Information Technology (IT) Project Manager Resumes

Serving as communications link, organizer, troubleshooter, negotiator, and monitor-facilitator, the IT project manager is the hub around which every major technical installation, conversion, or upgrade revolves.  As he is a vital component in the success of such complex undertakings, it is imperative that the IT project manager’s resume conveys his true value to potential employers.

Like a month of consecutive sun-filled days in Seattle, unobstructed victory is a rare occurrence with any technical project.  Problems usually exist between the users’ desires for improved and accelerated business processes and what the IT team, pragmatically, is able to deliver.  As a translator-negotiator bridging this gap, the project manager must achieve consensus through clarification of client (internal or external) business needs and research, validation, and “selling” of workable solutions including, perhaps, the technology or services of third-party vendors.  Once a solution is agreed upon, the individual controlling the task must select and assign the appropriate personnel possessing technical skills requisite to the particular undertaking, devise and delegate schedules for every phase of the project against a realistic completion date, and purchase or requisition key resources, if applicable, such as software and hardware.  These fundamental duties must be reflected on the IT project manager’s resume.

Upon deployment of the new or upgraded system, the project manager then facilitates multi-level testing:  a phase that often includes participation from the client community, which must deem the application both functional and user-friendly.  Having identified and addressed the “bugs” and thus ensured the system’s efficacy, the project manager oversees its rollout in a timely and efficient manner:  a process that usually includes education of those who must utilize the new system.

Did the project manager deliver the system in a manner that respected or improved upon the project’s established completion date?  Did he work within the guidelines or a budget or identify and capitalize upon additional cost-savings?  Using essential key phrases, these responsibilities and accomplishments must be illuminated in an IT project management resume.  Giving prospective employers glimpses into one’s successes is akin to rationalizing that a crossword puzzle is complete when blanks still appear within the puzzle.  Using the following acronym for making the resume “SOAR,” an IT project manager can creatively and accurately construct his achievements:

S – State the Situation or Status Quo; i.e., the problems engendered by the existing technology, and the defined needs of the users.

O – Explain the Opportunities for success following evaluation of the problem and detection and substantiation of practicable answers.

A – Define the action, or plan of action taken, through utilization, supervision, and/or motivation of internal and/or external resources.

R – Elucidate the results.  For example, “Once implemented, the new system enabled a 12% increase in productivity, equating to savings of $114K annually as well as contributing to $283K in new revenues annually.” 

Conformance to these guidelines, in the development of an IT project manager’s resume, will make the career document “pop,” create immediate interest on the part of the employer, and generate interviews and, hopefully, job offers.