the job you’re applying for. All you need to do is add the position and skills you want to highlight. The AI writer will do the rest. Here’s a sneak peek of how it works:

‍

More information here: How to Write a Job-Winning Resume Summary (with Examples)

For finishing touches, make sure your resume looks professional

• Use a clean and tidy resume format. Ensure your PM resume is easily readable, with a professional font, consistent formatting, and clear section headings. Avoid overloading it with dense text or fancy design elements that could distract from the content and confuse resume screening software.
• Aim for a balance between detail and conciseness. If you’re a junior or entry-level candidate, keep your resume to a single page. Experienced project managers can extend their resumes to two pages, but still need to make sure every word conveys value.

Learn more about proper resume formatting here: How to Format a Resume & What Standard Resume Format to Use

What Makes Project Management Resumes Different

In short: the emphasis on leadership and project outcomes. 

This is also what many project managers get wrong on their resumes. You see, hiring decision-makers won’t be impressed with extensive lists of tasks and duties. They need to see how your work impacted the business—this way, they’ll be more likely to believe you can translate past success into future results.

Focus on management skills

You’re expected to lead teams, manage stakeholder expectations, and ensure projects are completed within the given constraints of time, budget, and quality. 

Unlike many other roles that focus on individual accomplishments, project management resumes need to highlight how you manage resources, orchestrate teamwork, and navigate challenges.

What it means for you:

• Showcase leadership on your resume. Mention the size of teams you’ve managed, describe your management style and how it’s been successful in different project settings.
• When relevant, highlight conflict-resolution and communication skills. Given the team-oriented nature of project management, writing about situations where you mediated conflicts and fostered collaboration can be particularly impactful.

Focus on project outcomes

Quantifying achievements is a nice-to-have in all types of resumes, but crucial in project management.

What it means for you:

• Detail the success of projects through tangible metrics. For example, percentage reduction in project delivery times, budget savings achieved, return on investment figures, or improvements in efficiency or quality metrics.
• Mention the scope and scale of projects you managed, including budget size, project duration, and team size. Illustrate experience with both small-scale and large-scale projects, if applicable.

Focus on the “how”

What you achieved is obviously key, but hiring decision makers will be really interested in the exact process that led you there. This way, they’ll be able to more accurately assess your fit.

What this means for you:

• Describe the complexity of projects tackled, including any unique challenges and how you overcome them.
• Detail your expertise in specific project management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Scrum, Waterfall) and tools (e.g., Trello, Asana, Microsoft Project) that you’ve utilized effectively in past roles. This will help you illustrate your strategic and hands-on approach to project management.

Focus on career progression

No worries if you’re just starting out in the field, but if you have significant experience under your belt, your project management resume should showcase your growth and development.

What this means for you:

• Highlight transitions from team roles to leadership positions, and how experience in earlier positions (like a Project Coordinator or Assistant Project Manager) laid the groundwork for more significant responsibilities.
• The easiest way to get that message across is showing how the complexity and scope of your projects expanded over time. (Remember when I talked about the “how?” This is where it’s going to pay off.)

Bonus Resources for Project Managers

This isn’t going to be a game-changer for you if you need a resume now. But—

I want you to treat your career holistically. These resources will help you up your project management game, add some juice to your future resumes and, generally, keep you up to date with new developments in the PM field.

Professional associations and networks

Project Management Institute (PMI)

As one of the leading professional organizations for project managers, PMI offers certification programs, professional development opportunities, and a wealth of resources for its members across the globe. 

International Project Management Association

Another global entity, IPMA focuses on the promotion of project management as a profession, offering certification, resources, and events to its international membership base.

Association for Project Management (APM)

For those based in the UK, APM offers a range of qualifications, resources, and a strong community for networking and career advancement.

Online learning platforms

Coursera & edX

Both platforms offer a variety of project management courses, ranging from introductory to advanced levels. These courses are often developed and delivered by university professors or industry leaders, ensuring high-quality content.

LinkedIn Learning

With a focus on professional development, LinkedIn Learning provides numerous courses on project management, software tools, and soft skills development, tailored to enhance your career prospects.

ProjectManagement.com

Powered by PMI, this online portal offers articles, webinars, templates, and community forums, serving as a comprehensive resource for project managers seeking to expand their knowledge.

Publications

PMI’s Project Management Journal

This peer-reviewed journal offers in-depth articles on current research, trends, and strategies within the field of project management.

Project Manager Today

A magazine catering to project managers across various industries, offering insights, news, and case studies.

The Digital Project Manager

A blog that focuses on digital project management, offering guides, tips, and software reviews relevant to managing digital projects in today’s tech-driven world.

Tools and software reviews

Capterra & G2

Both websites provide extensive reviews and comparisons of project management software, helping you choose the right tools based on features, pricing, and user feedback.

Atlassian Blog

Even if you don’t use any Atlassian products (and I can understand it if you don’t, let’s just say that), their blog offers great insights into project management, teamwork, and productivity, applicable across various tools and methodologies.

Summary

Here’s what you need to know about writing a project management resume:

• Structure your project manager resume with essential sections in this order: Header, Resume Summary or Objective, Work Experience, Education, Skills, and Certifications. If relevant in your case, add extra sections like Volunteer Experience or Projects Portfolio.
• Include a professional header with your name, contact information, and professional title.
• Describe your work history in reverse-chronological order, emphasizing responsibilities and achievements with quantifiable outcomes.
• In the education section, list your highest degree at the top. You can list project management certifications either in the education section or under a separate heading.
• Highlight a mix of technical, methodological, and soft skills, tailoring them to the job description.
• Use additional sections to further showcase your expertise and commitment to the field.
• Once done writing the resume, compile the key information into a brief, value-oriented resume summary at the top.
• Make your resume professional in appearance, aim for conciseness without sacrificing detail. 
• Showcase leadership, management skills, and project outcomes effectively.

Thanks for reading! Got any questions? Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. (Or check out the FAQs first, maybe your question is answered there.)

FAQ

What keywords should I use on my project manager resume?

Use specific project management terminologies and software names relevant to your experience, such as Agile, Scrum, Microsoft Project, risk management, stakeholder communication, and budget oversight. Highlight certifications like PMP, PRINCE2, or Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP) if you possess them.

How to tailor my project management resume to the job description?

Identify key skills and responsibilities in the job description and reflect these in your resume by aligning your accomplishments and experiences with them. Use similar language and phrases when describing your skills and achievements to match the employer’s expectations.

What’s the most common mistake on project management resumes?

The most common mistake is being too generic and not quantifying achievements. Instead of vague descriptions, give specific examples with numbers to showcase your impact, such as “Managed a team of 10 and delivered the project 20% under budget.”

I work in a highly technical industry. How technical should I get on my resume?

Balance technical details with readability for non-technical hiring managers. Include necessary technical terminologies and tools that showcase your expertise but ensure the achievements and responsibilities are described in a way that’s understandable to someone outside your technical field.

Which resume format is the best for PM resumes?

The reverse-chronological format is recommended for project management resumes. It highlights your career progression and project achievements, making it easy for employers to see your growth and successes.

I’m aiming to change careers and transition into project management. How should I approach resume writing?

Focus on transferable skills, such as leadership, organization, communication, and problem-solving. Leverage experiences from previous roles that demonstrate project management capabilities, such as managing deadlines, leading teams, or overseeing budgets, even if the projects were not formal. Include any relevant courses or certifications in project management to show your commitment and knowledge.

‍