Product Manager Resumes & Guideline

Are you looking for your next Product Manager role? As a first step, reviewing our Product Manager resume sample may definitely assist you in crafting a top-notch resume. Product Managers in the digital technology sphere are experts at problem-solving and guiding cross-functional teams to meaningful outcomes. 

Our expertise lies in problem-solving the challenges that may arise when trying to compile your Product Manager resume by breaking down the complexities of resume design in an easy step-by-step guideline document. 

An overly stuffed resume isn't the goal. The purpose of your Product Manager resume is to secure you an interview, not explain everything you've ever done in your career.

We will tell you exactly how to portray your multifaceted experience and skills set in a meaningful way to secure interview outcomes.

Keep scrolling to review a roadmap of crucial steps and strategies you may follow to create an impressive Product Manager resume reel that will instantly grab the attention of recruiters and hiring managers.

Let's get started!

18 Product Manager Resume Examples

Or download these resumes at the bottom of this page for free

– The Product Manager Resume Guide –

Resume Sections

1. Contact Information: 
Place personal details at the top of the first page:

– First Name
Last Name
Address
– Cell Number
– Email Address


Also include social media profile links such as Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin (Most recruiters venture there first, before even viewing your profile).

2. Career Summary: 
Provide a broad overview of career background, years of experience, industries worked in, specialist product management skills, and highest credentials obtained. A career synopsis serves as a “teaser” to entice readers to review the rest of your resume content. Keep the summary short (one paragraph containing 4-6 sentences). 

3. Qualifications
Most Product Managers in the digital and tech environments have Bachelor’s Degrees in disciplines like Computer Sciences, Software Development, IT Engineering, or Industrial Engineering. Prospective employers would also consider candidates with degrees in Economics or Business Sciences. Have a college degree, and many have a graduate degree. A completed Master's or MBA degree would be to your advantage should you wish to climb the corporate product management ladder. Include the highest credentials achieved by date, title, and institution.

4. Relevant Product Manager Experience: 
Showcase your professional history and include a list of your top 5-10 areas of responsibility. Digital and Information Technology inclined Product Managers perform a vital strategic function as advocates for the product (hardware) or solution (ICT) as well as the end-user through their understanding of customer needs and market trends. This should be clearly portrayed in your resume. Use a reverse-chronological format to account for employment history up to the last ten years.  

5. Other Employment Experience: 
When you are applying for your first job as a Project Manager in digital or tech spheres or perhaps making a career change, it is advisable to focus on transferable skills and experience related to the field of Product Management you would like to pivot towards. These may include project management gigs, designing phone apps, volunteering as a website designer for a small company, or ad hoc work conducting case studies for a non-profit organization.

6. Skills Summary/Key Skills:
Product Manager Skills should not be generic and merely listed without putting some thought into it. Review the job ad a few times and select the skills and required competencies that you deem most important. Replicate these as product manager resume keywords in your skills matrix and weave them into your job duty section and career summary too. This is referred to as resume SEO and will improve your chances of being picked up by screening bots and applicant tracking systems programmed to select resumes that contain pre-selected keywords. The less generic, the better.

7. Licenses/Certifications/Relevant Coursework/Training:
Apart from formal degrees, the digital market requires a Product Manager to become certified in various development methodologies and in product management strategy implementation. You are also expected to enroll in continuing education and professional training programs geared to improve your skills as a Product Manages. Be sure to include all relevant post-school credentials pertaining to Product Management to show recruiters that you value continuous learning and development.

What to Highlight in a Product Manager Resume

Your resume may very well be the most vital product under management at this point. To add to this challenging feat is the fact that you need to showcase your technical and management skills comprehensively in a maximum of two pages. Product Managers responsible for digital products or software solutions are the mediators between design or development teams and the end-user or clients buying the product in the end. 

