Software project managers bridge the gap between the business and IT to ensure a high-quality project is delivered within a specified time and budget. The following sample resume for a software project manager will show you how to highlight the abilities that have led to your success as a project manager, as well as list other qualifications that should be of interest to an employer.
With a software developer resume and software project manager resume that hits on key points of your experience and how you can add value, you’re set to impress both recruiters and companies. Now, before we dive into the details of how to do this, it’s important to understand the difference between these two types of resumes.
Why is it important to include project manager skills on your resume?
As a project manager, you need to be able to show your ability to prioritize and delegate tasks, lead a team and apply both soft and hard skills to achieve success in a fast-paced work environment. Including these skill sets on your resume can be important to show employers your competency in your field, as well as what advantages you can bring to the job. It can also be important to include specific examples of how you apply your skills to achieve results and meet objectives.
How to include project manager skills on your resume
You can use the following steps to guide you when writing your resume to include your project manager skills:
- Choose an appropriate template to follow
- Highlight your skills with quantifiable examples in your summary
- When listing experience, provide examples of your skills
- Include work samples or your project portfolio to showcase your skills
1. Choose an appropriate template to follow
First, opt for a resume template that can highlight your project manager skills in the best way possible. For instance, you might use a template designed specifically for project management. Whichever template you decide to follow, be sure it includes sections for your professional summary, work and educational background and a section for your skills.
2. Highlight your skills with quantifiable examples in your summary
After picking out your desired template, you can highlight your skills right away in your resume summary. For example, you might showcase your skills and experience by including how you used project management software to monitor and improve the quality of your deliverables. Using your skills to provide solid evidence of why you fit the job can help your resume stand out to employers.
3. When listing experience, provide examples of your skills
When you get to the experience section of your resume, be sure to provide examples of how you succeeded within each past role. Showing employers how your skills helped achieve a goal or exceeded a company expectation is more effective than simply listing your job responsibilities.
4. Include work samples or your project portfolio to showcase your skills
You can also provide more evidence of your skills and expertise by including the URLs to your online portfolio and work samples if you have them. Make sure your URLs have professional domain names and reflect the content that you share in your resume.
Software Project Manager Job Description Template
We are looking for an organized, detail-oriented individual to join our team as a software project manager. The responsibilities of the software project manager include overseeing software projects from start to finish, managing and motivating software developers and other team members, giving customer presentations, and writing project proposals.
To be successful as a software project manager, you should have a good working knowledge of project estimation techniques and the ability to motivate team members. Ultimately, a top-notch software project manager should have good communication and decision-making skills.
Software Project Manager Responsibilities:
- Discussing potential projects and their parameters with clients, executives, and software developers.
- Planning out the blueprints for software projects, including defining the scope, allocating resources, setting deadlines, laying out communication strategies, and indicating tests and maintenance.
- Assembling and leading the project team.
- Participating in and supervising each stage of the project.
- Ensuring each project stays on schedule and adheres to the deadlines.
- Creating a project budget and ensuring the project adheres to the budget as closely as possible.
- Determining and overseeing consistent testing, evaluation, and troubleshooting of all products in all stages of completion.
- Tracking milestones, deliverables, and change requests.
- Serving as a liaison to communicate information regarding changes, milestones reached, and other pertinent information.
- Delivering completed software products to clients and performing regular checks on the products’ performance.
Software Project Manager Requirements:
- A bachelor’s degree in information technology, software development management, software engineering, computer science, or a related field.
- Proven experience in project management and software development.
- Good working knowledge of project estimation techniques.
- Excellent technical knowledge.
- Good leadership, decision-making, and organization skills.
- Strong attention to detail and multi-tasking skills.
Rules for Writing a Software Engineer Resume That Will Get You Hired
Customize the User (or Reader) Experience
Most candidate applications will pass through an applicant tracking system (ATS) before they reach a pair of human eyes. These programs scan each resume submitted for a job posting in search of relevant keywords to determine whether a candidate’s skills are a match for the job. If your resume is devoid of relevant terms, the ATS will probably reject your application—even if you have the right experience. So for starters, you’ll want to incorporate as many job-specific and industry-specific keywords as possible, notes Muse career coach Steven Davis, owner of Renaissance Solutions Inc., a coaching and recruiting agency specializing in software engineering, product manager, and project manager opportunities.
Beyond that, “Try to tailor your resume to the specific job posting where possible,” Inamdar says. “Hiring managers will compare the narrative of your resume to their role to determine whether your experience is compatible.” Think: What does the recruiter or hiring manager need to know about your experience in order to understand that you’re qualified?
Feature Your Technical Know-How
Software engineers rely on specific programs, systems, and languages to perform their jobs, so recruiters will be especially interested in the technical skills section of your resume. That means it’s well worth investing some serious time and effort into creating a detailed technical skills section. “When I’m reviewing a candidate’s resume, I want to see how the technologies they’ve listed align with what we use. Does their technical experience mesh well with where we are as a company?” Inamdar says.
Breaking this portion of your resume down into more specific subsections will make it easier for recruiters and hiring managers to spot the specific skills they’re looking for (check out the example resume below to see this in action), so before you sit down to write your resume, make a list of the specific systems, methodologies, and platforms you’ve worked with, and note your corresponding level of expertise in each (e.g. are you fluent in JavaScript? Familiar with AngularJS? An expert in Python?). Bonus points if you’ve attended a training course or earned a certification!
Be Specific About Your Accomplishments
“A great software engineer resume will demonstrate quantifiable success in areas like designing and delivering cloud solutions [or] using the latest technologies and development methodologies in DevOps, or [they’ll show their] experience with microservices, Lean, Agile, Serverless, containerization, and cloud platforms,” Davis says. Describing your experience using specific details (like the type of project, the technologies used, or the type of client) and outcomes (like a completed website design, successful application launch, or a % decrease in code churn) will help to bring your resume to life and help recruiters better understand how your experience fits into the opening they’re looking to fill.
“Make it a priority to provide context and highlight not just what your skills are, but when and how you applied them,” Inamdar explains. “If you know Scrum, when did you use it? If you’re an expert in Python, at which job did you use that language?”
Choose the Right Layout
“It’s important to choose a resume layout that allows you to create a narrative that’s easy for the reader to follow. They should quickly be able to understand what you’re looking for and what your experience is,” Inamdar advises. So unless you’re making a major career pivot (more on that below), a traditional chronological layout is probably the way to go. Recruiters tend to favor chronological resumes because they’re straightforward and easy to follow.
Similarly, avoid design elements that will make your resume hard to scan—either by a computer or by a person. “Too much formatting makes your resume less searchable,” Inamdar says. For example, some ATSs have issues parsing columns and will read them straight across. Meanwhile, an overly flashy design may make it hard for even a human to quickly pick out the information they want from your resume.
Conclusion
When working with a recruiter for an online position, it is important to show your skills and experience in PM. It is much easier for someone to look at your project manager resume and see that you are the best candidate for the job. Never underestimate how important it is to put extra time into your experience to show that you are the right candidate. It will pay off in the end when you get that job!