Construction Project Manager Resume Sample
Charles Moore
Address: 1217 Mount Herman Rd, Salisbury MD 21804
Phone: (410) 719-3618
Email: [email protected]
Current job: Construction Manager at Etech Hi, Inc.
Objective
To work in a dynamic environment where I will use my expertise in both cost management and field operations to manage co-workers and equipment while strictly adhering to safety and quality standards.
Skills
- Excellent communicator
- Very knowledgeable in the construction industry and all applicable federal, state, and local ordinances
- Skilled in planning, organization and time management
- Great track record in efficiency and maximization of profits while keeping costs at a minimum
- Resourceful and flexible
- Able to meet deadlines
- Confident and reliable at all times
- Great problem-solving skills
- Can comfortably manage any construction activity
- Able to make sure that all the project requirements have been met in regard to cost, quality, and safety
Experience
Construction Manager, 2020-Present
Etech Hi, Inc., Houston, TX
Responsibilities
- Overseeing all project activities both on-site and off-site and making sure they are completed as per the schedule
- Performing daily inspection of any construction activity to ensure it conforms to the approved plans
- Coordinating with field operators, the client, and designers
- Obtaining approvals and any required permits for new projects
- Ensuring that all construction plans conform to the customer expectations
- Approving invoices from sub-contractors and vendors
Construction Project Manager, 2017-2020
Gilbane Building Company, San Diego, CA
Responsibilities
- Estimated and came up with budgets to be used on the construction projects
- Ensured that all safety standards, design specifications, and any other requirements were followed to the letter
- Resolved any arising issues to do with site construction and procurement procedures
- Reviewed all the designs and drawings beforehand to identify any problems
Project Manager, 2015-2017
ProEnergy Services, Sedalia, MO
Responsibilities
- Consulted with the relevant authority and took decisive action in case of any errors
- Supervised suppliers and subcontractors as they worked on the project
- Prepared site reports throughout the entire project
- Reviewed and made the necessary recommendations appertaining to any construction modifications
Education
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
Masters in Technology Construction Management
2011-2015, 3.4 GPA
University of Maryland Easter Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland
Bachelors of Construction Management
2007-2011, 3.2 GPA
Beddow High School, Accokeek, Maryland
High School Diploma
2003-2007, 3.3 GPA
Courses
- Construction alternatives and contract types
- Role of the construction manager
- Managing the contractor’s business
- Labor relations
- Developing the successful claim
Personal information
- Civil Status: Married, with four children
- Date of Birth: November 23, 1976
- Hobbies: watching movies, traveling, hiking and filling crossword puzzles.
How To Write A Good Construction Project Manager Resume
The answer to “How to write a good Construction Project Manager resume?” can be found by asking yourself another question:
“What is the construction company looking for in a Construction Project Manager?”
When writing a resume, it would be a good idea to customize it according to the needs of the prospective employer. You want to present yourself as the best candidate for the job. The best candidate is the one who can handle the responsibilities required for the project.
1. Review the Job Post
Construction projects will vary in design, scope, and magnitude. For large-scale projects such as high-rises, companies will prefer candidates with more experience and a higher level of education.
Some projects may emphasize a greater focus on budgeting and meeting timelines. On your resume, you will have to provide experiences which prove your ability to maintaining costs without compromising the construction schedule.
Take note of the hard and soft skills required by the company. Identify the skills which you possess. HR will prioritize candidates that meet most, if not all, of the requirements.
After that, these skills will be mentioned in key areas of your resume. These key areas include contact information, resume objective, work experience, and education.
2. Research on the Construction Company
The person who will review your resume is someone who embodies the company’s culture and values. HR has an idea of the type of employee the company wants. More than just being right-fit, the ideal candidate is one who is also a good fit for the company’s culture.
This is another reason why customizing your Construction Project Manager resume is a good idea. You can tailor the tone and content of your resume to come across as someone who embraces the values and vision of the company.
Get to know the prospective company by doing research. Visit the company website. Read the “About Us” or “Who We Are” page and gain insights into the people behind the company.
Visit the blog page and social media pages. What topics are the company blogging about? The topics discussed on their page and the ensuing levels of engagement will give you a better perspective on who the company is.
What projects have the company recently completed? What other projects are on the pipeline? You can use these types of information to highlight information in your resume that is relevant to the goals and objectives of the company.
