How to Write a Technical Product Manager Resume
Want to learn how to write an impressive technical product manager resume? Well, you’re in the right place!
You’re a project manager with a solid technical background or a technical product manager, and it’s time to apply for a job. Your skillset is sought-after and like most jobs, becoming a technical product manager requires beating the competition.
So how do you put your best put forward? How do you use your resume to strengthen your application and make an impression? Whether you’re gunning for that dream job or kicking off a career change, there’s plenty you do to ensure a head start.
Taking all of your experience and sharing it with an employer using a one-page document is no easy feat. Yet, the difficulty of creating a technical product manager resume helps you stand out.
Why? Because if you get this right, you come across as capable, detail-oriented, and capable of expressing yourself with conciseness. Resumes are more than a list of your accomplishments. They’re an example of your skills in and of themselves.
We’ve compiled a roadmap to help you look the best on paper to get ahead of the curve. In this article, we’ll cover:
- Technical product manager skills to put on a resume
- The skills, abilities, and accomplishments to include on your resume
- How to use a resume to distinguish yourself from other candidates
- What to include and exclude when writing a resume
- How to best share the experiences you’ve had so that you secure the job you want
While there’s no one-size-fits-all resume, there are a few key factors to consider. Yours looks its best when you know what to emphasize. More than anything, this guide should help you celebrate yourself and your achievements. We hope you’ll find this guide helpful and insightful!
How to Write a Technical Product Manager Resume
Writing a good resume is a little technical. Pardon the pun. The good news is that you’re on the right path as long as your resume is clear, concise, and relevant. Plus, the value of a good resume is everlasting.
It might feel overwhelming to keep all these instructions in mind at the drafting stage. An easy method is to outline what you want to mention, then create the first draft. This part of the process is organic and easy!
After that, review the resume again, editing and moving things around. Focusing on one aspect at a time makes the process much easier.
Keep in mind the following:
- What the job description specifies, and how you meet those criteria
- What a hiring manager looks for in a technical product manager
- What sets you apart from other candidates
- How you might highlight skills relevant to the position
When speaking to experiences that other applicants are likely to have as well, distinguishing yourself is critical. Try to be as concrete and specific as possible when detailing those experiences. Sharing what’s expected or irrelevant isn’t going to make you stand out.
To keep your resume at the top of the pile, avoid speaking about the following:
- Handling multiple projects
- Working with clients and stakeholders
- Being a team player
- Having the ability to work in a fast-paced environment
- Being a quick learner
While all of these skills are great, they’re what everyone has. Clarify the why of these skills. Pinpoint what they help you bring to the job itself. By exemplifying and detailing these skills, you’re sure to grab the attention of hiring managers.
On the other hand, here are a few ideas worth including. Try to choose what best reflects your capabilities:
- Ability to lead projects
- Technical expertise
- Website experience
- Product strategy know-how
- Agile development skills
- Management skills
- Communication skills
- Familiarity with software development
- Data analysis and competitive analysis experience
- Roadmap planning knowledge
- An understanding of how to define product strategy
Be concrete about how these skills make you the ideal applicant.
What is the Best Technical Product Manager Resume Format?
The strongest technical product manager resumes use reverse chronological order. In other words, list your experiences in reverse order, from most to least recent.
From there, you choose to write a combination of a functional resume. The former is ATS compliant, while the latter is not.
What does ATS compliance refer to? ATS stands for applicant tracking system. It’s a type of software that 98% of Fortune 500 companies use. It scans resumes for a set of keywords. Those that don’t make it through the keyword scan won’t cut.
For product managers to keep their resume in the running, making sure it’s ATS compliant is a wise move. In all likelihood, a hiring manager uses the exact keywords in the job description.
So here’s the hack: read through the job description and ensure you incorporate its language. That way, your resume is set to appear when a hiring manager types those keywords into an ATS search.
What Sections Should you put in Your Technical Product Manager Resume?
Wondering what to include in your resume, section by section? Look no further!
Technical Product Manager Professional Resume Header
In your resume header, make sure you have the following:
- Full name
- Employment title (technical product manager)
- Phone number
- LinkedIn profile
- City of residence and state, if applicable
- Email address
List of Your Experience
As you list your experience, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Your expertise should appear in reverse-chronological order. The most recent experiences you’ve had are often the most relevant. This is especially true in the world of technology. Staying current is essential!
Be discerning. Sift through which experiences are most important and relevant to the job responsibilities.
The best resumes are ones that an employer sees are worth their time at a glance. One might think the more experience, the merrier. However, padding a resume with experiences that aren’t relevant to the job has the potential to hinder you.
