Product Manager CV Examples & UK Templates

You excel at strategic planning, marketing, and decision-making and that’s part of what makes you a stand-out product manager. These soft skills should help you in your search for a new position. You have the ability to view your career as a story, understand what your prospective employer needs, and know how to match your successes to their needs.

CV guide for a product manager CV

Improve your CV instantly with Resume.io. Check out our range of guides and CV examples covering over 150 professions. We also have a simple CV builder you can use to instantly create a product manager CV worthy of hiring managers’ attention.

This CV guide and corresponding product manager CV example will cover the following:

• How to write a product manager CV
• Choosing the right CV format for a product manager
• How to add your contact information
• Using summaries
• Adding your product manager experience
• Listing education and relevant experience
• Picking the right CV design/layout
• What the product manager work job market looks like, and what salary you can expect

How to write a product manager CV

Ready to start writing your product manager CV? First things first, you need to know what to include in it. Here’s a quick rundown of what your CV should feature: 

• The CV header
• The CV summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The CV skills section
• The education section

As a savvy product manager, you need to stand out from the crowd. That means leading with your unique selling proposition (USP). So, what is it that makes you different from other candidates? Once you’ve nailed down that, use the following tips to elevate your application.

• Don’t simply state what you did — talk about the impact you had. By focussing on results, you show the hiring manager what they can expect from you. This approach is smart as it allows them to instantly understand the value that you bring.
• Tailor your CV to meet the needs of the business. Wherever possible, try to adapt the application to speak directly to the company for which you are applying.
• Make the design user-friendly. You need to make sure that it’s clean and easy to read. Use our CV templates if you want extra support in this area.
• Optimise your CV for relevant keywords. Since many employers now use CV scanning software to filter incoming CVs, this approach can help you to get ahead.

Choosing the right CV format for a product manager

Take into account the following two factors when you decide on the best format for your product manager CV:

1. Have you taken a circuitous career path to product management?
2. Do you have a multitude of highly technical skills you want to highlight?

If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, you may consider a hybrid CV format. However, we recommend reverse chronological order in most cases. That’s because it is a style recruiters are comfortable with. It will also make applying online much easier since Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) which scan and input your CV data into HR programs are organised in this manner.

Reverse chronological order mostly affects your employment history section, in which you will begin with your most recent position and work your way back. (But don’t go back much further than 10 years unless that early job retains high relevance.)

Take a look at the many CV templates we have in our CV builder and choose the one that suits you. You can also take a look at our CV examples which use different formats.

When it comes to the look of your CV, you should always go with a simple layout. Above all else, you need to make sure that your application is easy to read.

Include your contact information

Your CV header is essentially your business card. It should include all of your basic contact details. The aim of the game is to make sure that this info is easy to read. 

Let’s take a look at what you need to include in this section: 

• Full name & title. List your first and last name, plus the words ‘product manager’.
• Professional email address. Use a professional email address, such as one that includes your first and last name.
• Phone number. List a phone number and make sure that the answer phone message is suitable for work.
• Location. Only include your location — you no longer have to include your whole address. Doing so could look outdated.
• LinkedIn. Include your LinkedIn profile. Make sure that it is up to date and active. It should 100% match your CV.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth: Don’t add your date of birth as it can lead to age discrimination.
• Personal details: Omit your marital status, passport number, etc.

Make use of a summary

Personality, philosophy, and strategic thinking play a big role in your career. The best section in your product manager CV in which to show these attributes off is your summary. These scant four prose lines may reveal whether you are a good fit for the role and the company.

You need to grab the attention of your reader here. Although this may not be the first section their eyes are drawn to (that’s probably your skills section), if they get this far, they are looking for additional information that will help them determine whether to offer you an interview.

After introducing yourself and your career, place the emphasis on what you will bring to the position. What do you see as the most important aspects of the job? How does your experience show that you will bring value to the organisation? Why do you want this particular job?

Adopt a tone consistent with the company and its products. Give yourself a pat on the back without veering into bragging. You should also add in action verbs to illustrate your impact. Use these in past or present tense. For example, spearheaded, excelled, or succeeded. 

The last thing you want to do is repeat information that can be found elsewhere on your CV. Instead, look for something new to share with the hiring manager. For example, you could write: “Product Manager with 5+ years of experience leading cross-functional teams to develop. Adept at aligning product development with market trends and user feedback, resulting in 15% year-over-year revenue growth for key products.” 

You can find adaptable healthcare assistant example summaries below:

Outline your product manager work experience

If you have been in the workforce for several years, the employment history section of your product manager CV will consume much of the space in your 1-2 page document. It is here that you detail not simply your responsibilities, but your achievements.

Details and data make your successes more compelling and relatable, so use them whenever possible. “Communicated with colleagues” is not as strong as “Chaired weekly update meeting and shared feedback from marketing and design departments.”