3. Highlight Your Accomplishments
As important as skills are, accomplishments and achievements will always catch the eye of the recruiter. Your accomplishments in the profession are validation. They are the seal of approval on your claim to be the best candidate for the position of Construction Project Manager.
What are eye-catching accomplishments for a Construction Project Manager?
- How much did you save on the Construction budget on your most recent project?
- What is your percentage success rate in attaining timelines?
- What major projects did you handle as a Construction Project Manager?
- How many construction projects have you managed?
- Did you win any awards or receive a citation as a Construction Project Manager?
- Did you introduce any innovation or process that significantly contribute to the profitability of the company?
- Did you receive any honors or distinctions in college?
Recruiters are also enticed by numbers. Whenever possible, validate your claims or accomplishments with statistics.
Write An Eye-Catching Construction Project Manager Resume Objective
Your Project Manager resume objective is your opportunity to stake your claim as the best candidate for the job. The question it needs to answer is:
“What makes you the best candidate?”
Imagine meeting the Interviewer for the first time. One of the first questions he will ask you is:
“Why should we hire you?”
You must be able to encapsulate your value proposition – what you can bring to the company – in 3 to 4 sentences. That is the same approach you should take when writing your objective statement.
On the other hand, running a summary of your skills and qualifications in your objective statement is not the best way to go about it.
As short as the resume objective is, it must have substance.
Check the Job Ad
The first step is to review the job post. What skills are required for the job? What are the primary responsibilities? Does the company prefer a candidate with a certain level of experience?
From here, assess your level of qualifications.
- Can you meet the requirements (certifications, experience, licenses) for the job?
- Do you have the skills required for the job?
- Have you done similar work before?
- Can you work with other project managers?
It is not realistic to expect that you have 100% of the job requirements. Consequently, it would be to your advantage to highlight the skills that are specified in the job post.
Write In a Conversational Manner
As we mentioned earlier, think of the objective statement as your formal introduction to the job interviewer. It is just like having a normal conversation. So what would you say?
The message of your resume objective must be clear. State why the company should hire you. In view of this, the answers are your responses to the requirements listed in the job post.
Usually, the way the requirements are listed is based on priority. In other words, if having “2-years of experience in commercial construction projects” is listed first, that should be the lead-off attribute in the objective statement.
Keep It Short
For the reason that it is located at the top third of your resume, the recruiter will definitely come across your objective statement.
Keep in mind, the recruiter will only scan this section as he does with other areas of your resume. This is why it is best to keep it short, concise but with a lot of substance.
Ideally, the resume objective should be kept to only 1 paragraph. Limit the number of sentences in that paragraph to only 3 to 4.
Construction Project Manager Resume Skills
A construction project can have different project managers. For example, there could be a Project Manager assigned for electrical works and another to handle the HVAC system of the building.
As varied as the skill sets are, there is a career path that you can follow to become a Construction Project Manager. The HR Officer would probably look for these qualifications in your Construction Project Manager resume skills section.
1. Solid Technical and Fundamental Background
There are project managers who earned their position by working through the ranks. They entered the construction industry by working entry-level positions and with time and perseverance became Project Manager.
However, this career path may not be for everyone. In most cases, employers prefer a candidate who has a solid fundamental and technical background in the construction industry.
Having completed a 2 to 4-year degree in Construction Science or a related course will be a big plus on your resume. You may also want to take up additional courses in budget management, personnel management, planning, and building codes and standards.
2. Sufficient Training Hours
As a Project Manager, a lot of trust and confidence will be placed upon you by the company. Decision-making is a big part of a Project Manager’s job description. The best decisions are made by those who have put in enough years in the industry.
In addition to actual work experience as a Project Manager, some companies will look to the amount of training you received in your career. Specifically, they may look at your on-the-job experience and apprenticeship programs that you signed up for.
Construction projects cost a lot of money. Companies want to make sure the candidates for the job have gone through the right training and have sufficient experience.
For example, apprenticeship programs in construction can be quite specific. Some programs will focus more on budget management.
There are other apprenticeship programs that may emphasize compliance with building codes and construction guidelines.
Thus, the more well-rounded you are, the better the chances of getting the job.
