Decision support framework for IT project manager recruitment

TL;DR

This paper introduces a decision support framework to help organizations recruit better IT project managers by analyzing job advertisements and identifying key archetypes.

Contribution

The paper presents the first holistic decision support framework for IT project manager recruitment based on job advertisement patterns and archetypes.

Findings

Five IT project manager archetypes were identified through cluster analysis of job advertisements.

A decision support framework with five guiding questions was developed to improve recruitment outcomes.

The framework helps structure interviews and match applicants with organizational needs.

Abstract

Information technology project managers (IT PM) have a critical influence on IT project success while attracting and selecting the right IT PM is challenging. We followed a four-level research design and firstly developed a taxonomy as an input for a cluster analysis to identify patterns in IT PM job advertisements. Based hereon, we developed a decision support framework for IT PM recruitment. We evaluated our findings in an online survey. We identified multiple design elements for IT PM job advertisements within five perspectives and deduced five IT PM archetypes. The decision support framework uses five questions to assist IT PM recruitment. We expand the knowledge base and consider not only IT PM requirements but also benefits. Our decision support framework is the first to holistically support IT PM recruitment, supports recruitment managers in structuring job interviews, identifies potential matches between applicants and recruiters, and assists in the final selection.

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