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Arras People Plans to Help Aberdeen APM Members Improve CVs
Jan 29th
Arras People, the Project Management Recruitment specialists, will host a CV Workshop at the Association for Project Management (APMs) Aberdeen branch conference in February. Leading project management consultants Michael Hides and Gary Holmes from Arras People will conduct the session as part of the “Development Your Skills for Successful Projects” one day conference.
The conference will feature a series of forums and practical assistance sessions in addition to the CV workshop from Arras People. Sessions from the event intend to address:
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and preparing for Chartered Status
- Assessing competence in a project team
- APMs competency framework
- Assessment of the attendees CPD profile
- Planning your CPD
Arras People have offered free CV workshops & reviews previously at Project Challenge in Birmingham last March, and were overwhelmed by the immediate response. Similar to the Project Management Careers Clinics on offer from Arras People, next month’s CV Workshop opportunity aims to help project professionals improve their attractiveness of their CVs in an increasingly cutthroat job market.
Hides, a chartered engineer that has worked on projects and in organisations large and small, joined Arras People in 2007, bringing with him relevant skills and experience from project management and in sectors including engineering and manufacturing.
“The CV Workshops for the APM are based on our popular project management careers clinics,” Hides said. “The session will be targeted directly at project management professionals which makes the opportunity pretty unique for conference attendees, there is no other careers advice and CV workshops specifically for project management professionals available in the marketplace.”
Holmes brings a solid background in Project Coordination and PMO Support to his work in helping candidates build and develop their CVs for better client attraction. Having worked primarily in the Financial Services sector, Holmes has experience using best practice processes and procedures whilst serving as the lone coordinator of the entirety of projects within a single programme.
“The advice we give to project management professionals is based on eight years experience of working within the project management recruitment field,” Holmes said. We know what organisations and employers want to see in professional CVs so the session is all about passing on advice, hints and tips that help job seekers make the most of their CV.”
The event is scheduled to be held from 9am-5.30pm 16th February at the Hilton Treetops Hotel, Aberdeen.
NOTES ABOUT THE ABERDEEN APM MEETING
“Developing Your Skills for Successful Projects” is not open only to members of the APM or even Aberdeen APM branch members. To learn more about booking your place at the event, go to www.apm.org.uk/scotland/eventDevelopi2.asp?pdate=0-0&branch=9.
For more information on the project management careers clinics at Arras People
www.arraspeople.co.uk/cand/careers_clinics.html.
Arras People Releases Snippet of Early Results from the 2010 Project Management Benchmark Report
Jan 13th
Heywood, Lancashire 13 January 2010
Arras People, the Project Management Recruitment Specialist have released early results from their 5th annual Project Management Benchmark Report. The annual report takes an in-depth look at current issues and hot topics within the Programme and Project Management (PPM) field; work/life balance, gender equality, public vs. private sector, training and accreditation, along with data points on salaries, remuneration and day rates.
Early Results
The data received so far suggests that a whopping 74% of Programme Managers work more than 40 hours per week out of which 40% put in more than 48 hours. This figure is up by 10.3% from the data collected 12 months ago. Over the twelve month period the Project and Change Manager spreads have shown a slight increase in hours worked. The support group however have seen two interesting moves which indicate additional pressure; firstly an increase in the numbers working < 35 hours by 2% suggesting additional part time roles whilst a 12% increase has been reported in those working more than 40 hours.
It would appear that we do have an increase in overall hours worked by the UKs PPM community; but what impact is this having on the perceived work life balance?
Looking back to the results of the 2007 survey the PPM community reported that 23.5% were unhappy with their work life balance with many stating long hours as the primary cause of this imbalance. Looking at the data collected so far in the current survey this figure has increased by a further 4% to indicate that 27.5% are now unhappy about their work life balance. When viewed against the hours worked a very clear picture is shown correlating longer hours with this dissatisfaction as can be seen below.
45% of our respondents who are working >48 Hours per week say they have an unacceptable work life balance compared to 15% of their peers who work between 35 to 40 hours per week!
Does Programme and Project Management have a Long Hours Culture?
From the data collected in this and previous years by Arras People for the Project Management Benchmark reports, an assumption can be made that, PPM does have a long hours culture. There are of course many other factors that come into play such as;
- Culture of the work environment
- Excessive quantity of reports, memos and e-mails to read and answer
- Frequent travel
- Ineffective time management or performance
- Lack of resources
- Organisational and management pressures causing unrealistic expectations
- Reluctance of managers to deal with the issue
- Training or professional development needs not addressed
- Unrealistic timescales
If 20% of any group feel the need to work >48 hours per week it would suggest that there are some ingrained issues that need to be addressed whether by the individuals concerned or the organisations that they work for. It can be seen from the data that long hours correlate to people having concerns about their work life balance and in turn this can lead to stress be it physical, psychological or behavioural. Whilst in the short term it may be a needs must situation it is surely not a sustainable long term solution. In PPM roles we cannot eliminate pressure but surely we have the nous to control excessive hours?
The Arras People 2010 Project Management Benchmark Survey is still open for UK based PPM practitioners to have their say. The online survey takes between 4 to 8 minutes to complete and will provide the data from which the Arras People Project Management Benchmark Report 2010 will be compiled. Those who complete this confidential survey can request their FREE copy of the report which will be published in early February 2010.
Project Management Benchmark Report 2010 – SURVEY OUT NOW
Dec 18th
This week saw the launch of our fifth annual Project Management Benchmark survey 2010. The survey takes a snapshot of the UK Project Management marketplace which is followed up by a report which is published in late January.
A massive 84% of Project Management Professionals believe they have a significant role to play in helping the UK economy out of its current difficulties 2009 Survey Highlights
The 2009 Project Management Benchmark Report explored how the credit crunch and economic down turn was affecting the project management community, their earning, their aspirations and professional issues.
This year we are taking an in-depth look at current issues and hot topics within the PPM field, issues such as work/life balance, gender equality, public vs. private sector, training and accreditation, along with the usual data points on salaries, remuneration and day rates so that we can add to the databank and provide comparisons to last year and predictions for 2010.
We need your help in building this report. We are now collecting data for the 2010 report asking all Project Management Professionals delivering in the UK to spare us some time to take part in our latest annual survey of the Programme and Project Management field. The data collected will provide the input into the annual Project Management Benchmark report 2010 which will be available at the end of January 2010.
Help us gain a realistic forecast for 2010; Take part in the Survey now
2010 Project Management Survey
Dec 2nd
Its that time of year again; while youre all getting ready for your Christmas breaks, Arras People is busy working away on their 5th annual Project Management report. The survey that gets everyone talking is back. For the last four years we have been working hard behind the scene to provide you with comprehensive reports on the UK Project Management Industry, giving you valuable insights into what is happening in this market.
2008 Survey Highlights
- - Recession has hit the project management market, with the majority of professionals fearing redundancies and cuts
- - Over a third of all respondents said they were worse off last year and 22% of freelancer experienced decreased rates, with a significant number (11%) experiencing cuts of more than 10%
- - Employees feared better than contractors with salary expectations being met in 2008
- - Project Managers are a resilient lot. Despite the widespread doom and gloom, only 8% described their personal situation as gloomy, 63% described their situation as steady and 18% as neutral
- - A massive 84% of Project Management Professionals believe they have a significant role to play in helping the UK economy out of its current difficulties
- - Public sector employees are better protected than private. Twice as many private sector employees and 5% more contractors expect rewards to fall in 2009
Interested in knowing what 2010 has in store for project managers, look out for the launch of the 2010 report survey and take part to find out the results. As always the results depend on you.
