Best Project Manager Skills to List on a Resume
Project Manager Skills | Best Skills
Take some time to research the skills needed for the position you are applying for. Then, create a list of skills that directly relate to the job and demonstrate your job-specific qualifications. This article shares some of the most common examples of project management skills you can include on your resume.
What are project manager skills?
Project manager skills are a combination of hard (technical) skills and soft (interpersonal) skills necessary for those in project management or other leadership roles. These skills help present you as an organized and disciplined individual capable of overseeing a project from development to completion.
Common project management skills to list on your resume
Here are some common technical and interpersonal project management skills you can include on your resume.
Delivery
Delivery refers to the ability to produce the quantity and quality of work within a given timeframe. Project managers need to manage their staff efficiently to produce desired results before a set deadline. This includes scheduling and running team meetings, offering the proper feedback through employee reviews, and awarding the successes of an individual and the team as a whole when warranted.
Risk management
Risk management is about identifying factors that could hinder progress. Subsequently, you must structure procedures that avoid those factors. Project managers identify common risks presented by a project and set up an approach to avoid conflict. For example, suppose a project manager for a social media campaign notices a potential communication problem. In that case, they may schedule daily meetings with their team and delegate specific tasks among their staff.
Budgeting
Budgeting is a beneficial skill to include on your resume. It demonstrates your experience monitoring the amount of money you have for a project. It also shows your ability to entrust certain portions of your funding toward essential tasks. This, in turn, ensures the necessary amounts are appropriately allocated to each part of the project.
Negotiation
As a project manager, you might be expected to negotiate for more time or resources to complete a project. Listing negotiation as a skill on your resume shows employers that you can advocate for your team and their needs to see a project through to completion.
Scheduling
Effective scheduling a project can save a company valuable time, money, and resources. When you include scheduling as a skill, it shows employers that you are capable of structuring a project that is mindful of these three elements.
Database management
Database management is about organizing, storing, and retrieving data. Your database management experience shows that you can use computer software to coordinate application data successfully. As a project manager, you might be expected to use database systems and software applications designed to help organize, plan and complete tasks. Listing database management as one of your skills shows employers that you can use technology as a part of your project management strategy.
Task delegation
Task delegation is identifying and assigning tasks to the most capable individuals to maximize time and accuracy. It is an important skill to include on your resume for a project manager position. You will be expected to use your best judgment to assign roles to your team and be mindful of each team member’s strengths and weaknesses when assigning those roles.
Business writing
Business writing includes any formal documentation addressed for either internal (within the company) and external (outside of the company) individuals. These include internal memos, business letters, emails, and reports. Including business writing as a skill on your resume shows employers that you can use written communication to deliver messages across various mediums to complete a project effectively.
Leadership
Leadership is the ability to oversee an event, situation, project, or group of people in a way that is effective and produces good results. Listing leadership as a skill on your project manager resume presents you as highly beneficial for managing a project and seeing its culmination.
Time management
Time management is about structuring time to protect against procrastination and other time-wasting activities to maximize the amount of work done within a given time frame. Including time management as one of your skills implies to employers that you have the correct methods of prevention against these time-wasting activities, and in doing so, can save them valuable money.
Interpersonal communication
Interpersonal communication is how you can communicate with and cater to different types of people and relationships. As a project manager, you will constantly communicate with your direct superior, employees, team members, contractors, and even company officials. This means that you should be able to communicate effectively with each of these individual groups. Listing interpersonal communication as a skill, tells employers that you can adjust your communication tactics to fit superiors’ and subordinates’ needs.
Public speaking
Public speaking is the ability to communicate ideas to an audience verbally. Project managers might be expected to speak in front of company executives when proposing a plan of action for a particular project. They might also be expected to host meetings with their team throughout the project’s progression and present the results following project completion. Therefore, by listing public speaking on your resume, you demonstrate that you can present information in a verbal format to a group of people.
Problem-solving
Problem-solving is the ability to identify a problem and come up with the best solutions to resolve it. It is an essential skill for project managers as they might encounter setbacks and be responsible for correcting mistakes throughout the progression of a project. Including problem-solving as a skill on your resume implies that you are calm under pressure and can take the appropriate action.
Organization
Organizational skills indicate that you can arrange information, objects, people, or events into structured categories that can be easily located for future reference. As a project manager, you organize essential documents, schedule events or meetings, and compile a group of professionals to work as a part of your project team. Listing organizational skills implies that you can manage a project in its entirety, including keeping track of all aspects of the project. This, in turn, contributes to a successful end goal.
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