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 BLUF: I am currently not meeting the initial deadlines for a project.  The deadlines are then moved and then I meet them.  How do I state that on a resume?  Can I say I met the deadline even though it moved?

Background:

I am fairly new in the company and am trying to use the defined estimates (i.e. small, 40 hours; medium, 80 hours)  we've established for the project; however, in many cases, those estimates are too small.  I start working, realize I won't make the deadline and then re-negotiate for a new deadline.  Some of that is related to my newness.  I have been given positive feedback regarding my deliverables, so the quality of work isn't an issue.  Another variable is that the team is trying to apply agile principles in a waterfall environment and that is causing some friction (the company supports the use of agile but hasn't made the complete transition yet).  I would like to put an accomplishment on my resume that I completed my deliverables on time, but not sure if I can do that.  (and yes, I'm a high C - very detailed - so feel free to tell me I'm over-thinking).

GlennR's picture

I'm not an official project manager, but I have performance objects and projects galore. Nearly all have deadlines and sometimes they need to be modified for very good internal or external reasons. AT Fort Hood, the US Army calls it "Murphy's Third Law of Armored Warfare, "No plan survives the first contact intact."

I don't even see how you would have the space to put data about changing deadlines on your resume. If I'm interviewing you, I understand this. What I want to know is, did you finish on time, under budget, and was the project successful? "On time," may include a changing deadline. As long as there was a valid reason for it, that's okay.

Focus on results.

duplicate_account_MarkAus's picture

I agree with Glenn, above.   Deadlines move inside projects all the time -  most people would understand that.   I don't think you'd waste space on a resume talking about shifting deadlines.  If you need to, you can go into that kind of detail in the interview.

As Glenn said, focus on results.  The purpose of a resume is to talk about what you did and how well you did it.   You wouldn't just mention that you hit your deadlines - you need to add the benefit of doing that.   

As a sidebar: I'd say be very careful with this one.  I don't mean to sound harsh but as an interviewer/boss, I expect people to hit their deadlines every day.  Hitting deadlines shouldn't be remarkable.   So saying you met your deadlines usually isn't an impressive accomplishent - unless you overcame something highly unusual to do it.

 

jrosenau's picture

Thanks, Glenn and Mark.  That helps a lot.

John