One specific CV challenge you might encounter as an IT project manager is articulating the breadth of your technical expertise without overwhelming non-technical stakeholders. Our guide provides tailored tips to help you strike the perfect balance, ensuring your CV highlights your skills effectively while remaining accessible to all readers.
- Create an attention-grabbing header that integrates keywords and includes all vital information;
- Add strong action verbs and skills in your experience section, and get inspired by real-world professionals;
- List your education and relevant certification to fill in the gaps in your career history;
- Integrate both hard and soft skills all through your CV.
Discover more industry-specific guides to help you apply for any role in the links below:
How complex should the format of your it project manager CV be?
Perhaps, you decided to use a fancy font and plenty of colours to ensure your it project manager CV stands out amongst the pile of other candidate profiles. Alas - this may confuse recruiters. By keeping your format simple and organising your information coherently, you'll ultimately make a better impression. What matters most is your experience, while your CV format should act as complementary thing by:- Presenting the information in a reverse chronological order with the most recent of your jobs first. This is done so that your career history stays organised and is aligned to the role;
- Making it easy for recruiters to get in touch with you by including your contact details in the CV header. Regarding the design of your CV header, include plenty of white space and icons to draw attention to your information. If you're applying for roles in the UK, don't include a photo, as this is considered a bad practice;
- Organising your most important CV sections with consistent colours, plenty of white space, and appropriate margins (2.54 cm). Remember that your CV design should always aim at legibility and to spotlight your key information;
- Writing no more than two pages of your relevant experience. For candidates who are just starting out in the field, we recommend to have an one-page CV.
One more thing about your CV format - you may be worried if your double column CV is Applicant Tracker System (ATS) complaint. In our recent study, we discovered that both single and double-column CVs are ATS-friendly . Most ATSes out there can also read all serif and sans serif fonts. We suggest you go with modern, yet simple, fonts (e.g. Rubik, Lato, Raleway) instead of the classic Times New Roman. You'll want your application to stand out, and many candidates still go for the classics. Finally, you'll have to export your CV. If you're wondering if you should select Doc or PDF, we always advise going with PDF. Your CV in PDF will stay intact and opens easily on every OS, including Mac OS.
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Use font size and style strategically to create a visual hierarchy, drawing the reader's eye to the most important information first (like your name and most recent job title).
The top sections on a it project manager CV
- Expertise in Project Management Methodologies explains the frameworks you're proficient in, such as Agile, Scrum, or Prince2.
- Portfolio of Managed IT Projects showcases the range and scale of projects you have successfully managed, demonstrating experience.
- Technical Skills and Proficiencies section highlights your specific IT skills, software knowledge, and technical competencies.
- Leadership and Team Management Experience shows you can lead project teams and manage resources effectively.
- Relevant Certifications and Education outline your formal qualifications, including PM certifications like PMP or ITIL.
What recruiters value on your CV:
- Highlight your project management experience by detailing the size, scope, and success of previous IT projects, ensuring you quantify achievements with metrics like budgets managed, percentage of deadlines met, or efficiency increases.
- Emphasise your technical proficiency by listing relevant IT certifications, such as PRINCE2, PMP, or Agile methodologies, and specific technical skills or platforms you're experienced with.
- Showcase your leadership skills by providing examples of teams you've led, challenges you've overcome, and how you've facilitated collaboration among cross-functional groups.
- Illustrate your problem-solving abilities by discussing complex IT projects you've completed or obstacles you've surmounted, emphasising innovations or cost-saving measures you've implemented.
- Ensure you mention stakeholder management experience, detailing your communication and negotiation skills with clients, team members, and upper management to show how you maintain project alignment and satisfaction.
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Making a good first impression with your it project manager CV header
Your typical CV header consists of Your typical CV header consists of contact details and a headline. Make sure to list your professional phone number, email address, and a link to your professional portfolio (or, alternatively, your LinkedIn profile). When writing your CV headline , ensure it's:
- tailored to the job you're applying for;
- highlights your unique value as a professional;
- concise, yet matches relevant job ad keywords.