To create a job-winning resume, you need to customize your Product Manager Resume for the role you are applying to, but that does not entail a complete rewrite of your resume every time (fortunately!). Let's consider a few pointers of the main aspects to highlight in your resume that would relate to any Product Management position in the software development, hardware, digital, and ICT sectors.

The first aspect of addressing is the type of Product Manager discipline you have experience in, for example, software development, digital innovation, hardware implementation, or technical system configurations. It also provides information regarding industry experience, for example overseeing the development and delivery of products in the insurance sector or overseeing app development for the healthcare industry. You may also be involved in universal solutions applicable to numerous industries such as payroll or CRM products, which you may categorize in according to industry SIC codes (you can find these in the Bureau of Labor Statistics website). 

Product Managers meeting e1591277539876
Source: ProductBoard.com

Next, up to your mandated level of responsibility. Product Managers may be categorized into four levels of seniority or reporting structures:

APM – Associate Product Manager: This is an entry-level position where you would be reporting to a Product Manager who would act as your mentor and recruiters would be keen on finding out what you have learned from senior product leaders in your team and how much freedom you are given during the prototyping and commercialization stage of product development for example. Focus on your product enhancement skills as well as research and analytics duties

PM- Product Manager: In this role, hiring managers would look for skills such as road mapping, and developing feature definitions or a software solution or its hardware product line. You would also need to elaborate on your ability to work with cross-functional teams such as marketing managers and business analysts. A vital functionality on this level is market comparisons and identifying customer requirements that can be scaled into effective products. Your facilitation talents in coordinating deliverables between different departments such as engineering, sales support, and marketing should be highlighted too.

PO – Product Owner: Taking ownership of a product requires integrating the vision of the solution or envisaged product into action by coordinating the development, testing, implementation, and tweaking efforts across multifunctional teams. You would also own the “workflow” process of each product/solution allocate to you, and you need to explain to recruiters what methods you follow to support the development team in creating user stories and address product questions from a technical perspective. You are effectively the voice of the customer in this role and need to relate layman's inquiries from ordinary people into technical jargon that developers and coders may understand.

GPM – Group Product Manager: As a GPM, your technical knowledge of product management is pretty much assumed. Added this is your ability to lead and direct teams, often entailing the oversight of multiple products simultaneously or a specific group of solution offerings. Be sure to give equal attention to both technical adeptness as well as leadership tenure when writing your job duty section.

When showcasing your skills, you want to reinforce the message that you are a fit for the job at hand due to outstanding product ambassadorship, collaborating with stakeholders from all levels of seniority, a creative mind geared towards problem-solving and a negotiator of note. Weave your technical skills and interpersonal traits throughout your resume but take it one step further by including a skills matrix section as well (more on this later).

Then it is time to delve into the core aspects of a Product Management function. Ask yourself this question: Why, when, and for what am I here for? This will be easier to unpack if you divide your primary purpose leading cross-functional teams from product conception to product launch, info sub-actions:

product management overview of overlapping aspects

Strategy:
Prospective employers need to feel assured that you are equipped to set product visions and strategies by clearly articulating the business value to the product team. Your judgment related to the prioritization of product building activities should be clearly defined.

Releases:
You are the last man standing when it comes to deliverables and timeline implementation. Explain to recruiters how you define or outline the release process and the methods used in coordinating multiple stakeholders to bring a successful product to the market.

Ideation:
As the strategic thinktank in the product development process, hiring managers would need to see proof of your creative thinking abilities and also how you manage to push product strategies forward that would be of the highest value to their business. As the customer custodian, emphasize your relationship building skills by mentioning your most utilized feedback mechanisms and feedback channels to keep customers informed and updated on progress.

Features:
Sound judgment is a necessary skill in Product Management because you need to decide which features rank best against the initial product vision and goals. Hiring authorities would be looking for a firm but diplomatic demeanour to make difficult trade-off decisions based on the value they bring to business (which means conflict handling and lots of it)

Tools & Tech

Product Managers in any discipline need to be tool and tech-savvy for sure, but even more so in digital, development, and implementation fields. In the tech space, an hour is a day, a day is a week, and a week is a month due to the proliferation of technological innovation these days.

