Exaggerated my responsibilities to get a Project Manager job and now I'm completely out of my depth

kimwp

I think the key questions are:
1. Do you understand what needs to be done to create a plan? (Understand the deliverables, consult the stakeholders to understand what needs to happen to deliver, risk assess etc)
2. Do you understand the other pm documents like project charter, wbs etc- what they are for and how to create them?
3. Are you confident running and presenting at meetings, calling people up to explain the need for their engagement etc?
4. Can you judge if what is being asked for on this project is reasonable/achievable?

If the answer to any of the above is no, I suggest you resign. If the answer to all of the above is yes, then consider giving the job a go as scale of project is just a confidence thing.

steampowered

As someone who has always been ambitious, and someone who has always been surrounded by ambitious people, this thread is genuinely eye opening to me.

The attitude of the Op in not wanting to give this a go because he has only worked on smaller projects I find mind boggling.

The number of people telling him to just give up and move on, I find even more mind boggling.

At the end of the day we are talking about project management here. Yes it is skilled work but it isn't rocket science. The Op has at least some relevant experience - I am sure if the Op really worked hard; built a working relationship with the key stakeholders in this project and used the information available online to educate themselves they do could do well. 

I am sure the employer already knows that the Op is not 100% qualified which will be why they only offered him a 6 month fixed term contract ... 

As Richard Branson said "If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!"

melb

I haven't read all the comments but I would question why a large company is only offering a 6 month contract for a project which is going to have a company-wide impact?  

JohnDorian

melb said:

I haven't read all the comments but I would question why a large company is only offering a 6 month contract for a project which is going to have a company-wide impact?  

It sounds like a role that would previously have been done by a contractor but they can no longer find them due to a lot of contractors leaving after IR35 changes/impact. So they now have to find people willing to do it on a FTC.

pearl123

To get the job done take you work home with you. If you don't put in the effort, nothing changes. 

happyc84

pearl123 said:

To get the job done take you work home with you. If you don't put in the effort, nothing changes. 

Disagree. When did we get this mindset that your contract hours are advisory. would be better if people were  paid per hour. Remember the workload will be never be complete if you do "extra unpaid hours" that benefit the company. There is a reason UK productivity ranks low. 

steampowered

happyc84 said:

Disagree. When did we get this mindset that your contract hours are advisory. would be better if people were  paid per hour. Remember the workload will be never be complete if you do "extra unpaid hours" that benefit the company. There is a reason UK productivity ranks low. 

Agree for the long term.

Disagree for the short term. When you are in a challenging job which requires new skills, like the Op, you may need to put in extra hours to upskill yourself. If you want to advance in your career you sometimes need to push the boat out a little bit.

After the Op has developed the appropriate skillset and experience, then he can stick to his contracted hours.

Thrugelmir

steampowered said:

happyc84 said:

Disagree. When did we get this mindset that your contract hours are advisory. would be better if people were  paid per hour. Remember the workload will be never be complete if you do "extra unpaid hours" that benefit the company. There is a reason UK productivity ranks low. 

Disagree for the short term. When you are in a challenging job which requires new skills, like the Op, you may need to put in extra hours to upskill yourself. If you want to advance in your career you sometimes need to push the boat out a little bit.

Sounds a recipe for a car crash. Respect is earnt for honesty rather than bull****.  The world is full of consultants who are all mouth and no trousers. 

TELLIT01

This isn't a case of 'upskilling a bit'.  The OP has said that they are totally out of their depth, not that they don't have all the skills required.  The reality is that they don't really have any of the required skills.  Far better to say now that the job if far larger and more complex than they were led to believe at interview and they believe it to be beyond their capability than to mess up and potentially cost the company money and credibility. 

silverwhistle

happyc84 said:

Remember most projects/programmes run late - over budget and fail to deliver what was asked.

Gosh! I haven't been in IT for ~20 years but it obviously hasn't changed! :-:smile:

I saw plenty of PMs, contractors etc. come and go and not all were competent but all paid more than me (I wasn't a very committed business/systems analyst..). I saw a lot of bluffing going on and, as someone above mentioned, learning on the job. It's basically a communications role and if you can manage that (you got the job!) maybe you'll be able to cope. But if you decide not to make it a swift decision.