PMOs play an integral role in most organisations which have a number projects and programmes being delivered across the business. There are many types of PMO such a Programme Offices, Project Offices, Centre of Excellence and Portfolio Offices. Taking this into consideration and the subtleties within each, it can make for a much more interesting CV which can really pique the interest of recruiters and employers and demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the field.

When putting together a CV we need to address some of the key criteria for a PMO professional:

Type of PMO:

• Supportive: Providing on-demand expertise, templates, best practice, access to information etc.
• Controlling: An environment where tighter regulation is required so there is usually the use of specific methods, templates, governance and forms etc with the likelihood of regular reviews by the PMO.
• Directive PMO: Taking a step further than the controlling PMO and actually taking over projects by the provision of PM experience and resources to manage the projects.

Size of PMO

• Stand alone (1 person)
• Team PMO (>1person)

• Types of programmes / projects being supported?

• How many programme / project managers feed into the PMO?

Once we have established the type of PMO and talked through the volume and types of projects and programmes, it is time to address what your involvement is. Firstly is the PMO something you have set up or reengineered or already in place? Then we want to know your role, are you managing it, an analyst, coordinator, consultant etc. Then run through the core competencies involved – what do you do on a daily basis? From this you will also be able to pull out some key achievements such as impact on project capability.

The PMO as you know is all about communication and how you apply that to the task in hand, there are many elements that go into this and all organisations are different. Some organisations employ business managers to manage projects and these types of PMs generally require a great deal of hand holding, think about coaching, training, workshops etc which you may have facilitated. Include this information into your CV along with the above to give the reviewer a holistic view of the role and what it actually means within your business.