Also, have a straightforward narrative in your mind. Why do you want this job? What is the end goal? Where do you want it to take you in the future? Knowing the answers to these questions helps you write a compelling resume.
As you reflect on your previous roles, consider the following:
- What about your past experiences prepared you for this job?
- How long did you spend in that role?
- Do your experiences dovetail in particular ways with the position you’re applying for?
Remember to spend the most time and energy on the most relevant experiences. Include all jobs that were somewhat relevant for a long time. A more appropriate role that wasn’t as long helps you much more. Relevance is key.
Listing Technical Product Manager Resume Skills
The skills section of your resume shouldn’t be an arbitrary list. Instead, it should show the link between the skills you have and the experiences you’ve listed. A catalog of skills in its own section doesn’t show the usefulness of those skills.
Show the connection between skills and experiences. Doing so affords employers a deeper understanding of the significance of those skills. To do this, list your skills alongside each job title. As you explain your job duties, also mention the skills you gained.
Here are some skills technical product managers mention in their resumes. Remember to give those skills context about the work you’ve done:
- Technical skills
- Tracking key performance indicators
- Handling customer feedback for customer satisfaction
- Performing customer research and considering customer needs
- Working with internal and external customers as well as internal and external stakeholders
- Experience with creating a product roadmap or managing a product roadmap
- Knowledge of agile software, including user stories and acceptance criteria
- Computer proficiency
- Development of teamwork, liaising, or assistance
- Headlining process improvement initiatives
- Engagement with external customers
- Experience with internal teams
- Work history across multiple departments
- Locating existing solutions
You might also want to share who you’ve worked with in the past. This gives a sense of who you’re comfortable liaising with. Have you worked with development teams in the past? Have you worked with an engineering team or a cross-functional team? No matter who you’ve engaged with, it’s good to put that on your resume.
Technical product managers require a range of skills. What’s more, we all have our unique skillset. Be sure to highlight the most valuable skills by placing them in context.
Where did you learn them? Why is that important to the job you’re applying for? With these questions in mind, you sharpen the focus on your skills. Whether hard skills or soft skills, be sure to bring their importance to light!
Listing Technical Product Manager Education
The education section of your technical product manager resume should also set you apart. Like the other sections, this shouldn’t be a mere list. Instead, you should highlight the aspects of your educational background that are most pertinent.
You shouldn’t list your entire educational history. Instead, choose a set of focal points. Which aspects of your education best prepare you for this job and why? What is your education prepares you to be a technical product manager? Doing so helps you wield your education to make you a standout candidate.
The average technical product manager has overlaps in their academic history with other technical product managers. Those overlaps are what any hirer expects from an applicant. So the goal is to move beyond the expected. What is it that is surprising or unique about your knowledge? Why is that uniqueness crucial to your new potential role?
You don’t have to go into detail here. Nevertheless, knowing what to mention helps. It makes the importance of your education to the job clearer. It demonstrates how your educational path has prepared you.
The goal is not to show how you are as qualified as other applicants. Instead, it’s to show that you qualify in a different way, and you are the one worth another conversation, more so than other applicants.
Listing Technical Product Manager Certifications
Certifications are a great way to secure your spot in the running. They show dedication and commitment.
Certifications also indicate that you are willing to try to see things through. They afford your skills and provide you with further education. There’s no better way to prove that you have skills than to have them certified.
For all these reasons and more, certifications are worth highlighting in a project manager’s resume. Against the competition, they are the thing that makes your resume different.
Wondering what to get certified in for technical product management? Already have a bunch of certifications and want to choose what to incorporate? Here are some suggestions:
- Certified Scrum Master
- Professional Certified Marketer
- Agile Certified Product Manager and Product Owner
- Certified Product Marketing Manager
- Software Product Management
- Digital Product Management
- One-Week Technical Product Manager
Listing Technical Product Manager Achievements
A list of achievements gives you a razor-sharp edge. You and other applicants might share similar educational histories, jobs, and certifications. Yet, achievements demonstrate that you took all those experiences and gave them purpose.
Suppose there’s a candidate who is as qualified as you. In that case, you’ll need a final kick to get ahead. Achievements are that kick. They show that your education and skill-building have led to practical success.
Qualifications help, but it’s the practical know-how that employers are looking for. If other employers have acknowledged your work, it’ll be easier for a hiring manager to trust you.
There are many ways to quantify your achievements. Did you bring in a particular amount of revenue? Did you receive recognition from your company or win an award?
Keep achievements in mind. They don’t show what you did. They also indicate how what you did mattered. That’s what employers want to know. Your education and skills don’t mean much until they have a real impact. Achievements help your future employer to understand why you matter in a unique way.
