When you’re pursuing roles as an operations manager, it’s essential to have a strong CV that emphasises your marketable skills.
You need to grab recruiters’ attention by displaying your experience in a visually pleasing manner, and highlight your suitability for the roles you are targeting,
This step-by-step guide, which contains an operations manager CV example, will enable you to produce your own eye-catching CV, helping you to land plenty of interviews.
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Operations manager CV example
The above CV example showcases how to display your experience in an enticing manner, showing how you have progressed within your career, and your areas of expertise.
This guide will talk you through how to create your own CV that highlights your applicable experience, exhibiting your suitability for operations manager roles quickly.
Operations Manager CV structure & format
A combination of a well-defined structure and professional formatting is key to appealing to recruiters, and allowing them to digest the information quickly.
Opt for a structure, which assists recruiters to easily navigate your experience, and a format which is simple yet professional.
The infographic below will support you in constructing a distinctive format, detailing which sections you should be incorporating.
Formatting Tips
- Avoid using company logos, headshots or any imagery that distracts recruiters’ attention, these waste valuable space within your CV without adding value
- Keep to a CV length of 2 sides of A4, allowing you to display your suitability, without it becoming tedious to read
- Avoid over-designing your CV with an overwhelming colour pallet or complicated structure and stick to a professional, clear and concise format with a muted colour pallet and sharp font
Structuring your CV
Break up the text within your CV, by setting out a clear structure with separate sections, enabling ease of reading.
Use the below structure when putting together your experience:
- Contact details – Keep your contact information to the top of the page, ensuring you’re easily reachable
- Profile – A short introductory paragraph that documents your most imperative skills, experience and qualifications, revealing your relevancy for operations manager positions
- Work experience / Career history – Record your career history, working backwards from your most recent position
- Education – Document your qualifications specifically those required for operations manager roles
- Interests and hobbies – An optional section that can be used to add further value to your CV
This guide will walk you through how to write each section within your own CV.
CV contact details
Allow recruiters to quickly reach you by making your contact details easily accessible at the top of your CV; including only:
- Phone number (ideally a mobile number)
- Email address
- Location
- LinkedIn profile if you have one
Reserve space in your CV by sticking to only the vital information needed by recruiters, removing additional information such as marital status, profile pictures, date of birth or your full address.
Top Tip – include a link to your LinkedIn profile, especially if you have endorsements and testimonials that will be beneficial to your application.
Operations manager CV profile
Begin your CV with an opening paragraph that documents your in-demand operations skills, sector specific experience and qualifications, displaying your aptness to the industry.
Entice recruiters at the top of the page, using 5-10 lines to provide an overview of your experience at first glance.
The profile is intended to be a summary of your CV that hones in on key elements, before you’re able to elaborate further in the rest of your CV.
Use the below tips when producing your personal profile:
- Prior to crafting your profile, research your target roles, enabling you to tailor your skills to them and include vital keywords
- Keep to a length of between 5-10 lines, a short, succinct opening that encourages the reader to probe further into your CV
- Be unique in your descriptions, stand out from the crowd by removing overused or cliché statements that recruiters have read in countless other applications (like “I am a team player” etc.)
What to include in your CV profile?
- Previous companies worked for – Have you worked in healthcare, retail, manufacturing or construction? Big or small organisations?
- Level of your experience – Whether you’re starting in your career as an operations manager or are experienced in your field
- Qualifications – Add qualifications that are essential for operations manager role such as business, business management or accountancy degrees
- Tools used – Whether you’ve used project management systems, project schedules or quality control systems
- Types of operations you have run – Have you led multi-million pound global shipping operations? Or niche house building construction operations?
CV profile tip: If you worry that your spelling and grammar might not be correct, try using our quick-and-easy CV Builder to eliminate the risk of making mistakes.
Core skills section
Directly underneath your personal profile, add a core skills section that is comprised of two to three columns of bullet points, listing your most sought-after skills.
At first glance, these allow recruiters to see your relevancy for operations manager positions, without having to search through your CV.
Use your sector specific research or the vital skills section below for guidance on what skills to integrate into this section.
Work experience/Career history
Document any work experience in a reverse chronological order, with a focus on your most recent operations experience
Reserve space for your most recent or more applicable experience by shortening your descriptions as you work backwards in your career, giving depth and detail around those positions most pertinent to operations manager roles.
Structuring your roles
Break up your role descriptions, allowing recruiters to clearly identify your related experience and the value add you had within your previous posts.
Use the below structure, breaking your role descriptions into these three segments.
Outline
Provide context to recruiters by giving an overview of your position, the company you worked for and even the department you were part of.
E.g.
“Working for a retailer as an operations manager, pushing operational improvements, maximising value and working in line with budgetary requirements.”
Key responsibilities
Bullet point your key duties, displaying any project involvement or any significant relationships you built within your role.
E.g.
- Negotiating contracts, ensuring the best service is provided, in line with agreed SLAs
- Establishing department goals and implementing strategies to meet these objectives
Key achievements
Showcase the value you had within each of your previous positions by giving examples of your accomplishments, adding figures or facts to validate these examples.
E.g.
- Maximised profit margins by reducing labour spend by 10%
Education
Record any qualifications you’ve achieved, commencing with those required as an operations manager, adding additional qualifications if you’ve room.
Look to include qualifications such as degrees in business management, accountancy or operations management.
If applicable, also consider relevant courses in human resources, finance, and information technology or business management principles which are all sought-after areas of expertise within this role.
Interests and hobbies
An added section of your CV, which unlike other areas is not mandatory and should only be included if your interests support recruiters in the decision making process.
Avoid cliché hobbies like eating out, and consider how your hobbies could represent your capability of the core skills needed in the industry.
For example, being a captain within a sporting team could showcase your leadership ability and how you’ve dealt with conflict and built relationships within a team.
Essential skills for operations manager CV
It’s key to document your core skills throughout your CV, tailoring these to the industry you’re pursuing.
Look to include the below strengths within your operations manager CV:
Process Improvement – analysing process workflows and executing changes in supply chain
Budget Management – implement and work towards defined budgets, including labour costs or scheduling expenditures
Understanding of Regulations – knowledge of compliance legislation as well as health and safety processes, role modelling these policies and procedures
Business Negotiation – negotiating with suppliers and contractors, managing effective relationships to secure the best service
Writing your operations manager CV
Producing an attention grabbing CV is all about displaying your imperative experience and core skills in a visually pleasing and enticing manner.
Understanding the importance of a clear and professional structure is vital to assisting you in standing out from the crowd.
Use this guide to generate a CV that is both aesthetically pleasing and structured in a way that enables recruiters to see your potential, helping you secure your dream career.
Good luck in your next application!