Category Archives: PMO

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

CV Tips, CV Writing, PMO, Project Management

CV format

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As it is Friday and the sun has blessed us all week I wanted to share a few insights into CV formatting from a recruiter’s perspective with our Friday snippet.

Here are a few things to consider when creating a CV:

1. Make sure you format your CV properly, using different fonts and inconsistent spacing, not to mention bullets that do not align throughout the document says a great deal about your MS Word skills. I have lost count of the CVs I’ve reviewed in a recruiter capacity which state advanced user of MS Word – and this is clearly not demonstrated. smiley

2. Placing a photo of yourself on your CV may be the recognised format across the EU, it isn’t popular in the UK especially if you are using a holiday snap or one from a wedding – it’s quite endearing I know but honestly, do you expect to be taken seriously? Why not have a pic on your Linkedin account and a link to your profile on your CV.

3. Using tables may make formatting easier for the document but please do remember that a great deal of software used by recruiters cannot read such formatting therefore you could lose a great deal of information in the system and thus not have your CV viewed as your keywords are not searchable in their databases. This also goes for a good deal of the online job boards, I have come across one major well known job board which loses all formatting of CVs and sends block text in an email for job applications. If you have the opportunity to send a MS Word attachment – do so.

4. Font style should be kept to something readable – back in the day, Times New Roman was the font of choice, however this is dated and with much reader friendly fonts such as Verdana and Tahoma available – use them. Avoid creating a rainbow on your CV utilising different colours, black is fine – remember this is a professional document, you want it to stand out for the right reasons and colours tend to detract away from the content.

Make sure you regularly check over your CV and ask someone else to do so for you – working on your own document over and over can start to restrict your objective observations.

Have a fantastic weekend and keep checking in to our blog for tips and advice in creating that all important CV.

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CV Tips, CV Writing, PMO, Project Management

Skills based CV versus Chronological CV – which is most effective?

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Having read thousands of CVs in my recruitment days and interviewed hundreds or candidates it became abundantly clear that the answer to the above question is the chronological format is most effective within the Project Management domain – why? Because employers need to understand where and when the skills have been used, simply listing core competencies does not give the reader any context. Also some skills may not have been used for 5 or 10 years, the hiring manager may require recent exercise of a particular skill as this plays a major part of that project. By listing expertise in skills based CVs you may be fortunate enough to reach interview but will be asked questions about those skills in the interview and be rejected against another candidate who does have recent relevant experience. Bear in mind when applying for a role you could be up against a large number of applicants, if there are candidates contextualising their skills on their CVs it is likely your CV will be discarded for those “ticking the boxes” for the recruiter / hiring managers role requirements list.

In a chronological CV each role should have a good level of detail which clearly states the key skills required for that role, every project is delivered differently and due to size and complexity a pragmatic approach to which aspects of formal methods used is key to successful delivery. There’s no point over complicating a fairly straight forward project, this only ties up the project manager or the support team in unnecessary “paperwork”. Do not assume the reader has worked in your organisation or on similar projects – if the CV isn’t clear, it does not get short listed.

Writing a skills based CV may seem like the easy option, it is. Being able to provide a list of bullet points or statements at the top of the CV which covers your entire career in project management would seem to make sense but it detracts away from the subtleties of each role and makes it difficult to actually “paint a picture” of you, the types of projects you have delivered and your style of execution.

Your CV is your personal marketing document – your customers are the recruiters and more importantly the hiring managers. What sells a product to you? For me it has to be a straight forward piece of information which says what it can do, how it works and how up to date it is in key areas of interest for me. Now take that formula and add to it the key requirement for any project management role which is exceptional attention to detail and written communication – think about all the reporting, MI etc.

The CV Righter is a dedicated Project Management CV writing service aimed at righting the CVs of project professionals who could use some insider perspective from PM recruitment specialism and having worked in PM previously. For more information visit: www.thecvrighter.co.uk