Project Management Recruitment
Arras People Kicks Off the APM Roadshow Season
Sep 1st
The latest dates for the APM Roadshow talks are – Derby 13th October, Leeds 25th October, Milton Keynes 24th November. Just click through to book your place.
Over the last three years, the project management marketplace has seen winners and losers. Demand for project managers has increased significantly in some sectors whilst others have suffered through cutbacks and redundancies. John Thorpe kicks off the presentation with an overview of the current conditions in the project management marketplace.
John will be presenting answers to these crucial questions;
- How are the salary and rates currently holding up?
- Which sectors are experiencing a demand for project management talent?
- What are organisations looking for in their project professionals?
The project management recruitment market has seen changes over the last three years. It has become increasingly competitive, with many project professionals experiencing frustration in finding the right opportunity and successfully interviewing for roles.
Lindsay Scott shares her experiences and insights into how project managers can differentiate themselves and standout in a crowded marketplace. Lindsay will provide practical guidance on how to find the right career opportunity; how to present yourself (against what organisations are looking for); and the project management CV.
John Thorpe and Lindsay Scott are Directors of Arras People, a project management recruitment specialist. From 2002, Arras People have worked with organisations across all industry sectors and business functions placing project professionals in contract and permanent roles. Arras People are also known for their annual project management benchmark report and quarterly project management salary guides.
>> Visit the APM events page for more details and bookings
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The team at Arras People are kicking off a series of Project Management Careers and Marketplace talks at the Association for Project Management (APM) Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire 
branch meetings. Meetings held in the region will feature a main topic presenter followed by a short, punchy 30 minute project management careers based talk by Arras People.
The series starts on the 12th July 2011 with John Thorpe, Managing Director at Arras People who will be looking at the Current Project Management Marketplace. The talk will cover current salary and rate levels; current demands in training and qualifications from organisations looking for project management talent; and key information from the Project Management Benchmark Report which covers the market in 2011.
Dates are also scheduled for 21st September and 5th October where Dr Michael Hides and Lindsay Scott, respectively, will be talking about current topical areas in project management careers development and the marketplace.
Each session promises to be a practical thought provoking look at how the project management marketplace is operating at key points of the year; investigate key themes that impact a project professional’s career and provide insider tips on the recruitment market.
“We’ve been corporate members of the APM for a number of years and the branch meetings are well attended by everyone at Arras,” said Lindsay Scott, Client Services Director of Arras People. “This short and sweet style of talks gives us an opportunity to take some of our project management careers advice to a wider audience and it doesn’t matter how experienced the audience is in project management there is always something new to learn about the marketplace.”
Philip Smelt, Chairman of the Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Branch of the APM said “we seized upon this opportunity offered by Arras People to keep our members informed of the project management job market, particularly in these difficult times.”
Attendance at APM Branch meetings is free for APM members and £10 for non-members.
Events can be booked through the APM website at: http://www.apm.org.uk/events
The first event on the 12th July can be booked directly at: http://www.apm.org.uk/event/influencer-power-change-anything-0
Arras People Seeking Views on Higher Education and PPM
Aug 4th
Arras People, the project management recruitment specialists, are currently soliciting the views of a variety of personnel affiliated with both higher education and project management ties to better understand where the development of tomorrow’s project managers is heading in the near future.
Take the Higher Education & PPM Survey from Arras People today!
Here are some of the areas available to those who wish to make their voice heard on these matters:
- Take part in the short survey (takes just 3 minutes!) about the training & development preferences on PPM personnel, including those who use training companies, higher education, CPD, on-the-job experiences and many other tools in their development (the survey can only be taken once).
- On LinkedIn, we’ve started a discussion on degrees & PPM that has grown considerably in popularity. The discussion leads the action on the Arras People Group page, but we’ve also received some early feedback from other groups as well, including The Association for Project Management, Project Managers on Twitter and the PMOSIG. Members of LinkedIn are encouraged to join any or all of these groups to add your two cents.
- At the APM website, we’ve opened up a dialogue within the Association for Project Management’s forum community on this topic, hoping to better understand the organisational view.
