Any finance/insurance PM's out there?

[MadDad]

I am curious as to what differentiates a PM in the financial sector to more generic PM roles?

I am currently looking for a new contract, I have been PM-ing for the best part of 10 years and have worked on traditional IT projects, business change/re-structures, project recovery, software deployments etc, I have worked for a software vendor, IT service providers, the NHS, telco's and media organisations and a few others but never a financial.

Although the market is on the upturn things are still a little slow apart from the finance sector which seems to be booming, however all roles demand previous experience of Finance, Insurance or Pensions. I have no doubt that they do require industry specific knowledge but wondered exactly what that is?, and what an experienced PM would need to do to make the transition?

Statements like 'Pensions experience essential' - what does this mean? I have a pension if that counts!!!

[elanfan]

Prime minister? Post menstrual? Parcel monkey?

[Countdown]

Are you referring to people who install Finance IT packages, such as SAP, Oracle etc?

If that's the case it helps if they know basic double entry accounting.

[MadDad]

Doh, should have been more specific!, I meant project managers!

I was not thinking so much about the technical packages used in the finance sector, more the fact that most ad's state 'pension/banking/insurance' experience a must - what exactly does that mean?

As the sector seems to be the most buoyant in the market I am quite interested in breaking into it but am struggling to establish what recruiters are looking for!

[Countdown]

Wild stab in the dark...I think it means PM's who have had experience of working in the finance sector

[MadDad]

Insightful, thanks for that!!!

[skeeterm5]

MadDad said:

I am curious as to what differentiates a PM in the financial sector to more generic PM roles?

I am currently looking for a new contract, I have been PM-ing for the best part of 10 years and have worked on traditional IT projects, business change/re-structures, project recovery, software deployments etc, I have worked for a software vendor, IT service providers, the NHS, telco's and media organisations and a few others but never a financial.

Although the market is on the upturn things are still a little slow apart from the finance sector which seems to be booming, however all roles demand previous experience of Finance, Insurance or Pensions. I have no doubt that they do require industry specific knowledge but wondered exactly what that is?, and what an experienced PM would need to do to make the transition?

Statements like 'Pensions experience essential' - what does this mean? I have a pension if that counts!!!

One of the reasons for asking for experience is due to the massive amount of regulation in the industry, a PM who doesn't really understand some of the nuances of this can be quite a liability.

S

[MadDad]

skeeterm5 said:

One of the reasons for asking for experience is due to the massive amount of regulation in the industry, a PM who doesn't really understand some of the nuances of this can be quite a liability.

S

Thanks, that makes sense - it would be useful if recruiters could specify what regulatory rules are required!

Talking to a recruitment agent last week and he stated that the finance sector simply could not get enough contract resources for the projects on the go at the moment, however recruiting organisations are not willing to take on experienced staff and educate them in the industry specific knowledge required to work in finance! Catch 22 I guess........

Funny thing was, when I questioned the recruitment agent on what 'pensions experience' meant he had no idea!!!!

[skeeterm5]

and given the changes just announced in the recent budget, knowing what you are talking about is even more important as lots of organisations scramble to be ready for next April.

S