Project Managers & Cost Managers, is there a shortage?
Discussion
Morning all, not sure if this is the right section so feel free to move.
The company I work for are really struggling to find Project Manager and Cost Managers. The company is a Property/Construction consultancy working across all sectors but we are really struggling to find good people at all levels. The department I work in are constantly interviewing but the people being interviewed have either very high expectations (probably fishing) or are not as good as their CV's make them out to be. I don't know if this is a sign of the industry picking up, or if any other companies are having the same issues. It really does seem as if there is a shortage.
What are other people in this industries experiences? Oh and feel free to send me your CV if you’re looking and I will pass it on
The company I work for are really struggling to find Project Manager and Cost Managers. The company is a Property/Construction consultancy working across all sectors but we are really struggling to find good people at all levels. The department I work in are constantly interviewing but the people being interviewed have either very high expectations (probably fishing) or are not as good as their CV's make them out to be. I don't know if this is a sign of the industry picking up, or if any other companies are having the same issues. It really does seem as if there is a shortage.
What are other people in this industries experiences? Oh and feel free to send me your CV if you’re looking and I will pass it on
MonkeyMatt said:
Morning all, not sure if this is the right section so feel free to move.
The company I work for are really struggling to find Project Manager and Cost Managers. The company is a Property/Construction consultancy working across all sectors but we are really struggling to find good people at all levels. The department I work in are constantly interviewing but the people being interviewed have either very high expectations (probably fishing) or are not as good as their CV's make them out to be. I don't know if this is a sign of the industry picking up, or if any other companies are having the same issues. It really does seem as if there is a shortage.
What are other people in this industries experiences? Oh and feel free to send me your CV if you’re looking and I will pass it on
If you are looking for good ones, there wil be a shortage. Always seemed to have been one to be honest. Looking for good project managers, cost or planning guys has been hard for a long time. I am a project manager for reference. The company I work for are really struggling to find Project Manager and Cost Managers. The company is a Property/Construction consultancy working across all sectors but we are really struggling to find good people at all levels. The department I work in are constantly interviewing but the people being interviewed have either very high expectations (probably fishing) or are not as good as their CV's make them out to be. I don't know if this is a sign of the industry picking up, or if any other companies are having the same issues. It really does seem as if there is a shortage.
What are other people in this industries experiences? Oh and feel free to send me your CV if you’re looking and I will pass it on
GT03ROB said:
If you are looking for good ones, there wil be a shortage. Always seemed to have been one to be honest. Looking for good project managers, cost or planning guys has been hard for a long time. I am a project manager for reference.
There just seems to be fewer than there were a few years ago, which is why I thought it might be down to an improving market and more competition for new recruits. Ultimately an improving market is a great thing but just means I am mega busy now as we need more staff, fancy a new job 
MonkeyMatt said:
GT03ROB said:
If you are looking for good ones, there wil be a shortage. Always seemed to have been one to be honest. Looking for good project managers, cost or planning guys has been hard for a long time. I am a project manager for reference.
There just seems to be fewer than there were a few years ago, which is why I thought it might be down to an improving market and more competition for new recruits. Ultimately an improving market is a great thing but just means I am mega busy now as we need more staff, fancy a new job What do you pay?
GT03ROB said:
To be honest from what I've seen it's been a case of not enough new blood coming into the industry to replace the retiring generation. The business is very cyclical & seems to bring in new blood in fits & starts, there's no conveyor belt of talent coming through.
What do you pay?
You are probably right, we have had some really good grads the last couple of years but not as many as we could have taken on. From a pay point of view I believe we are competative, but I will be honest what people are paid is above may payscale. What do you pay?
Off topic somewhat, so apologies, but out of mild interest, what qualifications/experience would someone need to even consider a move into Project or Cost management? I'm thinking someone early 40's with a business management/logistics/engineering background, hypothetically of course .
.GT03ROB said:
To be honest from what I've seen it's been a case of not enough new blood coming into the industry to replace the retiring generation. The business is very cyclical & seems to bring in new blood in fits & starts, there's no conveyor belt of talent coming through.
What do you pay?
Thats a fair assessment. In our industry (Rail) PMs are just poached from each other and moved around the industry. The focus on graduates at the moment seems to be to make them engineers, rather than Managment or PurchasingWhat do you pay?
Super Slo Mo said:
Off topic somewhat, so apologies, but out of mild interest, what qualifications/experience would someone need to even consider a move into Project or Cost management? I'm thinking someone early 40's with a business management/logistics/engineering background, hypothetically of course .
