What should a Project Manager CV show?
A strong Project Manager CV should quickly show the type of work you have done, the level of responsibility you held and the results or standards you achieved. Recruiters usually need evidence that you can perform the core responsibilities of the role, while an ATS may also look for terminology that overlaps with the vacancy.
ApplyWell’s role benchmark is built from common UK terminology for Project Manager work. It is a useful starting point, but the actual vacancy should always take priority because employers describe similar jobs differently.
Common Project Manager CV keywords
These are examples of terms that can be relevant to Project Manager applications. Only use a term when it truthfully reflects your experience.
Responsibilities worth evidencing
Depending on the vacancy, a recruiter may expect evidence around responsibilities such as:
- Lead and motivate teams to achieve performance targets
- Monitor KPIs, quality and service delivery
- Plan resources and improve operational processes
- Manage stakeholders, compliance and reporting
- Demonstrate experience relevant to project manager
How to write your Project Manager personal profile
Your opening profile should position you for the target role in a few lines. Focus on your relevant experience, the environment you have worked in and the strongest skills you can prove. Avoid generic claims such as “hard-working” unless the rest of the CV supports them.
A project manager with experience in project planning, project delivery, RAID log, budget control, stakeholder engagement. Skilled in supporting day-to-day delivery, working accurately and communicating effectively with colleagues and customers. Able to demonstrate [insert genuine achievement or scope], with a practical focus on reliability, quality and results.
Turn duties into stronger evidence
A common reason CVs underperform is that they only list duties. Keep the responsibility, but add scale, quality, outcome or achievement wherever you can verify it.
Lead and motivate teams to achieve performance targets for [X] people / orders / customers, achieving [genuine outcome or target].
Monitor KPIs, quality and service delivery while maintaining [accuracy / quality / service measure] of [insert truthful figure if known].
Plan resources and improve operational processes and contributed to [specific improvement, saving, target or customer outcome].
Alternative job titles to consider
Employers may advertise similar work under different titles. For this benchmark, related titles include Project Lead, PM, Project Delivery Manager. Search broadly, but make sure the responsibilities genuinely match the work you want.
Common ATS mistakes on a Project Manager CV
- Using a generic CV without changing the profile or key skills for the target role.
- Adding keywords that are not supported by genuine experience.
- Hiding important experience inside long paragraphs instead of clear achievement-led bullets.
- Using unclear section headings that make employment history or skills harder to identify.
- Relying on a generic role benchmark when the actual vacancy is available.
Check your CV against this role
ApplyWell’s free checker can preload the Project Manager benchmark and compare the text of your CV with common role terminology. If you have the real job advert, paste that too for a more vacancy-specific comparison.