Project Management Central
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Siddharth, very interesting post. Regarding your questions, below are a few responses:
Q1 ) Would a masters in project management course help me with a job, even as an entry level project manager in Australia? Q2) Would it be advisable for a candidate with my professional background to do this course and opt to diversify to any other industry? Q3) What kind of pay? Would an entry level project manager / trainee ( post finishing a course ) earn in Australia (approximately)? My perspectives might not be the most common or popular. I hope we hear from others. And good luck..!
I have recruited project managers in the past, although I have no knowledge of the Australian market. I would value experience over master's level certification. I would recommend that you look at practitioner based courses as well. You can take PRINCE2 without any prior experience, and it will be cheaper than a master's. You could also join PMI and their Australian Chapter or the Australian Institute of PM. These could also give you valuable experience without the expense of a degree.
Network:268
I too would focus on gaining some project management experience instead of going down the masters route, as that will make you a better candidate at interview. Maybe you could shadow a PM at your current employer and take on some PM activity, then approach local 3rd sector (charitable) organisations to see if any of those could use your talents; perhaps you could manage a fund-raising project for instance. This would give you real hands-on experience which employers are so often needing.
Network:68
I agree with the sentiments in this post. I liken project management to riding a bike, you can read as many books on the subject as you like, but until you get on and actually ride a bike you know only the theory and not the practice.
I am currently studying a Masters in PM but this is after a long career as a PM and I get more out of it than a novice who does not have the project cases to apply to the assignments. As a hirer of project managers I look for experience, then certification and then qualifications. Even for trainees I look not necessarily for project management experience but at least project experience where they have participated as team members in a project environment as this environment in completely unlike a normal operational environment.
Julie - excellent analogy... "I liken project management to riding a bike, you can read as many books on the subject as you like, but until you get on and actually ride a bike you know only the theory and not the practice." I know I will be using this one and I look forward to attributing it to you..! Simple to convey, universally understandabe. THANKS.
Network:68
That's OK Mark. Anything to help out explain that training does not turn out project managers!
Agree, good analogy Julie.
Allow me to add on another attribute which, I believe is more important than experience and certification. The job of a project manager is very dynamic and will require him to handle all sorts of situations; in other words, a project manager is a problem solver by nature. Due to this, a project manager needs to have a positive and strong character to carry the pressure in his job. This is important as I have witnessed many project managers break down under pressure. Moving on to Julie's analogy on riding a bike, you may have read as many books on riding bike, and you may have ten thousands hours of experience in riding a bike; but it is attitude and a strong character that will determine if you would continue bike riding after you have met with a terrible crash. Most people would probably give up, will you? |
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