I've said it on here before as regards project management. There is project management & there is project management. There are those that have little experience but do a Prince training course or similar & can do a job as project manager. Then there are roles that are totally totally different which are also project management & for which the Prince practioner would never get into. So the short answer is it depends really what industry you want to be working in..Cost management again is sector dependent. Cost managers in the property sector come more from the surveying (building/quantity) background. In my sector it's from starting as a graduate or similar in relatively simple roles then building up. Personally I thing a good cost manager comes from someone with a good feel for finance/money/numbers, but more importantly they possess good common sense.
Unless you have worked in a particular sector it's a tough move at 40 as so much of whats looked for is previous experience. But as the OP said there is a shortage of people so it shouldn't put you off if you can show experience of that sector.
Super Slo Mo said:
Off topic somewhat, so apologies, but out of mild interest, what qualifications/experience would someone need to even consider a move into Project or Cost management? I'm thinking someone early 40's with a business management/logistics/engineering background, hypothetically of course .
With the right experience and skills moving into a specialist area of PMing would certainly be possible as a lot of companies are getting consultancies to pick up ever more specialist roles. Cost management would possibly require you to gain a degree in surveying and go the RICS route, although this is not always required..Thanks for that Matt & Rob. I will go away and do some research, to see if there's any common ground between my skill set and those required. I spent a lot of time in logistics planning, engineering and various management roles, and have planned and ran a number of small 'projects', although nothing like a proper PM role, mind you. Whether any of that is relevant is something I intend to find out.
Cheers for the comments.
Cheers for the comments.
I've just completed a PM degree as a mature student. From an overall cohort of about 120 students (some full time and some part time) I think the split was something like 80 Architectural Tech's, 20 Design Managers, and the remaining 20 were a pretty even split between Construction Managers, Project Managers and Cost Managers.
Architecture and design has the appeal to get large numbers in, but perhaps is very hierachical with lots of AT's supporting only a couple of big fee earning architects.
Architecture and design has the appeal to get large numbers in, but perhaps is very hierachical with lots of AT's supporting only a couple of big fee earning architects.
Burba said:
Matt
I'm a PM and ex-cost manager - happy to discuss opportunities for the right move.
Looking at long term moves abroad, but challenges are always attractive!
Hi Burba, I see you are London based. The company has loads of opportunities in London and I know a few guy who have made the move over to the states recently as we have several global offices. What sector are you working in? Feel free to pm me.I'm a PM and ex-cost manager - happy to discuss opportunities for the right move.
Looking at long term moves abroad, but challenges are always attractive!
Of topic so I apologize but what would be the best way to get into such a role? I am studying PRINCE2 foundation in my own time whilst working. I understand that it isn't welcomed by everyone but I am just trying to be practical with my self study time.
Are there entry level positions? Even as an assistant to be trained and shadow/learn skills of a retiring PM? I only come across jobs that are requiring 5 years experience before being considered.
Are there entry level positions? Even as an assistant to be trained and shadow/learn skills of a retiring PM? I only come across jobs that are requiring 5 years experience before being considered.
Ver.4 said:
Of topic so I apologize but what would be the best way to get into such a role? I am studying PRINCE2 foundation in my own time whilst working. I understand that it isn't welcomed by everyone but I am just trying to be practical with my self study time.
Are there entry level positions? Even as an assistant to be trained and shadow/learn skills of a retiring PM? I only come across jobs that are requiring 5 years experience before being considered.
What is your background and what sort of experince/qualifications do you have?Are there entry level positions? Even as an assistant to be trained and shadow/learn skills of a retiring PM? I only come across jobs that are requiring 5 years experience before being considered.
I suppose it all depends upon what you consider a PM to be, the chap now running the London Bridge job is late 30's on a circa £650m job.
Construction is a bit crazy at the moment, everyone is looking as there simply isn't enough talent out there.
I am obvioulsy working in Rail Civils, but NR, LU, Crossrail are all looking.
Construction is a bit crazy at the moment, everyone is looking as there simply isn't enough talent out there.
I am obvioulsy working in Rail Civils, but NR, LU, Crossrail are all looking.
MonkeyMatt said:
What is your background and what sort of experince/qualifications do you have?
I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering and only really came across this kind of work in one of the modules we had in the final year of university. In this I really enjoyed the challenge and type of work - planning, looking ahead, minimising risk and organising a team - I was appointed PM in a sizable assignment.Now I know that this is not going to be like the real world as it is just a made up scenario, however I really enjoyed it and found it to be the subject I spent extra time on purely out of interest.
I am currently working in a software engineering firm as an Application Engineer (have been doing for 18 months)- I am the guy who goes to train customers on how to use our products and then provide support to the projects as they are in production.
The above wont qualify me for anything near a PM role but it is something I am very interested in. I would even consider going through a graduate scheme or even as an assistant PM to learn the ropes.
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