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Trying to land an interview? Check out more winning resume examples for inspiration.
Volen Vulkov
8 minute read
Updated on 2021-03-22
A new Product Manager position has just opened up at your dream company.
It’s a prestigious product that is loved by thousands of people.
Being a Product Manager on their team would be a huge jump-up in your career.
There will be hundreds of applications sent in for the role, but you know that you’re the perfect fit.
But first, you have to get past the hiring manager with a stand-out resume.
This guide will help you do just that, with tips and tricks on what they’re looking for in your Product Manager resume.
How to write a Product Manager Resume
What format should you use?
The reverse chronological resume format is the most common one used by Product Managers.
This layout emphasizes your work experience, and also highlights your skills, education and summary.
If you’re writing an entry level Product Manager resume, you won’t have work experience to talk about yet. In this case, the functional resume format is best. We’ll talk more about this later!
No matter what format you use, hiring managers reading your resume will only spend a few seconds scanning before deciding if they want to read on. Follow these tips to ensure that your resume is easy-to-read:
- Use a clear font like Times New Roman or Arial
- Bullet points will help make your resume be scannable
- Export your resume as a PDF to ensure that it looks the same on any computer
With these tips in hand, it’s time to write a Product Manager resume that will pass through applicant tracking systems. This software scans your resume for the right keywords before passing it along to a real human being on the other side. Don’t forget to check outA Guide To Types Of Resumes: Best Formats, Tips & Examples
What are the right Product Manager resume keywords?
How can you ensure that your resume passes through these applicant tracking systems and makes it to the hands of the hiring manager?
By using the same keywords that arelisted in the job description.
Take a close look at what language is used in the job description to describe the responsibilities of the role, and use those same phrases throughout your resume: in your experience section, summary, and skills.
Pssst. Buzzwords, right? Yeah, these can be magical, but only when used in the right context. Check outHow to Properly Use Resume Buzzwords to Get An Interview
What employers want to see in Product Manager resumes
Recommended resume sections
- A resume header that has all of your important contact information
- Descriptive summary that proves your value in a few sentences
- Work experience section with data-backed accomplishments
- Your educational background
- A mix of technical and soft skills
What recruiters want to see in your resume
- Proof that you can plan, build and launch successful products
- Work effectively with a team to manage the product life cycle
- The right mix of technical and soft skills to excel
- A genuine passion for the role and the industry
Product Manager Resume Header: How to Form The Best First Impression
Marina Jenkins
Product Manager
WRONG
Marina Jenkins
SaaS Product Manager
RIGHT
Product Manager Experience Section: Where Magic Happens
Experience
Product ManagerAmbroise Solutions Inc.Workforce management system for restaurants.
Received product feedback from customer interviews
Planned out the product roadmap
Presented market assessments to executives
Collaborated with the marketing and development teams
WRONG
Experience
Senior Product ManagerAmbroise Solutions Inc.Workforce management systems for restaurants
Achieved 40% product revenue growth in three months by planning and launching four new key features
Improved user activation rate by 200% and boosted conversions to premium plans by 60% by strategizing and implementing a new user onboarding flow
Conducted 500+ customer interviews for product feedback, with suggested improvements leading to a 99.6% customer satisfaction level
Presented market research, competitive positioning, pricing and revenue models to key stakeholders
RIGHT
Product Management Resume Skills: Cooking a Perfect Mix of Soft and Technical Skills
Soft Skills List for Product Manager resumes
- Communication skills (written and verbal)
- Presenting to key stakeholders
- Leadership
- Analytical thinking
- Problem solving
- Time management
- Project management
- Collaboration with cross-functional teams
- Research (market and competitive)
- Risk management
- Presentational skills
For more examples on stand-out skills sections, read ourResume Skills Section That Impress guide
Hard Skills List for Product Manager Resumes
- Product roadmaps
- Agile methodologies (Scrum and Kanban)
- Financial modelling
- Product pricing
- Create go-to-market launch plans
- User onboarding strategy
- Software engineering
- Analyzing product metrics for growth and troubleshooting
- Conducting customer interviews
- UX and UI design
- Prioritizing features based on user feedback and metrics
- Demo Skills (e.g. Powerpoint)
Bonus Section: Tips For Specific Product Manager Resume Formats (With Examples and Templates)
Associate Product Manager Resume
Paradoxically, recruiters can be very picky when it comes to entry-level product managers jobs. The reason is simple: they realize that people in these positions will grow into future company leaders.Below are some tips to give your some competitive edge when applying for Associate Product Manager jobs:
- Compensate lack of experience with skills. Recruiters are always looking for hidden gems inentry-point candidates. But the key word here is relevance.
If you’re applying for a data-driven company, make sure to mention your data mining or data modeling skills to get an edge. If you’re applying for a less technical company, show soft skills in a real-world context, e.g. “led university presentations class for a year” in your skills section.
- Feature side projects relevant to the job. Frankly, anything can be labeled as “project: these days, and that’s why it becomes so important to mention only projects relevant to the job application. Also, make sure to include two key components when describing your projects to stand out: managerial qualities and tangible impact.
Senior Product Manager Resume
Senior Product Managers are not your typical executives, and specific experience and even the way you frame your experience in a Senior Product Manager resume can go a long way.
Below are some tips to increase your chances of successful application for a Senior Product Manager job:
- Frame experience as ROI-driven. Senior Product Managers are here to make an impact. If you attach your work to tangible results, you’ll gain an extreme advantage over candidates that list all possible cliches on their resumes and hope for the best.Remember,a targeted resume approach works best when combined with business outcomes for a particular industry or a product.
- Double-down on strategic skills. Things like “product strategy”, “global technical debt”, or “milestone deliverables” are no empty boast to senior product managers. It’s what they are paid to do. Make sure to check job applications for keywords and weave the most common ones into your experience and skills sections.
- Showcase exceptional product or industry knowledge. Senior Product Managers should know their product in and out. Mentioning a relevant background of successful experience with similar products will give you an upper hand over other candidates.
By the way, one of the most common questions for leadership positions we hear isShould I Include My Photo On My Resume? [Expert Advice]
Software Product Manager Resume
In a way, the Product manager position emerged from the software engineering field. Hence why software engineering trends tend to affect global product management trends.
The following tips will help you more successfully apply for Product Manager jobs in the software industry:
- Experience with non-technical software development practices is paramount. Agile, Scrm, Kanban, DevOps, extreme programming. Entire companies and teams are built and rebuilt following specific development practices.Make sure to feature relevant Agile experience and skills or you risk getting sidetracked too early in the process.
- Prioritise technical background that impacts the product. A big chunk of great software product managers came from software backgrounds, so make sure to feature your technical skills and how they affected the product's performance all throughout your resume.Don’t simply list technical skills. Demonstrate how they helped you improve the product and its performance, e.g. “reduced technical debt with...”, “improved customer satisfaction after..” and so on. Follow the “skill-action-results” pattern.
Tip: If you are having problems fitting all your experience into a one-page resume, check outbest practices for two-page resumes.
Key Takeaways when writing a Product Manager resume
- Use quantitative data to back up your claims about your accomplishments. Did you improve revenue with a new product launch? Use real numbers to show your impact.
- Include a mix of soft and hard skills on your resume, and mirror the same keywords and phrases that are listed in the job description.
- To write an entry-level Product Manager resume, highlight your side projects, education and skills to prove your passion and potential.
Looking to build your own Product Manager resume?
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