Should I Pursue A Career As A Project Manager?

iStockphoto.com | gorodenkoff

What, exactly, is a Project Manager? It’s a professional who manages a project!

Projects and programs are such integral features of normal business operations that project managers are frequently in high demand across many professional disciplines, both in-house and on a freelance basis.

If you’ve ever been responsible for an initiative from beginning to end, you already have project management experience, but maybe not under the official job title of Project Manager. If you want to assume that title with all its representations and required skills, step one is to mine your work history for projects you led or in which you participated and revise your resume to highlight them. You may consider searching for opportunities to assist current certified Project Managers to get a true foothold in that career path. Note the word “certified”. If you want a Project Management job you will compete with certified Project Management Professionals (PMP).

The Project Management Institute (PMI) has been cranking out PMPs for 50 years. The non-profit association provides a common language and globally recognized framework for its three million worldwide members, 100 million of whom are the “global gold standard” PMPs. A PMP certification requires a minimum of:

1.    A four-year degree / high school degree.

2.    36 months leading projects / 60 months leading projects.

3.    35 “contact” hours of project management education, specifically completion of the PMI’s PMP PrepCast is 40 lessons spread over 180 videos with topics like, “Aligning Projects with Organizational Strategy”.

4.    Reading and utilizing the 750-page PMBOK Guide & Standards.

5.    Passing a 200 question, multiple choice final exam.

6.    After earning the PMP, periodic credential renewal requiring continuing education.

While having a PMP certification as a project manager is absolutely helpful – it demonstrates discipline and achievement in your field – not every employer or project management role demands it. That said, it can certainly help provide a leg up in a competitive job market. And according to the PMI, certified PMPs earn up to 25% more than non-certified project management professionals.

Here are some pros and cons of careers as a project manager (PM):

Pros 

• PM are in high demand across all fields. Wherever there is business there are projects and project managers. The demand is always there.

• PMs are responsible for critical initiatives. The work has a direct impact on the company’s success.

• Due to the nature of the profession, project managers touch a wide range of areas of knowledge and specialization. A PM’s professional development and ever-expanding toolbox is built into the job.

• Through the course of working for different companies on a constant rotation of varying projects, PMs are exposed to new career opportunities while simultaneously learning the skills to qualify for them.

• The compensation can be quite competitive. According to PayScale, project managers earn a range of $49K - $113K per year, with an average of $74,420.

Cons

• Project managers have responsibility without authority. While the PM may be steering the ship, he or she does not get to chart the course. If that course is into an iceberg, the PM’s job is to flawlessly steer the ship into the iceberg on time and on budget as specified in the project  charter. It’s about convincing everyone that’s the correct course, and keeping them on track.

• The PM operates outside of normal structures that can be likened to an envoy sent to the Middle East to broker peace. The PM must be an expert leader, moderator, negotiator, diplomat, and influencer without having any direct power over the participants or way to enforce agreements. A steady temperament is required.

• The PM is most often responsible for executing other people’s ideas. The company has not hired you to solve your own problems; usually, the company has hired you to execute something that has already been decided. In this way, the PM is restricted to his or her marching orders.

• Get out the antacids. As a Project Manager, you are responsible for success and failure. If you’re an outside hire, you’re also the eternal scapegoat. This is a high-pressure job. If you do not thrive under those conditions, you may not enjoy it.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

In The Job Market? Here's Ten Things You Should Know About Resumes

iStockphoto.com | Olivier Le Moal

The resume is a marketing brochure – and you are the product. You need a powerful dynamic resume that stands out to sell your skills, experience, and the value you will bring to your next employer. Easy, right? Here are ten things you should know about your resume that can help boost your chances in the job search.

1. Modernize your resume. Your resume has two destinations – recruiters/hiring Managers and Applicant Tracking Systems (also known as an ATS, the system an employer uses to collect resumes) and you must tailor your resume for both audiences. Overall, this means a good-looking resume, in the proper format, that is highly readable, and loaded with keywords that will act as guides through the filters and algorithms the ATSs use to filter compare your qualifications to the job description.

2. Fifteen seconds. Ask a recruiter, and chances are they’ll tell you that’s the average amount of time it takes them to decide whether your resume goes up the ladder. It’s not fair, but that is the reality.

3. Two pages. With special exceptions for academics and scientists, it’s best if a resume does not exceed two pages for reasons of brevity and readability. In the case of an experienced professional, two pages is appropriate. For a recent graduate or someone in the infancy of his or her career (three years of work or less), one page should be sufficient.