3. Getting Certified as a Professional
Not all companies will require the Project Manager to be certified. However, getting certified as a Construction Project Manager will give you a big advantage over the other candidates:
- Certification establishes you as a professional
- It shows you are deeply invested in your career
- Certification enhances your overall value proposition
- Getting certified will open more career opportunities for you
- As a licensed professional, you may be able to write your own paycheck
Find out the name of the duly authorized certification or licensing agency in your country or state. Then comply with the organization’s requirements for certification.
In the United States, the organizations are the American Institute of Contractors and the Construction Management Association of America.
4. Having the Right Attributes
It’s not just the hard skills that matter as a Project Manager. In fact, because you have to work with many people of different skill sets, soft skills or the right personality attributes may actually be more important.
Here is a short list of key attributes for an ideal Project Manager:
- Time Management skills
- Effective Communication skills
- Good in Organizing Tasks
- Results-oriented; sets goals and timelines and achieves targets
- Excellent Motivator; gets people to work hard and to the best of their abilities
The position of Construction Project Manager can be quite competitive. Like all kinds of competition, you have to be at your best if you want to win the job.
Therefore, it is very important to present your strongest and most relevant skills front and center in your resume.
Construction Project Manager Duties And Responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities of a Construction Project Manager will vary based on the type of project and the specific skills required.
However, there are responsibilities that are part and parcel of a Construction Project Manager’s job description. These are actually skills that are expected of all candidates.
A recruiter who reads your Construction Project Manager work experience section will look for duties and responsibilities that prove you can perform the following tasks:
- Planning – A construction project entails different departments working together. These departments include personnel, operations, accounting, purchasing, engineering, and architectural. The role of the Construction Project Manager is to make sure all of these departments are on the same page.
- Managing Resources – You will be managing the company’s assets which include the materials and supplies needed for the construction. There must always be enough inventory of supply to keep work moving. On the other hand, you cannot have too much inventory as it would impact your cash flow.
- Managing Personnel – People are the moving parts of the construction project. The Construction Project Manager’s task is to ensure that the human asset is fully maximized. This means they are on duty and are working to the best of their abilities. Most importantly, they are able to work together with other staff and the management team.
- Establishing Targets – The Construction Project Manager sets the direction of where the project is going. There is a timeline that the company expects you to follow and attain. Every day there is a target rate of completion. The targets must be achievable and realistic.
- Managing the Construction Budget – Construction companies hate going over budget. When the budget for a project is finalized, all the items go through a fine tooth comb. The Construction Project Manager is tasked to make sure the construction stays within established parameters.
- Communication – You cannot coordinate all the departments and the project’s moving parts without excellent communication channels. To clarify, communication goes both ways. A Construction Project Manager not only gives instructions but is also excellent in receiving and processing feedback from personnel and other managers.
With these in mind, how do you present your duties and responsibilities in the Construction Project Manager work experience in a way that piques the interest of Human Resources?
Read the Job Post
With a Construction Project Manager’s work experience, you have to customize your duties and responsibilities with the needs of the company. After all, that is what the company needs to know: “Can you handle the job?”
Take Inventory of Your Work Experience
After you have reviewed the job post, take an inventory of your work experience:
“Have you done the same or similar work as described in the job post?”
List down the duties and responsibilities that you managed from your current and previous employers. Through a process of elimination, identify the tasks which are the same, similar or relevant to the ones described in the job post.
Let’s put it all together. Here’s an example of a job post:
Atlas Construction Is In Need Of A Construction Project Manager
Qualifications Are As Follows:
- At least 2-years of experience managing high rise projects
- Adept at managing construction budgets
- Effective in managing personnel, staff, and management
- Ability to stay within timelines
- Knowledgeable in the latest computer software programs
Example of good Construction Manager Duties and Responsibilities
Construction Project Manager – 2016 to Present
Grantville Construction Company; Houston, TX
Duties and Responsibilities
- Grantville Construction Company focuses on high-end residential and commercial property development.
- Designated Construction Project Manager for Skyline Towers, the Ruby Sunset Condominiums, and Texas Twin high-rise.
- Managed construction budgets of designated projects; streamlined budgets of the 3 projects by 21% without compromising the quality of work as all designs passed strict building guidelines set by the city of Houston.
- Managed all personnel assigned to the project; recorded an attrition rate of only 17% on all designated projects- lowest among Construction Project Managers.
