Program managers are the head of overseeing numerous projects at once, working with several project managers as a senior leadership position. They excel at coordination, efficiently handling multiple projects, and are responsible for spearheading enterprise-wide efforts in order to make informed, strategic decisions to scale the business while staying within specified budgets. Planning, delegation, and achieving clearly defined deliverables are all within the realm of a program manager.
The job outlook of program managers is dependent on your industry. There is an expected 15% rise in financial manager roles up to 800,000 jobs, while there is an expected 10% for computer and information systems managers up to 500,000. The top is general and operational managers with over 2.5 million jobs on its own. All together, the anticipated forecast of program managers roles will be well over 6 millions positions in the United States by 2029.
Since a program manager role is typically the next step in the career ladder from a project manager, it is a highly competitive field that requires an impressive resume that demonstrates the relevant skills and quantifiable deliverables to stand out from the rest of the crowd.
With that being said, what do successful resumes for a program manager look like in 2023? Let’s dive in with some resume templates, specific skills to make sure to include on your resume, and action verbs to leave that strong, first impression on the recruiter.
The program manager is a strategic project management professional. They will implement and oversee several projects within an organization at the same time. They set budgets, define timelines for completion, and oversee the logistics of projects. This is a management role that has direct report(s) on the project management team.
To become a program manager, you will need a bachelor's degree in business or operations. As this is a management role, you will need several years of experience in related roles such as prior jobs as a business analyst, consultant, or project manager. This role requires superb multi-tasking skills, which hiring managers will look for on your resume. It also requires project management knowledge, superb communication, and leadership skills.
Program managers don’t just oversee projects, they actively identify areas where project management could be improved. With this in mind, it’s important to highlight the experience you have with optimizing procedures and processes on your resume. Highlighting data on how you have reduced costs or cut down on bottlenecks will be highly relevant for this role.
The program manager will supervise direct reports, as well as provide guidance to numerous other stakeholders involved in key projects. It’s important that candidates for this role are strong leaders. On your resume, you should showcase progressive experience that demonstrates your ability to lead others in any capacity.
As a seasoned project manager, you need to show off your achievements in your previous roles and connect your current skill set to this position. Your work history should detail your experience of implementing and streamlining processes, successful completion of projects with team collaboration, and effective time management. Catering to the role you’re applying to by highlighting any relevant program management experience you have is also important!
Program managers are all about deliverables. This resume powerfully demonstrates achieved milestones through the use of percentages and specific budgets, which are metrics that make your prior accomplishments tangible -- easily helping the recruiter imagine what you can do at their company in 2023.
It’s important to ensure that each section of your resume showcases why you’re the perfect candidate for the job. This resume has a concise summary, related experience in clear bullet points, applicable hard skills for the job, relevant certification, and the “Other” section highlights volunteer and additional experience that demonstrates your passion for your career.
Every business needs marketing. The field has flourished over the last decade with the explosive growth of social media and endless channels to reach your target audience. A marketing program manager will work closely with the marketing team and cross-department communication is a must. This resume template will demonstrate your previous experience in marketing and communication.
The Skills section of the resume mentions specific hard skills, such as market research, product development, Google AdWords, Salesforce CRM, and more. These specific skills are necessary for a marketing program manager in 2023 and check off all of the boxes for the position. Using hard skills rather than soft skills also showcase your fluency in the marketing field.
The positions in the work history are all marketing related and detail relevant, prior experience to both marketing and program management. This specialized resume is an excellent fit for the marketing program manager role, and you would not want to use this resume for a technical program manager role in comparison.
The barrier to entering a new industry can be difficult, but you shouldn’t let that deter you from what you want to do and any windows of opportunities! After all, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. This entry level program manager resume capitalizes on your education, followed by your work experience and other applicable activities that make you a promising candidate to get your foot in the door.
Not having real world work experiences won’t disqualify you from an entry-level job in 2023. Relevant academic success and internships will help you stand out from other fresh graduates who may be lacking applicable experience. The added bonus of event management and being a member of the committee further shows your dedication to program management in this resume template.
A program manager must be savvy in the realm of business management and collaboration, given the responsibilities of the role. By using keywords such as “data analyst,” “standardized reporting,” and “managed international stakeholders,” this entry level resume template shines amongst the pool of applicants to the recruiter.
So, you have experience in this role and you’re looking for something new. This isn’t your first rodeo and you’re familiar with the world of program management -- if this sounds familiar, this senior program manager resume template is for you! This resume is heavily concentrated on your impressive work experience and transferable skills.
Hopping between jobs is generally discouraged, though sometimes life gets in the way with uncontrollable events like COVID-19 in 2023. However, multiple jobs with six months or less on a resume is a red flag to recruiters. In comparison, this resume has several positions with at least two years minimum at each which shows investment to your employer, and retention is very valuable to companies.
In this program manager resume template, the first bullet point under Third Company details a promotion as a reward for excellent performance -- one year quicker than anticipated. The promotion shows that your previous employer saw value in what you offered and gave you more responsibilities as well as compensation based on your accomplishments, which is attractive to companies.
The technical industry has wildly grown over the last several years, with many developer and engineer roles in high demand by startups and tech giants alike. As a result, technical program managers in 2023 are highly desirable and this resume template will show you how to stand out against the competition with powerful words and relevant examples.
The use of actionable verbs on your resume are vital. They evoke strong imagery to your reader, and this resume does an excellent job by using words such as “spearheaded,” “managed,” and “drove.” These words will help you to put your achievements in perspective, in conjunction with measurable results.
