Career Choices During Ongoing Uncertainty (Part 1): The New PM

Following 20 years at a large Canadian telecommunications firm, Bruce established the project management consulting firm Solutions Management Inc (SMI). Since 1999, he has provided contract project/program management services, been a source for project management support personnel and created/delivered courses to over 7,000 participants in Canada, the United States and England.

  Career Development   New Practitioners  

Will the pandemic be controlled soon? Are international stock markets overdue for a significant correction? Will corporations that have been hording cash suddenly initiate seemingly endless large capital projects? Will there ever be a time when the future is certain?

This four-part series explores project management careers from various perspectives, starting with the new project manager and ending with a PM who has retired from a long and successful career. The series will explore options, suggestions and alternatives that are intended to provoke reflection on one’s own career—and suggestions for more choices.

The new project manager
A recent graduate with a business-oriented degree enters the workplace and soon finds herself being expected to independently complete a project. The graduate has noticed a number of 20-year employees being unexpectedly laid off.

In another company, a business analyst has been defining objectives while working as part of a project team for five years. As a result of the sudden firing of a project manager, he finds himself being asked to turn the project objectives into reality.

At a third, smaller company, an individual recognizes sales remain lower than expected and, despite having no project management experience, is prepared to do whatever it takes to help the company succeed so that they—and all of their …

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