On the lookout for a brand new job in any discipline could be a daunting expertise. On the lookout for a brand new job as a product supervisor in tech — particularly on this season of layoffs — may be an extremely difficult, tough, and mentally draining course of.
It’s not sufficient that you’re a well-rounded particular person with a number of years of expertise. You could have even labored in a specific or a variety of industries as a product supervisor for various product groups.
You could additionally be capable to clarify, describe, and talk mentioned expertise with recruiters that aid you to face out from the ocean of different candidates for a similar place. The aim can also be to indicate why your expertise is related for the job you’ve utilized for and why recruiting you’ll assist them fulfill the necessities for that position.
As such, having an appropriately worded, structured, and easy resume goes an extended approach to showcase who you’re, what your experiences are, how these experiences are related to the position they wish to fill, and why you’re the finest candidate for the job.
On this article, I’ll cowl not solely what recruiters and hiring managers are in search of in a resume, but in addition how it’s best to describe mentioned gadgets — whether or not they’re about your work expertise, training, hobbies, or in any other case — to signify your self in the most effective gentle potential with recruiters, hiring managers, or your future employers.
Desk of contents
The fundamental construction of a product supervisor resume
Identical to another resume, a product supervisor’s resume will need to have a number of obligatory sections that cowl fundamental necessities for the job (i.e. training background, work historical past, years of expertise, and so forth.).
Nonetheless, in contrast to resumes for different roles or industries, product supervisor resumes should additionally clarify how the PM found issues they have been attempting to unravel, how they solved them, how they decided these issues have been solved (i.e. the definition of success), and the subsequent few steps they took to proceed the required work.
All the above have to be described merely and succinctly, but present sufficient element that the recruiters, hiring managers, and your future employers can really feel snug that you understand what you’re speaking about and may make a direct affect within the position.
At a minimal, the next sections have to be coated by a product supervisor of their resume:
- Private data and phone particulars
- Work expertise and historical past
- Formal academic historical past
- Skilled certifications
- Private initiatives or hobbies
Though this may sound like a fundamental and apparent requirement, you’ll be shocked by the variety of product managers that overlook to incorporate these easy however actually essential particulars. This helps the recruiter, hiring supervisor, or your future employer set up that you’re not solely who you say you’re, however that you’ve got the mandatory work rights to even start the job.
The next desk exhibits the essential data it’s best to present, why it’s best to present it, and the standard format it ought to be offered in your resume:
| Data | Why? | Instance format |
| Identify | Sounds easy sufficient, however some of us solely present their first and never their final names, and vice versa.
Present your recruiter, hiring supervisor, or future employer sufficient data to know who they’re speaking to and the way they need to deal with you (e.g. Mr, Mrs, Dr.) |
Ian Khor |
| Present place | It’s essential to additionally embrace your present product position as a subtitle under your identify. This helps the individual your resume determine that you’re presently working within the position that you just utilized for (i.e. product supervisor) and supplies an preliminary impression that you’re who you say you’re | Product Supervisor |
| E-mail deal with and cellphone quantity | Present a technique for them to contact you to schedule future interviews, and an avenue the place you may also receive their e-mail addresses for future correspondence (i.e. questions concerning the position, compensation negotiations, and so forth.) | [email protected]
+1 (000) 123-4567 |
| Bodily deal with | Don’t present a full deal with (i.e. 123 Road, State, Nation, postcode, and so forth.). Relatively, merely present the city and state that you just stay in. Relying on the position that you’re making use of for, some roles could require you to stay in an identical city and state, or some roles won’t care and can help you work remotely.
Regardless, offering this data up entrance helps determine early on in case you are in the suitable place to probably begin your future job and is yet one more query they don’t must ask you. |
Sydney, New South Wales |
| LinkedIn profile hyperlink | This can be a must-have for any severe product supervisor resume. Extra doubtless than not, recruiters and hiring managers might be involved in evaluating what a candidate mentions of their resume with their work historical past and outline on LinkedIn.
