Manager: there is no more important role in the modern workplace. People develop when they are taught, guided and led by someone who has more experience. The best companies seek to develop the most effective managers – the trickle-down effect of amazing management skills is the most powerful force in business. You learn from your manager and you then pass on the same lessons when you become a manager yourself. What skills does an amazing manager possess and how do you demonstrate these in your manager resume?
Ideally, a job seeker would share a highlight reel with examples of their best management moments, but sadly they currently have to start every interview process with a written resume. Of course, they can be more animated when describing their management style during the interview, but they have to get there first. With this manager resume example and writing guide, we hope to explore the aspects of management that are worth exploring in your perfect resume and the language that you might use to bring your skills to life. We'll show you how to:
- Create a manager resume that brings your management style to life.
- Describe the subtleties of situations that will be relevant to your future employer.
- Make sure that you impress the ATS software with the qualifications the company is actually seeking.
- Make format choices that highlight your most powerful management experiences.
This manager resume writing guide, along with our collection of management resume samples and resume templates, will give you a framework to communicate how you manage those around you, whether direct reports, colleagues or bosses.
What does a manager do?
No matter what the industry or type of business, the best managers share a multitude of common traits. You have to communicate with others to get things done, you have to focus on the professional development of your team and you have to make sure that work streams progress smoothly and profitably. Organizational and leadership skills are critical, no matter what the nature of your management role. To be considered a great manager, there are many more boxes to tick.
But what elements of the role could you include in your manager resume? To start with, concise written and oral communication skills are the foundation of solid management. Managers have to set goals for their people, help to align their activity within the overall strategy, and amend their direction depending on results. Great managers realize that alongside the inevitable task-based nature of every role, they need to give their people time and space to grow. Having said this, managers ultimately need their people to achieve results.
They need to focus on process improvements, planning, evaluation and quality assurance. There are few managers who have no budgetary responsibility and even fewer who have no responsibility for customer service (internal or external). Most managers have to solve problems and suggest solutions on a constant basis. While managers are often seen as managing others, one important aspect is their ability to manage themselves. Self-awareness and emotional intelligence form the bedrock of managerial mental strength. Each of these aspects (and many more) should be included in any managerial resume.
Related manager resume examples
Need more ideas? Go ahead and have a look at these related resume examples from the Business & Management field:
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- Executive resume example
How to write a manager resume
Before you get started on how to write a manager resume, you need to know what goes into it.
Your CV should contain the following elements:
- The resume header
- The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
- The employment history section
- The resume skills section
- The education section
Now that the basics are out of the way, let’s get to the content. Taking responsibility for the professional development and achievement of others is an immense responsibility, made harder by the fact that there is no “blueprint” for the perfect manager. Everyone has their own approach. Management responsibilities will also vary greatly depending on the type of work that they and their teams are asked to do and the industry in which they work. It is vital that your business resume reads like a manager from your target industry. If you are talking about things that would never happen in their company, it will be that much harder to entrust you with their people.
While you will have experienced different managerial requirements in the past, it is important to look deep inside and realize the sort of manager that you feel most comfortable being and how you are able to bring out the best of those around you. Some may call this your management “style.” If your style does not fit with the job description, then maybe you have to be honest and admit that the job isn’t for you. The time to get excited is when you sense that there is a good fit.
Then you just have to do yourself justice in the action words that you choose for your manager resume. While you won’t have the space to describe various situations in any detail, you don’t actually need to. You simply need to create an emotional response in the mind of the reader. The words that you choose matter hugely. Whether you describe yourself as demanding, understanding, empowering or detail-oriented, a picture will quickly emerge in an employer’s mind.
The tasks that you choose to highlight (or not) in your resume also seek to highlight the impact that you make. If you talk a lot about communication, performance management and training, for example, it will create a certain impression. If you only talk about operations, analysis and process management, you will be seen in a different light. The right mix of words and tasks will make a potential employer feel that you are the manager for them.
How to get past the ATS? Resume writing using keywords and research
Recruitment is increasingly being assisted by software to help handle the volume of resumes. You can be sure that there will be considerable competition for any management role and the first stage of the interview process is often having your resume scanned by ATS (applicant tracking system) software. If your resume does not pass this software, it may not even be read by a human. The trick here lies in the selection of suitable keywords that are both true to your experience but also targeted towards the industry in which you will be working.
Choosing the best CV format for a manager
You’re ultimate goal here is for recruiters to easily garner the information they seek. That’s why we recommend you stick with reverse chronological order. This format shows off your career progression and allows you to build a story of success.
If your career path is more winding, you may consider a hybrid format or if you are in a highly technical field, a functional resume format may be for you, however, don’t make your manager resume too densely technical. A recruiter without a deep understanding might skip over to more readable parts. Including technical terms is good for the ATS, but make sure that they are integrated into the story of your career. Including a huge list of skills is rarely a good idea.
Resume summary example: brief and impactful
The summary is the managerial elevator pitch of your resume. It is the equivalent corporate version of the question “Who are you?” How you see yourself as a manager will paint a picture of the impact that you have on those around you.
The summary has to convey your personality, highlight your experience and give a sense that you know you are able to bring out the best in those around you. The message of any manager’s resume summary should both inspire and reassure. How you choose to describe yourself here will say a lot about your management style, and as the summary is the first (and sometimes only) part of the manager resume to be scanned, those few sentences are critically important. Choose action verbs that hint at how you go about your work, choose adjectives to give an extra dimension to your self-portrayal and choose activity examples that will impress.
Experienced and self-motivated Manager bringing forth valuable industry experience and a passion for management. Results oriented with a proven track record of working collaboratively with team members to achieve goals. Experienced in both retail and culinary settings, and adept at effectively managing all operations.