“Social media outlets have shown themselves to be a great way to gather the pulse of what is going on in the PPM world, particularly as the industry moves toward professionalised accreditation status,” says Dan Strayer, editor of Project Management Tipoffs, and coordinator of media projects for Arras People. “We’ve long believed that a universities directory is overdue for public consumption, and it’s our feeling that the information from our social media undertakings in the weeks ahead will provide the directory with a great lead into the collective PPM students’ conscience.”
The September Tipoffs issue, which is available free to subscribers, is due to be released 15th September, with the directory for Higher Education’s release date still to be announced. Previews of the Higher Education issue and other upcoming editions are available on the Tipoffs Production Schedule page, and you can also have a look at past issues in our Archives section.
Arras People Presents PPM Insider White Paper on Quarter 2 Market Conditions
Jul 21st
Arras People released their fourth PPM Insider white paper today regarding the current state of the project & programme management recruitment market in the UK.
The latest edition of PPM Insider points to a variety of discoveries about the market at large during Quarter 2 (Apr-June 2011). For one, project management personnel remain apprehensive about changing jobs despite the anticipated impacts of inflation, low pay rises, negative media and even fears about the true status of the economic recovery.
We once again pitted public versus private sector remuneration, learning that the long-held view that within the private sector sat greater worker pay and benefits might no longer be the reality. Using data from both the ONS and Policy Exchange, Arras People surmised that private sector pay needs a jolt in order to begin keeping pace with a recovering economy after cutbacks and sacrifices became a temporary norm only a few years ago.
Issue 4 also reveals that more candidates are refusing job offers in recent months than in previous quarters. The driving force seems to be candidates’ need to settle down into the “right role”, another perspective alteration that parallels recovery-based thinking. Employers’ ability to meet their recruitment requirements may suffer for increased job seeker self-confidence.
“This, linked with the lack of candidate churn, may well lead to increased recruitment costs and extended recruitment cycles for many potential employers,” PPM Insider reveals.
Managing Director John Thorpe traditionally collates the report for Arras People. He said recently, “The lack of churn in the market caused by ongoing fears and insecurity amongst candidates will have a significant impact on companies ability to fill open vacancies with appropriate talent over the coming months. Whilst there may be job seekers, this does not always equate to suitable talent. As such companies will have to review again how they can tempt people to change organisation and which channels will help them identify suitable talent in the programme and project management domain”.
The PPM Insider is a quarterly publication launched in November 2010 and produced by Arras People, the UK Specialists in Project & Programme Management Recruitment Services. The report features original data which has been collected and compiled by Arras People in order to produce the most up-to date picture of the UK’s PPM sector including salary and day rate data.
Copies of the report are available on subscription from Arras People. Those interested in receiving the quarterly paper should get in touch with Arras People via email at PPMI@arraspeople.co.uk. Alternatively, those interested in receiving a copy should go to http://www.arraspeople.co.uk/project-management-recruitment-agencies/project-management-salary-rates-salaries-ppminsider/ to learn more about this quarterly compendium of analysis of UK free market and PPM personnel.
Arras People to Exhibit at PMI Global Congress Event
Apr 11th
HEYWOOD, LANCASHIRE, 11th April 2011 – Arras People, the project management recruitment specialists, will be in attendance at the three-day PMI® Global Congress EMEA this May in Dublin.
The worldwide decorated event, to be held at Convention Centre Dublin 9-11th May, is a grand networking opportunity for those within the project management profession to network and sample the expertise of over 800 practitioners in the field of project management. Run by the Project Management Institute (PMI®), the three-day professional extravaganza will give PPM peers sufficient opportunities to discuss common issues within the trade, as well discover innovative solutions and best practices while discovering more about the latest trends, tools and techniques from project management experts worldwide.
Arras People will send John Thorpe (Managing Director) and Lindsay Scott (Client Services Director) to the conference to display as part of the Careers Central recruitment booths in the exhibit hall of the Congress, which offers a highly targeted platform for companies to target & recruit top project management talent.
Scott currently maintains a quarterly magazine column for PMI’s American trade magazine PM Network that targets careers-related issues for the professional project management audience. Both Scott and Thorpe have served as directors of Arras People since its 2002 inception. Since those beginnings, both continue to look forward to any opportunities that allow them to interact directly with project management professionals and provide project management careers expertise.
