There is no more important role in the modern workplace than the manager. People develop when they are taught, guided, and led by someone who has more experience.
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Store Manager
Business Manager
Marketing Manager
Sales Manager
Retail Manager
Team Lead
Supervisor
Food Services Manager
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? Keep your job search on-track with an engaging, attention-grabbing resume that ensures you’re put in the “Yes” pile.
Resume guide for a manager resume
Take your management career to the next level with Resume.io. Our guides and resume examples cover more than 500 professions, and our resume builder is your partner in creating a great resume that gets you noticed.
This resume guide and corresponding manager resume example will cover the following:
- How to write a manager resume
- Choosing the right resume format for management
- How to add your contact information
- Using summaries
- Adding your management experience
- Listing education and relevant experience
- Picking the right resume design/layout
- What the manager market looks like, and what salary you can expect
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 resume should contain:
- The resume header
- The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
- The employment history section
- The resume skills section
- The education section
It’s important to do some introspection and determine your management “style.” Perform some research about the company and the job itself to determine if your style is a good fit for what they’re looking for so that you can “pitch” yourself for the position.
To do this, figure out what the company needs and how your set of skills and experience can fulfill those needs. Your unique selling proposition is what makes you different from everyone else, and that is the center of your resume pitch.
The most important thing to start with is a great resume. Let your resume open the door with the following elements:
- Place the spotlight on your accomplishments instead of your day-to-day tasks. What did you achieve? What were the results? How did it benefit the company? Weave these achievements throughout your resume.
- Tailor each resume you submit for each position. Don’t use a “cookie cutter” approach. Each company is different, so your resume should be, too.
- You’re a professional, and your resume should reflect that. Make sure it’s modern and clean, without being bland.
- If you’re applying for jobs online, optimize your resume with keywords from the job description so it will get “green flagged” by ATS screening software. Consider using an ATS resume template.
Optimize for the ATS
ATS stands for Applicant Tracking Systems, and they’re used by over 90% of mid-to-large companies to screen candidates. ATS algorithms scan resumes for keywords from the job description and rank them accordingly. The resumes that have a high ranking are seen by actual human beings, and the rest are eliminated from contention.
To do this, make sure you look closely at each job listing to get a handle on what the employer is looking for. While you shouldn’t claim experience or skills you don’t have, when you do, make sure to include those keywords within your resume. But don’t go overboard and use keywords too many times; that’s called “keyword stuffing” and it can cause your resume to get flagged as spam.
Other ATS tips to remember include:
- Make sure your resume is clean and easy to read, and avoid creative fonts or graphics.
- Use bullet points instead of tables or columns, which are hard for the ATS to read.
- Save your resume as a Word doc or PDF (or whatever the job description asks for). Other formats, such as .jpgs, or .png, files are often incompatible with ATS.
To learn more about conquering the ATS, check out our article Resume ATS optimization.
Choosing the right resume format for a manager resume
A good manager is organized, efficient, and confident, and your resume should look the part as well.
The most common format for manager positions is reverse chronological. This format places the most emphasis on your job history, listed in reverse chronological order, and gives an overview of your career from its start to the present day. Below is an example of this format.
If you’re looking to take the next step in your career or if you’re changing careers, an alternative format, such as the functional format may work better for you. A function format highlights your transferable skills and places less emphasis on your specific work history.
There are a variety of resume templates in our resume builder, so there are many options that will fit your particular situation, with many varieties of reverse chronological, functional, and hybrid resumes available as resume examples.
A manager's resume should use an uncluttered, modern layout that is visually appealing and allows the hiring manager to find your relevant information quickly and easily.
Include your contact information
When you make contact with a new client or vendor, you want to ensure they know how to contact you to continue your professional relationship. The header on your resume serves the same purpose.
To that end, your contact information must be placed front-and-center, and it should be clear and readable. To accomplish this, make sure to include the following information:
- Full name & job title. Provide your first and last name (you can include a nickname if you use it professionally). Also, list the job title you’re applying for.
- Professional email address. Make sure your email is formatted professionally, like [email protected]. Don’t use your personal email address, especially if it’s something like, “[email protected].”
- Phone number. List a number where you can be easily reached, with a professional voicemail greeting.
- Location. List only your city and state. Don’t list the street address or zip code. It’s both outdated and unsafe. Note ' Willing to Relocate' here if applicable.
- LinkedIn. If your LinkedIn profile is active and up to date, include it here.
- Portfolio link. [If you have a link to a professional portfolio, include it last in your contact information.
Don’t include:
- Date of birth. It is irrelevant to the job, and including it could leave you open to age discrimination.
