Graduates & Project Management

Editor's Notes

• #4: Final year students and graduates need to be thinking about their career now, know yourself and set direction For some in the audience their situation could be – PM grad with no experience or PM grad with a little experience or PM graduate with a lot of project delivery experience who have gone back to university as a mature student. Whatever their situation, a personal stock take should be carried out so they can answer the questions, “Who am I? What do I want to achieve? And Why should someone employ me?” Thinking about why they want to be a PM, helps them to think through exactly what they’re trying to achieve when they finish uni, it will also be an interview question at some point in their lives, so they need to give it thought and rehearse it! Do they know what makes a great project manager? Understanding this helps them think about what employers are actually looking for in a new employee PM and what they need to do to come across as having the right stuff. Reading and researching the project management field helps them to understand exactly what makes a great PM (there will also be links on the webpage to help them research) Now is the time to start thinking about the sectors and domains that interest them, it’s not about narrowing it down to say IT or corporate business but more about getting them to research and understand how diverse the project management marketplace actually is. You don’t know what you don’t know etc. This is also about understanding that PMs don’t have to be pigeonholed in a certain sector so early in their careers but equally it’s about planning their careers rather than just waiting for opportunities to fall on their lap (which ain’t going to happen) PM roles in the marketplace, straight from graduation it’s likely that they’re not going to go straight in at PM level. Understand what other roles exist in programme and project management and think about which will be a good first step in the stepping stone to a career as a PM. (We will have good links to this on our webpage) Keeping up to date with the PM profession – do they get involved with their professional group APM? They have events for students (Aspire?) and the opportunity to meet other PM students. Learning from their competitors (i.e., other graduates graduating at the same time as them with the same degree) and finding out what other graduates are doing will help them in forming their own plan of action. Asking themselves the question – so what do you bring to the table? There’s a lot to go into here but it leads to the next slide which is all about Experience. Here at Arras we see this as THE most important thing a graduate can focus on. They have the degree, so what? There are hundreds like them, how do they stand out from their competitors
• #5: Start thinking about how to gain experience NOW – don’t wait until you graduate Experience is the top thing employers are looking for in their graduate PM’s Qualifications and degrees are a great tick in the box but experience is what you need to get a foot in the door Some ideas to start gaining the experience NOW whilst in the final year Look at your own circle of friends and family – any interest group opportunities to get involved in, community groups, planning a friend/family event, building a website for a hobby group etc. Ask family members if there is anything you can get involved with that gives you an opportunity to plan and deliver a piece of work/project. Opportunities exist for voluntary PM’s – look at the voluntary opportunities that are available, unpaid or expenses paid, gaining real world PM experience Any opportunities at the university? – often departments within the university will have part-time roles available for current students, how can these opportunities be maximised Part-time jobs whilst at university – gaining employment, any employment, will help develop on-the-job skills and more importantly the softer skills like interpersonal, communication, teamwork etc. Employers expect graduates to have some works experience of some kind We will have more details about how to go about doing the above on the website Start making plans for when you graduate Don’t put it off and keep putting off because your competitors (i.e., other graduates) won’t be sitting back and waiting Research and understand what exactly is happening in the world of projects. Which organisation’s are launching or delivering projects at the moment, what type of PMs are in demand (check out the job boards), understand the market rates for graduate / junior posts, subscribe to newsletters, blogs, forums etc all focused on PM Don’t wait until graduation to update your CV, start thinking about how you can present a project management focused CV on the experience, skills, capability, education, and training you already have (we have a CV template on the webpage for them to use) Your project portfolio in this context is about having all your project management related stories ready for an interview or introduction. For example, are you ready with a answer that shows your capabilities to plan a project from scratch – which tools / methods did you use? How did you work with your team?. One good way to think about your portfolio is to research project management interview questions (we have some of those on the website too). You will be asked some of these questions in an interview (regardless of how experienced you perceive yourself to be) therefore thinking about this now allows yourself to practice well in advance of any interviews. This building up of a portfolio also allows you to better understand who you are, what you’re capable of and what you’re bringing to the table
• #7: You have the degree, it’s now time to move on and compliment it with real life hands on experience and additional skills gained through being on the job Gaining a PM role is extremely difficult with limited experience. Many employers believe that a good PM must have been there and done it numerous times, so expectation setting with graduates is crucial. We don’t want to be negative, but it has to be stressed that its highly unlikely that they will gain a PM role straight from university with limited experience But what they can do is look for positions within the project management field, for example, project planner, project controller, programme office etc. In fact any role which allows them to work directly with a project manager and project team. The project management marketplace is vast, it covers all industries and all business functions (i.e., Marketing, HR, Finance etc) and terminology of job roles/titles does differ, so it’s crucial that they research to avoid missing out on opportunities Many people who are project managers today, accidently fell into this profession, through starting out as something else earlier in their careers. What the graduates need to do is try to engineer this accidently falling into project management. Being in the right place at the right time, i.e., working within a project team, using the PM as a mentor or coach, keeping their eyes and ears open for the right opportunity to take them up to the next stage on their career ladder. It’s not easy to do and requires proactivity and often patience. Which leads to the final point, many employers are still used to looking for skilled and experienced hands on PM who have gained training and education later in their careers i.e., they’ve taken accreditations like PRINCE2, MSP etc. What we’re seeing now that there are MSc in Project Management degrees available, and talk of project management as a profession (or emerging profession), is the opposite way around, training and education first and then skills/experience second. This is a big change – and one which hasn’t necessarily affected employing organisations views when recruiting PMs….yet!