Recruiting Project Managers Project Manager Job Description video #2
Top tips for Recruiting Project Managers Project Manager Job Description video #2. Practical, usable advice from an expert with 16 years' experience in recruitment and 25 years' experience in project management. We believe that successful recruitment and project management both lie at the heart of business success. For most organisations, getting the right people on board is a vital part of their success and most organisations can achieve massive competitive advantage by ensuring that their projects are successful. This is especially true when it comes to project management and delivery. When you're responsible for recruiting project managers then making the right recruiting decisions has a direct positive impact on your projects and your entire career. On the other hand, failing to recruit the right staff can have the equal but opposite effect. Many people make the mistake of jumping into the recruitment process as soon as the vacancy arises. My advice is to take this as an opportunity to assess the role and its importance to the organisation before you finalise the job description.
Firstly, examine the reasons why the vacancy has arisen -- expansion, replacing a staff member who will be returning or replacing someone who has resigned. Exit interviews are often a useful way of gaining insights but beware of any unfounded opinions or bias. Concentrate on uncovering any detailed aspects of the role that you may not be familiar with. The best place to start is to fully define the role you are looking to fill. I expect most people reading this will be familiar with how to create role descriptions (if not, contact me and I can give you detailed guidance).
I will stress that you should not make the mistake of reusing the old job description. If the vacancy has reoccurred within a limited time frame this should flag that an in depth reassessment is overdue. Look at the role afresh. Speak to your colleagues and factor in their knowledge and insights. And of course make sure that the role description reflects the outcomes of the assessment questions we discussed above. Here's a checklist of the areas that a typical role description should cover.
A profile of your organisation, its future direction and what makes it unique;
The organisation structure and priorities of the role;
The specific objectives and priorities of the role;
The detailed responsibilites of the role and the success criteria;
The benefits of the role to the organisation and the candiate which clearly demonstrates to the potential candidates why the role is worthy of their skills and talents.
If your recruiting in order to replace a member of staff who has handed in their notice then my advice is to make sure you fully understand the reasons for the resignation and if any of these factors affect the role definition.