Project Manager CV Examples, Tips and How-to Write

Project manager CV example

Your project manager CV should detail every relevant point in your career, from academia to research experience. Use the following project manager CV sample as inspiration to write your own CV. You can easily create a CV using this example and our ResumeHelp CV maker, which leads you through step-by-step instructions and wording suggestions to write each section of your CV.

Project Manager CV

A project manager is a professional that is responsible for a team’s completion of all projects by a scheduled timeline and within an allowable budget. Project managers can work across all industries and are considered an essential part of most businesses.

It takes a strong individual to juggle the responsibilities of the job title that include strategically planning, organizing and streamlining each project process into manageable tasks to be delegated to the right people.

Project managers will require special skills and work experience to perform the job effectively, so you must tailor your curriculum vitae (CV) to express those qualifications. To create a powerful professional CV, this page offers:

• Project manager CV examples that can be used to create a strong CV
• Structuring a CV to make it easy to read and understand
• Writing a CV to stand out among other candidates
• Formatting your project manager curriculum vitae
• Resources to create a powerful cover letter to accompany your CV

The structure of a project manager CV

Your project manager curriculum vitae covers your work history, academic background and credentials in more detail. CVs can go past the usual one-page limit for a resume and be as long as three pages.

Using CV templates will help you structure a strong CV that features a polished, professional appearance. These are the CV sections that you will need to write to highlight your qualifications for the job role that you are applying for.

Contact information

The header should contain all your contact information at the very top. You want the information to stand out so that a hiring manager, recruiter or employer can connect with you for more information or to schedule a job interview.

Include the following:

• Full name
• Phone number
• Location
• Links to your social media or networking sites, such as Bold.pro or LinkedIn profile.

Objective statement

Whether you have many years of experience or entry level, your objective statement summarizes your most impressive career highlights to date, relevant to the job role that you are applying to.

Include:

• Professional specializations
• Academic specializations
• Key skills
• Relevant attributes
• Key achievements

Summary of qualifications

In your summary of qualifications section, make your main focus on how the employer can benefit from your expertise. Be sure that what you’re saying is telling them exactly what makes you unique and special. Highlight your affiliations with any professional organizations or relevant industry-related groups. This is typically a longer description that features the important attributes that would technically be placed in your skills section.

Include keywords from the job description to push your application through to a hiring manager. The more keywords the applicant tracking system (ATS) can detect, the better the chances of your CV being seen by the employer.

Core qualifications/key skills

This important section will include your best and most relevant technical skills along with the special skills that will help you perform the job responsibilities and meet the requirements listed in the job posting. Ideally, you’ll want to list between 8-12 relevant skills. Read the job description to find keywords related to the specific job role you are applying to so you can tailor your skills to match the requirements.

Project manager skills may include:

• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Time management
• Organizational skills
• Conflict management
• Proficient in project management software
• Agile, Scrum and Waterfall
• Process improvements
• Project budget management
• Delegation
• Negotiation
• Communication
• Active listening
• Public speaking
• Negotiation
• Evaluating project performance metrics
• Microsoft Office

Education

The education section of your project manager CV will feature your information in reverse-chronological order. List your most recent college or university degrees or accreditation first. A master’s degree would come before a bachelor’s degree. Present your high school information last with minimal detail. Exclude your GPA. If applicable, list specific research projects, dissertations and other academic contributions in this section.

Work experience

The work experience section of your project manager CV will also be presented in reverse-chronological order like a chronological resume. Highlight the main achievements and professional skills rather than mundane daily tasks. Show your impressive accomplishments through quantifiable metrics to demonstrate exactly how you succeeded and stood out in your job roles.

Awards

On your project manager curriculum vitae, present the academic and professional achievements you’ve received. This section of your CV can really make you stand out among other candidates.

Certifications

In this section, list any credentials earned via training, online certification sites, or evening classes. With the competition among project manager job positions, you want to show why you are the best candidate.

