How to Write Time Management Skills on Your Resume (+Tips and Examples)

time-management-skills-for-resume
Created by Cake

In today's fast-paced society, time has become a rare resource that people are expected to manage effectively. Research done by Zippia showed that an average corporate employee normally spent 51% of their daily work on low to no value tasks. It is therefore important to include time management skills when crafting a resume. As multitasking becomes more prevalent today, hiring managers seek candidates who possess good time management skills to handle tasks in an organized, productive, and effective way. According to LinkedIn, time management skill is one of the top five most sought after soft skills.

Let’s discuss what time management skills are in more detail. Time management skills come in different forms and structures, but they emphasize the process of taking conscious control over time spent on specific tasks, particularly to enhance effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity.

Let's also take a closer look at the importance of time management in two cases. Both time management skills in a workplace and time management skills for students are important as time management skills can be seen as an asset in terms of learning, solving a problem, and conducting tasks. When time management skills are incorporated in a resume, it can especially boost both professionals and students in both career and academic applications.

What Are Time Management Skills?

By definition, time management skills refer to a wide range of skills that allow you to manage your time and work effective. They are valuable skills as more often than not you need to handle more than one task at the same time.

Time management skills are not easy to master, but once you do, they can benefit you substantially both in and out of the office. Below are four ways good time management skills can help you:

 ☑️  Better concentration

When you manage your time well, you'll always be able to determine which task/project to focus on at any given time. There will be no distractions from everything else on your mind. 

☑️  Highly-organized and clear-minded 

With the increased focus/clarity summarized above, you will have more mental power to carry out your daily tasks. You'll also have well-structured thoughts because you've planned your time effectively. 

☑️  On track 

Proactive time management at work requires systematic planning and scheduling to help you stay on track, make appointments, and meet deadlines.

☑️  Low level of stress

You can easily become overwhelmed when you have so much going on at once. Acquiring good time management skills will bring structure to the chaos, subsequently helping you to feel less stressed.

10 Examples of Time Management Skills for Resumes

As mentioned before, time management skills are difficult to say on a resume. It is mostly because there's no universal way to measure them and time management skills encompass more than keeping an eye on the clock. We break them down into 10 skills that you can put on your resume to show the recruiter your time management ability and provide examples for your reference.

1. Planning

  • Good time management starts with strong planning skills. Without a good schedule of which tasks should be completed, it can be very difficult to manage your day or week. 
  • For example, you have a pile of research to hand in on an early Monday. By planning your energy and time accordingly, you will be able to finish the task in a timely manner. 

Time management skills resume phrases related to planning that you can put in your resume are:

  • Scheduling
  • Memory
  • Delegation
  • Summarizing
  • Optimization

2. Prioritizing 

Prioritizing is an essential time management skill where it allows you to identify what needs to be done based on limited time and energy.  

For example, your pile of research comes in various levels of importance and urgency. It is possible to use the priority matrix where you allocate your tasks according to urgency and importance. By this simple approach, you understand what tasks to focus on and what things to put behind.  

Prioritizing-related time management resume phrases that you can include are:

  • Team-minded
  • Monitoring
  • Goal setting
  • Multitasking
  • Accountability

3. Goal Setting 

No matter what target you are setting - short-term or long-term - goal setting is a fundamental time management skill where it pushes you forward with concrete motive, method, and direction. Also, having goals when managing a task provides a shared recognition of small victories which help to build momentum towards big achievements. 

As an example, a product manager may set attainable and measurable milestones such as KPI or performance targets to acknowledge small victories throughout a long-term project. 

4. Problem Solving 

Problem solving often demands good time management skills.The ability to manage and solve problems in a given time is an important quality when hiring managers assess job candidates.The ideal candidate has the ability to mix analytical thinking with creative problem-solving. They are comfortable in making decisions, and they can handle challenging situations in the workplace.

5. Multitasking 

Multitasking is a time management skill where candidates switch focus between tasks so effortlessly that it appears as though they are doing several things at once. 

For example as the head of the hospital’s emergency department, you must manage your time between various incoming patients, while making accurate decisions at the same time. 

6. Delegating 

Effective time management skills also involve prioritizing and managing tasks according to one's expertise and that of others. 

For instance, a good product manager assigns tasks like market research, cost structure analysis, and quality control to subordinates where he or she concentrates on analyzing a market entrance strategy towards a new product. By utilizing time and energy wisely, the goal can be achieved efficiently with minimal stress.

7. Breaking Down Tasks 

This time management skill is important when it comes to a huge and complicated task where different factors and decisions affect one another. Therefore the ability to break down tasks into milestones will help you simply visualize your ultimate goal, thus allowing for easy monitoring of progress. 

Imagine yourself managing a one-month project proposal where your goal is to increase the user rate of an app. You might need to break down the project by weeks, followed by days and milestones to get the job done on time. 

Your small objectives in a timeline might start with a focus group interview, followed by problem identification, customer analysis, product research, etc, then coming up with a proposal that fits the needs of the consumer, to increase the usage rate. 

This example shows effective time management skills where you break tasks down into smaller parts. 

8. Scheduling 

People may get confused between scheduling and prioritizing. Scheduling centers on the skill of managing time between various tasks, which is quite different from prioritizing.   

For example, as a marketer, you are required to conduct several interviews and focus group studies before you can determine your marketing strategy. The results 1ision-making process, so it is important to schedule the work flow accordingly. Good time management skills are vital in these situations.  

