The future of employment for leadership professionals is bright, and you’ll need a strong resume to land the best managerial positions. Your management resume should demonstrate a history of effective leadership, emphasizing an ability to motivate teams and achieve results. In this guide, we’ll provide expert strategies to help you create a resume that proves you can drive success and growth as a leader within your industry.
No matter your managerial occupation, using a professional template can help you create a well-organized resume. Be sure your management resume includes the following sections:
Make it easy for hiring managers to contact you for follow-up or to schedule an interview by including your most up-to-date contact information in the header of your resume. List your full name, phone number, email address, location, and a link to your online professional profile.
Your Name
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
LinkedIn | Portfolio
City, State Abbreviation Zip Code
Your profile, the opening statement of your resume, offers a snapshot of who you are as a leader. To pique the interest of hiring managers, this small glimpse of your management career should include all of your most compelling qualifications.
Start with a strong opening sentence listing your job title and years of experience. Then, mention key strengths, specialties, certifications, and priorities. Include information that will connect with the needs of potential employers.
Introductory Certificate in Project Management (ICPM)-certified manager with eight years of experience in client services and a passion for innovative performance management strategies. Fosters team collaboration to increase productivity and staff retention. Proven track record of implementing tailored solutions for optimal client services, ensuring a positive and consistent client experience.
With over 9.5 million professionals employed at the management level, the technical and interpersonal abilities required for each individual will be different. To determine which key skills to include, it’s always best to defer to the job description of the position you’re applying for. If you’re looking for some inspiration, here’s a list of common skills most leadership professionals will need to demonstrate.
Hard Skills | Soft Skills |
---|---|
Budgeting | Collaboration |
Business intelligence | Conflict resolution |
Contract negotiation | Crisis management |
Data analysis | Decision-making |
Financial management | Emotional intelligence |
Forecasting | Leadership |
Legal and regulatory compliance | Networking |
Market research | Professional development |
Risk management | Strategic thinking |
Writing skills | Team building |
Leadership is about taking initiative and approaching your work with a proactive mindset. To help you communicate this drive for excellence, use action verbs when creating bullet points for your professional experience section. This will also help you keep your descriptions concise and impactful. Use some of the words below as you write your management resume:
The professional experience section of your management resume is like your career’s highlight reel. This is where you demonstrate how you’ve used key skills to overcome challenges, achieve results, and manage responsibilities. Discuss the teams or projects you’ve led and emphasize the scope of your previous roles, including examples that directly relate to the job you’re applying for.
Client Services Manager, JPMorgan Chase, Jersey City, NJ
June 2018 – present
Operations Manager, JPMorgan Chase, Paramus, NJ
October 2014 – May 2018
Hiring managers are interested in how you achieve goals and get results. So, highlight those times in the past when reached targets, improved processes, exceeded sales, and managed people. As you describe past responsibilities and accomplishments, use numbers, percentages, and dollar amounts to quantify your work.
Every piece of information on your management resume should be relevant to the role you’re applying for. You’ll need to customize your document every time you submit an application. Let the requirements of the job be your guide as you choose which leadership skills, experiences, qualifications, and achievements to include in your resume.
This approach helps hiring managers make a connection between their needs and your qualifications. It also optimizes your resume for applicant tracking systems (ATS). When you include keywords and phrases from the job description, the software is more likely to approve you for the next round of the hiring process.
Employment for management professionals is expected to grow faster than average over the next 10 years. This healthy demand means hiring teams may be more willing to invest in people with little experience but the right education, skills, and ambition.
Instead of focusing on work history, structure your resume to highlight transferable skills, education, industry expertise, and training. If you have leadership experience in a volunteer, sports, or school setting, mention that as well. You can also seek out insight and mentorship from current industry leaders. Ask them how they made the leap from no management experience to their first leadership role.
Educational requirements will vary depending on the type of management position you’re applying for. When listing your academic information, always begin with your highest level of education first. If you’ve taken relevant managerial, leadership, administrative, or business-related coursework, you can list that here as well.
In addition to any formal education, include certifications that empower your role as a manager. Software proficiencies, regulatory certifications, licenses, and role-specific credentials will help distinguish you from other top candidates.
Education
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Management, September 2010 – June 2014
New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ
Certifications
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
LinkedIn | Portfolio
City, State Abbreviation zip code
ICPM-certified manager with eight years of experience in client services and a passion for innovative performance management strategies. Fosters team collaboration to increase productivity and staff retention. Proven track record of implementing tailored solutions for optimal client services, ensuring a positive and consistent client experience.
Client Services Manager, JPMorgan Chase, Jersey City, NJ
June 2018 – present
Operations Manager, JPMorgan Chase, Paramus, NJ
October 2014 – May 2018
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Management, September 2010 – June 2014
New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ
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