Publications

In this section of your CV, list your research papers, articles or other published writing relevant to your chosen industry and job role.

Grants and fellowships

In this section, list financial grants or admittance into fellowships. This information will impress potential employers by showing that you’ve already proven yourself to influential people in your industry.

Conferences

Attending conferences is an outstanding way to demonstrate your commitment to the industry. It shows that you put in the effort to expand your interest and passion through networking, seeking advice from mentors, learning about new technological breakthroughs and more.

Affiliations

Also showing the extra effort you make in your career, in this section, present any industry-relevant associations you’re a member of or have worked with directly.

How to format your project manager curriculum vitae

Your project manager CV will contain multiple elements, all of which combine together to convince a hiring manager, recruiter or employer to hire you. Unlike the restricted resume format, a CV works a bit differently. CV’s don’t have mandated format structures, but there are some CV formatting tips you should consider when writing your CV:

CV font

Use a professional font, one that does not present Fancy or curly design. Select fonts that will be efficiently read by the applicant tracking system (ATS) because the software will be unable to read fancy fonts. We suggest that you select simple, easy-to-read fonts such as Ariel, Times New Roman, Helvetica or Calibri.

Template

On a curriculum vitae template, you need to pay close attention to its structure and the content you should include. Follow a neat, employer-friendly template that showcases your most impressive accomplishments.

White space

Project manager CV’s with too little white space will look crowded. CV’s with too much white space will look unfinished. See to it that you present even white space all around. Also check that page breaks make sense on the longer CV document.

Line spacing

Correct spacing will make your project manager CV easier to read. It’s suggested that you use adequate spacing between sections, business letter style margins (at least 1”) and spacing between lines (at least 1-1.15).

Bullet points

By presenting your accomplishments in short phrases and bullet points, the reader will not get overwhelmed with data. Each impressive achievement will be read individually and persuade the employer that you can benefit the prospective company.

Section headings

Section headings are what separate your information so the information is presented in a clear, readable format. Busy hiring managers and recruiters can peruse the sections and read the most important parts.

CV length

Based on the years of project management experience, your project manager curriculum vitae will typically be a lengthy document. Presenting all of your career and academic history can elongate it up to three pages in length, but has no page limit. A CV can potentially be 10+ pages long.

More CV examples and tips

ResumeHelp offers career advice and more CV writing tips, as well as CV samples for other job positions.

• How to Write a CV
• CV examples
• CV formats
• CV maker
• CV templates
• CV vs. Resume

Write a project manager cover letter to accompany your CV

To make your project manager application as strong as possible, it is suggested that you include a powerful cover letter as well. Here are lots of cover letter writing resources to create a professional cover letter:

• Project Manager Cover Letter Examples: The perfect inspiration to write your project manager cover letter.
• How to Write a Cover Letter: Comprehensive guidance to write the most impressive professional cover letter.
• Cover Letter Builder: The quickest and easiest way to create a powerful cover letter that will get you noticed.
• Cover Letter Templates: Dozens of cover letter templates help you get a jump start to setting up your letter.
• Cover Letter Format: Discover how to correctly format your professional cover letter with our expert guidance.
• Cover Letter Examples: Browse through hundreds of cover letter samples for almost every job and industry.

The big takeaways

Here’s a summary of what we covered on this page:

1. Show off all your most notable accomplishments throughout your career.
2. Make sure the contact information is up-to-date and professional.
3. Read the job description and list between 8-12 relevant skills.
4. Combine a mix of technical skills and specialty skills to set yourself apart.
5. Focus your work history on accomplishments and not routine daily tasks.
6. Use quantifiable metrics to better demonstrate your work achievements.
7. Begin each statement with an action verb like planned, organized and coordinated.
8. Feature your research projects, certifications, degrees and more.
9. Be sure to spell check and grammar check to ensure no grammatical errors.
10. Every project manager CV needs a cover letter to complete the job application.