Lea BongiovanniProject Manager| ConfidentialPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
With graduation season upon us, I was thinking about all the new young people entering the workforce, especially those new to project management,
What advice do you have for new PM's just entering the workforce?
My advice would be to find a mentor early on in your career. someone who you can trust and bounce questions off of about how to handle sensitive issues like "how to communicate a missed deadline to a stakeholder." Saving Changes...
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Danielle MbendaSolution Test Architect| IBM Pflugerville, Tx, United States
I agree with you Lea, finding a mentor is definitely helpful and a good way. Some people are lucky enough to have good managers that become their mentors also.
I personally did not have a mentor but I had the chance to have a good manager which do care about my career development and my workplace. He has been mentoring and managing me at the same time. Saving Changes...
Lea BongiovanniProject Manager| ConfidentialPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Thanks for your response, Danielle! I was lucky in that I can recall having more "Good" managers than "bad" ones. Saving Changes...
Michael AdamsSolutions Architect| LANLLos Alamos, Nm, United States
Great question!
I have been a PM for more than a decade, and have been PMP certified for only a year now. Earning that certification made a huge difference in my career though.
So my advice will have a few components:
1) Earn a PMP (if you have the PM experience) or CAPM if you don't have the experience
2) Get a mentor, and cultivate a good relationship with them
3) Get involved as a volunteer with your local PMI chapter. Volunteering for PMI has perhaps been the biggest bump for my career. I have had the opportunity to engage in strategic and budgetary decisions as a PMI chapter board member, where my job didn't allow for that sort of experience. I've met great new people, and I've really enjoyed being a PMI volunteer. It may rate among the best things I've ever done for my career and my own happiness.
Being in the right place prior to having a mentor.
I really agree with you that finding a mentor is one of the key of success in PM however having the suffecient Knowledge about PM basic will make the Mentor useles. I beleive!
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