What’s new in recruitment this year? Whether you are seeking a new role in 2017 or wanting to hire some top project resources, we’ve got all the latest hiring trends here.
These 5 trends will shape how recruiting managers and candidates come together over the next 12 months and beyond. What does this mean for you? Read on and find out!
- Career Project Managers
The latest data from the Arras People Project Management Census for 2017 shows that younger people are choosing project management as their first career.
The research shows that people over the age of 30 are coming to project management as a second career, after working as an engineer, IT specialist or something else. They may choose project management as a career development option, or fall into it, but they built their experience in an operational domain first.
That isn’t the case for those under 30s. The study shows that this group is choosing project management as a first career.
Whether you are a young project manager who has made that choice, or a recruiter, this trend towards non-domain specialist project managers looks here to stay. The challenge will be ensuring that new hires – the under 30s – are supported in their new roles and are helped to gain the business knowledge specific to your industry that their older colleagues already have.
- The Rise of Agile
Agile has been on the ascent for quite some time, but we’re predicting that the next year or so will be the time when it finally breaks free of the ‘software only’ label.
There’s already an Agile Marketing Manifesto, and, as an approach for getting things done, Agile is slowly breaking out of IT departments and hitting the wider business. While it’s application in other areas might not be quite as traditional as the original approaches to software project management, this trend is part of a wider movement for tailoring methodologies and approaches to best fit your business needs.
This is great news for people hunting for jobs who are already skilled in Agile techniques. For hiring managers, think about what kind of attitude and approach you want your new team members to bring. Maybe it’s time to shake things up a bit by bringing in some Agile skills?
- Certifications Are a Differentiator …
Qualifications have always been a way for recruiters to sift through piles of applications. This year qualifications and certifications will be even more important because there are more and more people choosing to work in project management. That makes a hiring manager’s job more difficult (but also more rewarding, because you should find some excellent candidates).
Certifications like the Project Management Professional® remain highly valued, and there will be a focus on professionalism this year, largely driven by the international situation. The Association for Project Management in the UK has been granted a Royal Charter to which will in time lead to the creation of a register of individuals holding Chartered Project Professional status.
While US organizations aren’t going to suddenly start hiring from overseas, it is prompting a debate in the project management industry about what a ‘good’ project manager looks like. As you’d expect, the answer is likely to be a mixture of technical skills assessed through qualifications from reputable professional bodies, soft skills and experience.
If you don’t yet hold a project management qualification, now is the time to start thinking about getting an appropriate one and ensuring that your application stands out amongst the others.
- …But Experience is Still King
This isn’t a topical trend: it’s more a continuation of what we’ve seen over the years. Regardless of what qualifications you hold, in 2017 experience is still going to count. Hiring managers are less able to take chances and want to ensure that their recruitment budget is going towards new joiners who will be a great fit for the company and who will stick around for some time to come.
This is a situation that might count against younger project managers, but don’t worry! Hiring managers know that you have a lot to bring to an organization.
That brings us to…
- Digital Awareness
We can’t escape the fact that the world is changing around us. Our clients and customers are becoming more ‘digital.’ The impact of Millennials in the workplace has never been more profound. Time to market is shorter than ever before and older methods of customer engagement are no longer effective.
Whatever your age, your awareness of the current consumer landscape and ability to work within an online, digital environment are key differentiators – both for job seekers and hiring managers.
Job seekers are looking for firms that support their natural ways of working, that use collaboration tools to get tasks done with colleagues who are part of a wider virtual team, and that have policies such as Bring Your Own Device that cut down on the number of gadgets in their bag.
Hiring managers are looking for people who can thrive in this kind of project environment, who are naturally open, collaborative and engaged, who question established models and can help the business thrive, regardless of industry sector. Technical literacy is a skill set that you won’t see on many job adverts but is implied in the vast majority of positions today.
Project management is a fast-moving and interesting career path, so if you can meet the challenges of working in projects in 2017, (or you want to hire someone who can help you meet your objectives this year), get in touch and let us help you find the perfect match.
Leave a Reply