The Best Tips for Listing Management Skills on a Resume

Updated June 18, 20222.4k

If you are applying for a senior position, management skills will be a crucial addition to your resume. Here’s how to effectively feature them.

Management Skills

Management skills are some of the most important skills you could list on a resume, particularly for a senior or supervisory position in a company. These crucial soft skills can make the difference between a successful job search and one that bears no fruit.

Why Are Management Skills Important?

Managerial skills are important for all job seekers, even if you’re not applying for a management position. This is because they relate to communication skills, emotional intelligence, and team leadership capabilities; hiring managers always value job seekers with these qualities. So if you have effective management skills in your repertoire, it is a great idea to include them in your resume.

What Management Skills Should a Resume Include?

How many, and precisely which, management skills you should include on a resume depends on the job you are applying for. If you are applying for a managerial role, all of your management skills will be important, but there are some skills that will be useful no matter what role you apply for. Here are some of the managerial skills most commonly listed on resumes:

Interpersonal skills
Team management
Teamwork
People management
Project management
Strategic thinking
Problem-solving
Decision-making
Delegation
Scheduling team members
Conflict resolution
Organization
Workflow planning

These are the kinds of skills recruiters will expect to see on a good manager’s resume, alongside any technical skills that are needed within their particular industry. For example, a manager in a software development company might list some of the skills above alongside technical skills like HTML and Java competencies. The next step is knowing how to list your managerial skills in your resume skills section.

How To List Managerial Skills on Your Resume

When it comes down to writing your resume, there are certain things you should be mindful of. First, keep the details of the job description firmly in your mind when writing your resume. It can be helpful to print a copy of the job description and keep it in front of you. Here’s how you should include management skills in your resume:

Resume summary

In your resume summary, you’re featuring your top experiences and skills think carefully about which management skills you include. Include only those which are directly relevant to the job description that you are applying to. For example, if the job involves running a team of employees, give an example from your background in which you successfully did the same.
Skills section

Your resume skills section is where you should include all of the hard, technical, and soft skills that are relevant to the job description. Include all leadership skills and managerial skills that will be useful to the role. Unless you are applying for a high-level managerial position, however, you should give any technical skills that are necessary for the job first and foremost.
Work experience section

Your work experience section represents one of the best opportunities you have to show your leadership skills at work. Your work history should be listed in reverse chronological order and contain some important information about each role. To show your managerial skills you should give examples of times when you have been responsible for solving problems or leading co-workers.

If you represent your managerial skills well on your resume, you will have a good chance of getting invited to a job interview. When you do, you will have a unique chance to prove your leadership skills.

How To Prove Your Managerial Skills

When your resume makes a good first impression and you are invited to a job interview, you will have an opportunity to prove your leadership skills. In fact, a job interview is a great opportunity to prove all aspects of your professional development. Unless you are involved in a group interview with some kind of practical activities, you will have to prove your management skills verbally by answering behavioral questions. In this endeavor, self-awareness is key: know your own strengths and weaknesses as well as your core competencies. When answering behavioral questions about your managerial skills, you should:

Use the STAR method

The STAR method is a format for answering behavioral questions in an effective and complete way. This acronym refers to the key features of a complete answer: situation, task, action and result. If you address each of these components in your answer you will definitely give the recruiter a complete response.
Be specific

When giving your answer, be as specific as possible. For example, rather than saying, “I was responsible for leading a team in my last job,” say, “In my last role as checkout supervisor, I created a system of rota management that reduced late returns from lunch breaks by half.”
Use active language

Passive language is one of the simplest ways to lose a hiring manager's interest. Use action verbs (e.g., “managed,” “oversaw,” “led”) to take control and ownership of your achievements.

Consider these job interview tips and tricks to increase your chances of securing a job offer.

FAQ: Management Skills

Should all resumes include management skills?

Management skills are crucial in any resume submitted for a senior or leadership role. If you are applying for a managerial position, you should include these skills in your resume, but management skills can be a great addition to any resume. For example, project management and time management are versatile and widely desirable skills.

How should I discuss management skills in a job interview?

If a recruiter asks you about your management or leadership skills in an interview, you should try to give a specific example of when you have put these skills to good use. You should use the STAR method to give a complete answer.

How can I choose the right leadership skills to include on my resume?

In order to write an effective resume that includes management skills, review the job description and focus on management skills that best fit the duties included in the role. Essentially, you should focus on leadership skills that will allow you to do the job you have applied for well.

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About The Author

Cindi Cervone Carlson

Cindi Cervone Carlson is a Senior Vice President for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Cindi is responsible for developing, delivering, and implementing a dynamic, world-class organization dedicated to delivering outplacement consulting, training, support, and executive coaching. Cindi started her career at Challenger as a client who had lost her job. Over the past nine years, she has risen from an entry-level, part-time professional to Senior Vice President.