Public sector project mgt....

[northernrampage]

I had a random public sector query....

When agencies say "must have public sector experience" for PM roles is there a specific reason or is it just regarding the culture?

Reason I'm asking is that I have public sector experience (approximately 4 years), but 2 years of that is 13 years ago doing different jobs to my current PM skillset, other 2 is from 20 years ago.

I am just curious to see if a certain skillset is required, or if it's to do with being able to deal with bureaucracy/culture.

[BA to the Stars]

I would say that it is a bit of both. The culture within the public sector is quite different to that within the private sector. Public sector do tend to be more strict with regards documentation, etc.

HTH.

[RichardCranium]

a) The bureaucracy/culture. Some people go from years in the private sector into the public sector and cannot come to terms with the paperwork, processes, lethargy and work-evasion. So they quickly leave again. By recruiting those that have worked in the sector, the agent can eliminate that risk.

b) It does help if you are already familiar with the actual application of PRINCE2 and the OGC gateway processes and EU procurement rules (OJEU and all that) rather than "PRINCE Lite" or "PINO" (i.e. it is only ever used in job descriptions).

c) There are currently so many people applying for PM roles that the agents are adding selection criteria that were not requested by the client just to reduce the number of applicants.

[northernrampage]

Okay, thanks for feedback. Documentation was never my favourite area, to have it increased may not work.

b) It does help if you are already familiar with the actual application of PRINCE2 and the OGC gateway processes and EU procurement rules (OJEU and all that) rather than "PRINCE Lite" or "PINO" (i.e. it is only ever used in job descriptions).

c) There are currently so many people applying for PM roles that the agents are adding selection criteria that were not requested by the client just to reduce the number of applicants.

Yup, I'm PRINCE Lite, I use elements of PRINCE 2, but it's mainly the set-up stages, not all the stage boundary stuff. And I have no idea what EU procurement rules are.

I will focus on what I'm used to. Cheers.