As such, offering your LinkedIn deal with and information is a vital fundamental requirement and essential for any product supervisor resume. Professional-tip: you’ll be able to change your LinkedIn URL in settings to make it simpler to learn and hyperlink. Do that in case your authentic LinkedIn URL is stuffed with numbers and particular characters (this occurs by default if in case you have a typical identify). |
https://www.linkedin.com/profileexample |
| Nationality (non-obligatory) | That is an non-obligatory step. Relying on the necessities for the position, some corporations select to not rent anybody that doesn’t have full working rights within the state or nation the place the job is situated.
As such, offering your nationality or any work visa data may help a recruiter or hiring supervisor decide whether or not you’ll be able to work within the location the place the job is situated and tick off one other fundamental requirement to find out whether or not you’re match for the job. |
Australian, American, full work allow visa, and so forth. |
| On-line portfolio (non-obligatory) | That is an non-obligatory step for product managers which have a web-based web site or portfolio of their earlier work.
Some product managers have a portfolio, some product managers don’t. There are arguments made on both facet about whether or not they assist product managers have an edge within the job utility course of. Regardless, for those who do have a web-based portfolio you’d prefer to share, it will be nice to incorporate it as a part of the essential data in your resume. |
www.iankhor.com |
This data ought to be the highest a part of your resume doc and centered. An instance of how that is structured may be seen under:
Work expertise and historical past
As a product supervisor, this is among the most vital, distinct, and essential elements of your resume. You may showcase that you just not solely have the related working expertise for the job however can spotlight private {and professional} attributes that will help you stand out from the group. This could make a compelling case as to why try to be employed for the position in comparison with different candidates.
The next desk supplies the work expertise data that try to be offered in your resume:
| Data | Why? | Instance format |
| Identify of employer | You’ll be shocked by what number of product managers go away this out of their resumes, nevertheless it’s a key and basic requirement in letting a recruiter or hiring supervisor know who you’ve been working for. | LogRocket, Inc. |
| Place with employer | Though it is likely to be apparent to simply put down “Product Supervisor” because the position title along with your earlier or present employer, some readers could also be making the transition to product administration for the primary time. If that’s you, you is likely to be questioning whether or not it’s price placing down your present or earlier job titles that will not be associated to product administration.
My recommendation can be to take action. PMs come from all several types of fields and experience. Having a non-product administration position as a part of your resume doesn’t, in my expertise, invalidate you as a product supervisor in tech. |
Product Supervisor |
| Geographic location | Once more, be certain that you’re together with the placement of your office. It would matter to some recruiters and hiring managers, who prefer to see that you just’ve labored in the identical geographic zone as a few of their opponents, their clients, or for those who’ve labored in a rustic famend for having a sure trade or discipline (i.e. Silicon Valley). | Sydney, Australia |
| Size of employment | Once more, this looks like a easy requirement however one thing that many product managers fail to incorporate on their resumes. Having one thing generic like “1 yr” because the size of employment for a candidate’s earlier employer may be very obscure and doesn’t say something about if you began and if you left your earlier position.
Present precise dates within the format of MM/YY and, for those who’re nonetheless working there, simply bookend any size of time with the phrase “present” or “current.” |
March 2020 – December 2021
December 2021 – Current |
| Work historical past | The strategy and method by which you clarify and describe your earlier and present work historical past is vital to you acquiring that first interview in your new product administration position.
It’s not solely essential to have the ability to say what you’ve carried out however to additionally clarify in sufficient simplicity and element how and why you probably did it. This might be obligatory to indicate recruiters and hiring managers that you’ve got the abilities essential to tackle the requisite position. |
See instance under |
This data ought to come after your private data and will dominate most of your resume:
As proven within the above instance, it’s essential {that a} potential product administration candidate is overlaying the next data as a part of explaining and describing their work historical past. Let’s go over this in additional element.
The best way to summarize work expertise in your resume
The way in which you body your work expertise is vital. There are loads of strategies on the market, however the principle level of all of them is to show actionable outcomes. You all the time wish to present sufficient context, too, so let’s discuss methods to write work expertise bullet factors.
