Should IT Project Managers have a technical background?

The answer should be YES! Nowadays it is very easy to become an IT Project Manager. If you get a certificate for project management, chances are that you on the top 10 hiring list. And this without any IT background. Why? Because you have a certification!

(Don’t get me wrong here. It is not about getting a certification or not. Certifications are useful. It should not be the only measuring factor for recruiters and companies!)

The IT Project industry is only looking for candidates with certifications. In the recruitment world selections take place upon qualifications. It doesn't matter if you have an IT background or not. Most of the recruitment institutions don’t even want to know you.

How do you select someone you don’t want to know. By its qualifications and references. Why do recruiters don’t want to know you? Because it costs them valuable time and money to do so.

Our current society fails in taking the time and get someone to know better. Especially in the IT business where time and money is always short. This is one of the reasons that IT Projects fail.

An experienced IT Project Manager is adapting. He or she knows upfront if an IT Project is ambitious or unrealistic. How can certified, non-technical project managers, execute a project with success? The answer is they only can on paper but not in reality. Of course there are many more factors.

In my carrier I have asked to pick-up countless already started projects. It was clear that the organizations only interest were results. It didn’t matter anymore if you followed Prince2, or any other method. It didn’t matter if you took shortcuts or overruled the standard change process. Why, because it did cost the organization already lots of money and they didn’t want to spent any more.

If they only had took some time to find out if the candidate had had experience. But they didn't. All that matters was relaying on certificates and references.

I have never seen people starting in construction, because the have a certificate. That is with a Prince2 or equal certificate. Yet, people from other sectors are starting in IT all the time. Most of them got a certified as a Project Manager recently.

So, I’m asking you, would you hire an IT Project Manager based on certification or based on experience?

I like to encourage all recruitment agencies to look for specialists with experience. Do not only look after references and certifications. Do not run through CV’s with CTRL + F! Take your time and read the CV careful! For both employer and recruiter: “Take the time to get to know the people you like to hire!”

Of course you also could ask: “Are references trustworthy and of this time? But this is a topic for another time.