Project Management Career Change
Discussion
Afternoon All,
Just after some general advice please - my girlfriend is considering a career change and I suggested that project management may suit her interests and skill set.
She did a degree in marketing and has worked in Event Management / Operations / Marketing for years.
Has anyone any advice on the best path to follow?
Would she be better off doing a course and then getting an in house job in a PM team or joining an agency?
Any advantages on PRINCE2 vs SIX SIGMA training?
Any advice welcome please.
Just after some general advice please - my girlfriend is considering a career change and I suggested that project management may suit her interests and skill set.
She did a degree in marketing and has worked in Event Management / Operations / Marketing for years.
Has anyone any advice on the best path to follow?
Would she be better off doing a course and then getting an in house job in a PM team or joining an agency?
Any advantages on PRINCE2 vs SIX SIGMA training?
Any advice welcome please.
HughiusMaximus said:
Afternoon All,
Just after some general advice please - my girlfriend is considering a career change and I suggested that project management may suit her interests and skill set.
She did a degree in marketing and has worked in Event Management / Operations / Marketing for years.
Has anyone any advice on the best path to follow?
Would she be better off doing a course and then getting an in house job in a PM team or joining an agency?
Any advantages on PRINCE2 vs SIX SIGMA training?
Any advice welcome please.
PRINCE & Six Sigma are 2 very different things. To be honest I would question the value of either. You need to undertsand what you mean by project management. Define what you are really talking about as it varies sector to sector. A project manager in my sector (O&G) has a very differnt role & responsibilities to a project manager in say software development. What are her skills & interests? Just after some general advice please - my girlfriend is considering a career change and I suggested that project management may suit her interests and skill set.
She did a degree in marketing and has worked in Event Management / Operations / Marketing for years.
Has anyone any advice on the best path to follow?
Would she be better off doing a course and then getting an in house job in a PM team or joining an agency?
Any advantages on PRINCE2 vs SIX SIGMA training?
Any advice welcome please.
Prince 2 is the go to qually. I also have a degree from Lancaster Uni which was funded by my previous employer.
To get into project management I did the software testing, Business Analysis, Senior BA and PM route. I'm now operating as a Senior PM or Programme lead contractor but thats being in the job for 20+ years.
There are lots of PM training packages available. Look on Android Authority, Groupon etc as they are quite a cheap way to get the book and do background course work. Agile is a buzzword but realistically not many firms are able to deliver solely using this methodology due to IT (both ISP and ASP) supplier constraints.
No one ever thanks a PM when things go wrong, and they will. PM can be anything from a facilitator to a fire fighter. I can throw my hand to anything - Business or IT, so chose a route and good luck. I'm in IT currently, working in financial services. Depends what businesses are local.
Personally I wouldn't chose a PM role nowadays but thats cos I've seen it for far too long!!!!
To get into project management I did the software testing, Business Analysis, Senior BA and PM route. I'm now operating as a Senior PM or Programme lead contractor but thats being in the job for 20+ years.
There are lots of PM training packages available. Look on Android Authority, Groupon etc as they are quite a cheap way to get the book and do background course work. Agile is a buzzword but realistically not many firms are able to deliver solely using this methodology due to IT (both ISP and ASP) supplier constraints.
No one ever thanks a PM when things go wrong, and they will. PM can be anything from a facilitator to a fire fighter. I can throw my hand to anything - Business or IT, so chose a route and good luck. I'm in IT currently, working in financial services. Depends what businesses are local.
Personally I wouldn't chose a PM role nowadays but thats cos I've seen it for far too long!!!!
Edited by bonerp on Monday 1st April 08:11
Yes PM are often just glorified admin, there to placate the customer and prevent them taking too much time from the guys doing the work. If however you're a PM given a mandate and tasked with delivering something of value it's a great role.
Generally the most worthless PMs are those who don't have any experience in actually delivering the work, they got a PRINCE2 certificate and now do some box ticking. Conversely, those who gained years of experience in their respective field and ended up delivering projects can be hugely valuable.
For that reason, she needs to work out what she wants to do. If she just wants to call herself a PM it will be one of those admin roles. If she wants to actually run projects, she needs to be targeting those fields she already has experience in.
Generally the most worthless PMs are those who don't have any experience in actually delivering the work, they got a PRINCE2 certificate and now do some box ticking. Conversely, those who gained years of experience in their respective field and ended up delivering projects can be hugely valuable.
For that reason, she needs to work out what she wants to do. If she just wants to call herself a PM it will be one of those admin roles. If she wants to actually run projects, she needs to be targeting those fields she already has experience in.
Would a role as a PMO Analyst be of any interest:
https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/search-jobs-in-Bris...
In the largest companies I have worked at PMO is seen very much as an foot in the door to project management roles.
https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/search-jobs-in-Bris...
In the largest companies I have worked at PMO is seen very much as an foot in the door to project management roles.
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