It's important to highlight your proficiency in these tools to improve your chances of getting hired.

You can probably fill ten pages of your tools and tech applications, but to save space pock out the ones that are most relevant to the role you are applying to. To make your life a little easier, we have included a comprehensive list of the most valuable applications used in 2020 for Product Managers specifically.

CategoryApplication
AnalyticsAmplitude, Domo, Geckoboard, Google Analytics, GoodData, Heap, Mixpanel, Pendo, Segment
Customer FeedbackFormStack, Google Forms, Idea Scale, Qualtrics, Spigit, SurveyMonkey, TypeForm, UserVoice, Wootric
 Design and WireframingAxure, Balsamiq, Figma Design, Flaticon, Framer, InVision, MockingBird, LiveShare, Moqups, Sketch, UXPin
User Experience TestingAdobe Target, Appsee, Clicktale, FullStory, Helio, Hotjar, Lookback, Optimizely, SessionStack, Usabilia, UserTesting, UXCam, Validately
User OnboardingAppcues, Evergage, Hopscotch, Inline Manual, Intercom, UserIQ, Tour My App, WalkMe, Whatfix
Collaboration & ProductivityAHA, Confluence, GoToMeeting, G-Suite, Hangouts Chat, Microsoft Office 365, Slack, Zoom, Facebook Live, Quipp
Project & Task ManagementAsana, Monday, Trello, Jira, PivotalTrcker, Rally

Product Manager Career Summary

A career summary or experience synopsis is your personal product specification that should include years of experience, industry tenure, product discipline, specialist competencies, academic credentials, and value-adding personal traits. Stick to one paragraph with sentence construction as concise as possible. Your aim is to ensure that a potential employer will gain an accurate understanding of your abilities as a Product Manager. 

A few do's and don'ts to consider:

  • Do mimic the specific language portrayed in the vacancy ad 
  • Don't apply too descriptive adjectives (fillers)
  • Do spell out terms/names/certifications in full with corresponding acronyms in parenthesis
  • Don't use first-person or third-person referrals ( his, her, he, she, I, Me and Myself)

Three Example Product Manager Career Summaries:

Example 1 

Highly proficient Software Product Manager with 10+ years systems evaluation, operational analysis, and market analytics to spearhead innovative product conceptualization and solution specification. Technically astute in all foundational aspects of Product Management from prototyping to launch facilitation, all prioritizing activities in between. Holds a Masters Degree in Marketing and certified as an Agile Product Manager.” 

Example 2 

Knowledgeable product manager with proven abilities to organize and oversee the delivery of group solutions products customized by customer preferences, with frequent amendments and tweaks initiated every quarter. Dependable and unwavering commitment to meet fluid deadlines and deliverable dates. Excellent grasp regarding the implementation complexities surrounding Agile and Waterfall product management methodologies. Holds an MBA with Cambridge University and multiple Product Management Certifications, including HEART, Kanban, and Scrum.

Example 3 

Tenacious product management professional who is well versed in product life cycle frameworks.  Has an exemplary track record spanning five years of dissecting complex ideation issues, prioritizing use cases, and designing unique implementation management solutions for institutional customers in the banking and financial services sectors. Familiar with an array of software applications, including Pendo, Jira, and Productplan. An avid coder with a Bachelors Degree in Computer Sciences and Industrial Engineering. Has shown exceptional leadership aptitude and responsible for integrated teams of op to 20 per each product channel.

Product Manager Job Descriptions, Responsibilities and Duty Examples

Your product Manager job description is the meat and potatoes part of your resume. What that said, don't try and overstuff this section with every single activity you perform daily. Use the job advertisement as your guideline to decide which duties to include and the one you can omit for the role you are applying to.

