ATS Keywords & CV Guide for Project Manager

Project managers plan, execute, and close projects on time and within budget. They coordinate teams, manage risks, track progress, and communicate status to stakeholders. When you apply for Project Manager roles, applicant tracking systems scan your CV for the skills, tools, and responsibility phrasing below. Use them in context within your experience bullets, not just in a skills list.

Top skills recruiters scan for

These are the skills that appear most frequently in Project Manager job descriptions. The importance score reflects how heavily each skill is weighted in the occupation's O*NET profile. Include the top 5 in your CV where you can prove them with real outcomes.

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Tools & software to name explicitly

Recruiters and ATS systems search for specific tool names. List the ones you have real experience with in your skills section, and prove them in your bullets. Tools marked as hot are currently in high demand in job postings.

• Jira
• Asana
• Monday.com
• Microsoft Project
• Trello
• Confluence / Notion
• Smartsheet
• Slack
• Power BIHot
• Miro / FigJamHot

Responsibility phrasing for your bullets

These are the core tasks a Project Manager is expected to perform. Use them as starting points for your CV bullets, but rewrite each one with your specific outcomes, scope, and context. Do not copy them verbatim.

• Define project scope, goals, deliverables, and success criteria with stakeholders
• Create and maintain project schedules, budgets, and resource plans
• Facilitate daily standups, sprint planning, and retrospectives
• Track project progress and report status to stakeholders and leadership
• Identify and mitigate risks before they impact delivery
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure on-time, on-budget delivery
• Manage dependencies between teams and external vendors
• Document project decisions, changes, and lessons learned

Other titles this role is posted under

Job postings for this role may use any of these titles. Search for all of them to find more relevant opportunities, and use the matching title in your CV's professional summary when applying.

• Program Manager
• Scrum Master
• PMO Manager
• IT Project Manager
• Technical Project Manager
• Agile Coach
• Delivery Manager

Related roles

Explore ATS keywords for other roles in the Project & Program Management family:

• Scrum Master

Includes information from O*NET 29.x by the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license.