It’s time to move on. Head to pastures new. You’ve gone as far as you can go at your current organization and you want to see what else is out there.
But you’ve spent a while with your nose to the grindstone. It’s some years since you’ve been on the job market.
So you’ve got to update your change management resume. And you’re dreading it.
Over the last ten years, change management as a discipline has massively grown. One outcome of this has been the creation of more permanent job roles dedicated to change management.
In fact, Prosci’s 2013 study reported a 20% increase, and that trend continues to be on the up. And while there are more roles, there are also more people looking to fill them.
So how do you make your change management resume stand out from the crowd? A thorough understanding of how the discipline evolved, and where it’s headed, is a good place to start.
The evolution of change management
(source: Prosci)
In 1948, Kurt Lewin provided one of the preeminent change management theories we still use today. But before 1990s, the concept of organizational change was mainly academic.
It wasn’t until the 2000s that change management was codified as a discipline. In 2003, Prosci introduced the ADKAR® Model, which provided “an outcome orientation to change management work: driving success one person at a time.”
In recent years, the field has developed rapidly in tandem with the digital revolution. Businesses are evolving from simply updating their IT systems to transitioning to a digital-first strategy.
“The last 10 years have been marked by a meteoric rise in the awareness, understanding, application and codification of the discipline of change management.” Prosci
Change is now an organizational constant. Businesses must continually adapt to the digital marketplace to survive and thrive.
Organizational development (OD) has evolved. Organizations must ensure they are continually operating in an effective and contemporary manner. And it’s the role of change management to implement these critical updates.
“I think the importance of human beings and their unique contribution to organizations and to change itself really underpins both of these disciplines.
“OD scope tends to focus on the whole system. Change management’s scope of application is around supporting those individual transitions that cumulatively result in organizational change.” Tim Creasey, Prosci
However, if you’re an IT service manager, your idea of change management might be a bit different.
Instead of Lewin’s and Kotter’s change management models, you’ll subscribe to the ITIL framework.
Updating your change management resume: ITIL vs. organizational change
When we talk about change management, we could be referring to major organizational changes, or we could be talking about IT transitions.
ITIL change management is a specific way to manage IT updates, and many organizations seek ITIL knowledge.
Cloud management company BMC describes ITIL change management on their website.
“The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) provides a set of best practices for change management that makes it easier for IT professionals to roll out and prioritize changes efficiently, without negatively impacting customers or agreed-upon service levels.”
According to IBM, an “active participant” in the development of ITIL, the origins of change management as an IT process predate ITIL considerably.
But since its introduction, ITIL has become widely acknowledged as the leading methodology in IT change management.
“IBM recognizes that the IT Infrastructure Library is an important reference framework for providing a structured approach to IT Service Management. ITIL is a nonproprietary set of definitions, with education and certification available from a variety of sources.
“IBM encourages IT providers to embrace ITIL as the foundation for elements of their IT management system…”
But a great IT change management resume will demonstrate competency — or at least comprehension — of both ITIL and OD change management principles.
Ollie White
86569 Santiago Falls, San Francisco, CA * Phone: +1 (555) 293 1326
EXPERIENCE
SENIOR CHANGE MANAGER
Philadelphia, PA
08/2015 – present
- Conduct performance reviews and oversee career management for the Change Managers
- Facilitating workshops and other interventions to promote Change Management initiatives throughout the organization
- Embedding the Project Management Job Family and Career Path Framework into the business ensuring buy-in from project teams and cohesion with HR plans
- Planning and rolling out a learning and development strategy that supports the job family and career path framework
- Collect data, business performance information and results from business unit senior managers
- Manage Change: Manage activities in a change project. Includes engaging stakeholders in the change effort and ensuring they ready to adopt the coming changes, measuring and reporting change progress, assessing business readiness and supporting change adoption. Plan and support labour relations and/or employee relations discussions, as necessary
- Project Management: Project manage all aspects of a change project, including project planning, estimating, budgeting, resource allocation, financial management and time management for project up to an SI value of £5-10m or a portfolio of smaller change initiatives up to £5-10m SI or a project with increased complexity
IT CHANGE MANAGER
San Francisco, CA
07/2010 – 06/2015
- Conducts Change Management Service Reviews forum to review overall Change Management performance with both Change Management system customers and actors
- To monitoring the effectiveness of the change management process and make recommendations for improvement
- As part of the Service Integration, manages the process across all Providers by frequently reviewing Change Reports from all Providers
- Manage the governance of the life cycle of changes and make sure that only authorized changes are implemented
- To manage relationships and coordinate work between different teams at different locations
- Create change management strategy
- Responsible for communicating and implementing the overall direction and management of the Change Management Process
CHANGE MANAGER
San Francisco, CA
01/2004 – 04/2010
- Support new/existing clients to execute the initial and on-going transformation of their operating model. Work closely with clients during the implementation project to ensure success of the transition of their business to SEI. Manage existing clients change agendas in supporting the rollout of new services and any additional change projects for these clients
- Work with the programme to ensure change management activities are integrated into the overall project plans and approach
- Support the execution of the plans through coaching the local change management teams as well as providing coaching on programme sponsorship and leadership to senior executives within the programme
- Manage and refine OCM strategy and approach for the Programme drawing on stakeholder input lessons learned to ensure the strategy and approach is fit for purpose
- Actively participate in business development and client relationship development
- Maintains, audits and continually improves ITSM change management processes to assure coordinated multi-service provider, change management processes including: Create and process a Request for Change (RFC), Assess and evaluate change, Coordinate change with stakeholders, test change prior to release, authorize and schedule change implementation, implement change, and review and close change record
- Provides expertise support to CSM’s in the CM & RM service improvement plans
EDUCATION
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science
SKILLS
- Working knowledge of MS Access and Visual Basic programming (creation of basic Macros)
- Adaptable, able to organise, prioritise work and be comfortable with being remotely managed
- To be able to develop and manage strong team relationship and partnership, with orientation towards knowledge sharing and collaboration
- Self starter with strong technical skills and ability to learn new methods quickly
- Proficient IT skills – all Microsoft office products and able to pick up other systems/databases easily
- Ability to learn new concepts and processes quickly
- Strong communication skills and the ability to structure logical analysis in presentations
- Experience and knowledge of change management principles, methodologies and tools (knowledge of Prosci)
- Ability to engage across the organisation regardless of geography, culture, function, and good understanding of how to fit diverse functional teams together
- Able to accept a significant level of responsibility and accountability
(source: Velvet Jobs)
Above is a decent example of an IT change management resume. One way to improve it would be to add a summary that highlights expertise in relevant areas — for example, the ITIL framework, change engagement exercises, and Prosci’s organizational change model.
