Life as a project manager - civil engineering
Discussion
Looking for a potential jump into this after 10 yrs post grad work for the Civil Service, in an unrelated field. Probably a pay cut but need a change.
Is it a constant pain of `do it yesterday` from the relevant clients or a shared sense of engagement & purpose in the provision of vital infrastructures?
Discuss please.
Is it a constant pain of `do it yesterday` from the relevant clients or a shared sense of engagement & purpose in the provision of vital infrastructures?
Discuss please.
There is always a lot of pressure to deliver, but much of that will depend on the industry sector you manage in.
It can be very positive, when you finally deliver of 3 years of work (as I am about to do) and that can be a great stepping stone to better jobs and pay based on your experience and you do get to benefit from the fact that you tend to be in the more glamorous part of the company, as you are dealing with more senior management and implementing changes that can affect the direction of the company fairly quickly.
In my sector (financial) it's ten times better than running the Business as Usual areas and much more interesting.
The down side is that some don't like the pressure and that if you get into very large programme management you do feel a bit like a contractor. I tend to come in to run a major programme of change, but the firms I work at can only afford that level of change once every 10 years or so, so once I've delivered it can be hard to know where you are going next.
At a more junior level there is always plenty of work scheduled so they have no such issues as will move on to the next thing when they are ready - and that can be a good time as well as it's normally somethig new and interesting and you can forget all about the last nighmare project you did!!
It can be very positive, when you finally deliver of 3 years of work (as I am about to do) and that can be a great stepping stone to better jobs and pay based on your experience and you do get to benefit from the fact that you tend to be in the more glamorous part of the company, as you are dealing with more senior management and implementing changes that can affect the direction of the company fairly quickly.
In my sector (financial) it's ten times better than running the Business as Usual areas and much more interesting.
The down side is that some don't like the pressure and that if you get into very large programme management you do feel a bit like a contractor. I tend to come in to run a major programme of change, but the firms I work at can only afford that level of change once every 10 years or so, so once I've delivered it can be hard to know where you are going next.
At a more junior level there is always plenty of work scheduled so they have no such issues as will move on to the next thing when they are ready - and that can be a good time as well as it's normally somethig new and interesting and you can forget all about the last nighmare project you did!!
Julian, you don't really say what you are doing currently. I am a PM for the design & construction of major oil & gas projects. It's similar to infrstructure. Without a relevent background you will find it very difficult to get into this field. So this is the 1st question you need to answer.
It is not a 5 day week 9 - 5 job & can be very high intensity. Depending on the project it can be "everything yesterday" or it can be a good team effort where everyone works together. There are too many different projects & clients to generalise.
It is not a 5 day week 9 - 5 job & can be very high intensity. Depending on the project it can be "everything yesterday" or it can be a good team effort where everyone works together. There are too many different projects & clients to generalise.
Thanks a lot for the replies - currently a lot of my work is analytical & based on intellectual property law & associated potential projects. I think the analysis might be a strong suit on the logistics side but obviously I`d have to think about starting down the ladder & being a bit of a gopher for some time - still a change is ineveitably going to come at a price which hopefully will be repayed in a few years.
Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff