Manager Skills for a Resume
Organizations hire managers who get results through their team while keeping good people. Show the size of the team and budget you lead, the methods you use and the results in performance, retention and growth.
Updated
13 skills at a glance
Hard skills
What the work takes, how a hiring manager judges each skill, and a bullet point that shows it.
People management
Give your team size and what you achieved with it.
Example bullet pointManaged three supervisors and 40 staff across two locations.
Performance management
Show how you set goals and handled performance.
Example bullet pointSet clear monthly goals for each team member, raising the share meeting targets from 60% to 85%.
Budget planning and control
Give the budget and the savings or results.
Example bullet pointBuilt the department's yearly budget and found savings of $150,000 without cutting staff.
Hiring and onboarding
Show the volume and quality of your hires.
Example bullet pointBuilt a two-week onboarding plan that got new hires fully productive a month sooner.
Workforce and shift planning
Show how you matched staff to demand.
Example bullet pointBuilt schedules for 50 staff around demand by the hour, cutting overtime by a quarter.
KPI reporting
Show the measures you report and act on.
Example bullet pointReported weekly sales, service and staffing measures to the regional director, with an action for each gap.
Process improvement
Show a process you improved and its result.
Example bullet pointSimplified the returns process from seven steps to four, cutting handling time by 35%.
Change management
Show a change you led and how people adopted it.
Example bullet pointIntroduced new scheduling software with training and team champions, reaching full use in six weeks.
Soft skills
Shown through what you did, never claimed as adjectives.
Coaching
Name people you developed and what changed for them: better results, new skills or a promotion.
Example bullet pointCoached a struggling team member back to full performance within three months.
Decision making
Describe a decision you made with the information you had, and what happened as a result.
Example bullet pointReorganized the team into two shifts after reviewing demand data, improving service at peak hours.
Fairness
Show consistent treatment and the trust it built.
Example bullet pointIntroduced clear rules for shift swaps and vacation requests, ending complaints of favoritism.
Clear communication
Show how you kept your team informed.
Example bullet pointHeld a short team meeting every Monday covering priorities, results and recognition.
Resilience
Show how you led through a hard period.
Example bullet pointKept the team on target through a hiring freeze by cross-training staff to cover gaps.
Licenses and certifications
Give them a section of their own, with who issued each one and the year or expiry date.
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
- Certified Manager (CM)
Keywords from manager job postings
Use the ones that are true for you, in your bullet points as well as your skills list.
- team
- satisfaction
- turnover
- budget
- promoted
- one-on-ones
- training
- volume
- lead
Each posting has its own words. Our guide to tailoring your resume to a job description shows how to find them and where to put them.
Where to put your skills
- In a skills section: a short list of the hard skills the posting names, in its words.
- In your bullet points: every skill that matters should show up in something you did, with a result. That is where a hiring manager believes it.
- In your summary: two or three of the skills the job asks for most.
More on choosing them in how to choose and prove the skills on your resume.
Questions
What skills should a manager put on a resume?
People and performance management, budgets, hiring and onboarding, workforce planning, KPI reporting, process improvement and change management, plus coaching, decision making and fairness.
How do I show management results?
Give the size of your team and budget, then results such as productivity, turnover, targets met and people promoted.
Can first-time managers show leadership skills?
Yes. Show leadership through projects you led, people you trained or shifts you ran, even without a manager title.
Put them to work
Start from a manager resume that already uses these skills, for an invented person, and make it yours in the builder.