Jobs, career advice and interview tips

A career in project management can take you in many directions. You might be looking for your first project coordinator role, aiming to step up into a senior project manager position, or preparing for a portfolio or PMO leadership move. Wherever you are in your career, understanding how to secure the right role and progress with confidence is essential.

This hub brings together practical, experience-based advice on getting a job in project management, positioning yourself for promotion and performing well at interview. The focus is not just on writing a resume or CV or memorizing model answers (in fact, don’t do that!). It is about building credible experience, demonstrating value and aligning your skills to what employers are really looking for.

Whether you are changing industries, returning after a career break or targeting your next promotion, you will find actionable guidance here to help you move forward strategically.

Getting a job


Breaking into project management or moving roles requires more than listing your responsibilities. Employers want evidence of outcomes, delivery capability and stakeholder impact. That means presenting your experience in a way that shows measurable results and commercial awareness. You know you can do it, you just have to frame it so everyone else does too!

Across RebelsGuideToPM.com you’ll find advice on:

• Writing a project management resume or CV that highlights achievements, not tasks
• Translating non-project roles into relevant project experience
• Understanding job descriptions and tailoring applications
• Using certifications strategically without relying on them alone.

Whether you are applying for project coordinator, project manager or PMO roles, this content will help you strengthen your application and stand out. Project Management apprenticeships are also worth investigating as a way into a job. Networking is another way to get your foot in the door. A few of my most popular articles on these topics are linked below as your starting point.

Preparing for and succeeding at interview

Interview performance is a skill in its own right. Strong candidates do not just answer questions; they provide structured, evidence-based examples that show how they manage risk, lead teams and deliver outcomes.

Look out for articles across the website to help you with:

• Preparing structured answers using real project examples
• Handling competency-based and behavioural interview questions
• Demonstrating leadership and stakeholder management skills
• Explaining project failures constructively
• Asking intelligent questions that show commercial maturity.

Preparation is about clarity and confidence. When you understand your own experience and can articulate it in terms of impact and results, interviews become far less daunting. Remember, you’re looking at them to find out if the role is a good fit for you as well. This interview goes both ways!

LinkedIn is also a good way to prepare yourself for outreach — these days, jobs come to you as often as you reach out for them. Find out how to add projects to your LinkedIn profile to showcase what you have delivered, and how to use LinkedIn to promote your project management skills.

Below, you’ll find my most-read articles on the job seeking process and how to get yourself ready for your application and interview.

Taking the next steps – career moves and promotions

Promotion is not just about tenure (thank goodness — I’m glad this has changed from years ago). Getting your next role is about visibility, impact and readiness for the next level of accountability. Many capable project managers stall because they focus solely on delivery and overlook stakeholder management, strategic alignment and influence.

Unfortunately, doing a good job isn’t enough. You also have to be able to talk about how you are doing a good job and get noticed for all the right reasons. Your line manager is busy, and while they most likely appreciate what you are doing, it’s not their responsibility to get your next move lined up for you — that’s on you. No one else is going to plan out your next career move and make it happen.

I’ve got a number of articles on the website that explore how to:

• Demonstrate leadership beyond your current role
• Build credibility with sponsors and senior stakeholders
• Show commercial awareness and strategic thinking
• Prepare to leave your current role in a professional way
• Have constructive career conversations with your manager.

If you want to move from project manager to senior project manager, program manager or PMO leader, this guidance will help you prepare deliberately rather than waiting to be noticed. Expect competency-based interview questions from the hiring organization at this level, so brush up your technical skills too and make sure you have examples to quote. Explore the popular resources below to get started!

Career tips and job seeking advice on YouTube!

Here’s a collection of videos from me and some of my favorite creators on the topic of getting your next (or first) job as a project leader, so have a browse through.

FAQ about job seeking as a project manager

Here are the questions I get asked the most often! From interview tips to the ‘right’ next steps, these things come up in my mentoring sessions time and time again.

How do I get a job in project management with no experience?

You can get a job in project management without formal experience by demonstrating transferable skills such as planning, coordination, stakeholder communication and risk awareness. You probably do have experience, but it just isn’t in a formal project management role. Anything you’ve done that you can talk about such as resolving conflict, dealing with customers, budget management, running workshops, sticking to a project schedule — it all counts.

Many professionals transition from operations, administration, IT, marketing or engineering roles into project positions. Focus your resume/CV on outcomes you helped deliver, not just your job title. Entry-level roles such as project coordinator or project support officer are often a good starting point.

What qualifications do I need to become a project manager?

There is no single qualification or certification required to become a project manager. Many employers value experience and delivery capability as much as certifications. Qualifications such as PRINCE2, APM Project Management Qualification or Project Management Professional (PMP®) or even a degree in a relevant subject can strengthen your application, but they don’t replace practical experience. The most effective approach is to combine relevant experience with targeted professional development.

My top tip is to learn a project management tool, but don’t try and learn them all. My preference would be one that teaches you how to create a Gantt chart, but any workplace management system or productivity tool will help you understand the key requirements for working in a project team and the kinds of ways software is used to support that.

There’s nothing to stop you from using a RAID log and change control, doing risk planning and using collaboration software on whatever day job you currently have. Then you can talk knowledgably about how you have used those resources when asked at interview.

How can I move from project coordinator to project manager?

To move from project coordinator to project manager, start by taking ownership of small workstreams, managing risks independently and leading meetings. Demonstrate that you can make decisions, manage stakeholders, hit deadlines and deliver outcomes, not just support others. You can contribute more in your role than just updating the risk log! Discuss your career aspirations with your manager and ask for stretch assignments that build leadership experience and problem solving skills.

Moving into a delivery role happens once you can demonstrate that you’re ready for greater accountability. You can do it!

What do employers look for in a project manager CV?

Employers look for evidence of delivery, leadership and measurable results, aligned to what they have asked for on the person description, role description or job details. A strong project manager CV/resume highlights successful your projects, things like budget responsibility, stakeholder management and risk mitigation. Use metrics and numbers wherever possible (I improved cycle time by 11%, I led a team of 15 people, this project generated cost savings of $10k per unit etc). Avoid long lists of responsibilities without context or outcomes, and don’t just stuff with keywords without saying how you have demonstrated those skills.

An interviewer is going to want to see things they can ask you about in interview, so include enough information to help them ask you scenario-based questions where you can draw from your experience.

Other articles on job seeking and interview readiness

Below you’ll find the full archive of articles related to how to take your next career steps. Use these resources to help you work out what would be best for you. Good luck!