9. Decision Making 

Another key time management skill is the ability to make a quick decision. That's because second guessing may lead to a waste of time, resources and energy. 

For example, as a business manager, you are required to make decisions upon a M&A case. Those decisions involve complex evaluations under a certain amount of time pressure and is where decision making skills come into play.

10. Managing Stress

Stress management as a form of time management skills in the workplace can prevent mental breakdowns and burnouts. Although crunch times and emergency situations are unpredictable, having a certain amount of skill in managing stress will eliminate unnecessary tension when delivering results.   

For example, you can cultivate good time management skill by : 

  • Creating realistic deadlines and making a plan to meet them
  • Eliminating long hours working
  • Allocating time and resources appropriately to goals
  • Including risk management and contingency plans

Where to List Time Management Skills on a Resume/CV

Now that we've looked at individual skills that are part of time management skills, we can move on to where you can put them in your resume. There are three major sections on your resume where you can include descriptions of your time management skills

1. Resume Summary/Objective

You can also incorporate your time management skills in your resume summary and objective section. By doing so, you immediately catch the attention of the hiring manager. Using effective phrases on a resume will highlight your time management skills.

Example of time management skills in the resume summary/objective section: 

  • "Objective: To obtain a position at ABC company as a product manager, with effective time management skills in delegating and prioritizing."
  • "Product Manager looking to put my excellent time management skills to good use at BPW Company."

💡 Tip: To show you have good time management skills, tailor the resume statement with the right time management skills resume phrases to ensure you are effective in communicating with potential employers.

2. Work Experience Section

The primary way to mention good time management skills is to incorporate them into your work experience section, in which you describe your past accomplishments and experiences. 

Take a look at this time management skills on resume example for a project manager resume: 

Product Manager | OSIM Integrated Technology
2018 - 2020

  • Averaging 10% under budget, completing projects within deadlines on 15 products.
  • Assisted in restructuring the product development process to meet deadlines for all critical projects.
  • Maintain team's on-time schedules throughout 3 high-priority launches, completing all deliverables before deadlines.

💡 Tip: Mentioning past experiences that show your time management skills will give the hiring manager a more comprehensive picture of your capabilities. 

3. Skills Section

Another effective method to show time management skills on your resume is to assign an independent section where skills are highlighted. It is best to customize for each job application to demonstrate how time management skills correspond with job requirements.

The first step is to identify keywords from the job description and create a checklist of time management skills. Using the identified keywords, you now can elaborate and give specific details on your time management skills. 

Example of how to demonstrate time management skills: 

  • Planning and Scheduling: 
    
    Implemented a deadline incentive scheme that offered a bonus based on the article fee if writers submitted articles early. As a result, additional days were available for editing and layout, which greatly reduced error rates and boosted morale in the company. 
  • Delegating:
    Delegated tasks to team members according to their expertise, facilitated weekly 30-minute meetings to review progress and reevaluate direction, reducing the amount of time spent communicating mutual goals and updating.

Cake provides the best resume builder with many templates & examples for talents to demonstrate your qualifications. Let us help you land the dream with a strong resume (free download)!

Tips on How to Describe Time Management Skills on a Resume

💡 Describe your time management skills using descriptive resume keywords.

Include strong and compelling action words like enhanced, achieved, influenced, etc. to describe relevant time management skills that draw attention to your strengths and show an employer why you deserve the job.

💡 Look for the skills that your employer is looking for in the job description.

As mentioned before, it is vital to identify relevant time management skills according to the job description. So let us examine how to accurately identify the skills.

First, most managers will list down relevant soft skills (time management skills in this case) necessary for the position. All you need to do is to take note of all your skills and make sure to include them in your resume.

However, some employers do not mention skill requirements for job positions. In this case, you have to imply relevant time management skills required from the job position, qualifications, duties, and so on. 

💡 Be very precise on your capacity to manage time.

As we all know, time management is a transferable and unmeasurable skill. Therefore, when writing time management skills on your resume, make sure you  show your skills in a measurable way, whether it's by statistics, numbers or any concrete results. 

How to Improve Your Time Management Skills

You can improve your time management skills in order to be a more competitive candidate for new positions. Here are some tips on how to do so: 

1. Establish short-term and long-term goals.

You can learn time management through setting goals on a daily basis and by assessing short and long-term objectives. There are online and offline tools available such as Notion and Trello that help you visualize goals in an organized way. In addition, SMART principles allow you to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals.

2. Keep a calendar. 

A calendar is a simple way of visualizing and managing your tasks according to dates, weeks, and time frames. By keeping a calendar while you manage your everyday tasks and jobs, you will gradually gain knowledge and control over time. 

3. Optimize and find the best way to manage your time.

There are tons of ways to develop good time management skills, whether it's by forming a to-do-list or setting a countdown timer.

Keep in mind that whatever you choose, find and develop the best approach where you can keep on track effectively according to your preference and suitability. Don't worry about trying other time management tools as time management skills require practice through trial and error. 

🔑  Key Takeaways:

To conclude, time management is an essential skill that hiring managers value in the workplace. Keep in mind the required time management skills on a job application so that you understand what employers expect to see on your resume. 

Moreover, offering a structured and detailed explanation that makes you stand out. Identify a suitable section on your resume where time management skills can be included. Then, you're more than ready to showcase your time management skills on your resume.

--- Originally written by Vivian Chen ---

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