Manager employment history example
The employment/work history of a manager should be a “greatest hits” of managerial successes. Your prospective boss will have experienced many of these situations themselves, so highlight your unique approach to people management. Any manager could probably fill in their resume with the things that have happened to them over the past week, let alone the past 10-20 years, so it is vital to be selective in the stories that you decide to tell for each role. Make sure that they fit with the sorts of things that you think you will be doing with your new employer and make sure that you lead with the most recent experiences first. If your most recent roles seem of interest, the prospective employer will read further. Ideally, we want them to read until the end. Your employment history needs to hold their attention all the way through the resume.
Talk about how you helped to impact the behaviors and results of those around you. Include facts and figures where possible and give the commercial context of your management actions. Include examples of projects that you and your teams have worked on, as well as the day-to-day management tasks – an ability to juggle temporary and permanent activities is important. No manager is perfect, so it is also important to include a few of your management “lessons” where appropriate.
Sharing details about how you achieve results with your direct reports and your colleagues is vital to give your manager resume a more human touch. No manager sits in a corner and works independently – much of their success can be ascribed to how they work with others. If you are doing a detailed description of a project, you might consider using the STAR method; S - the situation that you were in; T – the task(s) you had; A – the actions/strategy that you used; R- the result you achieved. This helps to keep your explanations logical and straightforward.
General Manager, H&M, White Plains
October 2014 - September 2019
- Served as a successful leader, promoting and achieving store success.
- Encouraged employees to do their best and increased store productivity immensely.
- Identified and maximized sales opportunities and increased customer retention rates.
- Successfully handled visual merchandising and worked to promote company vision.
- Led recruitment efforts and training of new employees.
Assistant Store Manager, H&M, White Plains
September 2012 - September 2014
- Provided optimal assistance to the General Manager and handled a variety of tasks.
- Assisted with recruitment and training of new employees, while also monitoring the productivity of current employees.
- Worked to ensure a neat and attractive sales environment and assisted in the setup of visual displays.
- Handled work logs and the organization of employee files.
- Assisted with payroll and distributed paychecks to employees.
Sales Associate, The Guilded Lynx
May 2009 - August 2012
- Served as an enthusiastic and knowledgeable Sales Associate in this high-end jewelry boutique.
- Remained informed and up to date on the current stock and offerings.
- Answered all customer queries with friendliness and expertise.
- Worked to provide optimal browsing and buying experiences for all visitors and customers.
Resume skills section example: diverse and effective
Although the details of what a manager does might vary greatly, the basic skill-set of people management contains many elements that will not change, regardless of what industry you work in or what management position you are in. All these skills need to be present in a manager resume and it is incredibly important that they are communicated clearly. You should include examples of both hard and soft skills and while more detailed explanations can be included in the employment history section, the skills section is perfect for the one- or two-word hardest-hitting variant. Choose which skills you wish to highlight carefully. Here are a few resume examples of longer-form skill descriptions:
- Managed over 350 direct reports in store retail teams of 5-35 people.
- Ran a company-wide merchandising training and development initiative.
- Ran recruitment and HR programs through boom times and recessions as hiring manager.
- Won countless awards for staff development and team engagement.
- Prioritized a team focus on customer satisfaction – both external and internal.
- Utilized the latest technologies to ensure that my teams worked effectively.
- Ran my teams with know-how, passion, trust, dynamism and foresight.
Here are some sample shorter skill phrases / words that you could include in this resume section: People Development, Strategy Alignment, Communication, Delegation, Employee Supervision, Training & Development, Recruitment, Performance Management, Operational Excellence, Systems Optimization, Planning, Budgeting & Finance, Quality Assurance, Inter-Functional Cooperation, Customer Service, Problem Solving. Make your executive resume stand out from the crowd by tailoring your skills to the specific role.
- General Management
- Problem Solving Skills
- Business Development Strategies
- Interpersonal Communication Skills
- Time Management Skills
- Multitasking Skills
Education sample: constant learning
In terms of education and qualification, many managers will possess a bachelor’s degree in business administration from a reputable university or college. Although they will have work experience from more junior roles, the theoretical experience from a degree will always come in handy later on. Management is not something that you make up as you go along. When employers are looking to hire a manager, they will also want to see evidence of continuous improvement in terms of training courses and personal development. Make sure that this resume section is as full as possible.
Associate of Communications, Purchase College, Purchase
August 2001 - May 2005
High School Diploma, White Plains High School, White Plains
May 1997 - September 2001
Resume layout and design: manage your image
The structure of your manager resume also plays an important role in making sure that the most important aspects of your career are noticed. There are no specific rules about which format to choose, but here is a guiding principle: Ensure that it is visually clean, easy to read and symmetrical. You will have a lot to say about your achievements, but the starring moments of your career will be lost if it is cluttered.
While you can always design your format yourself, resume templates can make the process much easier. Resume.io's collection of template samples includes a wide range of attractive layouts – choose one that you like the look of! For managers of various industries, the Professional template samples, Modern or even Creative resume templates might be great choices! By clicking on the editable manager resume example at the top of this page, you'll be able to adjust our manager sample sentences inside the template of your choice.
Key takeaways for a manager resume
- Showcase your management skills and people work experiences.
- Describe how your manager blueprint has made your teams successful.
- Highlight the aspects of your personality that make you a great manager.
- Make your managerial elevator pitch in the resume summary section.
- Include both hard and soft skills with relevant examples.
- Make sure that your manager resume sounds like you and not some generic version of you.
- Include as much detail about your personal development and learning as you can.
We hope this manager resume writing guide has left you excited about all the career possibilities to come! Don't forget to check out the top of this page for our editable manager resume example with pre-filled sample sentences. You'll easily be able to adapt the writing and change the template inside our resume builder.
