How To Include Work Experience
While you must highlight your past work experience, you should only include two to four work experiences. If you’ve had seven jobs since you were 18, you don’t need to include the first three or four. If you already have extensive experience as a program manager, only include the jobs that are relevant to the specific position to which you’re applying.
Writing your bullet points
You should write your work experience bullet points to make this information easy to scan. Use active instead of passive voice to display a strong and clear tone. Avoid personal pronouns as much as possible. As for punctuation, it’s possible to place periods at the end of your bullet points or leave them out completely. However, consistency is key. Because you’re writing about previous work experience, always write in the past tense.
A few examples of poor bullet points include:
- Managed various programs
- Led development of different processes
- Improved process efficiency
These bullet points don’t tell the recruiter anything of value. They won’t understand how hiring you can benefit their bottom line.
A few examples of good bullet points include:
- Increased the lifetime value of customers from $350 to $885
- Developed project forecasts and was able to improve upon these forecasts by 10% in final results
- Implemented widespread policy changes, which reduced manual work by more than 1,000 hours each month
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Sample Program Manager Resume
Is it time to get your career in order? To be considered for top program manager jobs, resume expert Kim Isaacs says it helps to have a professional program manager resume.
While you’re writing keep in mind that many HR departments utilize applicant tracking systems that scan resumes for their compatibility before they even get to a hiring manager’s inbox. The way to pass this stage of the application process is to sprinkle in program manager resume keywords that mirror the key phrases in the job ad. For example, if the job ad mentions “cross-functional teams,” be sure to use that phrase somewhere in your resume.
For more resume writing tips, view this sample program manager resume that Isaacs created below.
Employment History Cv Example: A Ladder Of Success
The employment history section of your program manager resume takes up the bulk of your resume, unless you are new to the job market. The goal here is to show a pattern of growth in your career. That means spending more precious space on your most current one or two jobs — the ones where you performed duties that make you a great candidate for the positions you are eyeing.
Use the CAR method in your bullet points to describe a Challenge, the Action you took to solve it, and your Results. Data and details make your case stronger.
The resume sample content below will give you a good starting point.
- Helped to build and lead teams of problem-solvers and managers.
- Provided comprehensive program management for the company and oversaw remedial designs.
- Prepared proposals and cost estimates for projects.
- Managed project contracts and schedules.
- Led a strong support team conducive to the companys success.
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Acquisition Program Manager Resume
Why this resume works
- When you’re applying for a more specialized program manager role, like an acquisition program manager, it’s best for the title on your resume to match the job title for which you’re applying.
- It won’t come as a surprise that when you’re building your acquisition program manager resume, you should talk about your experience acquiring customers.
- This can be through your work with sales teams, marketing teams, or working directly with prospective customers.
The Work Experience Section
This is probably the most important part of your resume to get right, and the easiest to get wrong. Many candidates think that their work experience speaks for itself, and simply list their role and a few of their main responsibilities.
However, we recommend a much more powerful approach.
Instead of listing responsibilities, you need to talk about actions. This means starting each bullet point with an action verb. These verbs should relate to the seven skills from section 1 that companies look for in TPM resumes . “Executed,” “Unblocked,” “Led,” and “Delivered” are some good examples of such verbs.
Choosing actions that are relevant to one of the seven technical program manager essential skills will also mean that your resume contains the keywords that recruiters will be looking for.
You should also focus on the results of what you did and quantify them as much as possible to highlight the tangible contributions you have made. Ex-Google SVP Lazlo Bock talks about a common method for doing this that you might find helpful, called the X, Y, Z formula.
Finally, balance is also important. Because a technical program manager role is quite multi-faceted, its important to demonstrate a range of skills in the work experience section.
Notice how the candidate implements the things weve mentioned above: using action verbs to talk about their actions and achievements, quantifying them where possible, and covering a range of skills.
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Write A Program Manager Resume Summary Or Summary Objective
There are two types of introduction you can use in your program management resume – a summary and objective. You should choose the one that will help you succeed in your job search.
