by Mike Ososki, PMP

Announcing!

• Now accepting nominations for 2025 Executive Board of Directors Elections
• Sat 8/23 – Career Series event: Brand and Land ChatGPT for Project Management
• Thurs 10/2 – Career Series event: “Can Recruiters Find You?” with Al Smith
• PMP Study Group Fall Session 8/19 to 10/21

As the most recent Career Series event, five savvy recruiters shared their time and advice with ~130 attendees, speaking about various aspects related to their work, your work, job-hunting, resumes, and more. Many thanks to Amy Chestnut, Rare Disease Research; Chris Auer, Apex Systems; Erin West and Mike Christoferson, Vaco; Kateryna Hodovaniuk, KForce. 

... and thanks to Thomas Wooldridge, PMP, for moderating the event.

Resumes are always a hot topic, and everyone had plenty to say about them. Kateryna declared that there is no job shortage, and you just need to stand out from 100 other people. She encourages us to try something different, and don’t remove information from your resume.

Mike feels that AI may now be used too much in resumes, and it’s more important to be honest and genuine. He prefers the 1-page resume or 2-pages max, or maybe 3-4 okay, but it had better be great content!

For best clarity, Chris likes to see both the month and year for durations, including gaps. He is fine with long resumes as long as their content is good. He, too, advocates to be concise, honest, transparent, genuine and authentic—be you. Don’t try to cater to the ATS too much.

Erin says that a 3-4 page resume is good and you can always reduce information, but can’t add it if it’s not there to begin with. She encourages to show off accomplishments on page-1, and to trust the recruiter for how best to present to each specific client.

Amy is big on showcasing accomplishments, preferably quantified. What did you do well and improve for the companies in your past work? If unemployed, she recommends to do volunteer work. Also be found on LinkedIn by using good descriptors. There is no magic formula one-size-fits-all for resumes.

No matter the length, everyone agrees that being honest and concise is the best approach. Hiring managers do not want to swim through irrelevant wordiness.

Other tips and tidbits:

• Medium-size companies are hiring more than large ones, for both FTE and contract roles.
• Knowing how to work with AI will increase your value, but don’t over-rely on it.
• It’s about a 50/50 mix between project manager hiring and layoffs at this time.
• Shorten information for older jobs—maybe just company, title and duration.
• If your experience is government work, target highly regulated businesses.
• Be proactive and prepare well to anticipate and overcome objections.
• Be ready with answers re/your contract vs. permanent work history.
• It’s increasingly important to be skilled with change management.
• Make personal connections with hiring managers and recruiters.
• Customize your resume to each specific job description.
• Atlanta is both a huge and small market.
• Connect with recruiters on LinkedIn.

by Mike Ososki, PMPOn June 7th, about 250 gathered at Brook Run Park in Dunwoody for the annual picnic, included PMI Atlanta leaders, volunteers, members, and families. Weather was perfect, as we managed to slot in between all the rain of surrounding days—great timing, planners! All the rest of the affair was also impeccably planned and pulled off swimmingly, as one might expect from a group of professional project managers. Check out our Photo Gallery!

Upon arrival, first stop was the registration table to get names checked off the list, and claim lanyards and tickets for lunch, a King of Pops treat, and the raffle. Next, SWAG time, (all PMI Atlanta-branded, of course :) ... full-size insulated backpacks containing a classy ball cap, frisbee, luggage tag, and wildflower seeds. Then the volunteers got to claim their light blue T-shirts, emblazoned with the confident “You’re Following a Leader” wording on back.

The ambiance was a typical large gathering summer picnic vibe, under a big pavilion with plenty of big picnic tables. A pro DJ was pumping out the groovy tunes, old and new, with occasional dancing by the more bold and free-spirited/less self-conscious and mostly ladies. Plenty of games were available throughout, like jumbo Jenga blocks, 3D tic-tac-toe, and big Connect4 panels. Expert face-painters adorned both kids and adults with a nice variety of artful designs. Balloon twisters concocted creative forms that everyone enjoyed.

There were three upscale food trucks serving up delish offerings. Our “Patty Wagon” choice hit the spot with mouth-watering burgers (veggie patty choice, too!), super flavor fries, cole slaw and soft drinks by the can. I’m confident that the other two trucks—luau bowl from Hapa Kitchen and chicken and waffles from Flavor on the Fork—delivered equally mouth-watering lunches.