It’s important to show tangible results, rather than simply listing what you did. So, here’s an example of what not to write in this section: 

• "Worked on product vision and strategy”
• "Managed full product lifecycle”
• “Managed product budgets”

Instead, you need to back up your claims with solid facts. You can do this by adding statistics or numbers to your statements. Let’s take a look at how to improve the above: 

• "Defined product vision and strategy resulting in a 15% increase in value in two years”
• "Managed full product lifecycle, successfully delivering 5+ products to market”
• "Managed product budgets of up to £2M”

Take a look at the product manager employment history CV sample below:

How to write a product manager CV with no experience 

If you are new to product management, don’t panic. You can write a career change CV that ticks all of the boxes. Here are some of the things that you may want to focus on: 

• Highlight any transferable skills you’ve picked up elsewhere. For example, you may focus on your communication skills or leadership skills.
• Include your knowledge of the sector throughout. Make it clear that you understand the market and detail how you stay up to date on current trends.
• Emphasise your skills and be honest about the expertise that you bring to the table. Show the hiring manager that you’re worth their time and energy.

If you lack direct experience on your CV, you might find that it’s intimidating to even apply. However, you should keep in mind that everyone has to start somewhere — even you! 

Include the relevant key skills that make you a great product manager

A great product manager CV displays the talents and attributes you possess that are essential for the job. There’s no better place to do this than the skill section. Because it is a simple listing, recruiters will often use this section to determine whether you are a good fit. Choose your skills carefully.

Product managers need hard skills such as data analytics, technical knowledge, presentation skills, and knowledge of the market and overall industry in which they are employed; however, they also need soft skills. Here are some highly sought-after soft skills: communication, organisation, flexibility, strategic thinking, and ability to delegate efficiently.

You may take the first step of generating an all-inclusive list of your job skills. From this list, you can choose those abilities that you believe best represent your qualifications. Asking a trusted colleague to describe your work style and best qualities may help you expand this list, especially if you are modest.

Create a blend of hard and soft skills for this section. Make sure you take keywords and phrases for the ATS into account. Our CV builder also offers a selection of skills you can pick from. You can set proficiency levels for each competency that you include. 

Here’s what the skills box looks like in our CV template for product managers.

It’s not simply about listing your skills in this section. You should also include them elsewhere in your product manager CV. Here’s how: 

• Reference your organisation skills when talking about how you adhere to deadlines and the strategies you use to meet them.
• Speak about your leadership skills if you have ever headed up a team. Let the hiring manager know how you motivated your workers to get things done.   

If in doubt, you can always refer back to the original job posting to see which skills the hiring manager and/or employer expects you to have under your belt. 

Detail your education & relevant product manager certifications

Your education section tells the hiring manager what qualifications you have. Most product managers have a college or university degree in business, marketing, or a technical field. Whilst not required, these degrees will give you a boost when it comes time to hunt for a job. The education section of your product manager CV displays these credentials.

Here are some of the things you may include: 

• Degrees. Begin with your most recent degree, just as you did in your employment history section. Include all your credentials, since they show determination and a desire to improve.
• Online classes. Any online classes you engaged in during the lockdown also demonstrate to HR personnel your focus on personal improvement and your career. For example, if you’ve undertaken the King’s Product Management Career Accelerator course, now is the time to shout about it.
• Methodology courses. How you approach work is vital to your success. If you’ve completed any methodology courses, such as the Agile Certification, you should include this as part of your application.
• Additional awards. Depending on your industry, you may also have earned certifications or awards. You may choose to list them within this section or create a separate area in which to highlight these achievements.

Pick the right CV layout and design for a product manager CV

Product managers may not be designers, but design is certainly one aspect of product creation they need to understand. That makes the layout and design of your CV even more important than is typical.

The first visual impression the hiring department will get of you is your CV layout and design. What image do you want to project? This may depend partly on the industry you are in and the company itself. You want to remain professional at all times, but some environments are more casual than others. In those cases, a bit of whimsy in your design may telegraph that your personality will blend well in the department.

Overall, however, avoid too much colour or busyness of any kind. Your main goal is legibility. That means a font no smaller than 10 points or greater than 12 points for your body type, an easy-to-read font, and margins of one-inch. You can skimp a bit here, but no more than one-quarter inch.

Using a professionally-designed CV template such as ours and a CV builder with a spell check function will get your document polished up in no time.

Product manager text-only CV example

Product manager job market and outlook

While product management is a relatively new sector in the UK, there’s an increasing demand for it. If you’re looking for a role, make sure you have a wealth of industry knowledge, experience, and a passion for the sector. Be sure to brush up your CV and cover letter to help you get the best possible chance of landing a role. 

What type of salary you can expect as a healthcare assistant

Your salary will depend on your level. According to Prospects, product managers can expect to make the following averages: 

• Junior product manager — £25,000 to £40,000 per year
• Experienced product manager — £50,000 to £80,000 per year
• Senior product manager — £70,000 to £90,000 per year

Key takeaways for building a product manager CV

Product managers in the IT sector are in high demand, but you need the technical skills to pair with your management acumen. Any industry that creates products and services needs product managers to oversee projects. Make sure you demonstrate your strategic thinking, market knowledge, and analytical skills in your summary and employment history sections.Display your design know-how in a layout that exudes professionalism. Get started now with our online CV builder.