Computer engineering, Civil engineering, Materials engineering, Structural engineering, Electronic engineering and Industrial engineering these are some area that a lot of project management gurus came from. Saving Changes...
Asif GulConsultant Project Manager| Energoprojekt EntelMuscat, Oman
"Engineers makes a better PM", Yes but it is only for industry specific or nature of Project.
On the contrary if you put a non-technical PM on a technical project it may still work, but its not the best fit.
Project Management field is vast and it covers so many non-technical or semi technical kind of works and projects, where non-technical PMs can be a best fit. Saving Changes...
While I agree that if you cannot understand your teammates work that you are limited as a PM, I always find it interesting that so many people see that as you must have a background in the subject.
I'm an engineer myself and pursued that field because technical subjects come naturally to me. Despite having a BS in aerospace eng. and working 20+ years in that industry, I've used almost none of what I learned at the university. Often, employers don't hire college grads because of what they already know, but instead because they have a demonstrated ability to quickly learn about whatever the new problem is.
I personally know several managers and PMs who started in something else and migrated to leading engineering teams. One has a business background but through managing mechanics in a factory, they learned a lot about mechanical processes. Another came from a supplier management background working along side engineers and learned the subject from that angle. In my auto racing hobby, I know many people who have engineering knowledge that far surpasses my own in the subject, and they are not engineers.
Although the degree may provide credentials to show that someone is competent in a technology, it's far from the only way to gain expertise on a subject. Case in point, materials science was probably my weakest subject in college, meanwhile I have a patent in a composite materials technology I can't even spell. I learned the important things about the subject on the job.
Sometimes the hiring managers require the degree to be considered for the job, but I can guarantee that most of the PMs I work with, are not leading teams in the specific knowledge area where they earned a degree, even though for most that degree has an "E" in the title.
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1 reply by Adrian Carlogea
Sep 15, 2019 4:16 PM
Adrian Carlogea
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I agree that the degree itself is not important and what really matters is the knowledge you have. Between a fresh engineering graduate with no experience and an individual with no engineering degree that has learned engineering on the job I would definitely choose the 2nd one for a leadership role.
So a true engineer is not someones that earned an engineering degree but someone that really has experience in engineering work.
In IT on the other hand I have met a lot of PMs that had not even the most basic knowledge about the work that was being performed. Many times they were junior employees that were scheduling meeting, taking notes, reporting, attending meeting with managers,etc. They were doing an important work but it would be humiliating for the experienced project team members to say that they were leading the team.
These PMs that have started in project management straight from University would never ever become leaders for the project teams. They eventually can become leaders for other project managers if they are appointed as heads of the project management function.
While I agree that if you cannot understand your teammates work that you are limited as a PM, I always find it interesting that so many people see that as you must have a background in the subject.
I'm an engineer myself and pursued that field because technical subjects come naturally to me. Despite having a BS in aerospace eng. and working 20+ years in that industry, I've used almost none of what I learned at the university. Often, employers don't hire college grads because of what they already know, but instead because they have a demonstrated ability to quickly learn about whatever the new problem is.
I personally know several managers and PMs who started in something else and migrated to leading engineering teams. One has a business background but through managing mechanics in a factory, they learned a lot about mechanical processes. Another came from a supplier management background working along side engineers and learned the subject from that angle. In my auto racing hobby, I know many people who have engineering knowledge that far surpasses my own in the subject, and they are not engineers.
Although the degree may provide credentials to show that someone is competent in a technology, it's far from the only way to gain expertise on a subject. Case in point, materials science was probably my weakest subject in college, meanwhile I have a patent in a composite materials technology I can't even spell. I learned the important things about the subject on the job.
Sometimes the hiring managers require the degree to be considered for the job, but I can guarantee that most of the PMs I work with, are not leading teams in the specific knowledge area where they earned a degree, even though for most that degree has an "E" in the title.
I agree that the degree itself is not important and what really matters is the knowledge you have. Between a fresh engineering graduate with no experience and an individual with no engineering degree that has learned engineering on the job I would definitely choose the 2nd one for a leadership role.
So a true engineer is not someones that earned an engineering degree but someone that really has experience in engineering work.
In IT on the other hand I have met a lot of PMs that had not even the most basic knowledge about the work that was being performed. Many times they were junior employees that were scheduling meeting, taking notes, reporting, attending meeting with managers,etc. They were doing an important work but it would be humiliating for the experienced project team members to say that they were leading the team.
These PMs that have started in project management straight from University would never ever become leaders for the project teams. They eventually can become leaders for other project managers if they are appointed as heads of the project management function. Saving Changes...
There is a Chartered Project Engineer certification that is designated for engineer involved in project management. Ch.PE is popular among engineers in construction, oil and gas industry. For project planner the Chartered Planning Engineer is the most sought after qualification. Email me at [email protected] to learn more. Saving Changes...
