How to project manage your career (by being brave and reaching out)

James Pearce, APM’s Apprentice of the Year, tells Charles Orton‑Jones all about his self‑improvement mission

James Pearce “Know thyself” is an ancient bit of wisdom, supposedly etched on the temple of the Oracle of Delphi, fortune teller to the Greeks. Less clear is how one does that in a professional way. Mentors? Career advice? Therapy? James Pearce, portfolio analyst in group IT at Rolls‑Royce reveals his own take on this – his own homebrew method. “It’s a PowerPoint presentation” he says. “I thought about the key project management competencies, and where I’m at. This is the result.” The item in question is a 19‑page presentation by Pearce, about himself, to himself.

The first slide is a radial chart offering an overview of his readiness across 12 categories, such as cost management, contracts and procurement, and communications. At a glance, he can see how prepared he is for the range of demands a project manager faces. The slides are varied. There are mind maps for his career development. Ladder charts. Feedback from his company CEO Warren East and others. And detailed statements of his future path. Pearce is literally project managing himself.

Brutal self‑scrutiny

“I drew it up to ask, where am I at the moment? Where am I well developed, and where do I need to focus? The chart says I’m a three out of five in cost management. After my current role I’ll be a four or five out of five.” For the contracts and procurement category, he scores one out of five. This is a brutally honest bit of self‑scrutiny.

Still only 23, Pearce began his research a few years earlier when he scoped out the ideal path to the top. “I went to speak to different leaders at Rolls‑Royce to ask them about their key experiences, key roles, advice, motivations and insights. I learned that it’s good to spend 18 months in a role, which is long enough to learn about the area, but not too long to get comfortable. These are things I’ve tried to base my career on.”

He’s since turned career progression into a science. It’s easy to see why this genial chap won APM Apprentice of the Year 2020. Not to mention the RateMyApprenticeship National Apprentice of the Year in 2018. The result of this analysis, combined with a strong work ethic, is a stellar career. And Pearce is a role model for others, too. He got started with an apprenticeship and has made it his mission to champion them to the new generation of project managers.

Never too young to mentor

“My old school sixth form has reached out multiple times for me to go back and give careers talks,” he explains, adding his next session is just a few days away. “I talk about apprenticeships, and my successes, if you can call them that. I’ve done it for the past three years.” He also mentors new arrivals at Rolls‑Royce. So far, three apprentices have benefited from his guidance, which includes nitty‑gritty skills like application writing and interview techniques.

His perspective is particularly sharp as he experienced first‑hand the lack of guidance apprentices experience: “You are expected to apply to university. I decided it wasn’t for me, as I prefer learning on the job rather than just theory. But if you said you wanted an apprenticeship, the school didn’t know where to start.” As a Derby lad he was naturally drawn to engineering – both Rolls‑Royce and Bombardier are based there. “The Rolls‑Royce apprenticeship scheme is highly competitive, so I was delighted to be selected,” he recalls. He’s honest about the upsides and downsides of apprenticeships. “I won’t say they are better or worse than a degree. I think it depends on what is best for each person.” The pay at Rolls‑Royce is currently £12,600 for a four‑year post‑GCSE role, or £13,860 for a two‑to‑four year higher and degree apprenticeship.

Another reason Pearce is such a strong exemplar is his commitment to supplementary qualifications. He’s obsessive about self‑improvement and enrolled on multiple courses to broaden his expertise. Overall, he’s got an FdSc in project management, a level 4 NVQ Diploma, APM PMQ and has just completed his BSc in project management. “The next step is APM chartership. I’m already helping people with 20 years more experience than me to write their chartership applications. I help them to understand what they’ve achieved.” He is so committed to education, he’s become a school governor – not an entirely normal thing for someone so young, and without children, but he sees it as a civic duty.

Skills for life

Added to this, Pearce uses project management skills in his everyday life. He led a team of apprentices through a community‑outreach project to raise money for the Prince’s Trust. This included a gala dinner. “It really reinforced why you need to use your project management skills, and the impact they can have. Early on, I drew up a stakeholder map, project manager style. Most people would ask, why would you need to do that? Cost management too. We raised over £17,000 for the Prince’s Trust and were shortlisted for recognition.”

So, what’s Pearce’s next mission? In fact, he’s pretty content in his current role as a project analyst for Rolls‑Royce; the role means he sifts through hundreds of projects to find cost over‑runs, failures and other items in need of further investigation. It’s an ideal place to understand the full gamut of projects run by the aircraft engine maker – and a potential springboard for his next career leap.

Overall, Pearce prefers to think of his career as the accumulation of expertise, rather than a ladder to the top. “I’ve got a lot of roles right now, like school governor and ambassador of APM,” he says. “For me, it’s about making a difference. That’s why I get those roles, so I can have an impact.”

James’s top tips

1. Eat the frog

If you’ve got one horrible thing to do in a day, then do it straight away. That’s called ‘eating the frog’, and it’s a great idea. I try to set three to five targets to hit in any day, and if I achieve all these, I’ve been successful. It doesn’t always happen but as you tick the first thing off your list, you move on to the next thing, and pretty soon things are buzzing. If you don’t take this approach, there’s a danger you’ll get to 5pm, the day is done, and you haven’t achieved anything.

2. Ask people you respect

I’ve benefited by talking to directors, including Rolls‑Royce’s CEO Warren East. There are two things that make these conversations work. The first is to have the confidence to ask for a chat. It’s not easy, but if I didn’t have the confidence then I wouldn’t have got to have the talks in the first place. The second is to go with a purpose. What do you want to know? A directed approach is better than just going into a meeting and asking vague questions, such as ‘What’s your job like?’

3. Understand first, then improve

There’s a tendency when people move into a new job to want to make an impact, and to set about improving things. That can unsettle people and doesn’t help to build relationships. My advice is to take time to understand why things are the way they are. Then when you really understand the situation, only then can you start the work of improving. The other side to this is to believe that you, personally, can make a difference. Don’t leave it to someone else.

4. Use APM

APM has been so good for my career. To get the most out of it, make sure you are engaging. No one from APM is going to sit by your desk and tell you how to work or what articles to read. Your mindset needs to be one that engages with your professional body. I’ve made contact with other project managers at companies like British Airways and Severn Trent by engaging with APM. So don’t just interact with APM but look at the wider community that it facilitates.

5. See the impact you have

At Rolls‑Royce we are doing more than just creating a single component to fit in an engine. We are part of something bigger. We have committed to ensuring our new products will be compatible with net zero by 2030, and all products will be compatible with net zero by 2050. I also noticed during the pandemic that Rolls‑Royce took part in the Ventilator Challenge, to supply the NHS. We had 300 staff working on ventilators. It reminded me that project management can have a huge impact on the world around us, and it’s worth remembering that.

James Pearce

Qualifications

L4 NVQ Diploma
APM PMQ
FdSc, project management
BSc, project management
Awards
APM Apprentice of the Year 2020
RateMyApprenticeship National Apprentice of the Year (L4/5) 2018

Interests

School governor
Horse racing: “I have shares in a few racehorses, including one that I named and that won at Royal Ascot last year! She’s called Dandalla.”
Walking, exploring new views, routes and places, especially in the Peak District