- Implemented the use of ProCore cloud-based software which helped increase site productivity by 33%.
Firstly, you will see that we did a brief description of the applicant’s last employer. The purpose is to give the recruiter an idea on the kind of projects the previous employer was involved in.
Hopefully, it would generate a response such as, “If Grantville hired this guy, he must be good!”
Secondly, we used statistics to validate our claims. Numbers will always attract attention. Just be sure that you are accurate about them.
Entry Level Construction Project Manager Resume
As we’ve mentioned throughout this guide, experience is an important consideration for any Construction Project Manager. It takes tenure to develop the skills needed to become an effective Construction Project Manager, especially the ability to make decisions.
In view of this, can you be considered for the position if you have an entry-level Construction Project Manager resume?
Firstly, everyone has to start somewhere! If you want to become a Construction Project Manager, someone will give you a break.
Secondly, you can build up experience in other aspects of the job – planning, decision-making, personnel management, budget management, setting targets, and effective communication.
If in your previous employment, you handled these types of duties and responsibilities, it would be a great idea to emphasize them in your Construction Project Manager work experience section.
Finally, prioritize job openings where the employer specifically looks for entry-level Construction Project Manager. In these cases, the project might be small or the company may be new in the business. Even if the starting salary is small, at the very least, you can get your career rolling.
Construction Project Manager Job Interview
In order to make sure that you get that job, you need to be adequately planned and ready for the occasion. You cannot expect to pass the interview just by copying and pasting a construction project manager resume example online. The following tips will ensure that you don’t get caught out when the big occasion comes.
Prepare Your Construction Project Manager resume Adequately
One of the documents that you have to prepare with the utmost care and accuracy is your resume. This is the document that is going to reveal to the company who you really are. A good resume should contain your qualifications, skills, any experience you have acquired, any special course or expertise you have earned and your personality. When preparing your resume, it is always a good idea to go through some construction project manager resume templates for inspiration. Once you find the right resume that you can use, the next step will be to go through the job description and the requirements needed for the post you are applying for. Then, when preparing your resume, you are going to tailor it according to what the company requires. This will make your resume relevant to the position that you are applying for and increase your chances of getting the job.
Research Your Prospective Employer
An area that you should never forget when preparing your interview is to research the company that you are applying for the job. It is highly unlikely that you will ever walk into an interview where they won’t ask you a question about their company. When it comes to researching the company, there are various things that you should look for. You should be able to find out what products and/or services the company sells. Secondly, find out anything to do with latest news or trends involving the company. Most of this information can be got through the social media, online or by visiting the company physically. Finally, uncover anything that you might about your interviewer. This will give you a good foundation when you finally get a chance to sit on the hot seat and answer questions.
Research on the Answers to Likely Interview Questions
You should discover what are the likely questions for a construction project manager and research for the answers. The best thing that you can do when rehearsing on these questions is to record yourself and then go through the recorded file after finishing. This will help you to evaluate yourself and come up with ways you can improve on your answers or presentation. Some of the sample questions you can expect to get are:
- What challenges exist in the construction industry?
- Will the industry bounce back from the global credit crisis?
- How do you handle stubborn employees who refuse to cooperate?
- Do you have any special tricks for dealing with stress and the demands of this job?
- Supposing you are late in completing a construction project, what would you do without offending the client?
- What ways do you use to meet deadlines?
Come Up With Your Own Questions
Nowadays, it is common to find the interviewer telling you to ask him/her questions you would like to know. When given this chance, you should only stick to asking relevant questions that do not offend the interviewer or reduce your chances of being hired. The following is just a sample of questions you should consider asking.
- What is the metric of evaluating and promoting employees in this organization?
- What is the management style of this company?
- Whom will I be reporting to if I get the job?
- How has the global credit crisis affected your company? Did you have to lay off staff during the housing bubble?
Dress to Kill
You should make sure that you have dressed appropriately for the interview. Stay away from flashy dresses and anything that might be deemed too revealing. The best thing is to actually find out about the corporate culture in the company that is interviewing you. Bear in mind that the interviewer already has a formed picture in his/her mind about how a saleslady or an engineer should dress. A good tip is to appear more formal than the average employee in that organization. This way, you won’t appear either undressed or overdressed.
