Rather appropriately, I met up with Tim just before this month’s Tech Tuesday event at the Marshes Golf Club. I’m a fan of networking and what better event at which to meet than Tech Tuesday’s? Definitely a good start. It got better. Tim explained that he’d discovered a real passion for project management through his work in bid support and coordination (all of us who’ve done bids know how critical the project management aspect can be for large ones) and that he’d even gotten his PMP on his own. He’d started to look around where he currently works for these roles and just recently learned that his current role will disappear in a few months. Now he has real incentive.
Tim started to aggressively seek out internal opportunities. There’s one box checked off. My only contributions were for Tim to extend this same approach and focus outside of where he works using Linkedin and face to face networking to better advertise his skills and experience. You cannot rely solely on your internal (current employer and colleagues) network but rather must always be growing it. A lot of us have fallen into that trap. But you need to look beyond what’s immediate and comfortable. That also requires you to think about the story you want to tell to people who don’t know you. Again, Linkedin is that critical introduction tool.
For Tim, this translates into some Linkedin effort, more external outreach and also a requirement to foster relationships with staffing agencies that seek out project management talent. That would significantly increase his visibility and what he can offer to the people and organizations that can use his skills.
And yes, I forgot a picture. In my defense, there was food and beer so both my hands were full.... :-)
Tim started to aggressively seek out internal opportunities. There’s one box checked off. My only contributions were for Tim to extend this same approach and focus outside of where he works using Linkedin and face to face networking to better advertise his skills and experience. You cannot rely solely on your internal (current employer and colleagues) network but rather must always be growing it. A lot of us have fallen into that trap. But you need to look beyond what’s immediate and comfortable. That also requires you to think about the story you want to tell to people who don’t know you. Again, Linkedin is that critical introduction tool.
For Tim, this translates into some Linkedin effort, more external outreach and also a requirement to foster relationships with staffing agencies that seek out project management talent. That would significantly increase his visibility and what he can offer to the people and organizations that can use his skills.
And yes, I forgot a picture. In my defense, there was food and beer so both my hands were full.... :-)
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