Careers Advice, guest blogger, project management jobs, Transferable Skills

Why Project Management Skills Are Desirable For Any Job

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Project stakholder from New York State Department of Evnironmental Conservation

If you are looking to get ahead in your career regardless of your occupation then project management skills can be a great way to make your CV stand out against a pool of applicants. You don’t need to specifically be going for project management jobs to make use of such skills as the abilities and responsibilities of a good project manager are applicable across a wide range of disciplines and positions.

A good project manager is flexible and quick to adapt to new situations, but in general there is a core set of abilities that employers look out for when hiring project managers. There may be specific desirable skills that depend on the industry you are looking to enter, but there are some skills that are applicable across all disciplines:

Time Management
Project managers are held responsible for carrying out the details of their project on time. Delays can be very costly for companies, especially those working under strict contracts and missed deadlines can have very serious repercussions. A good project manager will be able to provide estimates for project milestones and make sure each milestone is met on time.

Budget Management
As project manager you may also be in charge of the budget for the project. You will be expected to complete the goals of your project with a set budget and be able to allocate funds appropriately. Effectively managing your budget is vital as in competitive markets profit margins can be thin, so overspending can result in eating into profits.

People Skills
Project manager jobs inherently involve working with a team under your command, so it is vital for project managers to be able to both instruct and inspire people. Project managers may be hired from outside but often companies will look from within when seeking to find a project manager, so you may find yourself in a position of authority with your colleagues and work friends. A good project manager must be able to remain professional in such situations and not let private relationships interfere with fulfilling professional duties.

Effective Communication Skills
Being a project manager involves not simply interacting with the team members under your command but also reporting to your bosses and potentially meeting with clients. Both situations will demand good communication skills of the project manager; superiors will want to know how the project is progressing, whether target deadlines and budgets are being met and how any potential issues will be resolved.

Good Technical Knowledge
Leading on from effective communication skills, when meeting with clients they may have several questions about the project which will require a technical expertise to answer. Project managers will be expected to handle any and all queries professionally and confidently so having a good grasp of your project and the technical knowledge surrounding it will be vital to assure clients.

All the above skills are vital for project managers but can also be applied to a wide range of roles. People who possess these skills can be very valuable so if you’re looking to increase your employability then investing your time into improving your skills in these areas can pay dividends in the end. There are a wide range of books on the subject which can help you, so if you’re looking for a new job or want to improve your CV then learning project management skills can be a great personal investment regardless of your occupation!

Featured images:

Amy Sawyer provides career advice and tips for jobseekers at Gatwick Diamond Jobs – a UK job board specialising in local jobs in South East England

Case Study, Project management CV, project management resume, Recruitment, The CV Righter

Case Study – Project Manager not securing interviews

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Last month I worked with a client who we shall call Matt, he is a Project Manager who implements bespoke software solutions. Working closely with clients Matt takes the project from scoping in conjunction with the account management team right through to business as usual. Matt was made redundant at the end of December and decided to take a few weeks break as he had been with the company for a Head in handsnumber of years and felt a short break with the comfort of his redundancy payout was well deserved. When Matt came to start applying for jobs (bearing in mind he had not been on the job market for a number of years), he found that his applications were going into a black hole – rarely receiving acknowledgement.

 

We talked through how he was applying for roles and he was covering all the usual approaches such as online applications, registering with agencies, making his CV searchable on all the large job websites and using his contacts for advice/referrals/insider information etc. I performed a review of Matt’s CV with him over the phone, pointing out the areas which weren’t adding value and also clarifying information, as it soon became clear that he was selling himself short with the information he was supplying.

At the end of the call, Matt told me he’d never had such a thorough review of his CV and that asking recruiters he was told it was OK. I pointed out that calling up already very busy recruiters for feedback might not be the best route as they are often just trying to get you off the phone so they can get on with filling roles. Also the recruiters might not have an in depth knowledge of Project Management and so wouldn’t really know where to start in teasing out the relevant information. At the end of the review, Matt explained he was very low on funds and couldn’t justify paying out for a professional CV writing service as his house was soon going to be at risk. I sensed his desperation and supplied him with some support documentation which together with his notes from the review would arm him to rewrite the CV himself. I offered to review the CV again once he had rewritten it and told him to spend some time over the weekend working on it.

On the following Monday I had another call from Matt who told me he needed to secure a job within 3 weeks and he had sat down to write his CV but was struggling to articulate himself, he decided to take the CV writing service and I promised to coach him in addition to sorting the CV. We worked together to create a fresh CV, performed a skills audit and worked through effective job application coaching.

At the start of the process, Matt was panicky and deflated – by the end (which we conducted an intense few sessions to quickly get him in a good position) he was reinvigorated and had a new found confidence in his abilities. Within hours of loading his CV online he had recruiters calling him and also started to receive call backs from the roles he applied direct to. Within a week he had 3 interviews secured, by week 2 he was on second interview stage with 2 companies and by week three he had an offer for a job he really wanted.