“Being at the EMEA Global Congress is a great opportunity to provide the same kind of practical advice I cover in the PM Network magazine,” Scott says. “Each day Arras People provides 1-2-1 careers advice and consultations to project professionals so I know how popular and welcomed the opportunity is to talk to a third party about careers and opportunities. It will certainly be a busy three days for us.”
Opportunities to attend this event are still available, and it’s unclear to date if this internationally-renowned PMI event may not come as close to UK shores again in the near future. Check out the PMI Global Congress 2011 website (http://congresses.pmi.org/EMEA2011/) to learn more about this event.
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About Arras People
Arras People is a Project Management company that is predominantly working in the Recruitment and Resourcing areas of Programme and Project Management where they bring Programme and Project knowledge and experience to the marketplace. Arras People works with some of the Top 20 project management consultancies in the UK, including public sector (central and local government), IT, engineering, and marketing/media organizations, as well as several not-for-profit and charities placing Permanent, Interim and Temporary Project Professionals.
Arras People’s Job Search Support Service draws to a close
Mar 30th
Since April 2009, Arras People have been working in conjunction with the DWP and Job Centre Plus in offering unemployed professionals our Jobsearch Support Service. The scheme was designed to help unemployed professionals back into work and over the past two years we as an organisation have worked with over 600 professionals, providing an individually tailored service to help them approach the job market with vigor.
Unfortunately due to recent changes in government policy it is now time for us to draw the service to a close following a successful two years. During this time we have seen huge numbers of candidates flourish in the job market, using the advice we have provided around CV Development, Job Applications and Interview Technique to successfully find themselves new opportunities.
So what now for candidates who are still looking for careers advice? Well, the most obvious answer to that would be our Project Management Careers Clinics. Again, this is an individually tailored service focused around helping candidates get the most out of their CV whilst providing guidance on anything from next career steps to choosing potential qualifications. The service is conducted via telephone so you don’t need to leave the comfort of your own home, and the 30 minute private consultation has proven to be an invaluable investment for a whole host of project professionals since its inception.
The service is incredibly straight forward to sign up for and we have slots to suit most people’s availability, so book today if you are looking to take your project career to the next level!
Voluntary Project Management Posts
Nov 9th
Arras People launched its new voluntary project management job board this week, a new job board purely for unpaid project management positions. Following on from the changes facing the voluntary, charity and third sector organisations through the Big Society launch from the Coalition government, Arras People decided to get involved and offer a free job board.
The Voluntary Project Management Job Board is free to use to advertise for any unpaid volunteer project management posts. This is an opportunity for charities, not-for-profit, social enterprise organisations who need to attract volunteer project management people to their organisations.
The job board covers all the UK and all charitiable areas. 
The Volunteer Project Management Job Board is also a useful addition for people looking for voluntary opportunities in the project management field. Currently there is not one single provision that allows volunteers to quickly and easily find a volunteer position in project management.
Voluntary work in the project management area is an excellent way for the newly qualified, graduate or job seeker seeking a path into project management to gain valuable on the job practical experience. It’s also an excellent way for current experienced project management professionals to work in a new area or to just have the opportunity to put something back into their local communities or social area.
If you are currently looking for a volunteer project management resource, visit the new job board area.
To take a look at the current available opportunities, visit the volunteer project management job board
Does Size Matter?
Oct 28th
A recent edition of Recruiter magazine (13th October) included an article entitled “Piecing together a staffing dilemma” which investigated whether organisations should pick a super agency or select a group of specialists as they look to staff up for the future.
Overall the arguments fell into the usual entrenched positions with the advocates of the “super agency” pitching savings in costs and time alongside the marketing muscle that their 
size brings to the table. The specialists on the other hand naturally pushed their ability supply high quality candidates through their “intimate knowledge of a sector” and their ability to identify and attract relevant talent.
Whilst the article itself drew no conclusion as to what is best, it indicated that few organisations end up with a single supplier solution. However within the article there were some specific points well made that I wanted to share – especially as Arras People is a specialist agency, supplying what is generally a non-volume specialist skill in the form of Project Management;
- The strengths of a specialist boutique is in its niche branding which may be stronger than the client’s (and /or super agencies) in attracting the right applicants
- Candidates with specialist skills eg. Project Management are more likely to take a call from a specialist rather than a generalist recruiter.
