Category Archives: Project Management

Careers Advice, CV Tips, News, PMO, Project Management

Are you using LinkedIn to its full potential?

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LinkedIn is a fantastic, free, self marketing business tool. Originally created as a business networking site, it has evolved over the years to become a powerful tool in the recruitment world. As such the pressure is on to ensure you are utilising the tool effectively as employers are checking your profile not only for potential employment but for current employees to understand how you are networking. Networking has long been a fantastic way to enhance your special interest groups but has also become an integral part of successful business in a risk averse world – the old saying, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” really does stand.
So what can you do to ensure your profile is saying all the right things?

  • Make sure you state your current and previous employers / job titles / dates, as a bare minimum.
  • Try to add some detail to each role, treat the profile as a CV but don’t just copy and paste your CV into your profile. Think about adding something different / extra – chances are, those reading your profile have also seen your CV.
  • Get some recommendations from current and previous employers – also clients and colleagues can be great, they all operate similar to references and give a reassurance about you in a working capacity.
  • Write a good profile, think about what you want the reader to gain from this and what your intentions are moving forward – don’t state you are looking for new work if you haven’t discussed with your current employer.
  • Keywords are as important in your LinkedIn profile as they are in your CV – they will help you rise up the searches towards the top of the list.
  • Connect to all your former colleagues, friends and associates. Grow your network; try to avoid randomly sending invites to connect to those you do not know. If there is a particular reason you wish to connect to someone, write them a message explaining why. Etiquette on this site is not to treat it like Facebook, sending out lots of requests to get as many connections as possible. You should know your connections or at least explain and show willing that you will get to know them.
  • Join groups and get involved in discussions – there’s just about every type of group now available on the site, join some of particular interest and add to the discussions. Some ask advice or generally want opinions. By joining in, you can quickly gain a reputation for expertise in a particular field. PMO and Project Management groups are very active on the site.
  • Don’t just use it when you need something – time and time again I have seen connections be dormant on the site for months and even years then suddenly, they are in touch asking for work. Again this is not good etiquette – touching base every now and then is the best course of action as it keeps you fresh in people’s minds but also won’t seem quite so bad if you do need assistance with getting a new role.

As with anything written about you, ensure you have someone proof read it and let you know if anything doesn’t make sense. It’s usually best to have someone who doesn’t work at your business do this for you as you need to avoid internal terminology and someone who knows the projects. An outsider perspective is ideal, a partner or best friend is ideal. They don’t generally know what we do at work beyond office gossip and job titles – if it makes sense to them, you’re onto a winner.

The CV Righter can assist with creating and writing content for business networking websites, for a free review of your current profile or CV get in touch: www.thecvrighter.co.uk

Careers Advice, News, PMO, Project Management, Sector Advice

A shift in strategy for top police job, is this a sign of change in attitudes?

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Friday’s news made an interesting read; “Tom Winsor ‘best candidate’ for police watchdog role” was the headline on the BBC news website. Interesting because what has traditionally been seen as a role for a police individual has been opened up to a civilian, the first time since the role was established. Winsor, a commercial lawyer has been handpicked by a committee and backed by the home office to take the role.

Could this be the start of a shift in the job market? Particularly for project management staff, who in recent years have struggled to shift into any role other than the sector or industry and project type they have experience in? PMO professionals have had an easier ride in transitioning into other industries but purely due to a lack of experienced individuals in the field during a time where employees in secure roles are less willing to move roles due to uncertainty in the market. PMO staff can be recycled within the organisation and set up to support the next programme of work whilst project managers (particularly those with a niche specialism) are more likely to be moved on or kept but to work on projects which do not “light their fire” hence more project managers actively searching for roles, meaning more competition which has lead on to hiring managers (in a risk averse state) picking candidates most closely matched to the organisation.

Adapting to change

I have often felt that businesses are missing a trick when it comes to bringing new employees onboard, surely someone who has a breadth of experience and skills in the field of PPM but less exposure to the “product” will be asking questions often overlooked by teams who are too familiar with it? Also it has often been seen that organisations adopt different ways of working across sectors – could elements of this be introduced into a different industry? It all comes down to perspective, strategy; and no doubt – fear of change.