A program manager is responsible for high-level projects. Recruiters want to see what you’ve completed in previous roles -- such as the Operations Improvement Project and new iPhone app launch highlighted in this resume. The numbers make your experience real, rather than a vague “oversaw several teams for a project.” What did you do specifically? Inquiring minds want to know!
If you're in operations, make sure to focus your resume on how you improved general operations at your company, whether that's process improvement or creating systems.
Almost every bullet point uses numbers, which immediately adds context to achievements and tells recruiters the impact you've had.
This is a resume example of a highly focused resume, specifically in operations, through the past job titles. In addition, skills included on this resume are highly relevant to operations (e.g. supply chain management).
An IT program manager oversees and leads multiple IT projects. You will be in charge of a sizeable team, with project managers and their teams answerable to you. You need to have a strong IT background and excellent managerial skills to succeed in this role. At the very least. Recruiters will expect a bachelor’s degree in IT or a closely related field and years of experience in a managerial position. Here is a strong IT program manager resume.
Show recruiters your success in these areas by using metrics to show increases in efficiency, cost saving, or increases in revenue, due to your leadership.
Show recruiters that you are experienced in program management by including industry standard program management tools. To be extra impressive, do research into the company you are applying to, to find out what tools they use. If you aren’t experienced with their tools, do a crash course to learn how to use them before adding them to your resume.
As the name suggests, Microsoft program managers work in Microsoft and manage multiple Microsoft-related projects. You will be working closely with project managers and their teams so excellent managerial and communication skills are a must. In-depth knowledge of Microsoft as a company is also crucial for success. Use this resume as a template to help you structure your resume.
Do your research and find out what program management tools Microsoft uses. If you are not already experienced in those tools, do a crash course to learn them, and then add them to your resume. You should also be experienced using all the main Microsoft products.
A program director is a senior-level role found in many organizations. As a program director, you would oversee coordinating and implementing many functions of a company’s overall operations. You may create community programs, optimize current processes, oversee other managers, and develop stronger business practices. This role can vary greatly depending on the company, some program directors oversee the entire company while some only oversee a specific department.
To become a program director, you’ll need at minimum a bachelor’s degree in business, management, or communications. Hiring managers will be looking for someone with extensive experience. An ideal candidate has 5-10 years of prior management experience. A stellar candidate for this role will have superb communication skills, a track record of successful management, and strong business acumen.
An integral part of the job of a program director is the ability to manage others with ease. Any management experience you have will be important to detail on a resume. Apart from just listing managerial experience, you should also detail what successes you’ve achieved in projects or initiatives that you have led.
Project management is a big part of what program managers do. Prior experience as a project manager can show you are ready to move on to the next step of becoming a program director. Even if you haven’t held a project management role, you can highlight how you have managed the completion of projects assigned to your direct reports or department.
When crafting your program manager resume, make sure to carefully read the job description, responsibilities, and the requirements of the role that you’re applying for. Each one may be slightly or drastically different in terms of the specific department. Using the same keywords in the job listing will help get your resume past the company’s applicant tracking system (ATS), so a real human will read it and see your amazing accomplishments!
To give you an idea of what recruiters would be looking for, here is a list of keywords and hard skills that are relevant to a program manager role. It’s important to use hard skills that you have under your belt -- make sure you actually are familiar with them if they’re on your resume, and use examples to support them. Creating specialized, targeted resumes are also helpful to cater to the position to increase your chances of landing an interview.
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Program Manager job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
Program managers are known for their diverse abilities in business, leadership, communication, and project management -- just to name a few. Collaboration with others, delegating tasks, adapting to change, and making informed, strategic decisions based on data analysis are a must. Your resume should encompass a majority (if not all) of these skills as a demonstrated and experienced leader in the field.
That being said, here are some important tips when writing your program manager resume in order to catch the recruiter’s eye:
Action verbs are powerful tools at your disposal to demonstrate the significant impacts you had at your previous roles. Your program manager resume should utilize strong action verbs to support and emphasize your accomplishments. Here is a list of action verbs used in excellent program manager resumes.
It is important to make sure not to repeat the same action verb more than twice if you can help it on your resume. The more that you use it, the less impact that the verb has on the reader since you’re just describing the same skill set. For example, if you saw “Researched market shares to increase effectiveness by 15% over one year” and “Researched strategic methods to facilitate meetings, boosting productivity by 60%” on the same resume, it sounds less impressive the second time.
Being creative with your action verbs while keeping them relevant to your program manager resume is key.
For more related action verbs, visit Leadership Action Verbs.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
You should use bullet points to describe your achievements in your Program Manager resume. Here are sample bullet points to help you get started:
Led multi-disciplinary 7 person team to design, develop, and launch online e-commerce store; prioritized and resolved 45+ new features and bug fixes
Developed an Excel macro and standardized reporting templates, resulting in efficient data collection and a 35% reduction in turnaround time
Reduced new user acquisition costs by 20% through implementing social sharing features and streamlining user adoption; shortened development cycles by 25% and increased release date accuracy by 20%
Managed international stakeholders in India, United Kingdom and Hong Kong by hosting daily standups and coordinating weekly status reports
Created knowledge base of 80 internal resources, improving employee onboarding and reducing time spent per project on administrative tasks by 40%
For more sample bullet points and details on how to write effective bullet points, see our articles on resume bullet points, how to quantify your resume and resume accomplishments.
