Write a job-winning production manager resume in 5 steps

In industrial manufacturing settings, production managers play a crucial role in keeping the entire workplace organized and operating smoothly. To earn a position as a production manager, your resume must showcase your technical know-how and professional experience that qualifies you for the job.

In this guide, we will take you on a step-by-step journey to creating the ideally optimized resume as a production manager. Keep reading to learn the following 5 key steps:

• Choose a resume format that suits your experience level
• Write an attention-grabbing resume summary
• Include a variety of production management skills
• Describe your work experience using specific details
• List your production manager education correctly

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1. Choose a resume format that suits your experience level

Whenever you apply for a management-level position, you want to prioritize resume formats that focus on showing your relevant work experience.

The best format for achieving this is the reverse-chronological resume. This format places the primary focus of the document on employment history, making this section the largest and most central. To write a resume in this format, you must list your most recent job first and work chronologically backward from that point.

While this is the format you should aim to use for a production management position, some instances may require you to use an alternative format. Here are two additional resume formats to consider and examples of when to use them:

• The functional resume: Functional resumes focus on education, skills, and unpaid experience rather than formal work experience. This format generally works well for recent or soon-to-be college graduates who have extensive academic or unpaid experience but lack work experience.
• The hybrid resume: Hybrid resumes combine elements of both functional and reverse-chronological resumes, spreading the focus of the document out evenly between all sections. This format is well-suited for applicants who have professional experience in a different field and are switching career paths, or those who are returning from a gap or break in their career.

2. Write an attention-grabbing production manager resume summary

A resume summary is a brief introductory statement that is placed at the beginning of the document.

In this summary, you should focus on describing your most important examples of experience, specializations, and accomplishments. Think of this summary like a narrative hook of a novel – it should grab the employer’s attention and compel them to read further.

To help better illustrate how to write an effective resume summary, here is an example of a weak summary followed by a correction and explanation:

Why is this incorrect?

In this example, the applicant clearly has valuable information to share about their career history but fails to include specific details that make this information valuable to the employer. When including any facts about your experience or accomplishments, make sure to provide adequate context surrounding this information.

Why is this correct?

In this corrected example, the applicant provides a quantifiable number of years to describe their experience, as well as offering exact information regarding the type of specialized expertise they have to offer. They end the summary on a strong note by detailing a key accomplishment achieved for their most recent client.

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3. Include a variety of production management skills on your resume

In any management role, you will need to show employers that you have a wide range of both technical and interpersonal skills that qualify you for the position.

Technical abilities – also called hard skills – are the learned abilities you gain through education and training. Soft skills refer to your people skills, such as your ability to communicate effectively with large teams. These can be both learned and inherent.

To help you brainstorm which competencies to include on your resume, here are 10 ideas of both technical and interpersonal skills that look great on a production manager’s resume:

4. Describe your production management work experience using specific details

When describing your work experience on your resume, you should strive to include valuable information that goes beyond simply listing your responsibilities from previous positions.

For instance, if you have a major accomplishment such as cutting overhead costs for a specific employer or client, include specific numerical information and percentages to relay this to potential employers.

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5. List your production manager education correctly

To become a production manager, a formal degree is recommended but not always necessary to earn this type of position. If you do not have a formal degree, such as bachelor’s or associate’s, you will need to supplement this with an adequate amount of experience within the industry, as well as relevant certifications.

No matter which educational route you have taken, make sure to always include your highest level of education, the institution you attended, your date of graduation or completion, and any relevant certifications you hold.