Are you looking for your next position as a contract manager? Then you need a strong application that showcases your organization, negotiation, and customer service skills.
A good resume is like a properly drawn-up contract, and we can help you create one.
In this step-by-step guide, we’ll use a contract manager resume example and our top tips to teach you how to create an interview-winning application.
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Contract Manager Resume Example
This Contract Manager resume example shows you the most effective layout for a resume in today’s job market, along with the type of content you need to include.
Stick closely to these guidelines as you write your own resume, to boost your chances of getting lots of responses, interviews and job offers.
Now lets dive into the details of how you write your own eye-catching resume…
Contract Manager resume layout and format
The format and layout of your resume can make or break its success.
Sure, it’s great to pack your resume with lots of impressive skills and knowledge, but if the page is not structured clearly, hiring managers will struggle to find the important stuff!
Above all, your resume should be easy-to-read and professional looking.
Follow these formatting tips to get noticed.
Formatting your resume for success
- Length: To ensure that recruiters will read all of your resume, limit its length to 2 pages – as they someteimes read hundreds of resumes daily.
- Font & readability: The key to a good resume is readability. To make your resume easy to read, use a clear and uncomplicated font, and break up the text with bullet points and short paragraphs.
- Layout & Structure: Hiring managers should be able to skim through your resume easily and pinpoint the information they want quickly. To help them do this, organize the page into clear sections with bold headings and dividing borders. The design should be clutter-free and professional-looking, with a calm color scheme.
- Photos: In the USA adding a photo to your resume is optional – you don’t have to do it, but it can be a nice way to get your personality across.
Quick tip: Achieving a professional look for your resume can be difficult and time-consuming. If you want to create an attractive resume quickly, try our quick-and-easy Resume Builder and use one of their eye-catching resume templates.
Resume layout
Divide the page into these sections when you write your own resume.
- Name and contact details – Simply state who you are, and how to get in touch with you.
- Resume summary – An introductory paragraph at the very top of your resume which summarizes your skills, experience and suitability for your target jobs.
- Core skills section – A bullet-pointed list of your skills that relate most to your target jobs.
- Work experience – A list of your current and previous jobs, including all of your responsibilities and achievements.
- Education – A section that showcases all of your education and academic achievements.
- Additional info (optional) – Here you can add an extra section for things like hobbies and interests, or anything else that might be relevant to your target jobs.
Here’s what to include in each part of your resume.
Contact Details
Keep your contact details short to save resume space and include the following.
- Name and profession title
- Cell phone number
- Location – Add your local area such as Silicon Valley or New York, unless you are looking for work in a different location
- Email address – Keep it professional and don’t use an old address that you thought was cool in high school, but now looks a bit embarrassing.
You can add a link to your LinkedIn profile if you have one – you do not need to include personal details like date of birth or marital status.
Contract Manager Resume Summary
Now it’s time to get into the real content of your resume, starting with the summary.
Your resume summary is a short paragraph at the top of the document, and its jobs is to catch the eye of hiring managers by summarizing all your skills and knowledge that are most important to the roles you are applying for.
How to create a resume summary that will get you noticed:
- Keep it short: Aim for a short punchy paragraph of 4-7 lines. This is just enough info to showcase why you’d make the perfect hire, without going into excessive detail and overwhelming busy recruiters at such an early stage in the resume.
- Tailor to target jobs: Optimize your summary to match the requirements of your target jobs, by mirroring the key words from the job description as closely as possible.
- Avoid using cliches: You may be a “team player who always give 110%” but generic phrases don’t tell employers much about you in reality – stick to factual information.
Example resume summary for Contract Manager
What to include in your Contract Manager resume summary?
- Summary of experience: Briefly describe the work you have performed in the past and the contributions you have made to the organizations you have worked for.
- Relevant skills: Highlight your skills which are most relevant to Contract Manager jobs, to ensure that recruiters see your most in-demand skills as soon as they open your resume.
- Qualifications: Any qualifications that are important to the Contract Manager jobs you are applying for, should be mentioned in the summary.