4.  Use Microsoft Word. Yes, there are other applications that do the “same” thing (Apple Pages, Google Docs, etc.) but most Recruiters/Hiring Managers use MS Word and, in many cases the ATS is calibrated to Word since the majority of employers use the software. A resume built in MS Word maximizes the chances that when your recipient opens your resume file, or the information in it is uploaded to an ATS, it will look and read the way you intended.

5.  Use Universal Fonts. Do not get creative with fonts. Using universal fonts is best practice for written resumes, digital files, and uploads. Everyone has an opinion, but there are some standard fonts that are recommended, such as Arial, Calibri, Cambria, and Times New Roman. Almost every employer has these fonts on their computer, they’re professional, and the Applicant Tracking Systems expect them and can process them. It’s best to avoid Comic Sans and obscure fonts on the resume.

6.  Stick with one column. Do not use multiple columns or text boxes. Text formatted using these looks nice, but the ATS might just pass the text over. Tables should be used very sparingly. Tabs are your best friend.

7. One size does not fit all. Each job is different so each resume should be too. Take the time to edit your resume to align it with the job requirements of the position to which you are applying. Changes do not need to be drastic, just strategic. Punch your existing skills/experience/accomplishments that are the most closely associated with your target. Recruiters and hiring managers will most likely notice you took the time to do that.

8.  Do not use a photo. In the United States and many other regions, your resume should not have your photo. Your photo takes the focus off your skills and achievements and redirects it toward your appearance. And it’s just not standard.

9. Dump the old stuff. Your resume should be up to date and relevant. Do not go further back than ten years unless there’s a really compelling reason to do so. If you are a recent graduate, you can dump your graduation date after two years. As far as the content, unless it’s completely relevant to your job search, dump it.

10. Accomplishments sell. Job duties are required reading but aren’t exciting to a hiring manager. Your resume should not read like it was cut and pasted from a generic job listing. Your specific accomplishments speak to the value you could potentially bring to a position and offer you the opportunity to highlight your best work.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercareerstrategies.com.

The Essential Job Search Checklist

iStockphoto.com | Ralf Geithe

Here is a Job Search Checklist we hope will help make your job search easy this summer, especially when the intoxicating sunny weather and cold drinks are too much to resist.

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing this month, think of your job search as a multi staged space flight, and during each stage you have a checklist that gets you to the next stage – from Pre-Flight to Splash Down in the ocean, and for our purposes let’s say that ocean is the Caribbean.

Stage 1: Pre-Flight

1.     File for unemployment (if applicable).

2.     Update your resume.

3.     Update your LinkedIn and/or other professional networking profile(s), especially your photo.

4.     Develop your professional story. Write it down. You will need it for your Cover Letters and interviews.

5.     Upload your new resume on as many Job Boards as possible (Monster, Indeed, Glass Door, LinkedIn, and CareerBuilder) and create job alerts.

Stage 2: Launch (Applying)

1.     When you discover a job opening, carefully study its responsibilities and requirements and match it to your qualifications.

2.     Write a Cover Letter. Use the professional story you’ve already written, then tailor the rest to the specific company and opening.

3.     Apply. Make your resume as Automatic Tracking System (ATS) friendly as possible, and, “no”, there isn’t any way around the laborious online application processes.

4.     Reach out to people in your professional network for help, opportunities, referrals, and/or references.

5.     Have professional interview clothes ready to go.

Stage 3: Interviewing

1.     Show up on time, professionally dressed.

2.     Bring multiple copies of your Cover Letter and Resume.

3.     Have an Elevator Pitch ready and rehearsed for the classic interview opener, “Tell us something about yourself.”

4.     Have a list of well-researched questions to ask the interviewers.

5.     Post-interview, send hand written thank you notes to each of the people involved in interviewing you.

Stage 4: Re-Entry

1.     You have a job offer! Congratulations! Refer to this list of Champagnes for appropriate action.

2.     Research the fair market value for the job position that you are being offered.

3.     Negotiate your compensation package.

4.     Thoroughly review any employment contract and, when happy, sign it.

5.     Review and update your Career Plan, as necessary.

Stage 5: Splash Down

1.     Start your new job.

2.     Update your LinkedIn and/or other professional networking profile(s).

3.     Create an Individual Development Plan, either through your new company or on your own.

4.     Take advantage of any ongoing education, training, or certifications offered through your new company, or consider investing in updating key skills related to your field on your own.

5.     Maintain ongoing communications with people in your professional network, and develop the new connections you make in your new position.

Easy, right?

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercareerstrategies.com.