Creating great resumes from failed projects
- 1. Creating Great Resumes From Failed Projects Whenthe story of your failed$39 millionERPimplementationforKingCountyshowsuponthe front page of the Seattle Times,itputsyouat a distinctdisadvantage once youare readytolookfor a new job.ERP boondogglesare oftenpriceyventureswithhighlyvisualimpactstothe organization.Reporters and bloggerswill quicklycall attentiontoeverydetailof the resultingmess.Often,good,hardworking teammemberswiththe talenttosucceedfindthemselves seekingtheirnextjobunderacloudof projectfailure. IT projectsare consideredafailure,whentheyare cancelled,abandoned,implementedpoorly,ordon’t deliverwhatthe businesstrulyneeds.The mere actof deployingtechnologydoesnotmeritaddingthe projectas an accomplishmentonyourresume.Unlessthe technologyprovidedfunctionalityand capabilitiesthatthe businesswantsanduses,thenit’safailedendeavor.It’snotvaluabletothe businessuntil itenablesenduserstoworksmarter,faster,andmore productivelythantheywere previously.See more atITResumeService.com. IT projectsfail forany numberof reasons — poor sponsorship,unclearorunrealisticprojectobjectives, impossible deadlines,unskilledprojectmanagers,poorprojectmanagement,andmanymore.The occurrence of failedprojectsishigh.Statisticsvarywidelydependinguponhow failure isdefinedand data iscollected.Whetheryoufocusonthe highsor the lowsamongthese numbers,the problemis significant.The followingstatisticswere reportedfromaDynamicMarketssurvey¹: • 88% of projectsrunoverschedule,overbudget,orboth • 45 percenthave higherthanexpectedmaintenance costs • 40 percentfail todeliverthe expectedbusinessvalue andROI • 46% are completedandoperational,butwithfewerfeaturesandfunctionsthaninitiallyspecified It isespeciallychallengingwhenafailedprojectiswidelypublicized.If youattempttoleave afailed projectthat dominated3-4yearsof yourcareer,it createsa large gap inyour resume.Youcouldtry to leave itoff andfocus onotherprojectsinwhichyou were involvedduringthatsame time period,but yourisk notleavingthe readerwithagood impressionif the informationistoosparse.Irecommend an alternative thatismuchmore effective—searchoutyourachievementsfromwithinthe entire project and include those successesonyourresume.Let’sexamine how thisapproachworks. If your projectdeliveredevenone milestone,thenyoucouldinclude thatachievementonyourresume. Thinkaboutthe projectphasesfroma projectmanager’sperspective— Initiating,Planning&Design, Executing,Monitoring&Controlling,andClosing—the onesthatwere completedandthe contributions youmade to each. You obviouslycan’tinclude anythingfromthe “Closing”phase becausethisphase requiresprojectacceptance.
- 2. Initiating: 1. Say, forexample,thatyouestablishedaProgramManagementOffice (PMO) tosupportalarge ERP implementationbecause sufficientpoliciesandproceduresweren’tinplace.Youworkedwithsenior managementtodefine howthe programwouldbe governed,the rolesandresponsibilitiesof the team, and howyouwouldworkwiththe steeringcommitteetokeepthe linesof communicationopen. 2. You designedanddevelopedaprototype thatwaspresentedtoseniormanagement.Yougot approval andfinancingsothat the projectcouldmove forward. 3. You createda projectcharter,includingcosts,tasks,deliverables,anda schedule. Planning& Design: 1. You facilitatedrequirementsgatheringsessionswithenduserstodefinetheirspecificneedsand thendevelopedthe specificationsthatwere giventothe developmentteam. 2. You reviewedthe productdesigntomake sure itcompliedwithengineeringprinciples,company standards,customercontract requirements,andrelatedspecifications. 3. You developedtop-level anddetailedsystemdrawingsandspecifications,includingpreparingthe systemlayoutandschematicsandconductingreviewsof the detaildesigns. 4. You identifieddeliverablesandcreatedthe workbreakdownstructure. Executing: 1. You implementedatransactionbackupbetweenthe primarydataserverandanotherserver,with sufficientstorage tohandle dataredundancyissues. 2. You deployedaself-contained,demonstrationplatformforanMDM software solutionthatrequired a combinationof Linux andWindowsserverstobe networkedtogether. 3. You ledan architectural projecttoimplementthe Departmentof Education’sdirectlendingcontract aftera governmenttakeoverof the studentloanprogram. Monitoring& Controlling: 1. You testedthe newfunctionalitiesonaPeopleSoftERPportal tofacilitate the dataexchange betweenthe ERPcomponentsystems,such asHR, studentadministration,andfinance. 2. You identifiedaproblemandtookcorrective actionstoaddressthe issuesandrisksproperly. 3. You providedfeedback. 4. You managedthe change managementprocesstodocumentanychangesthat modifiedthe tangible portionsof the finishedwork.
- 3. Closing: 1. Were youinvolvedindealingwithacontractclosure thathad a paymentdispute? 2. Did youcreate a “lessonslearned”reportbasedonwhythe projectfailed? A similarapproachworkswhenyou’re inamore technical,non-managementrole.Assume thatyou were a developeronacancelledproject.Youcouldtake a lookat the classicwaterfall phasesfor developmentprojects — planning,analysis,design,construction,anddeployment.Atwhichphase was the projectcancelled?Whatdeliverableswere producedinthe pre-cancellationphases?Whatrole did youplayin producingeachof those deliverables?Answeringthese questions,allow youtodescribe your contributionsandthe experience yougained,helpingyourresume tell the rightstoryregardlessof the currentstate of the project. Summary Notall achievementscanbe statedinyourresume asif theyinclude finaldeliverytothe customeror businessusers.Manydeliverablesfromvariousphasesof the projectcanbe included.Fromcompleting technical deliverablestoproblemsolvingandteambuilding,unsuccessful projectscanbe rich with accomplishmentsandlearningexperiences. Article Source http://christinastripling.com/creating-great-resumes-from-failed-projects/