You can, for examples, list your current job title or a particular skill as part of your headline. Now, if you decide on including your photo in your CV header, ensure it's a professional one, rather than one from your graduation or night out. You may happen to have plenty more questions on how to make best the use of your CV headline. We'll help you with some real-world examples, below.
Examples of good CV headlines for it project manager:
- IT Project Manager | Agile & Waterfall Methodologies | PRINCE2® Certified | 5+ Years of Progressive Experience
- Senior IT Project Manager | Digital Transformation Specialist | PMP® | Strategic Planning | 10+ Years Experience
- Lead IT Project Coordinator | Full Lifecycle Management | Scrum Master | Risk Mitigation | 8 Years in Tech
- Associate IT Project Manager | Cloud Solutions Implementation | ITIL® Foundation | Emerging Tech Enthusiast | 3 Years Experience
- IT Programme Manager | Large-Scale Integration Projects | MSP® Practitioner | Vendor Relations | Over 12 Years Experience
- Expert IT Project Director | Cybersecurity Initiatives | Stakeholder Engagement | PMI-ACP® | 15+ Years Leading Teams
What's the difference between a it project manager CV summary and objective
Why should it matter to you?
- Your it project manager CV summary is a showcasing your career ambitions and your unique value. Use the objective to answer why your potential employers should hire you based on goals and ambitions. The objective is the ideal choice for candidates who happen to have less professional experience, but still meet some of the job requirements.
Before you select which one will be more relevant to your experience, have a look at some industry-leading CV summaries and objectives.
CV summaries for a it project manager job:
- Seasoned IT Project Manager with over 12 years of experience, skilled in Agile methodologies and Prince2, with a proven track record of delivering complex software development projects on time and within budget at TechSolutions Ltd. Recognised for leading a cross-functional team to achieve a 30% increase in productivity within a year.
- Dedicated IT Project Leader with a strong technical background in cloud computing and cybersecurity, bringing a solid 8-year tenure from RapidAdvance Corp. Spearheaded the integration of a secure, cloud-based infrastructure, resulting in a 25% reduction in operational costs and significantly bolstered system reliability.
- Former Senior Systems Analyst keen to transition into IT Project Management, bringing extensive experience in SQL database management and systems engineering from a 10-year career at Infosystems Inc. Eager to apply analytical skills and technical expertise to manage complex IT projects and deliver exceptional outcomes.
- Ambitious Finance Professional aspiring to make an impactful career pivot into IT Project Management, with proficient knowledge in data analytics and regulatory compliance gained from a 5-year stint at FintechGlobal. Excited to leverage strategic planning and problem-solving capabilities in managing large-scale IT initiatives.
- Highly motivated graduate with a Master's in Information Technology, eager to embark on an IT Project Management career. Driven to apply freshly acquired knowledge and theoretical frameworks in real-world scenarios, and committed to grasping the intricacies of managing technology projects efficiently.
- Dynamic individual with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, aiming to pursue a career in IT Project Management. With an understanding of software development lifecycles and a passion for tech, intent on fostering seamless project execution and honing leadership talents while embracing organizational goals.
Best practices for writing your it project manager CV experience section
If your profile matches the job requirements, the CV experience is the section which recruiters will spend the most time studying. Within your experience bullets, include not merely your career history, but, rather, your skills and outcomes from each individual role. Your best experience section should promote your profile by:
- including specific details and hard numbers as proof of your past success;
- listing your experience in the functional-based or hybrid format (by focusing on the skills), if you happen to have less professional, relevant expertise;
- showcasing your growth by organising your roles, starting with the latest and (hopefully) most senior one;
- staring off each experience bullet with a verb, following up with skills that match the job description, and the outcomes of your responsibility.
Add keywords from the job advert in your experience section, like the professional CV examples:
Best practices for your CV's work experience section
- Led a team of software developers and engineers on a successful deployment of a cloud-based CRM system, enhancing client engagement by 35%.