As per the primary bullet level within the instance above, begin the reason of your work expertise with a brief description of the corporate you labored for, what the corporate does, the group that you just joined within the firm, and what the group does within the firm.
Subsequent, break down the initiatives that you just’ve been concerned with in a easy, succinct but detailed method. Present an evidence of the characteristic that was launched, the issue that the characteristic is meant to unravel, the results of releasing mentioned characteristic, and whether or not the consequence meets your definition of success primarily based on the metrics imposed for the characteristic.
The remainder of your work historical past ought to present explanations concerning the kinds of frameworks you utilize as a product supervisor for discovery and supply, the instruments used to assemble metrics or manage person tales, in addition to how your success as a product supervisor is judged throughout the firm.
Formal training historical past
One other part of a product supervisor’s resume that goes lacking far too typically is formal training historical past. Years of expertise as a product supervisor nonetheless doesn’t preclude a candidate from together with it as a part of their resume. Typically, recruiters and hiring managers may wish to know your profession journey — i.e. what you probably did beforehand to attain the place you’re at this time.
Having your formal training particulars down in your resume, such because the identify of your college, the levels you’ve studied, and if you graduated, types a fundamental and essential constructing block for recruiters and hiring managers to have a deeper understanding of the place you began earlier than changing into a product supervisor.
This data ought to come after your work historical past and type the third a part of your resume. See the instance of how one can format this under:
Not everybody goes to college, nonetheless, so for those who don’t have this expertise, that’s okay. There are lots of profitable PMs — and folks in all roles and disciplines — who didn’t obtain a proper training earlier than coming into the workforce. If you happen to had a highschool diploma, that’s good to place down, however a very powerful factor is all the time expertise.
Skilled certifications
Some candidates turn out to be product managers by making the transition into product administration from a non-technology or non-technical position. As they make the transition, they could take an on-line course or two that teaches them the fundamentals of what it means to be a product supervisor, in addition to the basic practices they’ll study and use instantly of their first product administration position.
In case you are in that place and are in search of your first PM position, I like to recommend together with the web certifications that you could have taken to make the transition into product administration, as this exhibits recruiters and hiring managers that not solely are you’re severe about changing into a product supervisor (in case you are from a non-technical background), however that you just have been additionally prepared to undertake additional training at your individual expense to make it occur. This highlights your willingness and dedication to make the leap and make the transition into a distinct occupation and discipline.
This data ought to come after your formal training historical past and type the fourth a part of your resume. See instance of how one can format this under:
Private initiatives and hobbies
Lastly, it’s best to spherical out your resume/CV with any private hobbies, pursuits, or facet hustles which can be being carried out on the facet alongside along with your primary position. Recruiters and hiring managers like product administration candidates that aren’t solely certified and centered on the job, however present they’ve pursuits outdoors of labor and may strike the steadiness between being productive at work and being productive of their private life.
Moreover, itemizing down what your pursuits are will assist recruiters and hiring managers to have one thing to begin a dialog with you about, or to study one thing new about you as an individual with out having to ask you. Bear in mind, recruiters and hiring managers have no idea you personally. With the ability to share a bit little bit of that character in your resume goes an extended approach to familiarize themselves with you throughout the job utility course of.
This data ought to come after your formal certifications and ought to be the final a part of your resume. See the instance under of how one can format this:
Conclusion
Use the above suggestions and also you’ll be creating and formatting your resume like a product supervisor very quickly! If you happen to’d like me to assessment your resume, please be happy to go to me on Superpeer right here.
Thanks for studying!
Featured picture supply: IconScout
LogRocket generates product insights that result in significant motion
LogRocket identifies friction factors within the person expertise so you may make knowledgeable choices about product and design modifications that should occur to hit your targets.
With LogRocket, you’ll be able to perceive the scope of the problems affecting your product and prioritize the modifications that have to be made. LogRocket simplifies workflows by permitting Engineering and Design groups to work from the identical information as you, eliminating any confusion about what must be carried out.
Get your groups on the identical web page — strive LogRocket at this time.
