Technical Program Manager Resume Examples for 2024

It’s late in the evening, you’ve done all the work, and your inbox is clear. Time to shut down and get your rest on.

Except—

There’s one more project you need to be working on, and you’ve been dreading it:

Upgrading the specs of your technical program manager resume.

If you’ve been stuck in a bottlenecked development cycle, take 10 minutes out of your day, and see how to get that fixed up. 

This guide will show you:

• A technical program manager resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a technical program manager resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a technical program manager resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for a technical program manager to get any job you want.

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Not quite up your alley? We have other articles right here:

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• Agile Project Manager Resume Examples
• Program Coordinator Resume Examples
• IT Project Manager Resume Examples
• IT Resume Examples
• Project Coordinator Resume Examples
• Product Manager Resume Examples
• Manager Resume Examples
• Best Resume Examples for Every Job

Technical Program Manager Resume Example

Let’s show you how to write the technical program manager resume of your dreams:

1. Format Your Technical Program Manager Resume Properly

Technical program managers handle all aspects of technical projects for their organization. They are involved all the way from the start of project planning, through development, up until final delivery. Your technical program manager resume needs to show you know how to complete them successfully.

But how can it? There are way more technicalities that you deal with on the daily than can fit on a simple resume.

The catch is: you don’t have to show everything. Just what they want to see.

The first trick up your sleeve is the reverse chronological resume format. It keeps things neat and tidy while focusing on your most recent technical program manager experience.

Next up, your resume layout. Though your job involves having a lot on your plate at all times, don’t cram all of that on there. Leave enough white space and keep the resume margins at 1 inch to preserve ease of reading.

On that topic, you’ll also pick an elegant and simple resume font, like Helvetica or Garamond.

Finally, once the technical program lifecycle is complete, save the resume as a PDF to avoid reading errors like real risk management pro. All in all, the ideal length for your resume is one or two pages, depending on how much managerial experience you have. 

Read more: 50+ Proven Resume Tips to Try Today

2. Write a Technical Program Manager Resume Profile

Not sure how to start your resume?

The answer: write a resume introduction.

Sounds simple on paper, but is a little more nuanced than you might think.

Recruiters only glance at resumes for a few seconds at a time. They don’t read each in detail before making their decision; they sort through applications based on the first impression, and then read the ones that seemed promising.

Make sure your resume introduction pops, and they’ll remember you for later when they narrow down the applicant pool.

The type of introduction that works best for managerial roles is a resume summary—intended for candidates with a few years of relevant experience. To make a splash, outline one or two of your most impressive achievements in technical program management. Use numbers to catch the eye and really get the point across.

Resume introductions are also called resume profiles. Read more: Resume Profile: Examples, How to Write & What to Include

3. Describe Your Work Experience on Your Technical Program Manager Resume

The hiring manager will look to your resume's work experience section to determine if you even know what a technical program manager does.

Mark my words: there’s no room for failure here. Everybody wants a piece of that sweet IT cake, so you have to communicate your experience the same way you communicate the status of your projects—efficiently.

Fail to do that, and you’ll fall behind, not meeting standards of the growing industry demand for technical program managers.

So, this is how you do it right:

• Start your work experience section by listing your current or most recent position. 
• Go for 4–6 well-written bullet points describing your primary duties and biggest accomplishments.
• For older jobs, that bullet count should come down to a maximum of 3.
• Make your resume bullet points as effective as possible. Start each with an action word like achieved, managed, or spearheaded, and include numbers to quantify your achievements (e.g. boosted productivity by 15%). 
• Make sure to only include relevant work experience on your resume and tailor this section to each posting you apply for. 

Read more: How to Write a Targeted Resume

4. Give Your Education Section a Much-Needed Makeover

While it’s true the education section won’t be the crowning jewel of your resume, not including it is a major oversight.

And it’s not even that difficult to do it right.

Got loads of experience in program management? Mention your highest obtained degree, the name of your school, and your year of graduation. Boom, that’s delivered!

With below 5 years of time spent in the industry, you’ll want to reinforce this section with extras from school like any relevant coursework, making the Dean’s list or graduating with diploma honors. List up to 3–4 school achievements, and move on.

Read more: How to List Majors and Minors on a Resume

Creating a resume with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide and use content from Certified Professional Resume Writers to have a resume ready in minutes.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

5. Get Their Attention with a Tailored Technical Program Manager Skills Section

These are the best skills for a technical program manager to put on a resume:

Technical Program Manager Resume Skills

• Project planning
• Delegating tasks
• Scheduling/running team meetings
• Product knowledge
• Jira
• Leadership
• Cost-benefit analysis
• vManager
• SDLC
• Organizational skills
• Defining project scopes
• Technical risk assessment
• Mediating
• Multitasking skills
• Liaising between departments
• Agile methodology
• GANTT
• Communicating with stakeholders
• Motivating
• Management skills
• Project management
• Reports & documentation
• Ticketing software
• Initiative & proactivity
• Active listening skills

However, instead of creating an overloaded monstrosity of a skills section, create a list of all of your professional abilities. Pick a good mix ofhard skills,soft skills, andtechnical skills—trust me, you will need them, as program management often requires crazy combinations of skills.

Once you’ve done this, scan the job ad for anyresume keywords that stand out. Those are the competencies required from you, so put the matching ones onto your resume, and you’re good to go!

Read more: What Are Transferable Skills? Definition + Examples

6. Add Extra Sections to a Technical Program Manager Resume

Congrats, your resume is now finished!

Except—

150+ other people have prepared it largely the same way.

To shine brighter than the rest of them, you need extra resume sections to communicate your passion to the stakeholders.

Here are our recommendations for extra resume sections for technical program managers:

• Extra achievements and awards
• Conferences you attended or spoke at
• Memberships in associations
• Hobbies and personal interests
• Certifications and licenses
• Foreign language skills

Read more: What to Include in a Resume

7. Write a Technical Program Manager Cover Letter

A cover letter? Who writes those these days?

People who want to succeed. According to our HR stats, at least.

Don’t take it lightly and prepare a cop-out cover letter. That won’t do.

Yours needs to be efficient, to the point, and impressive top to bottom, just like your management skills.

Follow this checklist of cover letter tips for program managers:

• Fix your cover letter formatting before starting, that’s priority #1.
• Your second task is addressing the cover letter properly, and then knowing how to write the opening paragraph efficiently. 
• In the middle section, state what you like about the company and why it makes you two a good fit.
• Finish the cover letter not by asking for a salary, but by promising to deliver great results and suggesting an interview.

And how many words? An ideal cover letter length is 3 to 4 paragraphs and about 250 words in total.

Read more: Program Manager Cover Letter: How to Write + Full Samples

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Thanks for the read. Do you have any unanswered questions? Need some help writing your technical program manager job description? We’re waiting for your Q’s in the comments!

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This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.

Sources

• https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1105&context=gfsb