Project Management

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Project Management Job Transition

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Grey Beaudin Educator/Trainer| Bentley School San Francisco, United States

Hello everyone,



I am an experienced educator looking to transition into a project management role. I hold a Master’s in Education and have been teaching for eight years. Recently, I completed the Google Project Management Certificate and am currently enrolled in a PMI course to prepare for the CAPM exam.

While I understand the parallels between teaching and project management, I am seeking advice on how to gain practical PM experience. Any insights, advice, or ideas on how to bridge this gap would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help!
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Danny PMP, PgMP
Community Champion
Senior Consultant Tokyo, Japan
Consider volunteering to lead projects in your community or at your current job, and seek opportunities for mentorship or internships in project management to gain hands-on experience.
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1 reply by Grey Beaudin
Oct 23, 2024 9:49 AM
Grey Beaudin
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Hi Danny,

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate the idea to volunteer on projects in my local community and am excited to look into that. Have you previously volunteered for projects through PMI? I have submitted a few applications to volunteer and am curious about what the response time usually looks like. Thank you!
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Bisharah Saeed Project Manager| Computacenter
Hello Grey,

I agree with what Danny has mentioned here regarding volunteering because it helps you gain experience relevant to what you are looking for. To add something from my end, I would suggest that you identify the areas of your teaching career which is closely related to project management and then design your resume accordingly so that the companies are able to understand that there are some transferable skills that you can bring. Along with that, quantifying your work is really important as well. I would also suggest that you explore the volunteering section of PMI's website to see if there are any opportunities that interest you.
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1 reply by Grey Beaudin
Oct 23, 2024 11:29 AM
Grey Beaudin
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Hi Bisharah,

Thank you for the guidance, I really appreciate your insights. Have you previously volunteered with PMI? I have submitted an application for a few opportunities and am curious what that timeline usually looks like. Thank you again for your support.

Grey
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Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Grey -

You might consider looking at opportunities to support a senior PM as a project analyst or coordinator as the experience "bar" is usually lower for those roles and it is a great way to gain hands-on experience.

Kiron
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Grey Beaudin Educator/Trainer| Bentley School San Francisco, United States
Oct 21, 2024 10:47 PM
Replying to Danny PMP, PgMP
...
Consider volunteering to lead projects in your community or at your current job, and seek opportunities for mentorship or internships in project management to gain hands-on experience.
Hi Danny,

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate the idea to volunteer on projects in my local community and am excited to look into that. Have you previously volunteered for projects through PMI? I have submitted a few applications to volunteer and am curious about what the response time usually looks like. Thank you!
avatar
Grey Beaudin Educator/Trainer| Bentley School San Francisco, United States
Oct 22, 2024 3:07 AM
Replying to Bisharah Saeed
...
Hello Grey,

I agree with what Danny has mentioned here regarding volunteering because it helps you gain experience relevant to what you are looking for. To add something from my end, I would suggest that you identify the areas of your teaching career which is closely related to project management and then design your resume accordingly so that the companies are able to understand that there are some transferable skills that you can bring. Along with that, quantifying your work is really important as well. I would also suggest that you explore the volunteering section of PMI's website to see if there are any opportunities that interest you.
Hi Bisharah,

Thank you for the guidance, I really appreciate your insights. Have you previously volunteered with PMI? I have submitted an application for a few opportunities and am curious what that timeline usually looks like. Thank you again for your support.

Grey
avatar
Keith Novak Tukwila, Wa, United States
I would suggest looking for opportunities in training development.

Before I had heard of PM as its own discipline I worked as a technical SME with the employee training department at a large company. My project was to develop and deploy courses supporting t a digital transformation program as a de facto PM. They were experts on how to develop the right level of training for subjects in general, but didn't work to plans or deadlines and needed that skill set to support the program schedule.

I was also able to apply that experience at a volunteer organization to develop a progressive learning plan for teaching disabled athletes to use adaptive sports equipment. The organization meant well, but once again had no idea what a real plan looked like, or how to create one.

Those are two examples that might provide practical ideas for opportunities where you can both further develop your PM training while applying your teaching background and gain practical experience you can use on your resume.

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