Job adverts, Job Applications, Job Hunting, project management recruitment, Recruitment

7 step guide to job application – PM Career tips

Here’s your 7 step guide to reaching success when looking for a new job:

Research – when you take the decision to start looking for a new role you really need to understand the industry and the roles you are applying for, make a start by looking at the types of roles you wish to apply for. Job descriptions and adverts are widely available online, by reading through them and understanding what is involved you will quickly identify the roles most relevant to you. Also spend some time researching the industries you wish to work in. Look at some of the larger corporate websites to gain a greater knowledge of what is hot at the moment as these will likely be the growth areas in that field. Start to match up your skill-set and exposure to relevant projects, make a note of these and use them as examples in your CV.
Make a list – gather a list of the relevant role titles to your skill, and place in a spreadsheet to keep track of websites which yield good search results for them. As well as searching job boards, think about placing random searches into search engines as you will also bring up roles with direct employers too which you may have otherwise missed – a lot of employers will only advertise on their own websites.
Focus – Ensure you are spending time on roles which you can meet a minimum of 90% of the criteria listed, this saves you wasting time on roles which you are unlikely to get into the short-list for and keeps your list down to a manageable size. It is important to streamline your applications so you can spend more time tweaking your CV and writing a cover letter for so you can yield more results. It is quality not quantity!
Make another list – create another spreadsheet of roles you have applied to and through which websites, when etc. you need to be organised when you start receiving calls from HR / recruiters etc. it does make all the difference when you sound on the ball during these calls.
Follow up – leave it a day or two after you make an application then call up the person handling your application. Check it has been received and offer to clarify anything further they may need to know. Round up the call by asking when you can expect to hear a response regarding your application – remain professional throughout, this includes speaking to receptionists etc. be friendly, clear, helpful and don’t let frustrations show. The person handling your application makes the decision whether to pass on your CV to clients/hiring managers so keep in mind they are testing you from the first point of application. Put yourself in their shoes – if you come across abrupt or desperate then they are highly unlikely to put your forward through fear of having their reputation soiled.

Careers Advice, Change, Job Applications, Job Hunting

12 stage plan to finding that next role – PM Career Tips

Decided to take that next step and look for a new role, but don’t know where to begin? Look no further, here is you 12 step guide to finding that next role:

1. Check your CV – get it professionally reviewed, plenty of organisations will do this for free including The CV Righter.

2. Make appropriate updates – listen to the feedback given and make sure you address these in your CV.

3. Make a list – what do you want to achieve? More money, a new challenge, career progression.

4. Research – look at the roles out there which match your skill-set and start to really understand where your applications will progressed.

5. Networks – make contact with your networks and let them know you are looking for a new opportunity.

6. Get your CV out there – place your CV on job websites and register with agencies. Make sure you refresh regularly so you are not going to the bottom of the pile.

7. Decide who you want to work with – having made a decision about which agencies and job boards work for you, keep to a short list of these and keep in regular contact.

8. Be clever – set up “jobs by email” and google alerts so you can let the technology do the trawling for you.

9. Research employers – understand all there is to know about the companies you wish to work for and keep an eye on activity. You may get ahead of all your competitors by anticipating new roles due to changes in the organisation such as new product launches, partnering with other businesses and mergers.

10. Join in professionally related discussions – LinkedIn and Twitter often have lots of discussions; you can get yourself noticed and hear about new roles through such networks.

11. Review – keep an eye on your applications and see what works and what doesn’t, you may need to revisit point 1 if you are not harvesting interviews.

12. Keep organised – a simple spreadsheet covering all your applications and endeavours to keep track of everything is a good way to help generate new ideas and see trends for the right jobs for you with specific agencies and job boards.

CV Tips, CV Writing, PMO, PMO CV, Recruitment

How to make your PMO CV more interesting – PMO CV Tips

Nicola Caswell-Thorp Leave a comment

I am often approached by PMO professionals who want to make their CV more appealing to recruiting managers, as they feel their roles are the same from company to company (or assignment to assignment). It is easy to fall into the trap of being repetitive or trying to rephrase the same information over and over – but this rarely adds value to the CV and makes for a boring read to others. The trick is to really think about each role and draw out the core areas relevant to the assignment, in reality, there is always a difference in these roles whether it be with process or people. But addressing the core areas pertinent to the role in question will not only make for a more interesting read, it also helps you ensure you are talking through core competencies and situations recognised in the PMO field which should ensure you are getting “ticks in the boxes” of the recruitment wish list and ultimately being put into shortlists for the roles you are applying for.

A key starting point would be to list all the core areas relevant to your role within the PMO and then match up specific areas to roles, that way you are not leaving out any required pieces but you are also then beginning to split out some interesting pieces of information which will provide a flow through the CV and paint a strong picture of how you work and your understanding of supporting projects / programmes / portfolios of work.

Think about how you fit into a PMO, do you create templates and provide consultancy work to PMs and PgMs, have you established project capability to an organisation, are you analysing key strategic data business-wide? As the PMO is a complex field, it pays to really address what your specialism is and spell it out to recruiters who might not necessarily know what a PMO is (never mind the roles within them).

Job Applications, Job Hunting, project management resume, Q&A, Transferable Skills

I have applied for 10 jobs and not heard anything – PM CV Tips Q&A

Nicola Caswell-Thorp Leave a comment

Dear Nicola, I have been in the same role for 5 years (a Project Coordinator) within Central Government with a lot of experience in supporting hardware and software roll outs. I am due to be made redundant next month and so I have updated my CV and applied for 10 positions but not heard anything back. Can you tell me where I am going wrong please? John, Project Coordinator, London.

Hi John, many thanks for getting in touch. Firstly let me start by asking if the roles you have applied for are similar to the one you are currently doing? As it is common for PM professionals to apply for anything with PM job titles without reading the job description/advert properly. As you’ll probably be aware, job titles can be very misleading so it is important to read through each role before applying for it. Ensure you can meet at least 90% of what they are asking for, employers are very cautious on the skill set they will want on board the team and in a time where training has been cut they will want a close match to their requirements so you can slip into the role with minimal handholding. Once you start to look at all the roles out there, and there are quite a lot, you will start to recognise the ones you should be applying for and avoiding ones which aren’t going to gain a response.

The next step is to look at your CV, as I have reviewed your CV I can see you have gone into a great deal of detail around the core competencies used throughout the project lifecycle, however these do look a little bland in that there is no context so we have no clear idea of the size of projects you support or indeed the number of PMs you support. There is also a vague overview of the technologies you have been supporting the delivery of – something which can be very transferable into your next role. Your CV comes across very process driven, which is fine but there is little detail about engaging with stakeholders, PMs etc. which gives the impression that you may prefer to be hidden in project documentation. Not ideal when a Coordinator is usually the central point of contact on projects for the business.

The other issue may be that you are applying for private sector roles, and there is a prejudice with some employers that public sector staff will not transition well into a commercial environment. I believe that support roles are fully transferable; however you need to convince employers of this. By talking through the projects/technologies themselves and any exposure to dealing with 3^rd party suppliers/stakeholders external to the council, you will assist the hiring manager in matching up your knowledge and abilities in supporting the delivery in such projects. By taking all the above advice and revising your CV you will have a stronger chance of securing interviews moving forward.

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