Desperately Seeking Talent: Do You Have Want Companies Want?

  PM Network  

There’s nothing like a global recession to shake up the job scene. Although project managers remain valued, companies are far more selective.

“Project managers need to realize that we are in a new economy,” says Jason Hill, PMP, partner at Sound Advice Consulting Services, a New York, New York, USA-based recruiting company focused on program and project management. “People are expected to do more with less. Sensitivity to costs and risks are higher. And compensation levels have changed downward.”

There is some good news, though.

“The cutbacks during the recession and the positive movement toward recovery have led organizations to start projects that were put off in the past, as well as to start new projects that will enable them to compete in the recovery,” he says.

And organizations will need talented individuals to run those projects. Here’s what you’ll need to compete in this new world order:

Financial Savvy. Even on the road to recovery, companies continue to look for efficiencies in productivity and costs. Organizations want project managers who can keep costs down and avoid scope creep, says Max Dufour, PMP, a Boston, Massachusetts, USA-based principal with SunGard, a software and IT services company.

“As budgets shrunk, it became imperative to manage scope and costs tightly. As funding…

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