Finding the Right Project Manager Starts with a Stellar Job Posting
READING TIME
7 minutes
QUICK SUMMARY
Finding the perfect project manager can be daunting. The landscape of project management is evolving with shifting demands and nuances, requiring us to evolve how we describe the work. Here is a quick primer for what you need to know.
So you need to hire a project manager. You go on LinkedIn and find their very helpful guide to hiring a project manager. You consult an AI engine for a list of project manager responsibilities and qualifications. You modify it a bit, and email it to HR for posting.
Three days later, you have dozens of resumes in your inbox with a dizzying array of skills, experience, and qualifications. And zero viable candidates.
What went wrong?
More than anything, you are a victim of the current state of project management and where it is in its arc as a developing profession.
Project management is a relatively young discipline. Even in the past ten years, the practice and industry have undergone significant shifts. That means the talent pool, and the market for that talent, is constantly changing. The job posting that worked a year ago won’t get the same response now.
At the same time, the demand for project managers continues to grow. You are competing against other organizations for a limited talent pool. To see this in action, go to any popular job search engine and enter “project manager”. You’ll see tens of thousands of openings in the U.S. alone.
As the profession grows and matures, so does its depth and breadth. New methodologies are emerging, gaining popularity, and then being supplemented with even newer methodologies. Subfields and specializations proliferate.
In the past, it may have been sufficient to hire someone with general knowledge of project management principles. Now project managers are also expected to have significant domain knowledge, command of a variety of subdisciplines, demonstrate advanced power skills, and have accumulated an alphabet’s worth of credentials.
All these factors make it difficult for hiring managers and recruiters to figure out how to write a job requisition that attracts the right candidates, and for candidates to figure out which jobs are a good fit.
Some things have stayed the same
Even as many things about project management evolve, some things haven’t. Take the titles, for instance.
For the most part, few project management job titles provide any clues about the level of skill needed for the position. The labor market doesn’t yet have mature standard terminology to differentiate proficiency levels. To illustrate this, we searched “Project Manager” in several popular search engines and analyzed 75 job postings that popped up in the results. These showed an enormous range in
salary (over $150K difference in stated ranges!)
required qualifications
level of responsibility
impact and accountability
The explosion of readily available aids to help formulate jobs has been both a help and a hindrance. They provide helpful generic job descriptions based on industry standards. The list of responsibilities will likely be broad and cover the spectrum of possible activities a project manager might engage in, but doesn’t accurately communicate the work that will actually be done, or emphasize the most critical work and skills for the position.
There is no harm in using a generic project management position description as a starting point. But you’ll want to customize it in several important ways to attract candidates that fit.
Targeting your requisition
What is the level of impact and accountability?
Think of project work as falling into one of three general levels of responsibility. Although project management activities tend to be common across project types, the nature of those activities can be very different.
That generic list of job responsibilities will include many activities common across all levels of project accountability, so it doesn’t give candidates information about the unique requirements of the position that may or may not make them a good fit. Scheduling is part of all projects, yet the nature of that work can be very different for installing a software upgrade vs. developing a new product line.
To counter this, take a look at the project and decide which of the following is most applicable.
Task accountability. Is the job primarily one of coordinating moving parts and tracking that stuff gets done? For example, you might have a project manager coordinating delivery from quote to production across a standard product lifecycle in support of sales.
Output accountability. Is the position accountable for a complex deliverable that has a significant potential impact for a wide swath of the organization? Think of switching to a new benefits vendor or improving quality on a production line. This project manager will often be called on to demonstrate more advanced project and power skills.
Outcome accountability. Perhaps the project manager will be ensuring delivery of significant benefits to customers or the business, for example in the form of a new product, a building, or a merger. This usually requires a person with significant business acumen, a broad portfolio of power skills, and a deep well of past experiences to draw on.
The level of accountability - task, deliverable or business outcome - is highly correlated with the skill level you should be seeking. In practice, this is a continuum, not three clearly defined categories. But this analysis can point you towards the right level of experience.
As a first step towards customizing that generic list of requirements, state in the job description what the candidate will be accountable for, signaling to job seekers the nature of the work and proficiency level required.
What is the project environment?
The level of skill needed for project success is less if your organization is proficient in using projects, has established processes, and project management is accepted as an operational necessity. A newer project manager can be very successful in that environment.
If your organization is just starting to utilize project managers, or if your organization itself is new, you’ll need someone who can draw on a wide array of techniques and past successes to set up new practices and get everyone else on board.
Where is the project in its lifecycle?
A well-established project often takes less skill and effort to run. A software development effort employing agile techniques might require a credentialed project manager and scrum master to establish the foundations, but after several successful incremental deliveries a junior member of the team might be able to take over - especially if they are eager to learn.
Projects require the greatest depth and breadth of skill when just getting started, and when in trouble. Take a look at the list of responsibilities and required skills, and remove anything that isn’t applicable for the projects this person will manage. For example, if the project manager will oversee projects in the execution phase, “writing a charter” may not be a relevant responsibility or a critical skill.
Summary
There are a lot of factors conspiring against your ability to target your project management position, but also some key guidelines to follow when tailoring the position.
State what the project manager will be accountable for delivering. This signals the level of proficiency required.
Communicate the maturity of the project environment. Newly minted project managers can be successful in a predictable project environment. Less mature project capabilities require specific skills to establish practices and navigate ambiguity.
Make sure the list of responsibilities and required skills accurately reflect the project phases that the project manager will operate in. If in the beginning stages, list skills that are critical for envisioning, designing, and getting stakeholders on board. Troubled projects require mature analysis and power skills.
I will be hosting a free webinar on April 18, “Be (More) Agile And Get The Help You Need,” with more insight into hiring project managers. Myles Hopkins of Be Agile will join me and we will share tips on how to improve project hiring and in the process increase agility.