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Project Management

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by landoflost 2 views

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I've been in IT Management for over 15 years and want to transition into IT Project Management. It seems the hundreds of successful IT & Telecom projects aren't good enough for the hiring managers. Most of my project were under $10M in scope - another "problem". How can I "break into" the project management world (I'm already working on my cert).

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by jamesrl

If you look at the criteria for PMP, you will see that their definition of a project manager is someone who has done all of the aspects of project managers - been heabily involved in leading not only the building aspect of projects, but the project initiation, requirements gathering, budgeting etc. In larger projects, those are often distinct and separate roles. If you don't have experience in all those roles, you may get some resistance from some, not all, hiring managers.

You may also look at the formality of your project management - many orgs want people experienced in formal project methodologies, not just those who work off the back of a napkin. Some software orgs want you to be able to build use cases in rational, others have a specific project model that needs to be complied with. SOX doesn't make this easier.

Have you tried asking these hiring managers what they were looking for? If they have already rejected you, whats the worst that can happen?

James

by jgarcia102066

Like James says at the end of his post, ask what they were looking for.

You can take any rejections to the next level by asking the hiring manager a variation of the following question:

I have researched your company and know that it's the place where I want to work. So, if this position was open say in 6 months, what skills and experience would I need to acquire in that timeframe to be a strong candidate for this position?

You asked the question, now you sit back, listen and ask additional questions when appropriate. Thank the hiring manager for their input and then find ways to demonstrate to future hiring managers that you already have the right skills based on your experience/knowledge. If you find that you can't, find ways to get the experience/knowledge.

The most important information you can come away with when not hired is to know why you weren't hired. This gives you things to work on or fix.

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