A management resume summary should offer a brief synopsis with a focus on your experience and biggest accomplishments. Thus, it is used by people with vast experience.
Here is a great example:
Certified program manager with over 15 years of experience. Cut data processing time by 50% and ensured $7m budget savings by completing all programs ahead of scheduleâ¦
A program manager resume objective can be used when there is a lack of experience. It focuses on the candidateâs skills and goals.
Look at this example:
Highly-motivated junior program manager with strong knowledge of CRM software and project management skills. Looking to leverage leadership skills at for staff productivity, improved closing process, and support cost reduction.
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Another IT Program Manager resume
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PERSONAL SUMMARY
A focused and very competent IT Program Manager who has extensive experience of projects in multiple technologies, functions and industries. Karen possesses deep knowledge of the IT industry, and has a proven ability to lead teams in defining and developing software solutions. She is an expert at developing systems that will enrich lives and build business success. Her superb communication skills allow her to communicate effectively with varied personality types, whilst her total commitment to a program enables her to work on multiple complex development projects which have high customer expectations and demanding partners. On a more personal level she is committed to her own personal excellence, ethical behaviour, and integrity. Right now she is looking for a suitable leadership position with an ambitious company that is going places.
CAREER HISTORY
Duties
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It Program Manager Resume Tips And Examples
- Study the company’s tech stack. Analyze current and past employee LinkedIn profiles to learn your target company environment: programming languages, infrastructure, vendors. If you have experience working with some of these technologies, mention that in your Experience and Skills sections to earn some bonus points with technical recruiters.
- Study companys PM methodology. In your target the company uses Agile methodology, provide relevant certificates and successful experience working within Agile framework If your target company follows the waterfall approach, focus more on traditional waterfall deliverables: plans, system design, deadlines estimation, and relevant KPIs.
Senior Program Manager Resume Tips And Examples
- Focus on growth and scale experiences. When describing your previous experience, show that youre not just a supervisor, but a strategist. Put forward your most strategic projects, complex multi-project developments, and experience of scaling working strategies on a company-wide level.
- Focus on business outcomes. The higher your management position, the close you vision should correlate with business visions. Highlight your business acumen and the ability to provide business outcomes in every relevant section of your resume.
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The Personal Information Section
This section is not the place to try and impress. Just make sure you get your details across in as few words as possible and avoid mistakes.
Notice how the above example is extremely clean and easy to read. Follow these tips to achieve the same:
- Use bigger font for your name than for the rest of the section to make it stand out
- Include your name, email address, phone number, city/county you live in
- Ideally include a link to your LinkedIn profile
DONT:
- Title this section. Its not necessary in this type of layout, so save the space
- Include a street address, as its unnecessary and unsafe
- Include a photo, date of birth, or gender, unless specifically requested to do so
- Dont label each piece of information e.g email, tel, etc. Its obvious what they are, so save the space
- Link to personal or portfolio websites here, as you can do that lower down
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Next Createan Engineering Program Manager Skills Section On Your Resume
Your resume’s skills section should include the most important keywords from the job description, as long as you actually have those skills. If you haven’t started your job search yet, you can look over resumes to get an idea of what skills are the most important.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when writing your resume’s skills section:
- Include 6-12 skills, in bullet point form
- List mostly hard skills soft skills are hard to test
- Emphasize the skills that are most important for the job
Soft skills are also valuable, as they’re highly transferable and make you a great person to work alongside, but they’re impossible to prove on a resume.
Example Of Engineering Program Manager Skills For Resume
How To Format A Program Manager Resume
You cant create a winning program manager without having the formatting figured out.
After all, the hiring manager is not going to want to hire a program manager who isnt well-organised.
Currently, the most common resume format is reverse-chronological, and for good reason as it shows your most recent successes first. As such, wed recommend starting with this format.
Two more resume formats you could try are:
- Functional Resume – This format focuses on what skills you have for the job, rather than your experience. Its the best option if you are skill-strong but experience-poor. You may also want to use this format if you have gaps in your employment history.