Today, ambitious IT change managers wanting to move up in their careers must have a solid grasp on organizational change techniques and principles. It’s not enough simply to update systems.
Professor Neil Kokemuller notes that organizational change management is a crucial element in a long-term OD plan.
“…company-wide changes, while ultimately intended to improve things for the company and employees, are stressful.
“OD change management typically includes group and individual coaching and training with employees at all levels, including executives, front-line managers and employees.”
OD change management is more people-oriented than IT change management. It’s about behavior and culture change, rather than systems change. It has one foot in psychology and the other in business.
Noble Klein
65145 Wuckert Squares, Phoenix, AZ * Phone: +1 (555) 386 6137
EXPERIENCE
DIRECTOR, ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Detroit, MI
01/2015 – present
- Develop and manage a comprehensive OCM strategy and plan, utilizing proven OCM methodologies and related tools
- Align with the Project Management Office to develop work plans for change management work streams and related activities
- Work closely with key business leaders to understand change management implications across multiple business units
- Collaborate with project team members to ensure alignment with key cross functional project activities
- Design, develop and implement a stakeholder management strategy to drive engagement, awareness and preparedness of/for the project
- Design, develop and implement a multi-level, two-way communication strategy. Partner with UA Corporate Communications to validate and execute the plan
- Conduct formal and informal stakeholder assessments, focus groups and leadership alignment sessions
MANAGER, ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Houston, TX
07/2010 – 11/2014
- Develop and engage team of OCM professionals by providing role clarity, regular performance feedback and soliciting team input and ideas for moving forward
- Develops and improves credible and pragmatic analytical approaches and frameworks
- Provide project management support for multiple work streams within HR, including technology, people, policy and process
- Manage project economics including: track project budgets, create and deliver invoices, and manage collection process
- Ongoing change management including user adoption – in collaboration with Communications and Practice Management (Training)
- Create, document, communicate and deliver OCM roadmap, communication plan, coaching plan, training plan and resistance management plan
- Ongoing change management including user adoption – in collaboration with Communications and Practice Management
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Dallas, TX
08/2004 – 01/2010
- Formally manages others as a Career Coach/Counselling Manager and/or as a Reviewer on a project/engagement
- Support the design, development, delivery and management of communications
- Complete change management assessments
- Apply a structured methodology and lead change management activities
- Plans and manages a team of others
- Integrate change management activities into project plan
- Develops strong, credible relationships with key senior client stakeholders
EDUCATION
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY Bachelor’s Degree in Proficiency
SKILLS
- Ability to think independently, maintain a professional demeanor, and a willingness to work in a collaborative environment
- Ability to establish and maintain strong relationships
- Excellent interpersonal/communication skills with professional staff, senior level executives and the community at large
- Flexible and adaptable; able to work in ambiguous situations
- Coordinates development of quality deliverables
- Performs project staffing, invoicing, budgeting, and profitability analysis processes as well as contact and opportunity/funnel management
- Demonstrates depth of knowledge and/or strength of capability to build credibility with the client
- Ability to adjust to shifting priorities
- Maintain a good working relationship with clients to enhance customer satisfaction and work with client management and staff at all levels
- Demonstrated track record of successful ability to manage large and complex consulting engagements; including a role in managing and interfacing with senior level client executives
(source: Velvet Jobs)
Some final words of advice
When updating your change management resume, bear in mind both the history of the discipline and its future.
Take note of the following predictions for the future of change management:
- Integration with project management (a top 3 trend in Prosci’s 2017 benchmarking study) and the creation of standard integrated methodologies
- Increased collaboration between PMOs and CMOs
- Incorporation of the latest technology related to change
“You are sitting at a crossroads in the evolution of our discipline. You can choose which path to take, and there are increasing opportunities available for you to advance your own development.” Prosci
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