- Personal details. Marital status, religious affiliation, passport number, etc.
- Photo headshot. In general, US resumes do not include a picture, as they can lead to other types of employment discrimination, which is illegal but unfortunately, still happens.
Make use of a summary
The summary is the managerial elevator pitch of your resume. Basically, it’s the resume version of the interview question, “Tell me about yourself.” How you see yourself as a manager will paint a picture of the impact that you have on those around you.
In two to three sentences, the summary has to convey your personality, highlight your experience and give a sense of how you bring out the best in those around you. The message of any manager’s resume summary should both inspire and reassure.
Choose action verbs that hint at how you go about your work—devised, managed, initiated, negotiated, spearheaded—and incorporate your accomplishments (supported by quantifiable date) when possible.
When writing your resume summaries, don’t just cut-and-paste information that can be found elsewhere on your resume. Your summary should provide “big picture” skills and traits that make you the best at what you do, otherwise known as your unique value proposition. For example, “Results oriented with a proven track record of working collaboratively with team members to achieve goals.”
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.
Need inspiration for your summary? Check out our related resumes:
You can find adaptable manager resume examples summary below:
Emerging management professional with foundational experience in retail and culinary operations, demonstrating a strong commitment to customer service and team collaboration. Skilled in basic sales techniques, visual merchandising, and adept at managing time effectively. Eager to apply adaptability and a methodical approach to further develop managerial skills and contribute to organizational success.
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.
Distinguished manager with a robust background in leading regional operations and strategic business development. Spearheaded a 25% increase in regional sales and the successful launch of 5 new stores, showcasing a talent for market expansion and team empowerment. Renowned for advanced leadership, driving corporate vision, and implementing high-level marketing strategies to elevate customer engagement and brand presence.
Outline your manager work experience
When providing your work history in a reverse-chronological format, start with your most recent position at the top, and work backward, but don’t go back farther than 10-15 years. The only jobs you should include are those that are relevant to the position you’re applying for; other roles can be included in a separate section called “Other Experience.”
After providing the company name and your job title, use bullet points to describe your contributions, but don’t write it in the first person (i.e. using “I” or “My”). Keep your descriptions concise and use dynamic action verbs, aka “power verbs” : accelerated, influenced, organized, developed, coached, allocated, and enabled.
Don’t just list what you did day to day; provide the tangible outcomes of your work. For example, have you ever seen generic, task-related statements like these in a manager’s resume?
- "Supervised day-to-day operations in the store."
- "Dealt with sales numbers as they relate to sales and growth."
- "Maintained an outstanding customer satisfaction record."
These statements are mere descriptors and don’t show anything about you as a manager, what you’ve achieved in the role, or the value you bring to a potential employer. Remember, you want to set yourself apart from the competition, not that you were simply competent at your job.
Instead, use results-based points that show, rather than tell, why you’re a good manager. Place the spotlight on the results you achieved, both personally and by facilitating your team: sales goals and bringing profitability to the company, improvements in operations efficiency, and so on.
You’ll also want to talk about things other than the bottom line, such as client retention, employee productivity, achieving company vision, identifying new sales opportunities, or improving recruitment and onboarding procedures.
Compare these “new and improved” versions of the statements above:
- “Successfully managed a team of 10 employees to complete 15 projects within budget and ahead of schedule”.
- “Created and implemented a new sales strategy that increased revenue by 22% within the first quarter of 2023."
- "Developed a customer feedback system that improved satisfaction rates by 25%."
Take a look at the manager employment history resume sample below:
General Manager at H&M, White Plains
September 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 at 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 at 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.
Include the relevant key skills that make you a great manager
You’ll include hard and soft skills on your resume that highlight your overall qualification as a manager. Hard skills like public speaking, spreadsheets, or point-of-sale systems might be the first to come to mind when filling out your skill section.
But soft skills like leadership, communication skills, time management, conflict resolution, and team building are what makes a good manager great, and hiring managers will definitely be on the lookout for them.
If you’re having a tough time coming up with the right skills to include, the resume builder can help by offering pre-written key skills from which you can choose as well proficiency ranges you can define. Or, if you’re so inspired, you can input your skills manually.
Here’s what the skills box looks like in our manager resume template.
- General Management
- Problem Solving Skills
- Business Development Strategies
- Interpersonal Communication Skills
- Time Management Skills
- Multitasking Skills
Don’t limit your skills to the skills section. Create a vivid image of your management experience by including them throughout your resume. Demonstrate them in action by providing specific examples of your skills as well as any resulting achievements.
How would that look? In your job history and your professional summary, include examples to showcase your:
- Leadership skills by describing your role as manager, including how many people you supervised and what your team was able to accomplish.
