Hello Guys, I have recently obtained my PMP and after this I managed to finally find a job in project management in a IT start up company. I am an ex geologist and managed several drilling projects but in the last years I manage EU projects as I saw that being a geologist I would work in remote areas. I like project management a lot but I appreciate work life balance and IT projects do provide it! The thing is that I don't yet know a lot on IT. But I am learning and currently I just manage the EU projects that my company participates which are waterfall projects. They are a small start up so they havent actually implemented PM techniques as they have one project at a time. I recently got an offer from a mining company at the operational readiness department for a big open pit project. I will get more money around 30% more but it needs 3 hours commuting. With this project I will get experience for all aspects of a project as resource optimisation, change management, conflict management etc. and will strengthen my resume. However the company has a toxic climate and also it will have an impact on my work life balance. For this reason I am saying that I wont stay long. Just a year till the project ends and start production and after that I will start looking for another job. So should I move? My dream job would be working from home but as a project manager, scheduler, Planner, risk management or logistics in projects or working at a PMO department. What is your opinion? I would highly appreciate any comments! Saving Changes...
Sounds like you are between a rock & a hard place. The IT PM role is unlikely to teach you much from a PM perspective and introducing PM discipline might actually be frowned upon in the culture of a start up. You would however learn a fair bit about IT startups which might help as a springboard to a better role in the IT world. The mining role would certainly give you broader and deeper PM-specific experience but the toxic work environment and commuting stress won't be worth that.
If the decision were mine, I'd either look for that third, better alternative, or stay put in the IT start up till you gain sufficient experience to join a larger company and manage their IT projects. Avoid toxic environments at all costs - it simply is not worth the physical and mental toll that it will take.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Dear Kiron, thank you so much for the reply. This is exactly how I feel. I was asking this question as all I am trying to do is to understand the job market's perspective. Will my resume shine more if I have just a year's experience in a multimillion dollar mining project as operational readiness facilitator or will it be more beneficial if I acquire IT knowledge without IT studies as a project manager in the startup? If the answer is the first then I can tolerate a year in a toxic environment Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
I did totally agreee with Kiron's advice. Regarding your other follow up question, it depends where you are in your career. If you are just starting then definitely multimilion dollar mining project will make your resume standout more but if you have many years of experience then I would stick with the IT startup! Saving Changes...
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