Operations Manager Resume

If you want to be a successful operations manager, you should communicate to employers that you have the appropriate qualifications, training, and business knowledge to help a company develop and manage different teams smoothly. Here are four helpful tips to guide you as you write your operations manager resume.

1. Introduce yourself with a convincing resume objective

Hiring managers only spend seconds looking at each resume, so grabbing their attention right from the top of your resume is important. The best way to do this is by preparing a concise resume objective that summarizes your top qualifications and talents, and gives them a good reason to continue reading the rest of your resume.

Here’s an example of a strong operations manager resume objective:

A customer service-oriented Operations Manager with a passion for health and fitness. 6+ years of experience in the fitness industry, with a focus on corporate policy and process efficiency. Hold a Bachelor degree in Business Administration. Committed to promoting the highest standards and company values as the new Operations Manager for Fit to Fittest.

In four short sentences, our applicant has successfully explained their:

• level of experience and education
• relevant and professional personality traits
• passion for the role

Don’t forget to also provide hiring managers with specific reasons explaining why you’re applying for the operations manager role. This way, employers have a clear idea of why you want to work for them and understand that you’re passionate about your work.

2. Highlight your hard skills in your professional experience section

Listing your top skills in your professional experience section is a good way to get noticed by hiring managers. The best way to do this is by providing specific examples of times you used your operations skills while at work.

Start each bullet point with an action verb to highlight the hard and soft skills you developed and the results you achieved as an operations manager.

Hard skills (also known as technical skills) are learned from practical experience, training, or schooling.

For instance, you should have in-depth business knowledge from working in previous industries. In this operations manager resume, our applicant has been working at different levels in fitness clubs in each step of their employment history, which indicates that they’re knowledgeable bout the fitness industry.

Here are examples from our applicant’s operations manager sample resume that demonstrates their business development skills using impactful action verbs:

• Implemented new staff training process, incentive program, and career advancement initiatives to identify, coach, and support 25+ high performers & management trainees
• Streamlined business outreach and re-engagement of 200 lost customers in coordination with the Marketing department

Add hard numbers throughout your operations manager resume like percentages, data, hours worked, and number of staff to show employers evidence of your professional accomplishments.

Additionally, operations managers need to liaise between sales and marketing departments and have a sharp eye for operating financial budgets.

Check out this example of our applicant’s financial know-how using hard numbers:

• Reduced operating budget waste by 2.5% for 2+ years through establishing a new inventory management system

Here are some other hard skills for your operations manager resume:

• Administrative skills
• Computer skills
• Data analytics
• Financial forecasting
• Language skills
• Math skills
• Project management skills
• Risk analysis and management
• Scheduling software

3. Include your strongest soft skills in your operations manager resume

Soft skills are also important for operations managers. Soft skills highlight how you relate to others in a professional setting.

Being able to communicate across departments and with employees of all levels is crucial to your ability to run and grow a successful operation.

Let’s see how our applicant describes their communication skills in their work experience section:

• Introduced, onboarded, and built relationships with 340+ fitness club members
• Managed a sales team of 8 staff, later expanding to 12, resulting in 5 of my staff winning “Best Salesperson of the Month” under my guidance and leadership

You’ll also be in charge of instilling the values and standards of the business across all levels and departments, which involves working closely with people. This means setting rules, quality assurance, and leading the team to drive the organization toward its goals.

In the operations manager sample resume, the applicant demonstrates their people skills here:

• Implemented new staff training process, incentive program, and career advancement initiatives to identify, coach, and support 25+ high performers & management trainees

Have a look at more soft skills for your resume:

• Adaptability
• Customer service skills
• Delegating skills
• Self-discipline
• Interpersonal skills
• Leadership skills
• Management skills
• Organizational skills
• Problem solving skills
• Sales skills
• Soft skills
• Time management skills

4. Highlight your industry knowledge and relevant education

Because operations managers generally require technical knowledge for their field, companies will also have specific educational requirements for their applicants.

Depending on the industry or company, you may need to list your university degree or college diploma on your resume.

So make sure you list any relevant education and certifications in the education section of your resume — and in your resume objective.

Additionally, staying on top of new industry-applicable software, systems, and ideas is a must for operations managers.

Let hiring managers know you’re knowledgeable of different software and tools by listing their specific names throughout your operations manager resume.

Finally, showing that you’re a continuous learner and are always learning new skills is helpful for showing employers that you’re a strong hire for the future. So list new courses or tools you’re currently learning — especially if knowledge of these tools are requirements in a company’s job posting.