Lucky raffle prize winners made their claims, and, of course, our hard-working volunteers were honored for their invaluable contributions that make PMI Atlanta Chapter wheels spin in good directions. Thank you one and all!

By Mike Ososki, PMP

This is how BrewDog Atlanta’s front door entry floor welcomes all patrons into their fine establishment—a funny irony for project managers! Nevertheless, we welcomed our new members here, and had a great time. The venue-provided food was excellent, along with a free drink ticket, 3 separate subgroup meetings, and everyone enjoying plenty of friendly networking.

One of the 3 subgroup meetings was “How I Used PMI to Grow My Career,” an activity in which nearly everyone has great interest. Joe Sisto (Chair-Elect of PMI Atlanta’s Board of Directors) led this one with great encouragement to new members. When Joe first became a PM in 1998, some discouraged him, saying that the profession was “like being a secretary.” (No disrespect to secretaries! :), but Joe didn’t see it that way. He states that project management is his passion, and knows that good PMs have great impact to drive success for projects, people, and companies. When Joe asked, “Why do you want to be a project manager?,” new member Ken Ellzey had a great answer: “It’s the way my brain works.”

Another subgroup was “Getting the Most Out of Your Membership.” This one, led by Allison Gardner (AVP New Membership) covered all the many offerings and ways PMI can be an invaluable resource to advance people, the profession, and their employers. Between education, events, networking, volunteers, job searching, mentoring, and the list goes on, please consider to participate and to give and receive the many resources that makes our organization great.

Finally, the Bingo Networking group rounded out the subgroups, with strong emphasis on the networking part, as there were less playing the game while everyone just kept talking with each other—and that’s what it’s mostly about, right?—good communication! Making new friends, building relationships, and helping each other as able seemed to be the general theme of the evening in this fun-driven atmosphere.

By Mike Ososki, PMP

It’s a gigantic topic, pervasive and powerful throughout the millenia: leadership. So Dr. Abhay Trivedi and CEO Andrew Russell wrote a book about it, sourcing from the specific perspective that leadership is to bring out the best in others. And to achieve this, you must be selfless, have integrity, and maybe most important of all, “raise your inner self.”

Most organizations want to do well, to serve stakeholders, be lean, innovative, and efficient. To serve community, create smart products and services, and deliver value for customers. To be high quality, serve employees well, and of course, be successful.

But the reality for many organizations is not so pretty: too many changes in top management, rigid corporate policies, short-term perspective, and money focus vs. human value all contribute instead to commoditization and mediocrity.

Leaders are responsible for vision, strategy, change management, talent acquisition, perception, integrity, and principles—so much! In Dr. Trivedi’s opinion, “leaders need to create a culture of complete transparency.” This includes openness, with everyone feeling free to share and collaborate, discuss any ideas with peers and supervisors, openly offer construction criticism. And no criticizing behind people’s backs.

Abhay is all about innovation and fresh thinking, always encouraging positive disruptors and discouraging groupthink. He asserts that good solutions can come from anywhere/anyone, and that “smart” people are not always right. Leaders should strive to build a culture of innovation, which does not necessarily require lots of money or resources. And of course, risk is part of achieving success. 

Being challenged can help leaders lead well. Nick Saban says, “Mediocre people don’t like high achievers, and high achievers don’t like mediocre people.” To excel, we must be challenged: set goals, get mentored, understand long-term risk/reward, have discipline and focus, and learn from experience and failures. 

Change management is essential. To change from current to needed states, proactive leaders know how to morph individual and organizational resistance into buy-in. They’re familiar with the Kubler-Ross model of stages, moving from denial, anger, and resistance to exploration and negotiation, and finally to acceptance and commitment. 

The power of human vision is especially apparant in technical realms. Science fiction becomes more real every day. Transformational leadership makes this happen, the kind that challenges status quo to dream the formerly impossible. Another type is servant leadership, where top management prioritizes employee needs. Finally, there is the traditional transactional type of leadership, ensuring equal give and take fo expectations and effort.

Want to do all or some of this? Back to “raise your inner self.” Analyze your knowledge, beliefs, experience, values, and surroundings. Strive to convert barriers and obstacles into opportunities and achievements. Focus on value. Live in the present. Be relevant and empower your resources.