Quick tip: Choose from hundreds of pre-written summaries across all industries, and add one to your resume with one-click in our quick-and-easy Resume Builder. All written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset and style.
Core skills section
Sitting just underneath your resume summary, your core skills section gives recruiters 4-10 of your most in-demand skills in just a glance.
As Contract Manager jobs may get hundreds of applications, this is a great way to stand out and quickly grab hiring managers’ attention.
It should be made up of 2-3 columns of bullet points and highlight attributes that are hyper-relevant to the jobs you are aiming for.
Best skills for your Contract Manager resume
Contract Negotiation – Negotiating favorable contract terms with vendors and suppliers.
Legal Knowledge – Maintaining knowledge of contract law and regulations, including understanding the terms and conditions of contracts and applicable legal requirements.
Contract Review – Review and analyzing contracts for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with organizational policies.
Risk Assessment – Assessing and mitigating risks associated with contractual agreements, including identifying potential legal, financial, and operational risks.
Budget Management – Managing contract budgets, including tracking expenses and ensuring compliance with financial objectives.
Contract Life Cycle – Managing the contract life cycle, including development, implementation, and termination.
Vendor Management – Managing relationships with vendors, including ensuring contract compliance, addressing vendor performance issues, and managing vendor disputes.
Stakeholder Communication – Communicating effectively with internal and external stakeholders, including providing clear and concise information and managing expectations.
Dispute Resolution – Managing contract disputes and negotiating resolutions between parties.
Contract Renewal – Managing contract renewal processes, including negotiating new terms, assessing vendor performance, and identifying opportunities for improvement.
Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy Resume Builder contains thousands of in-demand skills for every profession that can be added to your resume in seconds – saving you time and greatly improving your chances of landing job interviews and getting hired.
Work experience
So, you’ve got the recruiter interested with your catchy summary… Great work.
Now it’s time to show them the impact you make in the workplace by listing out your previous jobs and what you achieved in each one.
If you have tons of experience, you can condense this part down to the last few years – if you are junior, then you should include as much possible (even volunteering and school work placements)
Structuring your jobs
It’s easy to overwhelm readers when writing about a job you have been doing for years or even months.
Break the information up like this to keep it simple for recruiters to understand.
Job outline
Begin each job with a short summary of who the organization is, where you sit within it, and what the main goal of your position is.
Key responsibilities
Then delve into the detail of your job by listing out easy-to-read bullet points which show how you apply your skills in the workplace.
Tailor these bullet points to focus on the skills and knowledge that are required in the jobs you are applying for.
Key achievements
Round off each job by adding some impressive achievements you made in the role.
Anything you’ve done that has made a big impact on your employer will make a good impression, think; generating revenue, saving costs, or improving a product.
Quantify your achievements with number where possible e.g. “reduced call wait time by 10%”
Example job for Contract Manager resume
Outline
Work as part of the sales and acquisition team at a leading business consultancy in San Diego, managing multi-partner contracts for variety of high-value clients across 31 countries globally.
Key Responsibilities
- Review, draft, and negotiate contract terms, including fall back contractual provisions for NDAs, MSAs, and service agreements
- Contextualize legal issues within the context of the contract to balance business objectives with legal risk
- Compose and send proposals, letters of engagement, special terms and conditions, and purchase orders
- Escalate challenging contractual provisions to the legal team to expedite resolution
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy Resume Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
Near the end of your resume add your education section
Experienced candidates should keep it brief and focus on professional qualifications – and junior candidates can include high school diplomas, college degrees etc.
Additional information
The bottom of your resume is a place to add any “additional info”
Any other info that didn’t fall into any of the previous sections can be added here.
If you have hobbies that are related to your profession or any awards or publications – add them here.
Writing your own Contract Manager resume
A winning Contract Manager resume should look great, read well, and sell your skillset to hiring managers.
If you follow the steps above, you should be able to bag yourself a top job in no time.
And don’t forget you can use our quick-and-easy Resume Builder if you want to save time and ensure your resume contains the very best content.
Good luck with your job search!