Below we have depicted job duties for a Junior Product Manager as well as Senior Product Manager. These descriptions are particularly relevant to the ICT, digital, software, and hardware product management industries.

A Junior Product Manager (2-4 years) may:

  • Facilitate digital products across multiple channels like online pc apps, smartphone, and tablets 
  • Engage and build relationships with multiple LOBs in the product suite
  • Network with Digital Services areas such as technology development, PMO's user experience teams and operations departments
  • Assist in compiling roadmaps and corresponding timelines of execution
  • Conduct administrative activities related to the development of business cases for new product innovation and enhancements
  • Set up priority ranking of product features and specifications for final approval by Group Product Manager
  • Conduct performance review reports from the date received by key stakeholders regarding actual milestones hit, versus planned deliverables requested
  • Monitor request for product changes and send technical queries to the Product Manager responsible for each product channel in question
  • Create a priority list to determine which features should be built next in the product development life cycle based on market research and user testing data
  • Draft a resource list of available human, physical and financial assets available for each product channel
  • Keep a strict product management schedule to ensure that efficient workflow is maintained
  • Keep track of time blocking and sprints to ensure adequate progress of development and implementation teams

A Senior Product Manager (6-8 years) may:

  • Assume full responsibility for teams in terms of resource planning (financial, assets, staff), hiring, performance management, career development and day to day operational activities
  • Develop unique business cases as a justification for planned product and solution development
  • Monitor and report on specific business metrics and deliverable progress to present quarterly progress reports to executive management
  • Create and strategize multiple launching plans for each product channel under management
  • Manage relationships between developers and implementation consultants from product conceptualization to end-user commercialization
  • Provide periodic status updates regarding product optimization and process improvements taking place
  • Drive collaborative efforts between product designers, site managers, and implementation consultants
  • Manage all development teams and project managers engaged on projects within the channel
  • Focus on other metrics help guide investment decisions based on product performance and business value for customers
  • Approve new product suggestions and enhancements
  • Oversee site implementers regarding end-user improvements and enhancements
  • Create remediation plans when required
  • Identify leveraging product prospects for expansion and market penetration strategies

Highlight Your Accomplishments

A Product Manager's resume is typically filled with technical terms and industry jargon, and adding accomplishments there may get lost in translation. Hence, the reason for a separate section to highlight them properly and enhance the most prominent accolades of your working experience Show your best achievements that match the job offer.

The hiring manager needs to find your value quickly (remember most hiring managers spent less than six seconds reading through a resume). You can optimize your accomplishment section by including quantifiable date and compelling action verbs in each accomplishment sentence. Think numbers, metrics, and statistics when writing this section.

Create a standardized flow in your statements by using the following formula:

Action Verb PLUS job duty PLUS tangible outcome

  • Mitigated project risks by implementing action plans that improved operational efficiencies by 48%
  • Partnered with digital marketing team members to identify and design five targeted ad–serving applications, resulting in a 180% increase in client spend within five months
  • Integrated five business units to a new in-house CMS, effectively saving $16M in infrastructure and operational expenditure in 2018
  • Created content for quarterly technical whitepapers and proposals for a new training feature development, including in-skill purchasing and live streaming improving customer satisfaction by 30%
  • Directly responsible for a team of six product managers, covering mobile, web, and wearable verticals 

Accomplishment Statement Hacks: Employers love seeing numbers in your resume because it makes your accomplishments more tangible. Keep it relevant. Think savings in time and money. List endorsements by superiors. Mention added value to profit and turnover increases. Provide details on the scale of projects regarding size and budgets.

Product Manager Education Section

There is a wide variety of educational routes for Product Managers, as we have mentioned at the beginning of this resume guide. The education section is imperative to your resume as it provides proof of the academic foundation of your career. You may need to update this section frequently if you are actively pursuing certifications or continuous development education programmes. 