- Managed project timelines, budgets, and resource allocations for multiple IT projects simultaneously, ensuring on-time delivery and cost-effectiveness for a portfolio worth £2 million annually.
- Initiated regular stakeholder meetings, improving communication and project transparency, and resulting in a 25% increase in stakeholder satisfaction.
- Implemented agile project management methodologies, significantly reducing time to market by 20% and improving team adaptability to change.
- Conducted thorough risk assessments for all IT projects, identifying potential issues early and developing contingency plans to mitigate impact.
- Coordinated with cross-functional teams across global offices to deliver a complex IT infrastructure upgrade project ahead of schedule and under budget.
- Championed the integration of new project management software which increased the efficiency of project tracking and reporting by 40%.
- Directed the migration of company data to a new secure server, enhancing system security and reducing the risk of data breaches by 50%.
- Authored comprehensive documentation, including project plans, RACI matrices, and progress reports, ensuring all project members and stakeholders were consistently aligned on objectives and outcomes.
- Directed a multi-disciplinary team of 20 to deliver a £2m technology transformation project, achieving a 30% efficiency increase in operational processes.
- Implemented a company-wide adoption of Agile methodologies, reducing project delivery times by 25% and improving cross-departmental collaboration.
- Managed vendor relationships and successfully negotiated contracts that resulted in a 15% cost reduction for IT services procured.
- Supervised the deployment of an enterprise resource planning system across all departments, overseeing a budget of £1.5m and improving data accuracy by 40%.
- Led a cross-functional team of 15 in the integration of cloud-based solutions, enabling flexible working environments and a 20% decrease in downtime.
- Collaborated with stakeholders to align IT projects with business goals, which contributed to a £500k annual increase in revenue through enhanced eCommerce functionalities.
- Oversaw the adoption of new cybersecurity measures, strengthening the company's data protection capabilities and mitigating risk exposure by 50%.
- Orchestrated a company-wide upgrade to next-generation networking hardware, enhancing system performance and reliability for over 10,000 users.
- Facilitated the successful migration of 200+ applications to a hybrid cloud environment, yielding a 35% improvement in agility and scalability for business operations.
- Pioneered the development and launch of a bespoke CRM system, which supported a 50% uptick in customer satisfaction scores due to enhanced personalization.
- Championed a company initiative to streamline project reporting using BI tools, resulting in a 20% time-saving for project managers when generating insights.
- Negotiated and secured a £300k grant for the implementation of innovative AI technology, which automated routine tasks and increased productivity by 15%.
- Executed a strategic initiative to overhaul legacy systems with modern SaaS alternatives, leading to a 45% improvement in system reliability and user satisfaction.
- Guided the shift towards a DevOps culture, significantly shortening the software development lifecycle and enabling 30% more frequent product releases.
- Fostered strong team morale and skill development through targeted training programs, which elevated the team's performance in delivering complex IT solutions.
- Managed a mission-critical transition to a data-driven decision-making process, uplifting the analytical capabilities of the business with the introduction of a custom DSS.
- Coordinated a diverse project team in the successful execution of an office automation project, which improved workforce efficiency by 25%.
- Spearheaded the company's first move to a public cloud platform, achieving a 20% cost saving and enhanced scalability for future growth.
- Drove a complex digital transformation initiative resulting in the integration of IoT devices across the manufacturing floor, heightening product traceability and reducing error rates by 60%.
- Cultivated a culture of continuous improvement by implementing Kanban boards, which improved team productivity by 35% and visibility into project status.
- Steered a large-scale database optimisation project which not only ensured compliance with GDPR but also enhanced performance by 30%.
- Synchronized global project teams to execute the rollout of a unified communication system, linking over 20 international offices and increasing inter-office collaboration by 40%.
- Devised and enforced stringent project control measures which elevated overall project success rates by 25% within the first year.
- Acted as the primary point of contact for stakeholder engagement, adeptly translating technical challenges into actionable business objectives, promoting informed decision-making.