- Many clients feel that a smaller agency is easier to hold to account through the direct relationship
- Small consultancies are as much about the individual as the brand where larger agencies have a significantly more turnover of staff.
- Large agencies are accused of taking a “never mind the quality, feel the width” approach, seeing costs and volumes as the prime concerns of their clients.
- Larger agencies try to be both big and bespoke at the same time
In my own mind the argument basically boils down to devising a strategy that recognises the type of candidates that you are looking to attract and the volumes that you are likely to consume. Ultimately for all organisations the resourcing decision should be driven by the desire to attract the best available talent into their open roles at an acceptable level of cost.
So in the case of recruiting Programme and Project Management (PPM) staff the approach needs to consider;
- Do we view PPM personnel as a general or a specialist resource?
Hopefully the answer is that you see PPM personnel as a specialist resource. So to draw an analogy with how you would shop for other goods and services, would you go to a “supermarket” or a “boutique” to buy specialist goods? - How many PPM practitioners do we recruit per annum (Interim, Contract, Permanent, and Temporary)?
For many organisations the requirement for PPM practitioners over a twelve month period is relatively low when compared to other areas of non-specialist staffing requirements. It is highly unlikely that this volume will impact the pricing that a “super agency” can deliver over a twelve month period for your total recruitment budget if it was excluded!
- How do we access the best talent?
As we saw above the both approaches feel they can attract talent. However if you have identified PPM as a specialist resource the boutique or niche supplier is more likely to have the knowledge and understanding of the marketplace. Attracting talent requires a lot more than just placing adverts (if it was that easy, recruitment agencies wouldn’t exist!) and companies like Arras People make a significant investment in building talent pools upon which they can draw. The key is attracting and tempting talent that is inactive in the market; these are the people who do not look at the general job boards and are certainly invisible to generalist recruiters! Each specialised recruiter has a contact book and network that many super agencies would die for. - What is an acceptable cost for these services?
One of the positives of using a super agency was quoted as; “One real advantage of dealing with a large agency is its competitive rates.” This may be true for volume and non-specialist roles but what happens when the role becomes “hard to fill”? In our experience as a boutique or niche supplier the rates we charge are not significantly different than those charged by super agencies if the role is deemed outside of the norm. A potential hidden premium cost that should always be considered! - What brand image do I want to create in the marketplace?
“People buy people” is a common saying when discussing service provision and it is especially true in the recruitment of specialist resources. In a specialist agency it certainly is about the individuals that work within it – one to one relationships are forged, not just with the client organisation but also with the professionals looking for work within the specialised field. Where you advertise and your recruitment partner has a significant impact on the perception of your brand as an employer with PPM resources especially as many super agents carry low credibility with the professional specialists that you want to attract.
So whatever you require, consider the facts and adopt a strategy that fits your environment. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security, cost is important to us all, but not at the expense of failing to secure the necessary talent to drive our organisations forward.
Image - sinanyuzakli and used with permission
Latest UK Labour Market Data
Sep 16th
The Report on Jobs published last week (8th September 2010) by the REC and KPMG headlined with “Permanent placements rose at weakest rate for ten months in August”.
The overall picture painted was one of a general slowdown in the UK job market with the economy continuing to exhibit the dual track (split across Public / Private sector) which we have now been seeing for the last couple of years. The Public sector is generally tightening down in advance of further budget cuts whilst there are some signs that the Private sector is creating new roles.
Whilst this report gathers its data from a broad spectrum of recruitment agencies some of this months data has a direct correlation to what Arras People are seeing in the Programme and Project Management sector.
“Growth of staff appointments weakens further..” A sweeping top level analysis which we believe is also being impacted by the changes that many organisations are making to the way they recruit. During the downturn we have encountered many clients who have taken recruitment in-house in order to reduce the cost of employing new starters. This change of approach may hide some of the actual hiring patterns as it is naturally having an impact on those organisations in the recruitment market. Channels increasing used are direct advertising, referal schemes, LinkedIn and other social media tools.