Start by stating what you did. Then, mention the impact of that work. If you like, opt for using the STAR format for problem-solving:
Situation – In what context did a problem arise?
Tasks – What tasks were you involved in to provide a solution to the problem?
Actions – What actions did you take to resolve the problem?
Results – What was the outcome of your actions?
Listing Languages
Knowing additional languages helps you procure almost any job. In our globalized world, companies usually have international clients. Engaging with them in a comfortable way is the goal. Many companies seek technical product managers who speak additional languages for this reason. So, include that on your resume if you speak more than one language.
Even if you know a language somewhat well, include it. Be sure to signal your proficiency to be as candid as possible. Dishonesty haunts you later when you’re called upon to perform a language-related task.
For now, indicate whether you are fluent or at working-level proficiency or limited proficiency. Giving your employer a clear sense of your language capabilities may be significant.
Another language-learning perk enables you to apply to even more companies. Say you speak English and French, for example. Speaking French allows you to apply to companies in French-speaking countries worldwide. The more languages you know, the more expansive your opportunities.
How Many Pages Should Your Technical Product Manager Resume be?
Do your best to stick to one page. If you’ve had a lot of experience, two pages maximum should be more than enough space.
Longer resumes are distracting. With resumes clogged with information, it’s hard to know what to look for. Again, you want an employer to see that your resume is worth reading at first glance.
Five Technical Product Manager Resume Tips
To boil it all down, here’s a list of five things your technical product manager resume should include:
Every Job Needs a Unique Cover Letter
Applying for jobs sometimes feels like a full-time job itself. It’s tempting to use the same cover letter, changing the company’s name for each copy.
There’s nothing wrong with templates. They save time and provide structure.
That said, you should ensure that each cover letter is its own piece. Generic cover letters you copy and paste harm your chances. If anything, they water down your application.
Like your resume, your cover letter should speak to the job description. Tailor it with care, so employers know you’re taking the application with seriousness.
Keep Your Technical Product Manager Resume Updated
In the spirit of relevance, keep your resume updated. Remember that the aim is to catch the eye of a potential employer from the get-go.
The best way to do this is to ensure that your most recent experiences are on your resume. On top of that, you should include experiences and education that speak to the job.
Some might think that resumes are static, while cover letters are for updating. Yet, you should treat your resume like you do a cover letter. Adapt it, shape it, and keep it fresh.
List Relevant Work History
It’s essential to list the most relevant experiences for the job. Additionally, play up the aspects of your work that are especially important. Highlight relevant jobs and also highlight the relevance of those jobs.
At first thought, a job might not seem that relevant. However, it might have taught you an important skill. If so, say so!
Edit, Edit, Edit
Check your resume. Check it over again. Sleep on it, and check it over one more time. Get an extra pair of eyes on it.
Minor spelling errors and confusing phrases are distracting. Having a clean, error-free resume makes you come across as attentive. A technical product manager is someone who should be detail-oriented. Show that you are by ensuring that your resume reflects that trait.
Technical Product Manager Resume Don’ts
Now that we’ve covered what you need to include, let’s cover what you don’t:
Resume Objective and Summary
The purpose of a resume summary is to give an overview of your work history. It draws people in. On LinkedIn, for example, a summary draws in potential employers. It helps them see what you’re about.
Don’t confuse this with direct applications. The job title you’re applying for is a technical product manager. Without a doubt, there’s an expectation that you’re qualified for that position. You don’t need to introduce a potential employer who knows you’re applying for a particular job.
In the interest of keeping things short, ditch the summary. Without redundancy, your resume has more punch.
Headshot
A technical product manager doesn’t need to look like a model to do a good job. Hiring managers know this. Keep the focus on your experience and skills. If a potential employer has enough interest, they’ll find your headshot on LinkedIn. Plus, headshots land up much space that may be better used.
Previous Experience
Include only the most relevant and the most recent. If you’ve been working for a while, older jobs likely won’t matter so much. More recent jobs demonstrate your career growth and the skills you’ve honed.
Key Takeaways and Summary
There’s no perfect way to write a resume. Nevertheless, we hope this guide offers you a strong starting point. From there, you make your resume your own and make your mark.
To recap, here are some of the key takeaways for how to write a technical product manager resume:
- Use reverse chronological order to show the relevance of your experience
- Keep your resume updated and personalized
- Use keywords to hack ATS and keep your resume in the system
- Edit and proofread with care
While writing a great resume is tough, it’s worth the effort. There’s tough competition out there for project managers of any kind. A strong resume is only the first step, but it’s crucial.
Now, go ahead, write that resume, and get that job!
