First of all, I’ll start with the question, what does it mean to be a project manager? Is it a profession or a role?

In an article published in Globes* (March 31, 2022), Orna Rudi explained that project managers usually come to this position after professionalizing their position and after the desire to make a change or upgrade. i.e. , someone who studied engineering could be the project manager of a robot experiment, for example, or someone who worked as an architect could become the manager of a certain building design project, but they would not be able to replace each other. And so, even though this is a matter that can be a bit philosophical, I connected with this opinion that a project manager is a role and not a profession, although I can also argue the opposite.

And hence, my ability to fulfill this role of project manager depends on three things.

One, I need a professional manager who can fill the professional gap that exists with me. The question being asked is, why isn’t he promoted to be the project manager? The answer is divided into two main reasons – the first, losing an excellent team member in favor of administrative bureaucracies is not always equal to the company. The second, not everyone is suitable to be a COO – Chief Operating Officer.

The second thing, a manager should have the ability to order and organize, delegate authority, prioritize tasks, have an overall vision of the company’s needs and a host of other qualities. When I started working, I knew I had some of them, another part I discovered or developed while performing the job and another part is still missing..

The third, accepting the opportunity given to me by the CEO. He recognized these qualities in me and trusted me that they would make up for the lack of experience.

So from my point of view and experience, I’m turning to you managers, and want to recommend when and why you should hire someone without experience, for a position where experience is almost always considered a necessary requirement.

If most jobs require project management experience, how do we find a job anyway?

At first I’ll say that every company has its own organizational culture and its goals, so this method cannot be suitable everywhere. The company I work for started as a very small company of a few people that slowly grew. When the company team grew to six people (and a few more freelancers), along with the fact that in such a small company the CEO himself is also part of the key team, it was time to get help. Someone is needed to manage the work for him, divert the fire from him, reduce the load of phone messages and emails, coordinate the meetings, hold team talks and meetings when necessary, and also be responsible for the vacations and sick days of the employees, be an operations manager. The new person will manage everything possible for him in order to take the load off him and let him continue to deal with his main affairs as CEO, and allow him to bring about the growth of the company. Well, in such a situation, all that is needed is someone with abilities, who will only want the opportunity to get a position The first such and will strive to prove himself, succeed, and start gaining experience.

From experience, these employees are the most loyal, want the best for the company, because the feeling is that if the company is successful it is thanks to them.

Another reason to hire an inexperienced employee is the fact that the company is growing, so you should tell him in the hiring interview. Job definitions will change and change shape as seniority in the company accumulates. for example,I am not only a project manager for the company. I am also responsible for the management of the office, the operation with clients, writing quotes, scheduling meetings, accepting new employees, in some positions an admissions interview, unfortunately part of the position also includes hearings and dismissals, organizing conferences of dozens of participants, responsibility for welfare and small happy hours, Guarantee for toasts and holidays. In other words, in the bottom line, workers at the beginning who want to prove themselves, will gladly and willingly accept additional positions.

What’s more, it’s important to check in the resume that the candidate has gained some experience with multi-tasking, any operational position in the army, or the operation of people in one way or another can be a good basis for the position of project management and operational management. Management abilities can even be evaluated by the way the candidate functions as a parent. The way he manages the children’s, family and work schedule, in addition to his own time management. But this is of course in addition to significant additional management from a previous workplace, including from the army.

The parents keep their children’s diaries and calendars on their phones in addition to their work and their lives. I find that those who manage to do this in an orderly manner, will not be frightened by the load that the job can bring with it.

In conclusion, as long as the professional subject has an arrangement, a project manager or operations manager in small developing companies can be without experience and even be more successful. A project manager with experience, can be what is called overqualified for this position. This is the opportunity for both the employers and those who are looking to enter as a first position in the world of project management and operational management for a Win Win situation. The job seekers have a small place to experiment and develop, and for the employer to have someone who wants to give everything just for the opportunity to prove himself.

Link to the article in Globes:

https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001407632