Project Management

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just starting out in PM and wondering if I'm heading in the right direction

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Fran Penner Pa, United States
I just started working as a project manager at a small electrical supply company, and it's not quite what I expected - I'm largely tracking shipments of electrical gear that's been ordered & communicating the shipping info to the appropriate contractor. I submit the occasional order, and I will potentially start quoting some small orders here and there. I worked in libraries for 17 years and have an MLS degree, so I was planning on using this current job as a stepping stone to a PM job that's more in my area(s) of interest, while working on my PMP cert. I oversaw a number of small projects at my previous library job, although they weren't the majority of my job - but I started to enjoy them more than my actual job, so I jumped ship (perhaps prematurely) to this PM job. And now I'm wondering how useful the tasks I'm doing at this job actually are compared to what I was doing 4 months ago, as they relate to the rather wide field of project management. Thanks in advance for any thoughts/suggestions!
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Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Fran -

The challenge stems from the lack of a consistent understanding across organizations and industries of what a PM is and does. I'd agree that based on your description, it sounds more like a coordinator-type role than a true PM one.

Unfortunately in some companies, they use the term "Project Manager" as a marketing tool. I remember a window replacement company who called their sales people PMs and those folks were never involved after a customer signed a contract!

If the orders you are tracking do involve a series of integrated activities where multiple internal or external contributors are involved, that would certainly be more fitting, but if the level of uniqueness is extremely low, I wouldn't think of these as projects.

Kiron
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Rami Kaibni
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Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Fran, what you seem to be doing is consistent with a Project Coordinator's responsibilities which is totally fine. A great way to get your feet wet in project management is working as a project coordinator (regardless of your official title) as you will be exposed first hand to various aspects of project management and this will help you learn a lot.

I remember when I graduated with an engineering degree and started working in construction, my actual title was Site Engineer but what I actually was doing is Project Coordination which if I am to be honest, contributed to my career growth big time.

In terms of orders, I would agree with Kiron's point of view.
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Thomas Walenta Global Project Economy Expert Hackenheim, Germany

Fran, we are all problem solvers and project managers.
Once you decide to get better at it, you will improve your capabilities and options as you add experiences from other fields and recognise patterns.

My Project Management mantra is 'make it happen - for people with people'.

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