Professional Manager Resume Guide (+ Examples & Cover Letter Tips)

Getting ready to become a manager means stepping ahead to the next level of your career, and different challenges in many new aspects could be encountered in the new job you are applying for.

Like its name, the manager's main job is to manage, but what are you expecting to manage? Everything. All things under your authority will be everything you need to manage, starting from your own responsibility, team, projects and even performance. A bigger title comes with a bigger responsibility.

However, fear no more! From this moment on, you will learn different ways on how to create a resume for a managerial position for your new future career as a manager, and pass the application easily with Cake!

Before writing a new manager resume, you might have written hundreds of different resumes for the previous job roles you applied or got into. Before writing a perfect manager resume, going back to the basics would never go wrong.

🖋 Step 1: Knowing the Difference between Curriculum Vitae (CV) and Resume

Submitting an application for a manager ____ would not be the first ____ you have written. What do you think is in the blank?

So, the answer is resume! Although you may have written a resume previously for the job role you are holding right now, always remember! That being a manager would require a more specific managerial resume to help you ascend to the position, what is it? Let’s find out in the next steps.

🖋 Step 2: Finding the Most Perfect Resume Format for a Managerial Position

Have you heard of the three most common resume formatsIf you have forgotten them after  few years of working, let’s take a short glimpse of them:

It would be totally optional to choose any type of these resumes. However, while writing a manager resume, you are expected to show your longest and latest experience to demonstrate your qualifications. Therefore, a reverse-chronological resume with a bit of functional resume would definitely be recommended to cover both of these needs together.

🖋 Step 3: Identifying Some Different Manager Resume Templates and Examples

Searching different manager resume examples would help you find good points you would like to follow on your manager resume, and also avoid mistakes that others have made in their resumes. Finding common parts that people always add in their resumes could be the first step, because they might be the secret to those successful manager resumes!

🖋 Step 4: Tailoring Each and Every Resume for the Specific Manager Position You Want

Some of you might want to apply for different managerial divisions, and they may require different types of experiences and achievements. Fill in the information needed according to the job description.

For example, if you are writing a senior manager resume, emphasize the years of relevant experiences you have, instead of focusing on your extracurricular experience during college.

🖋 Step 5: Customizing a Manager Cover Letter

Every cover letter should be different for each company and job role. As you are expecting to become a manager, your manager cover letter should be tailored in a more professional way. However, remember to keep it short and direct.

🖋 Step 6: Proofreading

To make sure that there is no misspelling in any of your verbs or even titles you own would be a bonus point to make your manager resume look “perfect” in the terms of grammatical and aesthetic appearance!

Always remember, writing a manager resume means you are upscaling your career game. Therefore, it is very important to include basic information and personalized experiences.

• Full name
• Professional email address
• Phone number
• Current residing city
• LinkedIn Profile
• Personal website (optional but recommended)
• Other social media profiles (for professional usages)

A resume headline for a manager is more than just your name, and title, but it is the catchphrase that will help you land a job as a manager.

Strong, a bold and simple one-line phrase with a maximum of 10 words should be able to identify your whole career, personality, skills and qualifications.

Like a resume headline, a resume summary should be strong and bold. In a manager resume summary, you can talk a bit more about your expertise in the field, and reasons why you want to apply for this specific manager position.

A general summary would be around 2 – 3 sentences, with a maximum of 50 words.

Resume objective usually comes along with an entry-level manager resume, and it’s normally seen as an alternative to a resume summary. The structure of a manager resume objective is similar to a summary statement, only it’s more focused on stating what you want to achieve in the company that you are applying to.

As a manager, you would definitely be expected to have various skill sets, but what skills are most suitable to be on your manager resume? Matching your resume skills with the job description would be the best way to show your qualification.

Like your skill sets, you may have different work experiences along your career or education, but fitting all of them would only make your resume cluttered.

At this point of your career, maybe the last time you had your education was a couple years before. However, some people might just graduate from a master degree and are trying to write an entry-level manager resume. This is the moment to emphasize your degree, but keep it short and clear. 

Most companies recruiting a manager often aim for people with more experience, so if you have been in the job for years, take more space to write about them. If you are a fresh graduate, take more spaces to write your experiences in some student organizations, relevant course works and most importantly, leadership roles you have taken during your school time.

Many companies would take you in a higher consideration if you have earned specific managerial certificates, especially globally and officially recognized ones. These certifications would show the highest professionality of yours in that particular field, but make sure that it is the right managerial certification for the wanted manager role.

Below are some tips that would help you make the perfect manager resume more easily.

A cover letter shows your sincerity and commitment for the new managerial role. In your previous jobs, you may have a lot of experiences that could be stamped on your application, but all these experiences would be in vain if you don’t explain how they can help you succeed in the position you’re applying for.

There are various types of managers, so do remember to tailor your manager resume to the job description. Here we provide a manager resume example for one of the most common managerial roles: Marketing Manager.

A marketing manager’s duties include generating leads, increasing sales & revenues, growing brand awareness, and etc..

Now, you are settled to build your own manager resume and here is one last tip for you! Don’t forget to make your resume for a managerial position very specific, whether it is in marketing, property, store, retail, finance or many more!