PM Network - August 2014

achieve and the market value we are trying to capture, then we figure out how many humans it will take to achieve those goals,” he says. If his team doesn’t have a needed skill, filling the gap becomes part of the risk registry.

“The mistake companies sometimes make is
assuming those resources will magically appear,” he
says. “Hiring managers don’t always understand the
hiring challenges recruiters face today.”
To manage talent-related risks, some companies
delay projects, reduce scope or rely on agile project
management approaches to deliver iterative pieces
of a project based on
their current access
to talent, while wait-
ing to fill open roles.

“That makes it even more critical to have project management expertise on the team,” Mr. Goli says. “Having strong project managers is extremely helpful when there are experience and skill gaps on the team. They understand the end-to-end life cycle of projects, and they know how to work with other teams impacted by the project.”

Track Them Down

When organizations’ rigorous talent searches don’t turn up the resources they need, they must take a long, hard look at their own hiring requirements.

“Think about need versus want,” says Chris
Murdock, senior partner and co-founder of IQTal-
ent Partners, an executive search firm in San Fran-
cisco. “If a position has been open more than 90
days and you aren’t finding anyone to fit the crite-
ria, you might need to change your criteria.”
Too-strict criteria can result in a position being
open for months at a time—and the attendant finan-

If you’re an IT professional with project management experience, you should be able to write your own ticket. Unemployment rates are incredibly low, and companies are waging fierce battles to lure experienced talent to their teams.

How do you ensure you’re getting
courted the way you should be? Don’t be
shy about letting people know who you are
and what you can do, says Chris Murdock,
IQTalent Partners, San Francisco, Cali-
fornia, USA. “You want to make yourself
incredibly visible.”
That means putting every credential,
skill set, acronym and relevant experience
in your LinkedIn profile, and making sure
there are no spelling or grammar errors. “If
you want to be found, people have to know
you have a desirable skill set,” he says. “It’s
good to over-share—but don’t lie, because you’ll get found out.”
You should also stay as current as possible with the latest tech
trends, says Shravan Goli, Dice.com, Santa Clara, California, USA.

He advises project practitioners in the tech industry to create a career roadmap for themselves that includes skills they want to develop and to look for opportunities to hone their current skills for future roles.

For example, project managers with a basic understanding of
Hadoop, open-source software for storing and processing big data,
are among the toughest experts to find right now. To become profi-
cient in Hadoop, you need Java experience, Mr. Goli says. “If you are
already a Java programmer, this is a great time to update your skills.”
He also encourages tech professionals to take part in industry
meetings, Meetups, tech forums and any other tech-focused events
where they can network and show off their skills. “Get yourself out
there and take every opportunity to shine.”

Toughest U.S.

Cities to Recruit Tech Talent

MIDWEST

St. Louis, Missouri Milwaukee, Wisconsin Little Rock, Arkansas Chicago, Illinois Detroit, Michigan

WEST COAST

Seattle, Washington Los Angeles, California San Francisco, California

EAST COAST

Tampa, Florida Boston, Massachusetts Washington, D.C.

New York, New York

Source: 2013 Dice Hiring Survey, Dice, 2014

cial losses. Many hiring managers fail to take that into account, Mr. Kazanjy says. “If the impact of not shipping your product on time is substantial, you need to adjust your priorities,” he says.

Adding relocation costs to a hiring package, breaking a role into two jobs or redistributing internal teams to higher-value tasks so that a less experienced professional can be brought on to support them are all strategies that can help close the talent gap, Mr. Murdock says.

Organizations also could consider hiring professionals with most of the skills needed and then training them for the rest. “Hiring managers today are so focused on hiring the perfect person for a job, they don’t realize that person may not exist,” Mr. Murdock says. —Sarah Fister Gale