​MindGenius is your all-in-one project management software tool, ideal for small-medium projects and organizations. MindGenius mind-mapping software allows you to bring your information to life, visualize your ideas and achieve your project goals. MindGenius product is also ideal for homeworking as it allows you to include other workers to edit your maps your maps, as well as being able to share and export your files in conjunction with a variety of different tools such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft Office Suite and more.

• Concentration - MindGenius realizes that true concentration has to come from within yourself. However, MindGenius has the ability to stimulate your brain with map designs, fonts and color's to keep your ideas fun and bring your information to life.
  
  
  
• Task Management - MindGenius' Gantt view allows you to view tasks, big or small, that have yet to be completed. This is multi-purpose and can be used either for your project or during your normal working day to ensure you stay on track.
  
  
  
• Communication - MindGenius' Online product, now with a 45-day free trial (to sign up click here) allows you and your team to view and edit the same map, making collaborating and communicating with those you work with easier than ever. You no longer have to be cut off from those around you, instead, work together and achieve more using MindGenius.
  
  
  
• Engaging content - MindGenius maps have the ability to bring your information to life with an exciting range of colors and dynamic views.
  
  
  
• Sharing - MindGenius gives you the ability to share your projects on a wide range of platforms, making it easier than ever to manage your project from the comfort of your home. Share your maps through platforms such as OneDrive, Dropbox, Microsoft Office Suite and Google Drive as well as using HTML export. Alternatively, you can also share your maps via social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook.
  

​Are you looking to expand your project management infrastructure by hiring a new project manager? Or perhaps several new project managers? Or maybe you made some bad hiring decisions and lacked the PM experience in the organization to experience success on some of the more complex technical engagements that have come your way. What do you do? Who do you look for? Where do you look?


I have some tips on hiring the best PMs available that I’d like to share – and I welcome additional thoughts from our readers as well. Here are my top 5 tips for getting your PM stocked with the best of the best in terms of project management resources…


Look at leadership skills. The best of the best project managers have great leadership skills. It does take skills and the right personality to get your project team to follow you into battle no matter what. Not everyone has it and not all PMs have it. The most successful ones do, however. Look for that in the hiring process and design questions around that thought. Ask something like, “Tell me about a project where you had to make an unpopular decision and how your team reacted to that.” The best can make their team understand why it had to be and they managed to get the best out of their team and that situation anyway.


Look at tech skills. Even if the types of projects that you generally service aren’t all technical in nature, general tech skills are going to help most project managers. They show an analytical side that project managers need to have in order to succeed more often than they fail.


Look for passion. Project managers need passion when leading projects. They are driven to finish successfully, they are driven to serve their project clients and they are driven to successfully lead their project teams and get the best and the most out of them. Look for a passion for the position you’re discussing with them and a passion for the profession in general. If you don’t see it or hearing during the conversation, move on to the next candidate. And stay away from the whiners. If they are complaining at length about a past position or organization, run away. You probably don’t want them. If they say something about not getting proper project support from a senior leader, then that may indicate passion for the project and frustration with not being able to give 110% to the project customer. That’s ok.


Get some detail on project successes. You can tell BS from reality if you’re a good interviewer or hiring manager. When those candidates start talking about past projects if it rolls of the tongue like a 2nd language, you know they know what they’re talking about and aren’t giving you some rehearsed lines from a page. They go into details about dollar amounts, team sizes, struggles they worked through, etc. You’ll probably hear about their weaknesses and strengths without even needing to ask because it will come out in the discussion of their past experiences with projects and project clients.


Emphasize experience over certification. If you want certification, that’s fine. But don’t overlook the experienced PMs out there who have been through it. So many great project managers do not have certification. If you just overload your staff with certified PMs and don’t get good, experienced project leadership on board, you will be sorry…guaranteed. And look anywhere. You can hire a great PM in another city, state or country and use them remotely….possibly with some travel required. A very good PM will be self-disciplined enough to manage one to many projects very well in a remote situation. And that way you can get great talent that you might otherwise not get because they don’t want to relocate and in this economy you probably don’t want to pay for relocation anyway. You don’t have to – remote can work to your advantage.


Summary


I think we all know that hiring good staff in any position is an art form – it is NOT luck. Be careful, be aware, and be prepared to ask the right questions. Look for knowledge about projects, customers, financials, resource management – all those things that go into being a good project manager on a daily basis.


What about our readers – what are your tips on hiring the right project managers for your PM infrastructure? And PMs looking for positions – what are your questions or experiences that you’re running into in the marketplace? Share and discuss.

Are you a candidate for a new project management position in your organization or at another company and you are preparing for the interview? If so, there are some strategies that can help you. One, is to ask a few pointed questions to get detailed information about the PM infrastructure.

You want to ask questions – always ask questions – especially when the interviewer asks if you have any questions. Ideally, you want to answer questions with a positive response. Try to avoid, “no” or “I don’t know” or “I’ve never had experience with that”, etc. Instead, search for ways to apply experience, a quantifiable success story or highlight your leadership qualities.

Make sure to ask intelligent questions. Make them worthwhile so that you are actually gathering information that will help you determine whether or not this is your dream job.

Here are 5 legitimate fact finding questions you can (should?) ask in your next interview for a project management position.

What is your average size project in terms of dollars and team members?

This type of question – a good quantifiable question – makes the interviewer think hard and will allow you to follow-up (possibly) in terms of size of projects and teams that you have led or worked with.

Do you have business analysts assigned to the projects?

You want to know this because this gives you an idea of the level of project management oversight vs. hands-on tech work on requirements, functional design, test preparation, etc. If there are no BAs – and that does happen – then usually what they are looking for is a project manager-business analyst combo position. If so, make sure you are experienced in both areas and willing to play both roles.

Is there a PMO?

Tell me about the structure of your PMO. Finding out details about their project management infrastructure will help you frame your other questions as well as your responses to the interviewer questions. It may also, ultimately, help you decide whether you want to accept the position should it be offered to you.

Does the pool of project managers run through policies, tools and templates annually to discuss changes and improvements?

This is a good one because often PMO’s and pools of project managers will have annual getaways or working sessions where they brainstorm on process improvements… think of it as a huge internal lessons learned session. It can be fun, but most of all, it’s productive and tells you something about the progressive and focused nature of the organization’s project management infrastructure.

Not in their protocol? Well this may give you a leadership edge to spearhead this effort in the near future if you are up for the challenge.

Describe the process flow of the average project through the organization from conception to completion.

This response will give you insight to when the PM gets involved, what the pre-engagement project structure or process looks like and what handoff to support looks like.

Summary

No one can guarantee, of course, that any particular conduct or Q&A in an interview will ensure that you get hired. However, asking compelling questions like these during the interview will show the interviewer your genuine interest and will most likely leave a lasting impression.

Project Management ChatHow about our readers – what suggestion questions or tips do you have for other readers seeking a first time or new project management position?

Questions or comments? Feel free to share them below!

It’s especially tough when you have applied for a job where it appears that you’re a perfect match for the position. Why weren't you picked? And why haven’t you heard from the employer after you spent so much time and effort writing a perfect cover letter to send with your well-written resume?...

Cheetah Learning - the #1 provider of Project Manager Professional (PMP) preparation and certification training - touts a 98% success rate in getting their students certified and says they can do it in 4 days of prep, you take the test on Friday of that week and you're done... fully trained and guaranteed to pass that Friday test.

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When you register for Cheetah, Exam Prep, they will help them complete PMI’s eligibility action and once approved, BEFORE your Cheetah class starts you schedule your PMP exam for the Friday the week of your Cheetah class.  

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