Litjob

Project manager skills: what job ads ask for most

Updated 31 October 2026 · 757 project manager job ads from the last 90 days

What skills does a project manager need?

In 757 project manager job ads from the last 90 days, the skills asked for most were Project management (66% of ads), Stakeholder management (6% of ads) and Agile (5% of ads). The ads also name communication skills (17%) and teamwork (16%) explicitly.

Compared with operations and admin ads as a whole, project manager ads ask for Project management (66% against 24%) more often.

Skills and tools in project manager job ads

Share of project manager ads that mention each skill, with all operations and admin ads for comparison (the thin mark).

  1. Project management66%all 24%
  2. Stakeholder management6%all 4%
  3. Agile5%all 2%
  4. Jira5%all 4%
  5. Onboarding4%all 5%
  6. Procurement4%all 4%
  7. Supply chain4%all 4%
  8. PMP4%all 2%
  9. PRINCE24%all 1%
  10. Scrum4%all 2%
  11. SaaS3%all 3%
  12. Process improvement3%all 5%
  13. Risk management3%all 2%
  14. ERP3%all 2%
  15. Product roadmap3%all 4%
  16. Confluence3%all 2%

Ways of working the ads name

Listing these on a CV proves little; show them in a bullet point or in the interview.

  1. Communication skills17%all 18%
  2. Teamwork16%all 16%
  3. Leadership10%all 14%
  4. Problem solving3%all 5%

How to use this on your CV (or résumé)

  1. Check the job you're applying for, not just the averages: paste your CV and the ad into the free CV keyword checker to see which of its skills your CV doesn't mention.
  2. For each skill you really have, use the ad's own words in a bullet point that shows how you used it, ideally with a number. The project manager CV example shows how.
  3. Leave out skills you don't have. Interviewers ask about what's on your CV.

Is your CV missing any of these?

Compare your CV with a real project manager job ad. Free, no sign-up, and your CV never leaves your browser.

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Skills for other jobs

How these figures are made

  • 757 job ads posted in the last 90 days with “project manager” (or a close variant) in the title, from public job sources Litjob collects. Most are from the UK, the US and Europe.
  • Each percentage is the share of those ads whose text (not counting the job title) mentions the skill at least once. Duplicate ads are removed.
  • Skills are matched as whole words from a list of about 300 skills, tools and certifications, so a skill described in other words isn't counted.
  • Jobs people add to their own Litjob accounts are never included.

Every role family, and the full method: the skills job ads ask for most, by role.