Too often, PMs stay reactive—responding to tasks, chasing titles, and taking opportunities without asking: "Is this what I actually want?" This chapter will help you:
Output: A 12-month clarity plan that includes your values, goals, and non-negotiables
I think the framework for getting a job as a project manager is really important. It's really simple, but it's really important.
The first thing is to identify what you really want, because if you don't know what you really want, then how do you get a job? The way you do that is by thinking very deeply—thinking very deeply and writing slowly and writing long. Ideally, write by hand, making sure that you can think about what you want.
Then there's your information advantage. Your information advantage is the thing that makes you uniquely you. Lots of people have a project management degree, an engineering degree, etc. But everyone has different things that make you you. By leaning into the things that make you uniquely you, you have an information advantage that others can't copy.
Then there's translating your experience into PM language. I see a lot of people who have experience, but they don't write their experience as a project manager would. So companies who are hiring look at this and say, "This is not a project manager's experience," because they haven't written it in that way.
The way that you can get that experience without actually having the experience is to start by teaching people. Teaching doesn't have to be this big thing that you do—teaching can be a little thing. It can actually be teaching when no one's really there. You can teach by writing, you can teach by having webinars, by creating social media content, LinkedIn content. But teaching helps you to understand what you know and to translate what you know, and to also learn more.
The next thing is to solve super hard problems, because anybody can solve easy problems and there's really no point in that. But by identifying the hardest problem that you can possibly solve, you make a big difference. Companies see that you can solve super hard problems. Over time, the problems that you solve get harder as you get more skilled.
Many people think, "I'm not a leader, I don't have employees working for me, there's no one that I can help." But you can lead without a title, just like you can start by teaching when there's no one there. You can lead without a title—you can help those around you.