We did it!Matt called me to thank me and told me he was initially hesitant to engage because of his financial situation but now realised it was the best investment he had ever made towards his career.

Advice I always give to those who are between contracts or made redundant is to try job applications with your current CV and see what kind of response you get, but always set aside a budget for support services such as CV writing and don’t waste your money on services which do not understand where you are coming from. You may not need the assistance, but as Matt found out, sometimes you may just need that helping hand. The most common comment I receive from those who contact me is that they just need to get through the door of the interview and they know they will do fine, but actually getting their foot through the door is the issue.

Careers Advice, CV Writing, Project management CV, project management resume

Project Manager CV writing services

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Writing your CV doesn’t come naturally to a lot of people and Project Professionals particularly find it difficult to strike a balance between getting the project information versus the core competencies. This is understandable as there is often a great deal of detail you wish to include and in doing so, key criteria is missed out completely. Knowing what the hiring managers want to see has changed over the years and with the volume of job applications increasing for roles you are unlikely to be called in for an interview to discuss the missing parts when there are those who have clear and concise documents which do have the correct balance of information.

I was talking with a recent client who had previously had her CV professionally written and one of the bullet points stated Change Management – I probed what this involved in that role and she said she hadn’t actually done any CM in that role but had been advised to state it anyway. I pointed out that should she secure an interview with the CV that she would inevitably be asked to expand, as there was no detail and it is a point of interest for a Project Manager job. She became very concerned that her CV was not saying the right things and began to question the advice she had received from the service she had invested time, money and faith into. I have come across a number of CVs which have been professionally written, which either don’t make sense or are limited in content – the problem with not using a CV writing service which is specialist in your field. At the CV Righter we work with you to understand where your skill-set lies and help you achieve a CV which will draw attention for the right reasons, we look to add that extra information about your style and where you go above and beyond the role. Setting you apart from your competitors is crucial to getting you on that shortlist for interview.

Service your CV

Do not make assumptions about the reviewer of your CV – they can come from all sorts of backgrounds and may not necessarily understand Project Management, you need to be hitting the right keywords but also adding in context to make the information understandable to all.

Identifying a CV service which is right for you and your skill-set is important – just because it is cheap or very expensive, doesn’t mean you will be getting value for money. Ask for a review of your CV before engaging services and see what their understanding of your experience is, it is all well and good pointing out grammatical errors and formatting – but what will they do with the content and how will they work with you to achieve a good, strong, honest document which will harvest results?

 

Get in touch today to receive a free review of your CV and constructive advice on how to improve it.

Careers Advice, Networking, Project management career progression, Project Management Careers Advice, project management jobs, project management recruitment, project management resume

Hidden Project Management jobs – how to tap into them

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Only a small percentage of jobs are filled by recruiters, in fact the percentage doesn’t increase greatly with advertised roles either. The majority of roles filled are through other means – now I have always said that recruitment can be like a lottery, you need to be in the right place at the right time. However there are some things you can be doing to ensure you are likely to be in the right places and highlighted specifically for upcoming roles and roles which haven’t necessarily been identified.

  • The key to successNetworking – personal networking and social contacts are a valuable tool when you are looking to secure a new position, do keep in touch with your contacts regularly and not only when you want something! Update or create a LinkedIn profile and connect with your previous employers, colleagues, friends etc. Make sure you join groups and get involved in discussions, this keeps you at the forefront of people’s minds but also demonstrates your passion for your profession and you can easily gain new valuable contacts through this practice. Go to PM specific events, there are a fair few which are free to attend – go listen to seminars and network with delegates to strengthen your contacts list. Join in social networking discussions beyond LinkedIn – twitter has a regular gathering on a Friday afternoon under the hashtag #pmchat – the topic differs from week to week and it is a great opportunity to talk live about PM related subjects with other Project Professionals.
  • Create opportunities – if you are already in a contract or employed you can take the consultative approach and get involved with other project teams, understand what changes are afoot and identify how you could tap into these changes. Even talking to other PMs over coffee and hearing their challenges can unearth some interesting pieces of work you can take to Head of Projects etc.
  • Direct approach – I can almost hear your sigh at the thought of a speculative application, after all in the past you have done this and received the generic response of “keeping your details on file”, but there is a more effective way to approach businesses.
    • Create a list of companies you would like to work for and know have project management functions.
    • Research the companies, track them online – identify changes, look at anything which might generate jobs, from new product launches to mergers.
    • Identify Heads of Projects – a bit of searching online will soon generate some names and contact details.
    • Draw up a tailored cover letter, talk through the change you have identified and match up your experience to how you have delivered similar change in the past.
    • Tweak your CV to ensure it is relevant to the business and look at other employees’ profiles from that business to grasp an idea at what attracts the business to them.
    • Approach the contact, be assertive but not pushy and ask for a call or to meet for a coffee to discuss.

The direct approach is time consuming but, think about how your chances of securing a new role have increased significantly by demonstrating key skills such as being proactive, commercially astute, good researcher etc. you could also save them costly recruitment fees moving forward and avoid the long queue for a role which has later been adevertised.

Making Your CV Project You