So reading that Winsor is a prime candidate for the role filled me with a sense of hope for everyone looking to make changes moving forward. And a lesson to be learned here is that Winsor took on a piece of work to analyse police pay – the review left him unpopular with people within the force however he gained a great deal of exposure to how the force is operated. This insight and his ability to address key areas of change without fear of losing popularity coupled with a different perspective, the home office feel, has placed him in pole position for the job. Take opportunities to look into different areas and fields – it may well be your passport out of your current industry into a great new challenge.

The CV Righter is a professional CV writing service which was formed to assist all those in project management – having a background in managing projects and implementing PMO processes followed by 5 years experience in recruiting project management staff from support roles through to programme directors across all industries and sectors means we have a good insight into what the employer expects to see on your CV. If you would like to learn more about how we can assist you, get in touch: https://www.thecvrighter.co.uk/

 

CV Tips, CV Writing, News, PMO, Project Management

Details you should leave out of your CV – Friday snippet

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Your CV is your marketing tool to that next role and as such needs to contain a good deal of information about you and your career experience – but are you giving too much away? I have addressed the necessity to leave out information such as date of birth due to identity fraud previously. But there are other pieces of information you should also ensure you are not putting in your CV such as:

  1. References – most employers want to perform a reference check, however, this should only really be performed once you have begun the interview process and in an ideal world once you have been offered the role. By providing the contact details and names of your referees on your CV you are leaving yourself open to hiring managers contacting your current employer (who may or may not know you are looking to move on) and also leaving your referees open to unsolicited calls from recruiters who are looking for their next lead. Not only are you assisting unprofessional and unscrupulous recruiters in potentially gaining new work, you are also allowing your referees to be pestered. Not ideal when you are wanting them to provide a good reference for you later on down the line. It is perfectly acceptable to state; “references available on request” on your CV – it also frees up space on your CV for you to add more detail about yourself.
  2. Have you ever checked the properties of your document? If you have utilised a CV template or had a professional CV writer work on your CV then it may well have their name in the properties. I have also seen company names in the properties which may not be creating the right impression if you have been updating your CV in your current workplace – a potential employer may not be too impressed to see how you spend your working day looking for another role and utilising their licences, time etc. to do so.

When putting together your CV you should treat it with as much care as you would a report for senior management – after all, at some point it is exactly that level who will be reading your CV. Take care and time to ensure you get it right the first time as first impressions last.

For advice on creating a professional CV get in touch: www.thecvrighter.co.uk

Careers Advice, CV Tips, Project Management

What sets you apart from others – food for thought on your CV

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Time and time again applications are made for project management roles and are either rejected or a lucky few make it through to interview shortlist but candidates are “pipped at the post” by the competition. Competition is exactly what recruitment is all about so in this blog post I want to delve into a common reason why some candidates appear to walk seamlessly into that next role while other good candidates are left on the bench.

I have addressed a number of key areas to be considered when creating your CV in my previous blog posts – this piece of information is taking that well written CV to the next level.

So, what actually does set you apart from others? Only you know this, have a think about what you do beyond what you are actually paid to do. Going the extra mile is a sure way of adding to your skill set and getting noticed for the right reasons, it also adds value to your marketability. In a time where employers’ resources are limited it is crucial to demonstrate how you can really enhance the team and the business with that extra set of skills and your willingness to do so. In smaller organisations it is common place for employees to not only perform their own role but to also get involved in other aspects of the business, such as implementing structure, business development and training personnel. In larger organisations employees tend to be kept within the structure of the business to manage their own workload however you can look at various aspects of your departments – identifying bottlenecks and working with departments such as IT to create more efficient tools for delivery.

Embrace the opportunities and think about the bigger picture – what skills will you gain or develop from being more actively involved in the business and how can you add this experience to your CV. Remember that other candidate that pipped you to the post may have a very similar delivery skill set but have also been involved in marketing campaigns which is something the potential employer is looking to embrace moving forward- therefore that other candidate got the job (possibly with an even more attractive package offering).

Do not deflect too far away from your core experience and skills in your CV but adding elements of additional aptitude will certainly add to your attractiveness with potential employers.

For a free CV review and discussion about how to best market yourself in your CV – get in touch: www.thecvrighter.co.uk