Swapping your professional experience (when you have none) with skills and more
Never underestimate the importance of relevancе when it comes to your it project manager CV. Even if you don't happen to have much or any standard (full-time contract) professional experience, this doesn't mean you shouldn't apply for the role. Instead of a bespoke CV experience section:
- Showcase more prominently any internships, part-time roles, and volunteer experience that are applicable to the role and have taught you job-crucial skills;
- Feature a strengths or achievements section with your transferrable skills or talents you've obtained thanks to your work or life experience;
- Write an objective statement that clearly outlines your values as a candidate and defines your career ambitions;
- List your education or certificates that match the job profile closer to the top of your CV.
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Talk about any positive changes you helped bring about in your previous jobs, like improving a process or helping increase efficiency.
Hard skills and soft skills to showcase your unique skill set on your it project manager CV
Did you know that your CV will mostly likely be assessed by recruiters based on skill alignment? And that means that the way you feature your key skills across different CV sections will play a crucial role in landing you that first interview. We recommend you add your:
- technical capabilities or hard skills in your CV experience, certificates, projects, etc. Use your past accomplishments to prove your technical capabilities. List up to a dozen different software or hardware in your dedicated skills section to match the job keywords;
- personal and communication skills or soft skills in your CV strengths, achievements, summary/ objective, etc. Soft skills are a bit more difficult to prove. How do you define your aptitude in active listening? So, instead of just listing the skill name, include a tangible metric to show your success.
On a final note, when you're in a hurry to create your profile, you may misspell a particular technology or soft skill. That's why we suggest you copy and paste the particular skill name (or keyword), directly from the job advert. This would also help you to pass any initial Applicant Tracker System (ATS) tests.
Top skills for your it project manager CV:
Project Lifecycle Management
Budgeting and Cost Management
Schedule Management
Risk Management
Agile Methodologies
SCRUM Framework
IT Infrastructure Knowledge
Quality Assurance
Vendor Management
Technical Integration
Leadership
Communication
Problem-Solving
Team Management
Adaptability
Critical Thinking
Time Management
Decision-Making
Conflict Resolution
Stakeholder Management
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If there's a noticeable gap in your skillset for the role you're applying for, mention any steps you're taking to acquire these skills, such as online courses or self-study.
CV education and certificates: your academic background as proof of your skill set
A common misconception about your it project manager CV education is that you only need it, if you have less professional experience. That is completely false. The CV education section serves to back up your technical (and sometimes personal) capabilities, fill in gaps in your work history, and show you have the initial industry background and know-how. When creating your education section:
- List your degrees in the reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent (and relevant) ones first;
- Include your degree and university names, start and graduation dates. It's optional to also denote you received a "First-Class Honours" for diplomas that are more relevant to the role;
- Curate your relevant university coursework, projects, or thesis work if you happen to have less professional expertise and need to integrate more job keywords and skills.
Your professional qualifications don't need to stop at your academic background. It's advisable to also select up to three of your most noteworthy (and relevant) industry certificates and feature them in a dedicated section. Once more, include the certificate name, the institution that issued it out, and the date you obtained it on. You could feature both hard skills and soft skills certificates, as in the examples below:
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Order your skills based on the relevance to the role you're applying for, ensuring the most pertinent skills catch the employer's attention first.
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Key takeaways
Impressing recruiters with your experience, skill set, and values starts with your professional it project manager CV. Write concisely and always aim to answer job requirements with what you've achieved; furthermore:
- Select a simple design that complements your experience and ensures your profile is presentable;
- Include an opening statement that either spotlights your key achievements (summary) or showcases your career ambitions (objective);
- Curate your experience bullets, so that each one commences with a strong, action verb and is followed up by your skill and accomplishment;
- List your hard and soft skills all across different sections of your CV to ensure your application meets the requirements;
- Dedicate space to your relevant higher education diplomas and your certificates to show recruiters you have the necessary industry background.