- Combination Resume – As the name suggests, a combination format cleverly combines is a mix between Functional and Reverse-Chronological, which means it focuses both on skills AND work experience. You can use a combination resume if you have a lot of work experience or changing industries.
Once youve decided on the format, you need to get your resume layout right.
Heres what we recommend:
- – One-inch margins on all sides
- Font – Pick a font that stands out, but not too much.
- Font Size – Use a font size of 11-12pt for normal text and 14-16pt for headers
- Line Spacing – Use 1.0 or 1.15 line spacing
- Resume Length – Stick to a 1-page limit. Having trouble fitting everything into one page? Check out these one-page resume templates.
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Tip #2 The Way You Format Your Pgm Resume Does Matter
- Make your resume easy to read and easy to scan. Use color, white space, legible fonts, and headers to create an enjoyable reading experience for recruiters, and theyll spend more time reading about you. Avoid excessive jargon usage
- Choose a proper resume layout. In most cases, a standard reverse chronological resume format will do just fine. But we recommend using a hybrid resume format with a custom section to put forward your unique qualities and stand out from competition.
Tpm Skills For Your Resume
The job of a technical program manager is quite varied and broad, but weve identified seven key skills that youll want to demonstrate in your resume to show recruiters that youve got what it takes.
Depending on what type of technical program manager you want your resume to portray you as, certain skill areas will be more important to include than others. So before you start writing, you might first need to sit back and reflect on the type of TPM you are, or want to be.
Demonstrating these skills on your resume should signal to recruiters and interviewers that you have the right capabilities they’re looking for. For more reading on what it takes to be a technical program manager, we recommend this post by GitHubs Ben Balter.
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How To Write Your Resume With Examples
Letâs tackle how to write the program manager’s resume. Here youâll find a breakdown of what to include in each section of your resume as well as suggestions and examples on how to best present your profile.
1. Start with a career objective or summary statement.
The opening statement on a resume can be either a professional summary or a career objective statement. For a program managerâs role, we advise opening with a summary statement as it introduces the recruiter to how you can benefit the employer by underlining your skills, qualifications and expertise.
However, here are some viable scenarios where you can open with the career objective statement to stress career goals or aspirations:
- If you are rejoining the workforce after a long career break.
- If you are applying for an entry-level position, internships or contractual roles.
- If youâre permanently freelancing.
The following examples of a good and poor career objective statement can show you how to properly write yours:
Poor example:
âTrained program manager seeking an opportunity at your company to apply and refine my skills to grow and evolve as a program manager.â
This objective statement fails to impress because the candidateâs skills and qualifications that justify the âtrained program managerâ claim are missing.
Good example:
This objective statement emphasizes the qualification , experience and skills backing up the candidateâs claim to a program managerâs role.
2. Showcase your skills.
Match Your Cover Letter With Your Resume
If you want your application to stand out, you need to go the extra mile.
The most efficient way to stand out is by writing a convincing cover letter.
They show the recruiter that youre passionate about being a manager for this company.
In a way, it makes the company feel special.
With that said, you need to write the cover letter in the correct way.
First, you need to get the structure right. Heres how to do that:
Heres the content your cover letter should contain:
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It Program Manager Resume
Why this resume works
- When you’re writing your IT program manager resume, you may be wondering how to fit years of experience on a single piece of paper.
- When you have many years of experience, we recommend ordering your work experience in reverse-chronological order to emphasize increased job responsibilities throughout your career.
Program Manager Resume Examples To Land A Job In 2022
You can herd lions and get cross-functional teams to make things happen. But the hiring executive wont know that til you prove it. This program manager resume sample does that.
Youre up against it.
A program manager who hasnt done the exact job the company needs will not get hired.
Program managers make $88K a year on average.
If the company hires wrong, itll cost them $26K to $38K.
But dont worry
With the right skills and keywords in your program manager resume, youll fit the job like a Jira project.
- A program manager resume sample better than most.
- How to write a resume for program manager jobs that puts you in the lead.
- How to make a professional program manager job description for resumes.
- Why you cant just list program manager skills .
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