After reviewing over 60 Junior Project Manager applications,

I’m a PM; a PM career coach helping people pivot to project management; and someone who has supported recruitment drives at work — from shortlisting to interviewing. Safe to say I know what a good application should be, especially if you’re pivoting from another career to project management. Here’s how you need to approach your supporting statement if you want to land interviews: 1. STOP listing duties “Managed a team of 5” tells me nothing. Instead, you should focus on outcomes and impact. Always ask yourself “so what?”. What changed because of what you did? And please, don’t dwell too much on percentages (I see this one too often & the percentages hardly make sense). 2. Don’t ignore transferable language One thing I say to my coachees is to write their applications like where they’re going to, not where they’re coming from. You’ve managed risk, stakeholders, and timelines, you just haven’t called it that yet. Write in a language the recruiter understands. 3. Always tailor the supporting statement to the criteria If the job spec lists five essential criteria, your statement should address all five explicitly. Don’t make the recruiter hunt for evidence. One simple way to do this is by sectioning your application using the criteria as the heading. 4. Use the language you see in the JD This is similar to the above 👆🏽 point. If the JD says “governance approach”, then “governance approach” must be scattered around your application. If they say “gateway process”, then use that phrase. Write for the person reading it, not for yourself. 5. Write like a storyteller! Keep in mind that the person sifting your application is a busy 9-5er with 100s of applications to get through. So why bore them? Give your application a good structure; let your thoughts be well articulated with a good flow. A good flow keeps their attention just a little longer (it’s basic psychology, leverage it). I hope this helps! Wishing you all the best x #fyp #projectmanager #projectmanagement