How to Create a Construction Project List to Supplement Your Resume

You already know that a well-crafted resume can mean the difference between capturing a recruiter’s attention and ending up in their circular file.

As a construction professional, you may have also heard that a separate project list can set you apart in a big way. Believe it. In today’s competitive job market, you need more than just a bulleted experience section listing past job titles. Hiring managers want to see a clear, detailed picture of the projects you’ve worked on, from timelines to budgets and beyond, and there’s just not enough room on your resume for that.

The ideal construction project list amplifies your resume by showcasing the projects you’ve worked on. Where your resume’s work history trails off, your project list picks up. It details exactly what types of projects you’ve done, what you did on each, and how successful you made them.

Why You Need a Project List

Recruiters love a good project list because it allows them to quickly get a good sense of your specific expertise and assess if you’re the right fit for an employer. There’s great variety and complexity of projects in the construction industry. Because of this, recruiters need to know whether you specialize in small residential projects or large commercial builds so they can match you with the perfect job for you.

Be sure to specify whom you were employed with on each project. If you skip this detail, you could give the impression that you didn’t work on the project from start to finish and are trying to cover up job hopping. Including the employer reveals if you were the general contractor or a subcontractor. It’s misleading to list a total project value if you only worked on one portion of the job.

Two Ways to Structure Your Project List

Just as with your resume, your construction project list could start with the most recent projects and work its way back through time. This method highlights what you’ve been working on lately.

Some believe, however, that it is more effective to put similar projects together in groups — for example, infrastructure or retail — regardless of date. This method gives a full picture of your expertise across disciplines.

Either way, take the opportunity to include key elements like these:

• Employer
• Project type
• Location
• Contract value/budget
• Start and end dates
• Your role and responsibilities
• Noteworthy accomplishments

And remember to provide quantified achievements and measurable outcomes with numbers and percents. How much did you save the company? How much more efficient are its processes now?

How to Format the List

Keep your eye on the goal. Make it easy for hiring managers to quickly find the information they need. Bullet points help your list jump off the page. Use them to break down your responsibilities and key achievements. You can list the details bulleted above (and more) in any order you want, but you should use that same order for every project. And finally, while your project list is certainly the place where you can go more in-depth than your resume, try not to overwhelm readers with too much information.

Tailoring Your Construction Project List for Top Roles

If you’re going for a project manager position, you could group your experience with communications, scheduling, and budgeting at the top. If construction superintendent jobs are the focus of your search, then you might gather your skills managing timelines, on-site operations, and safety compliance into a place of prominence on the page. You get the idea.

Creating a construction project list to partner with your resume is well worth the extra effort. Whether you’re actively seeking a new job or preparing for future opportunities, having a polished project list is a powerful way to stand out in the construction industry.