- Customer service skills by giving hard numbers to support revenue increase, customer retention, or sales goals.
- Product knowledge by demonstrating how you boosted sales by managing visual merchandising.
- Communication skills by demonstrating how you convey information, goals, and feedback to your team, clients, and other stakeholders.
- Problem-solving skills by describing how you used your critical and creative thinking skills to overcome challenges or obstacles faced by your or your team.
Unsure what skills you should include when tailoring your resume for each job you’re applying for? The job description should provide all the information you need.
Don’t forget your soft skills
Even in management, hard skills, like using technology, tend to get the lion’s share of attention. And while those skills are important, being a good manager is also about working with people.
Business strategist John Spence had an equation for management success:
(T+C+ECF) x DE = S
While it looks complicated, it breaks down this way: a manager should hire the right talent (T), support a positive team culture (C) and an “extreme customer focus” (ECF), and then use “disciplined execution” (DE) to achieve success. This shows that hard skills are moot if you can’t support their execution with developing the soft skills you need to make things happen.
Detail your education & relevant management certifications
The education section is cut and dried for a manager, as you’re going to list your schools and degrees in reverse chronological order, just like your work experience.
Don’t bother with listing your high school if you went to college. Start with your college degrees and any honors or achievements you had while there.
Beyond just listing where you went to school, this is where you would provide any relevant management certifications or training. For example,
- Training and certifications. Classes, workshops, or even online courses that support your management skills.
- Professional development. Memberships in management or business organizations, like the AMA, or PMI, show that you’re serious about developing key management skills and improving your effectiveness as a manager.
- Licenses. If your position requires specialized licenses, make sure to give the name of the issuing organization, date the license was issued, and any expiration date, if applicable.
While the role of manager is not something you’ll be applying for without extensive experience, if you’re a career-changer or switching industries, consider using a functional resume format that highlights your transferable skills and education over your work experience.
Associate of Communications, Purchase College, Purchase, NY
August 2001 - May 2005
High School Diploma, White Plains High School, White Plains, NY
May 1997 - September 2001
Pick the right resume layout and design for a manager resume
As a manager, you’re responsible for the visual merchandising of your location and making it appealing to the customer. The design of your manager resume plays a similar 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 they’re too hard to find.
While you can always design your format yourself, resume templates can make the process much easier.
We recommend choosing a template that has clearly-defined sections, a no-nonsense font (no Comic Sans, please!), and a limited color palette. For the manager resume here, we used the Stockholm template, which is clean, uncluttered, and uses a bit of color for eye-appeal.
You can’t wave a magic wand and have the perfect resume appear, but our expert-crafted resume templates make the process much quicker and easier, providing you with the top-notch resume you need to get you noticed.
Manager text-only resume example
Profile
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.
Employment history
General Manager at H&M, White Plains
September 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 at 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 at 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.
Skills
- General Management
- Problem Solving Skills
- Business Development Strategies
- Interpersonal Communication Skills
- Time Management Skills
- Multitasking Skills
Education
Associate of Communications, Purchase College, Purchase, NY
August 2001 - May 2005
High School Diploma, White Plains High School, White Plains, NY
May 1997 - September 2001
Manager job market and outlook
Every business needs a leader to move the team (and the company) forward to reach goals and increase profitability.
Fortunately, that means that despite advances in technology, there is still a need for effective, future-focused management professionals.
- There were over 16,408,530 people (42.5% women and 57.5% men) employed as managers in the US in 2022.
- That same year, those in management positions earned an average of $116,880 per year in May 2023, which is higher than average.
- Overall job growth for managers is expected to be about 1.2 million openings per year over the next decade.
What type of salary can you expect as a manager?
Managers are usually salaried employees, and may also earn bonuses, although the exact figure may vary based on education, experience, company, industry, and location, company size, and industry. Roughly, the current data suggests a range between $84k-$156k.
Salaries for similar roles:
- Administrative services and facilities managers $104,900
- Financial managers $156,100
- Food service managers $63,060
- Industrial production managers $116,970
- Sales managers $135,160
Key takeaways for building a manager resume
A career as a manager can provide a great living for those who are driven, goal-oriented, have excellent leadership, organization, and time-management skills.
Skilled managers, at the end of the day, enjoy working with people, both as a customer and as a member of their own team, and strive for excellence and meeting goals, increasing client satisfaction, and increasing their company’s profitability and efficiency.
Begin your job search with our resume builder, but take it to the next level with Resume.io.
With 18 career-boosting tools, you can easily search for manager jobs, monitor your progress, prepare for interviews, and negotiate salaries with confidence using our complete career toolkit.
