Careers Advice, IT Project Management, Project Management, Project Management Software, Recruitment, Starting out in Project Management

Sales Manager with Project Management Skills, help? Q&A

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Hi Nicola, I have a long career of software sales experience and I am looking to make my next career move. My question is that I have a great deal of project management experience having delivered a number of software implementations to clients but I am always seen as “just a sales manager” – is there any advice you can give me on how I can be taken seriously as a Project Manager. Simon; Key Account Manager, West Midlands.

 

Hi Simon, many thanks for getting in touch – what a great question! I can see from your CV that you talk a great deal about the sales you have made and your track record is impressive. You place a lot of focus on the sales aspect which I suspect is why you are not being taken seriously for the roles which lean more towards the PM skill set. One piece of advice I will offer is that you need to be sure that your desire to focus on the PM aspect is realistic – at the end of the day there is a great deal of competition for PM roles out there and you will come up against out and out Project Managers. Should you reach interview with such stiff competition you will need a convincing reason why you wish to transition. However there are a lot of Software Project Manager roles available and most of them are strongly focussed on presales, these types of roles tend to require a good sales person to interface between the client and the development team and will do similar project management to your background – delivering integration of the product.

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Therefore I would suggest you balance your CV with information which demonstrates your strong sales track record but also talks through how you deliver projects, think about the project lifecycle and address the various aspects. Add in details on teams, stakeholders, budgets, project details and change management – let the reviewer of the CV really understand what your current and previous roles involved. Place some emphasis on key achievements which really talk about how you add value – this can be dealing with tricky customers, overcoming change and identifying/remedying bottle necks. You will put yourself in a strong position against the perceived strong competition as you have three or more core areas of competence versus the straight forward PM. I have always believed you need to have some good sales skills to be successful in Project Management, dealing with such a mixed bag of stakeholders and gaining buy-in, to be able to combine with a structured approach to managing projects you are in a strong position if you market yourself well.

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APMG International Showcase 2013

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APMG International Showcase 2013

 

APMG International Showcase has come around again and will take place on Thursday 20th June at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster. This conference is one of my favourites – apart from being set in a lovely location, it offers a wide programme of presentations from practicing project professionals and a few trainers / recruiters thrown into the mix. There are birds of a feather sessions which are great for those wanting to be more interactive in the sessions. It is a great networking opportunity boasting a delegate list of most senior PM professionals you can think of under the PM umbrella and a general mix of interested parties.

This can be a fab opportunity for you to meet some like minded people, introduce yourself to PM related recruiters, see what is new in the software world and gain some valuable knowledge through the sessions… Not to be missed!

 

Register here.

guest blogger, Interviews, Recruitment

3 Things You Shouldn’t Forget Saying During A Job Interview

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We bet you dream of building a really good and successful career. But every career starts with a successful job interview, doesn’t it? Your main task is to make a good impression on a job interviewer and make him understand that you differ much from other candidates (in a good way of course). It’s clear that there are many cliches a majority of candidates use to attract the attention and make an impression, but interviewers know them perfectly already, so, they rarely work today. It’s high time for something different!

InterviewsDo you want them to hire you? There is no need to use assignment help for that: just remember these 3 things to say during an interview to make an impression of a potential employee they actually need.

Ask them questions

Certainly, they will ask you many questions, and you will have to answer all of them. But remember, that your job interview is not a grilling: you have the right to ask questions too! Moreover, you should do that in order to show your interest towards this job and the company itself.

But our tip here will be the following: forget about all those cliché questions every interviewer heard a thousand of times already. Your task here is to attract the attention and differ from other candidates, so, your questions should be as original as they can be. For example, you many ask an interviewer about what he personally likes about the company he works at. Quite unexpected though logical, isn’t it? Or ask about what they expect from you within the first month of your job there.

What will be your value to their company?

It’s clear that a company that hires you wants to earn money. Your task is to show them how you can bring this money to them. Just try to demonstrate what your skills and knowledge can be used to achieve and bring the results they want to see. Do you have any ideas how to improve their business? Do you know how to make a company better? What new will you be able to bring them if they hire you? Just answer all these questions to an interviewer before he asks about that. It will prove the fact you totally understand what they need you for, and you know how to give it.

Your examples

While telling an interviewer about your skills, knowledge and achievements, don’t forget to support your answers with good examples. They will prove the fact that you are a person of a word, and you don’t just try to make an impression by telling about something you didn’t actually do.

Show an interviewer that you perfectly understand a job you will do in case you are hired, and you know all the requirements needed for this job. But anyway, don’t try to impress by knowing everything! Remember, that no one likes people who just boast, so, avoid long monologues about what a unique and perfect candidate you are.

The article submitted by , a pro copywriter and blogging enthusiast, who is always ready to help you with writing on different topics.

Careers Advice, PMO, Project Management, Project Management Careers Advice, Starting out in Project Management

Project Management versus Project Support careers

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An interesting question came about from a client I was coaching the other week, he has gained some really good experience in project support and is looking to progress into the delivery aspect of PM. When I asked him what he enjoyed most about his career so far he became very animated and passionate about the work he had put in to creating financial monitoring and resource management tools. It quickly became apparent that he has a clear skill-set much sought after within PMO environments and his knowledge of promoting best practice through traditional means such as workshops and one to one coaching he also took more innovative approaches which met the constraints of the business managers and project managers. When we discussed his desire to change over to delivery from support he said it is because he wishes to progress his career, I pointed out that there is a career path within the project support element and that salaries are certainly commensurate to delivery staff once you move up the ladder. He said he felt that the general consensus is that delivery staff command more respect – naturally I had to push back on this as PMOs have evolved significantly over the past few years and that organisations are quite rightly using them as an interface between the business and the project delivery staff. Not nearly the “admin pool” it was once perceived as, maybe looking into businesses which value the support element as much as (if not more) than the project management functions are certainly the right route to take if you are looking to gain some gritty and challenging experience and forge a career.

Career crossroadOf course if you have always had it in your mindset that you want to be a project manager then you should follow this course but I would recommend working more closely with the project managers in roles such as Project Assistant, Project Coordinator, Junior PM etc where you are more likely to gain some exposure and experience in delivering the projects. The PMO is generally there to support as opposed to deliver, although I have seen some PMOs evolving to incorporate both.

Some are not cut out for delivery, the pressures in both environments are high but the delivery does have the “buck stops here” element so not for the feint hearted.

Making Your CV Project You