6 ways to get hired as a new Project Management Professional

6 ways to get hired as a new Project Management Professional

Becoming a Certified Project Management Professional(PMP) is not a walk in the park. Certainly you will want to use this prestigious global certificate of yours to your advantage as a professional. This certification increases your earnings the average salary for project management professionals in the USA is $101,505, according to the PMI Project Management Salary Survey-Fourth Edition. Managers who hold the PMP certification also often make more money than non-certified project managers.

Here are 6 ways to get hired as a new Project Management Professional

1. Build Professional Confidence: Don't wear your heart on your heart on your sleeves.Be confident in your ability-really nobody knows it all even your interviewers.Don’t be afraid to take on risks as that is what Project Managing is about and if you don’t know something, don’t be afraid to admit it.Never sound arrogant during interview sessions.

2.Resume Checklist:Have you done your research about the Organization you're applying to. Is your resume customized to satisfy the interviewer?Are their typos on your resume?You need to correct these before sending them out.
Basic Project Management Knowledge sought for from recruiters includes

• Understanding of project management framework such as PMBOK
• Understanding trade-offs between time, cost, quality and scope.
• Ability to produce and review business cases.
• Sound knowledge of project planning.
• Good knowledge of risk and issue management.
• Good knowledge of change management techniques.
• Ability to establish quality management systems.
• Ability to manage resources.
• Sound knowledge of budgeting and cost control.
• Proficient in documentation Skills
• Proficient in communication skills

Rework your resume with some of these core skills if you have them flaunt them.This would enable your resume cross the hurdles of selection criteria especially if they are using recruitment software.

Presentation matters,have a cover letter introducing yourself accompanying your resume.

3.Be Valuable: Getting job ready implies you must have value you are bringing to the table(Office table I mean).Are you aware of Project Management Industry trends,terminology,language?

If you don't have sufficient practical knowledge read lots from good Project Management books,Groups on Linkedin of practicing Project Management Professionals,Do Google searches for confusing stuff,Blogs such as www.ritetracpm.blogspot.com, experiment with a Project Management software such as wrike.com to see how to manage simple tasks and coordinate teams.
Volunteer on projects and use the lessons learnt as part of what you know in your resume.

4. Become a mentee: Getting needed help from a mentor and a business coach to find your path and get unstuck. Finding a mentor to guide you in your early stages at this career wll help a lot find out if online mentoring offered by Ritetrac Consulting would be a good match for your needs.Learn more here http://slidesha.re/100PpXi

4.Networking: Sell your value to your network using social media(www.Linkedin.com especially)make sure your profile is complete and represents you,attending Industry Seminars and Webinars also helps.Move around while at physical events with a business card and your basic information plus your linkedin address.

5.Visit Job Boards: In Nigeria use www.jobberman.com etc in the diaspora use Monster.com , http://www.projectmanagerjobs.co.uk etc Also sowing a seed by word of mouth to people you meet in church,saloon,barber, dry-cleaners,at Organizations where projects are handled can help with your search.
A word of caution-don't submit your resume randomly.Be sure you are a match for the job described.


To your success!

You can make your comments and add more ways if your experience was different.