List your Product Manager Education as follows: 

Dates of completion, followed by qualification name, the institution attended, location, and state. Use a reverse chronological, placing your most recent credential first. Don't forget to add the qualifications that you are currently pursuing as well.

Examples of education for a Product Manager's Resume:

2018 – Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Academy, Miami, FL

4,800 hours of project management

36 hours of project management education

2018, Certified Product Manager, Association for International Product Marketing and Management, AIPMM, Online

2018 – Agile Certified Practitioner, Project Management Institute, PMI, Online

2017 – Digital Product Management Certification, Boston University, MA

2016 – Advanced Agile Certification, Scrum Alliance, Online

2015 – Bachelor of Computer Science and Software Development, University of California, San Diego, CA

Compiling a Product Manager Skills Matrix 


Jobseekers, on average, match only 60% of technical skills and soft skills required by the job advertisement within their resume content. This is a very significant number because you may lose out on interviews if your technical skills and interpersonal traits are not clearly indicated in your Product Manager resume. 

Further complications are the increased usage of screening bots, and applicant tracking systems, which may decrease your shortlisting chances, even more, should you not add resume SEO in your application. The easiest way to boost your resume SEO is through skills matrix tables. Why not include two, one for technical competencies or hard skills and another one for soft skills and interpersonal traits. 

As was the case with your job duties, refer back to the advertisement again as your guide to effectively align your skills with the skills mentioned there.

The top categories for hard skills in Product Manager Resumes are software, analytical, and marketing competencies. In the soft skills department, leadership, communication, and coordination abilities are most often asked for.

Technical Skills Matrix

A/B TestingBest PracticesBeta Testing
Risk ManagementCSSProduct Launches
Data AnalyticsCustomer AnalysisCommercialization
Financial AnalysisDigital ChannelsQuality Assurance
CodingFeature PrioritiesRanking
Product Development Life CycleDeliverables & MilestonesRoad mapping
Troubleshooting User Research Value Propositions
Revenue ManagementSWOT AnalysisUX/UI Design
AgileScrum MasterKanban
SDLCProduct ScopingProduct Enhancements
Business CasesProduct DesignRelease Management

Soft Skills Matrix

LeadershipCollaborationAnalytical
CommunicationDrivenVisionary
Strategic ThinkingInspiringActive Listener
Sound JudgementMultitaskerPrioritization
Creative Problem SolvingTechnically FocussedAccountable
Detail OrientatedDirecting TeamsConflict Management

Qualifications/Certifications associated with Product Managers

Certified Innovation LeaderAdvanced Agile UserSuperUser Waterfall
Certified Scrum Product OwnerCertified Product Manager CredentialsKanban Level II
Product StrategyAdvanced Scrum MasterProduct Management Professional
Digital Product Management CertificationLean, Agile and System Design ThinkingBachelor's Degree (Various Disciplines)
Software Product ManagementBrand and Product ManagerIn-Person Product Management Certification

Action Verbs for Your Resume

Employers are looking for a smart, self-motivated addition to their company, so use action-oriented wording to describe yourself. Here are some verbs you can include in your resume to demonstrate your can-do attitude:

Professional Information on Product Managers

Sectors: Aviation/aerospace, B2B, SaaS, Biotechnology, Education, Hardware, Healthcare, Information services. Infrastructure, Finance, Legal, Logistics and supply chain, Marketing, Manufacturing, Networking systems, HR, Mining, Consumer Goods, Transportation, Utilities, Power Systems

Career TypeProduct Management, Project Development, Product Marketing, Product Ownership, 

Person type:  Strategizer, Collaborator, Facilitator, Projector, Developer, Outliner, Roadmapper, Executor

Education levels: Bachelor’s Degree plus certifications

Salary Indication: $109k Low, $109k Median, $146k High (Glassdoor)

Labor market: 10% – 32% Growth 2018 – 2020Organizations: Various

Downloads the Product Manager Resumes