“Further decline in availability of permanent candidates” The report indicated that despite the slowdown in new appointments there is growing evidence of a growing skill shortage. Interestingly the areas identified included Project Management and Business Analysis. The availability of permanent staff declined at the sharpest level since 2007. Whilst this may be impacted by seasonal events as many candidates withdraw from the market during the summer months it continues the general concern about the availability of talent in the UK market. This is further compounded by the lack of “movers” in the market as professionals sit tight waiting for the economy to settle and employers tighten packages on offer as they believe it must be a buyers market.
Pay pressures “Permanent Salaries” – the knock on effect from the lack of talent discussed above may well be the trigger for this move, as companies are finding themselves having to make their packages more attractive or at least competitive to entice good candidates. All the way through the current downturn we have found that on the whole the best programme and project management practitioners have managed to stay in employment. Time is of the essence when recruiting if employers are looking to secure both permanent workers and contractors with the best skill sets.
Arras People – Moving with the Market
Many of the movers and shakers in the recruitment and HR market are predicting that many of the short term changes that we have seen, will become embedded as business as usual for many organisations as we move forward. Key changes such as recruitment moving in house and management of employer brand will become more of a focus; triggering a move away from big and informal to niche and focussed. A position that we believe Arras People is already occupying.
As such our new web site has allowed us to offer two new channels to market for clients who are being impacted by the changes or looking to operate in a new way. We have solutions that allow clients to come and fish in our talent pool when looking for new candidates.
- Featured Employer – A cost effective way of ensuring your brand and your recruitment campaign can be seen by project management professionals. Whether looking for immediate hires to fill your talent pipeline this offering will attract both active and inactive job seekers. Read more >
- Branded Advertisements – For the cost conscious in-house recruitment team we have our branded project management job advertisements. From £350 the advertisements are a brilliant way to get some bang for your advertising buck as they hit your target audience! Read more >
Overview of the Report on Jobs >>
Hiring Programme & Project Management interims through Buying Solutions
Feb 22nd
If youre a NHS body or other public sector organisation seeking to recruit commercial short-term resources such as Programme and Project Management contractors, the Commercial Resources Framework (CRF) has made it easier and quicker than before by supplying you with a list of pre-qualified suppliers, of which Arras People is the only Programme and Project Management specialist on that list.
As a Buying Solutions approved supplier, Arras People provide project management recruitment services in three main areas;
Programme Management – this includes executive-level Programme Directors, Programme Managers, Programme Office Management and Programme Office Support (Programme Co-ordinators, Programme Planners, Programme Accountants etc.).
Project Management- this includes Project Managers with a wide range of specialist knowledge as well as strong project management capability, Assistant Project Managers and Stage/Workstream Managers.
Programme Office / Project Office / Project Support roles- includes roles such as programme co-ordinator, project co-ordinator, project support officers, and project administrators. Programme and Project Office roles such as PMO Analysts to Programme and Project Office Managers, Programme and Project Planners, Quality Assurance Specialists and Document Controllers.
Benefits of using Arras People through the Framework
- Pre-qualified supplier for non-permanent workers that meet a predefined standard of service.
- A framework that is distinct from other consultancy services frameworks because it provides individuals. Consultancy services are used to provide a solution for a defined piece of work or support in fast tracking a critical project. Whereas interims will support the ongoing/longer term business objectives of an organisation providing longer term support and skills transfer in a flexible way.
- Quality candidates that can be provided at short notice and deliver high performance.
- Confidence that the suppliers have carried out the necessary pre-placement checks and meet the standard required for managing ongoing processes e.g. time sheets, invoices etc
- Dealing with suppliers that understand the healthcare environment, keeping up to date with current policies in order to understand and meet NHS needs
- Use of a comprehensive set of clearly defined role scopes and competencies to facilitate the specification of a requirement.
- One point of contact with each supplier to simplify communication.
- Simply standardised presentation of CVs with template highlighting suitability.
- Provision of commercial capability and capacity at the lowest whole life cost.
- Detailed and accurate management information available to customers and suppliers.
- Commercial acumen is embedded into DH/NHS organisations, which is the vision in DHs commercial strategy.
For more information on how the process works please visit Buying Solutions by clicking here.
You can now use Arras People for easy public sector procurement of programme and project management resources, for further details please click here.
