Hello,
I recently applied for a position advertised as a "Project Manager". During the recruitment process, I asked for a job description, which was provided. The title included in the Job Description was "Project Manager". I have been successful in my application, and have received the Letter of offer. The Job title on the Letter of offer is "Consultant". I have queried this with HR and they have stated that this is only the "Internal Title" and that the word "Manager" cannot appear in a job title unless you have at least 4 direct reports. The company is a very large American company and will have many hundreds or if not thousands of people performing the job of Project Manager. To me, the role of consultant is very different than the role of Project Manager, so I feel that I have been given a title which is at odds with the job description.
I am a little worried about this as the position offered is not the same as the position advertised, I may be asked to do non-PM work, and also, perhaps most importantly, if I was to ever leave this company, I might have difficultly convincing a subsequent employer that I was actually performing the role of Project Manager. As a I would very much like to stay in the Project Management profession, this is a concern to me.
If anyone comment or help on this, would be most welcome.
Hi Peter,
The position is for a Project Manager the job description states Project Manager and not Consultant. Project Manager does not have to have direct reports, as we know the organisational structure that is formed during a Project it is only temporary until the project is delivered, then as we take more projects more temporary structures are formed.. where project teams will report to you as the PM in many instances. Check it out with existing Project Managers within the organisation, did their letter state Consultant or Project Manager! Since you were given a job description that categorically states you will be doing the job of PM the job title on the letter of offer must also confirm the position you applied - do your homework, find out for yourself, after all HR are acting onbehalf of the business seek out the core! before accepting the Consultancy job! Saving Changes...
I have seen this a lot working for various consulting firms. My role would be project manager but my official HR title would be Consultant or Sr Consultant or Managing Consultant.
If the job description meets the requirements of project manager, it wouldn't seem to be a big deal.
This sounds shonky to me. I am not sure that is even legal in Australia. ie Advertise one job and then appoint you to a different one? I'd get some legal advice if I were you.
"A manager must have 4 direct reports"?? Ask how you are supposed to manage a project without a project team?
Good luck.
p.s. do you still want the job?
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Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
It is strange that they equate number of direct reports with title. In the banking sector, project managers are equivalent to VP level in most cases. It will be interesting to see a VP with no direct report. Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
'Consultant' sounds like a catch all job description to me. Ask for the 'Consultant' job description. If it is the same, and this whole process hasn't changed how you feel about the company or the job, then accept the position. My view about job titles on CVs is that many internal job titles make no sense at all to people outside the organisation, so while you may officially be a Consultant, you could put PM on your CV if this was genuinely the job you were doing. It will mean more to the people reading your CV, and you have the PM job description to back you up if anyone ever queried it (which I doubt they would). Let us know what you decide to do! Saving Changes...
Wayne MackRetired| RetiredSouth Riding, Va, United States
Don't get hung up on the title. At this point, one just needs to trust the company that the described role is accurate. If the description is inaccurate, then it really does not matter what title is given.
As for one's resume, I don't give a lot of thought to the titles given - companies have a lot of strange rules for titles. I usually concentrate on the description of the work performed.
If one is happy with the described role and offered benefits, I would advise accepting the offering and not worrying about the title.
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Wayne MackRetired| RetiredSouth Riding, Va, United States
This is a little off topic for the question posted, but in regrads to the question of a project manager not having any direct reports - I find that quite common.
By definition, a project is a temporary endeavor. The project manager plans the project, requests the necessary resources, executes the project, and releases the resources. This usually implies that the staff have some more permanent "home" in the organization. One of the more challenging aspects of project management is keeping resources from being reassigned by their line managers.
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Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Peter, interesting post and excellent replies. My advice would be three-fold.
First, don't be at all concerned with this. When I joined IBM over 30 years ago as a saleman in the Data Processing Division, my title was Marketing Representative as was every other sales person at IBM at that time. I had a sales quota, I was paid monthly sales commissions, and to my knowledge I did no marketing of any kind though a title like Marketing Representative would seem to indicate that marketing would be part of the job. Similarly, at that time, all of the IBM Systems Engineers (in Texas where I worked) were called Systems Representatives on account of the fact that, despite 18 months of IBM training in systems engineering, they could not carry the engineer designation on their business card without having an engineering degree. Hence, it is not uncommon that the work that you do may not be exactly what is on your business card merely as a matter of company policy, government regulations, laws, and recognized business practices. I can't think of a more highly regarded, honest, and ethical company than IBM, so if this happens there then that is likely a good indication that there is nothing inherently wrong, devious, or sinister about it. I suspect that this company you are now working for has the same high standards and ethics.
Second, remember that wise advice found in the New Testament, Matthew 7:16, typically interpreted as "judge a tree by the fruit it bears." I suspect that this is at the heart of your concern. You would like to be a project manager not a consultant and you would like to be called a project manager, not a consultant, for the very valid reasons you pointed out. So ask yourself, regardless of the title, is the work that this company is asking you to do the work that you want to do. And be mindful, if the work you do is that of a project manager, that is what people will know you as.
And third, keep an open mind. For example, if I showed you a picture of young girls swinging on a swingset in a playground with an old man looking on with a broad grin on his face and barely able to contain his enjoyment of the sight, what do you think you have just witnessed? Did you just witness a dirty old man and perhaps a child molester? Or did you witness a loving grandfather baby-sitting his granddaughter for the day and enjoying every minute of watching her play with her friends? Obviously it could be either, so hope for the best, acknowledge and be prepared for the worst, and at the end of the day pay closest attention to the fruit that the tree bears and not so much the twigs, leaves, and thorns. You are wise to consider what the difference in job title and actual job means. It sounds like you have covered the "negative" side of the coin quite well. Now it's time to consider all of the positives of this.
Best of success with the position and congratulations on being selected for the job..!
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Richard HowProgramme Management Consultant| How Associates LtdHarthill, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
I have work at companies before where I wasn't allowed manager in my title as I had no direct reports. A project manager is rarely responsible for the pay and rations of his/her staff just their day to day workload. Its one of the reasons I like project management so much, no discussuions with staff about pay rises or bonuses or performance reviews. I have worked as a programme manager for Cable & Wireless and due to redundancies and complications over recruiting whilst making people redundant I ended up with the title of outsource controller instead of Programme Manager - Outsourced projects which was the real job title. I still put programme manager on my CV as thats the role I was performing. At the end of the day if you really want the job and you really like the company are you going to let it go over a job title? As for ending up doing non project management stuff at times I always seem to end up doing extra things from building desks to running test scripts, it makes the days more interesting Saving Changes...
