Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of an employer when it comes to writing your CV? If you were looking to bring in fresh talent, whether on a contract or for a permanent role, what would you want to know about that person? When putting together your project management CV you should always try to take an objective view to what you are presenting, obvious things are grammar, spelling, format, CV length etc but beyond these standard considerations there is a lot you can be doing to make sure your CV is being considered for the job and not just put in the recycle bin.

Top 5 PM CV tips list:

1. Are you telling the reviewer what it is you actually do? Your profile should be a summary of you as a professional, we would expect you to be motivated, complete (most of) your projects on time and to budget, and be a good communicator. What we actually want to know is: what do you actually do? Project management is a rather large umbrella that professionals sit under so tell us the types of programmes / projects you manage / support and what this involves. You are marketing yourself so some indication of the size and complexity coupled with the projects themselves is a good starting point.
2. Talk us through some key achievements; tell us more than “successfully delivered a £20m programme on time and to budget”, after all this is expected if you were paid to do it. However projects don’t always go to plan or may be particularly tricky and it is this type of information which sets you apart from others, it tells us a lot about your management style.
3. Your career history should give detail about the projects and your involvement and then look to drill down core competencies (as these are what are checked for by recruiters / employers – work through the project lifecycle and don’t just list keywords, add context.
4. Keep emphasis on the most recent roles and reduce down the detail as the roles get older – something over 7 years old is a lot less relevant than work you have completed in you most recent roles.
5. Any training and education should be included towards the end of the CV, do add dates and institution names and practitioner registration numbers. This is a professional document and most employers / recruiters will check, so make it easier for them.

These are very simple but important tips to work to when putting together your CV – by following them you will create a document which tells the reviewer what they want and need to know about you as a prospective employee. Putting yourself in the employers’ shoes again, you have a project which requires XYZ and someone who has delivered similar sized/complexity through ABC methods – making sure you address this in your CV and add in that extra management style will set you apart from your competitors.