All posts by Nicola Caswell-Thorp

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CV Tips, CV Writing, PMO, PMO CV

What a PMO CV should say

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What should your PMO CV say – it’s all well and good telling us you support / manage / set up PMOs in your CV but do you give the recruiter or hiring manager enough information for them to get a feel for your exposure? Often I am sent CVs from PMO professionals asking for feedback and although basically it is well written, there are huge gaps leaving me wanting more detail. Recruiters and hiring managers are unlikely to pick up the phone to ask you questions when they already have an inbox full of applications, they simply move on to the next CV.

What do we want to know? Here are a few points to consider:

  • The PMO itself – what kind of PMO is it? Is it corporate level, satellite (department based, permanent for say IT), or temporary (set up for a specific programme and disbanded once the programme has delivered)
  • How big is it? Some PMOs are just one person, others run into 20’s to much larger
  • How mature is the PMO, are we talking rather new and currently creating & embedding structures, enterprise level or somewhere in between
  • How many programmes and / or projects feed into the PMO
  • What are the programmes / projects which are being supported
  • What level of support is offered – purely admin or as intended, consultants to the project management team
  • Who does the PMO report into – is it an interface between project management and the senior management team

As a PMO manager or consultant have you addressed these points?

  • What type of PMO manager are you – do you set up PMOs and move on to new assignments once you have implemented structures and handed over to someone else to manage
  • Do you have a PMO tool kit of templates which you can adapt for business needs
  • Are you all about process or pragmatic in your approach to implementing structures
  • Do you pick up existing PMOs and mange going forward as opposed to setting them up
  • What is your key specialism – do you look to address overarching business needs and work on communications
  • Are you a coach / trainer to project managers

These are few areas which require consideration when putting together a CV; too many times I have seen CVs which list a lot of bullets such as:

  • Risk & Issue Management
  • Stakeholder Mapping
  • Change Management
  • Planning

Put like this – it doesn’t tell the reviewer a great deal and does tend to read like a job description not a CV, think about adding in some context and really adding some meat to the bones. It is easy to assume that others will know all about your role at XXX plc but the reality is that we don’t, by taking time to think about how you may describe to others what you do and your environment you can really make a difference to your CV.

Business Services, Redundancy, The CV Righter

Employers dealing with redundancies

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Unfortunately we are faced with redundancies all the time and it is hard to break the news to otherwise unsuspecting employees – what adds to the difficulty is when you have people who have worked for you for over 10 years and have no idea how to approach writing a CV or how to go about applying for roles.

At The CV Righter we are accustomed to dealing with such situations and have a tailored service which can help the transition of your employees back out into the world of job hunting.  We are always open to creating a bespoke service to our clients but one framework we used as a starting point is suggested below:

  • Assessing the situation as an outsider, gathering information about the people requiring the service. By understanding everyone’s position we can then look at the most effective solutions.
  • Dealing with large numbers – sometimes there may be a workforce of 40+ who need assistance – in this instance we look at breaking down the sessions for smaller groups and ideally all to be done over one or two days to ensure we are not dragging out the process.
  • Small seminars where we address the candidates in a less formal approach to give time for questions to be answered and individual feedback on CVs.
  • Running through a workshop on how to construct an effective CV whilst providing examples of good and bad CVs to be able to really help the candidates understand what is required in the current marketplace.
  • Handouts of CV templates and CV writing documents to back up all the workshop discussions.
  • Talking through how to apply for roles and where to look – giving effective recruiter inside information on how to find those roles and what to do once you have found them.

Having a wealth of experience in recruitment and also having worked on the Job Centre Plus framework to provide careers assistance with the unemployed for hundreds of candidates we are experienced in dealing with those who are lacking motivation and confidence and we have worked with factory operatives, management, professional services and all industries.

Get in touch today to see how we can help you with your redundancy transition – we are happy to negotiate costs to meet your budgets and we care about the people who need our help, as much as you do!

Career Objective, CV Tips, CV Writing, Project management career progression, Project Management Careers Advice, Project management CV, project management resume

CV Objective – to include or not

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Stating a career objective in your CV can be a great way to highlight where you wish to go next in your occupation, however it can also be stating the obvious. If you have a resume which is clear in your goals then stating an objective can over egg the pudding so to speak, however if you are looking for a change in career or want to be taken seriously for progression then including this detail can really help. For those who display their CVs online for recruiters and hiring managers to pick up, the objective can help stop wasting time being called for roles which are not on the radar for you. Especially those who may currently (and have a history of) managing projects and would like to progress to managing programmes and equally for those who have previously worked in a field which they wish to move away from.

Be careful what you state as an objective and don’t pitch yourself out of the market, a good objective will talk through why you wish to move into a particular field (such as interest or exposure to something you wish to specialise in) and also give a view of where you see yourself in the future (progressing up the career ladder).

Here’s an example of an objective which covers the above:

  • Following a successful career supporting a number of large projects now looking to progress to the role of project manager where these skills can be utilised to their full potential; following 3 years experience of managing smaller projects through the lifecycle. Long term goals include eventual progression into managing programmes of work.

Here the candidate is clearly stating that they are ready for that next step up to managing projects rather than supporting and they have experience which means it is not unrealistic. The long term goal tells the reader that the person is serious about their career and is working to a plan; they are not unreasonable and know that it takes time (and experience).

You can justify your potential for promotion / progression with your objective therefore if this is a route you are looking to take then including the objective can really work for you. Likewise if you are looking to move into a new industry or career you can also use the objective to highlight your transferability.

If you applying direct to an employer for a role, they may ask for an objective to be included on the CV. I cannot emphasise enough that all job adverts need to be read thoroughly, following instruction can be part of the recruitment process and as such you need to take this seriously and comply.

Making sure you are pitching to the right audience is key to getting viewed favourably for roles – don’t leave it to assumptions, make sure you are clear about what it is you want.

CV Tips, CV Writing, Project Management, Project management CV, Project Management Lessons Learned, Stakeholders

Stakeholder communications – lessons learned

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Stakeholders play a huge role in projects and effective communication is key to success, working closely with the team to ensure we are all singing from the same song sheet.

So why do so many not talk about their stakeholders in their CV? Your CV is the first piece of communication a hiring manager sees from you, by omitting detail about arguably one of the most important aspects of your role from the CV you are selling yourself short.

Let’s take a look at the fundamentals of stakeholder engagement:

  • Establishing who your stakeholders are – once engaging in a new project it is important to understand who your stakeholders are and list them in order of importance to the project.
  • Create a communications plan – work with your stakeholders to schedule in regular contact, understand their other commitments and set up a style which fits with this.
  • Honesty – don’t hide major issues from your stakeholders, talk about them and provide tangible solutions. You aren’t doing anyone any favours by keeping them in the dark, being upfront but constructive is essential.

Stakeholders

Adding this kind of detail alongside some context such as stakeholder locations, involvement and difficulties (yes we have all dealt with tricky customers), you can really start adding value to your CV. It is the anomalies and how you manage them which really start to set you apart from your peers in the field.

I have seen far too many CVs which place all the emphasis on the projects and none on how you work – yes, we want to know what the projects are but remember the CV is about you so we also want to see how you work. Simply listing a string of skills just doesn’t cut it with employers, actually adding in detail about what this means in your role is where you really add value. Forgetting the stakeholders is not giving the right impression and this is the first impression, so work on creating a CV which is inclusive and really tells the reader about you.