Position: Project management o;cer, BNP Paribas,
a bank and ;nancial services company in Singapore
Hitting the Books: It took Mr. Vadlakonda two
years to break into project management. He graduated from college with an IT degree and says it was
hard, at ;rst, to persuade his higher-ups to consider
him for project management roles. “I always wanted
a project management career, but my supervisor at
the time didn’t encourage it. I was told, ‘You were a
technical graduate, so you have to work in a technical environment for a period and move to a project
management career eventually,’” he says.
“My passion helped me more than anything else,”
says Mr. Vadlakonda, who did what students do well—
he studied. “I got my Certi;ed Associate in Project
Management (CAPM)® certi;cation, I kept learning,
and eventually got my ;rst job in project management
at UBS.” ;at position, a front o;ce credit desk support analyst, was partly technical and partly project
management, he says, but it got his foot in the door.
Helping Out: Studying project management helped
Mr. Vadlakonda land his ;rst job in the ;eld—but
it wasn’t enough on its own. He also volunteered.
Determined to move into project management, he
started volunteering with the technology division of
his local PMI chapter—gaining valuable experience
along the way. “When I started interviewing for
project positions, my volunteer experience stood
out.” An interviewer at Citi who eventually became
his manager drilled him on his volunteer tasks.
“;ey weren’t huge tasks, just coordinating people
and projects, but it showed that I knew how to com-
municate and how project management works.”
After he landed the position in Citi’s project
management o;ce (PMO), Mr. Vadlakonda’s manager told him it was his volunteer experience, more
than his professional background, that earned him
the job. “He thought to himself, ‘Even if he’s a new
guy and less experienced, he must be passionate
about project management because he doesn’t even
get paid and still does it.’”
Making the Most of Social Media: To keep his
network growing, Mr. Vadlakonda connects on
LinkedIn with each new person he meets at professional events. He also participates in LinkedIn project management groups, joins in discussion threads
and reads project management blogs. “Whenever I
get a connection suggestion from LinkedIn, I look at
people’s pro;les and send them an invite explaining
my career, asking about theirs and o;ering ways we
could potentially help each other,” he says.
Bhanu Vadlakonda, CAPM, 29 years old
When I started interviewing for project
positions, my volunteer experience stood out.
They weren’t huge tasks, but it showed that
I knew how to communicate and how project
management works.”
—Bhanu Vadlakonda, CAPM
