Overseeing a portion of the production of a business is no easy task, and so those who are willing to take the reigns as production managers are often highly sought after professionals. If your goal is to be a production manager in any field, you can expect to demonstrate your ability to produce products, lower costs, and improve operational efficiency.
Industrial or manufacturing production managers, video production managers, and print production managers all earn around $70,000 a year while utilizing technical skills that are specific to their trade.
Even though the responsibilities of a production manager will vary depending on the industry of their expertise, the key factors to keep in mind as you write your resume (which we’ll cover below) are universal. Read on to find out what production managers should emphasize, as well as to learn the differences in their specializations. At the end, we’ll cover key skills and action verbs that you should be sure to include throughout your resume.
Production managers are expected to ensure that the production operations at individual facilities continue smoothly. Being comfortable with numbers will serve you well in this role, and including them on your resume lets you express how you’ve performed at your past positions. Opening your resume with a short summary imparts your ability to be direct and efficient.
Having an eye for detail is important as a production manager, and the use of numerical values on your resume will indicate your affinity for doing exactly what you say you’ll do. Specify how long you’ve been performing your responsibilities, how many facilities you’ve worked at, and how much you’ve improved costs to make an impression.
As a production manager, writing or providing reports may be part of your duties. Either way, beginning your resume with a short summary that outlines your career and includes any relevant highlights helps grab the attention of hiring managers.
Print production managers typically work directly with clients to develop printed marketing materials and communications that are then distributed to potential customers. Along with having familiarity with printed products and paper types, you’ll benefit from including strong action verbs in your resume and, if relevant, showing any internal promotions at past companies.
As a production manager, your key responsibilities surround production. Emphasize this by beginning each one of your accomplishments with an action verb that relates to the field. Start your bullet points with "managed", "directed", "supervised" or similar words (see more below) to impress that you can deliver in this role.
If you’ve been promoted through various print production-related positions before at a single company, be sure to include it in your resume. This shows hiring managers that you have worked your way up through the tasks and responsibilities of a production manager and have a nuanced understanding of the position.
Video production managers work with clients to develop video materials that may be used for internal (training) or external (advertising) purposes. The projects you’ll be working on will vary in size, and it helps to include a breadth of accomplishments across the field. As your technical skills will play a major role in your work, listing them in a separate skill bank will highlight your expertise.
Video production managers in particular will need to have experience in a host of technical skills. Along with working these skills throughout your resume, you can include a skill bank and list your technical skills and the software tools you’re familiar with.
Production managers in all fields typically wear a number of hats to achieve their goals, and video production managers are no different. Rather than repeating the number of projects you’ve completed at individual companies, diversify your accomplishments to include the number of actors you worked with, the number of trailers you’ve completed, or the number of clients you’ve coached.
If you are highly detail-oriented with superb management skills, a job as a manufacturing production manager might be great for you. Manufacturing production managers oversee operations at large facilities that produce equipment or products. They might oversee and manage one particular section of the manufacturing cycle, or oversee the entire facility's operations.
When hiring for this role, most companies will prefer that someone has earned a Bachelor's degree in business, industrial engineering, manufacturing management, or the like. They also will look for several years of relevant experience under your belt. Since this is a managerial role, hiring managers will be looking for those who have experience in the production environment (such as a past role as a production assembler, like in the resume example) and some experience managing people.
Although being a manufacturing production manager requires technical skills and knowledge of regulations, it also requires strong managerial skills. Since the production manager oversees the quality and safety of the workplace, they need to have strong leadership skills to keep all employees safe on the job. If you can highlight the previous experience you have managing teams of employees, this will make you stand out.
Even if this is the first managerial role you are interviewing for, you want to show that you take initiative and lead the way in the workplace. Any achievements you've made at previous manufacturing jobs, such as decreasing production time or optimizing how materials are allocated, you’ll want to highlight what you did and what positive benefits it granted your company.
Movie buff? If so, a job in film production management might appeal to you. Film production managers collaborate with directors to identify shoot locations, optimize workflows during the filming process, assist with filming, and launch advertisement campaigns.
The film production manager generally oversees all organizational tasks regarding film production. Hiring managers will look for someone with great operational management skills, as well as an eye for detail and great interpersonal skills. You will need a Bachelor’s degree to land this job, but as seen on the resume example, it doesn’t need to be directly related to film. You can get certifications in film-related subjects. It is vital to build experience by taking entry-level roles in the industry first.
Many film production managers do not have a college degree in film. Even if you do, it’s never a bad idea to show off your knowledge by getting certified in a few key subjects. You may get a certification in television and film production, or in movie construction, to bolster your resume and stand out.
Experience is crucial to landing a job in the competitive film industry. Before becoming a film production manager, you’ll need real-world experience on film sets. If you’re a student, looking for internship opportunities via your university is wise. If you don’t have university resources, you can ask local TV and film studios if they’ll take an intern. Any production experience will be vital to landing the production manager role.
It takes multiple departments and dozens of decisions every day to keep a film production running. The person in charge of organizing it all is the film production manager. In this position you are responsible for the budget, ensuring the production is on schedule, ensuring every department has what they need, solving any problems that may arise, etc.
You must have impeccable project management and interpersonal skills. It will serve you to have a background in business, accounting, or film. Recruiters will want to see experience in the entertainment industry and will want to see your success in your previous projects. Here is a strong resume sample.
Being able to say you worked on a notable project like Avatar will be a huge benefit for your resume and job application. So mention any notable projects you have been involved in. You could include these titles in your introduction and experience sections, or you could create a document akin to a portfolio where you list the projects you have been involved with.
Experience is king when it comes to the film industry, but if you have official certifications or degrees in entertainment to back up your experience that would be highly beneficial. So include any industry-related certifications.
The specific skills you’ll be including on your production manager resume will depend on the type of industry or field you’ll be working in. Start by reviewing the job listing to identify the responsibilities the hiring manager is looking to fill, and tailor your own experience with the skills on the left to determine what skills you should emphasize.
You can work the appropriate skills for the position into a summary at the beginning of your resume, or throughout the body in each bullet pointed accomplishment. Staying focused on the skills that are relevant to production managers will show the hiring manager that you understand a key facet for production managers: being efficient.
If your position requires technical skills, such as in the case of print and video managers, you should include a skill bank at the bottom of the side of your resume.
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Production Manager job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
To make your resume as hard-hitting as possible, you’ll want to start each of your accomplishments with an action verb that conveys responsibility. From the list on the left, pick relevant action verbs for your experience and incorporate them into the beginning and the body of your bullet points. Don’t overuse any single verb, or your achievements will run together; instead, show your past successes in a variety of production manager-related tasks.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
