Submitted by lfeehrer on October 8, 2009 - 11:27am.Project Managers are often considered the 'single point of contact' on an engagement. This is the person held accountable for successfully accomplishing the project objectives. He/she must constantly manage the Project Triangle of cost, quality and scope. With such an important job and the enormous pressure that comes with it, how do you select the ideal candidate for the role?
As part of the RIGHTLine Delivery System, when interviewing a Program or Project Manager there are four areas I examine: (1) Client Relationship Management
(2) Business Value
(3) Solution Delivery
(4) People Management.
An excellent PM has strong experience in each area. A PM who is missing one of these skills will falter.
When I scan a resume, I look for relevant activities where the PM has applied each skill. Has the person built a business case? Calculated ROI on a project? Has she led a Steering Committee with multiple business stakeholders? Has he managed, directly or indirectly, an array of resources? Has the PM led a project from project planning to application testing to deployment? Once qualified in every area, I focus my line of questioning on what will be relevant for the upcoming project.
I apply the following format at the in-person behavioral interview:
- Ask a data gathering question
- Ask for a description of a specific situation
- Probe for specifics. Emphasize you in your questions... What did you do? What part of this project did you manage?
- Ask for results and then ask for another specific situation
Once we've discussed the resume and heard situational responses, I like to explain the quadrants to the candidate. I then ask the candidate what he believes is her strongest quadrant and what is her weakest. If the answer to this is vague, I may ask the person, where does your leadership stem from? Do you start from the client relationship? The relationship with your team? How you will deliver the solution? Or the business value of the project? It's an interesting question not only for candidates, but to look at with yourself, your colleagues, or your team or project managers.
At Alliance, the talent of our people is what sets us apart. Our onshore resources have an average of 15 years experience while our offshore resources average 8 years. Our Project Managers have deep experience in all quadrants and all provide strong, customer-focused leadership.
For more information about our team, click here.
For more information about careers at Alliance, click here.
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Comments
Very articulate model for hiring
Very articulate model for hiring. Tell us about your sustainability model. How do you sustain and retain your leaders?
If you hire a person with these thorough solid qualifications, what is the career path for such a a talent?
- PM
re: Very articulate model for hiring
Thank you for your comment and questions regarding the Project Management hiring model we use at Alliance.
I joined Alliance in 2005 as a Project Manager. From personal experience in multiple roles over the past five years I can certainly attest to the career progression available within the company.
As I mentioned in the blog, our team members have a higher number of years experience on average than our competitors. Our ability to retain this talent is also strong; we have one of the lowest employee turnover rates in the industry. On average our competency leads stay with Alliance for >6 years and our technical managers for >4 years.
To sustain this, we focus on rewarding performance and talent. Our team members are encouraged to achieve positive results for our clients. When they do, it is acknowledged by everyone from their peers all the way to the CEO. A recent example is the video posted on the Alliance homepage from John Castleman about the great job done by the State of Delaware team. And every quarter a group of individuals are awarded on an all-hands call to acknowledge and reward the positive contributions they have made.
We are encouraged to pave our own paths, be entrepreneurial, and think creatively. For instance, our team members are empowered to constantly improve our Rightline Methodology. Anyone in the company can submit a suggestion (new process, template, etc.) to the Core Process Group who reviews and incorporates it into the next version of Rightline. We are currently on Rightline Release 65 (largely due to employee contributions). We have the opportunity to frequently share ideas with others in the organization via the Delivery Innovation Series and Blog taking place every other week, Technical Competency Meetings, and training forums.
At Alliance we provide exciting career growth opportunities at challenging and rewarding clients. A couple examples: Project Managers often grow to take on Program and Engagement Management Roles. Our leaders in Hyderabad are given opportunities to travel to client sites, lead exciting projects, and take on technical responsibilities within a given competency.
I spend much of my time discussing with our customers how our teams are doing. What I always hear is not only how talented our team members are technically, but how well they collaborate, are proactive in sharing new ideas, and become trusted advisors. This level of customer satisfaction is only achieved with high employee satisfaction.