Rank and File

  Career Development  

According to Jack Welch, "providing people with a status of where they stand" in relation to their co-worker's skills should be required. It's only fair…right?

I say "Yes! I agree!" An IT PM has many skills to improve upon while performing their day-to-day job, and it requires more than simply being able to status a schedule or gather requirements. These are expected. Figuring out where you're at and where you want to be in relation to your fellow IT PMs is a matter of proving yourself to avoid the lower end of your employer's standard rank-and-file system!

In the Beginning

As an entry level PM, it's expected that you walk into the job with at least as much information as the newest PM who came in before you. Several methods exist to ensure you catch up on your skills before you start the job. For starters, talk with some of your soon-to-be mentors (assuming you are gunning for an internal position within the organization you work for). Ask them what some of the pitfalls and benefits of the job are. Become familiar with the internal processes, procedures (i.e., CMM level currently modeling) and even personalities.

You'll get ahead of the game much further if you simply allow yourself to think you have the job in hand--and actually train for it--before you even apply for the job. As an example, before I became a Project Management …

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