Victoria PnacekProject Manager| ComtechWalkersville, Md, United States
I work for a PM Consulting firm. I started with the company as an administrative assistant. I have been working more directly with the project managers for 9 months learning that I excel most in process improvements. I would like to move forward in my career in project management, but not sure what that "forward" will mean. Any advice is appreciated. Saving Changes...
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Anonymous
As you probably are aware, project management involves coordinating, planning, mediation, execution/tracking, etc. If this interests you, you should ask your supervisor for small projects for you to manage to build experience and good track record. With success, you can then move into larger projects that involve more people and bigger visibility/budget. Saving Changes...
You may want to have an international certification as a Project Manager. I recommend to you to navigate in the Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org). There you can find the international standard for project managers. Probably you already know this. Saving Changes...
In addition, you may want to familiarize yourself with the tools and processes of project mgt. A good starter tool would be MS-Project. Saving Changes...
Victoria: Since you're new to project management, and it appears you're well suited for it, I'd suggest getting your Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certificate. By studying for this certificate, you'll learn a lot about project management. Juan is right on when he advises you to review the Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org) website. I am the President of Cheetah Exam Prep and we offer both the CAPM Prep as well as PMP prep. I've attached a document that tells you a bit about the CAPM. I hope it helps you Victoria. Saving Changes...
Michael DiVecchioProgram Manager| Department of Homeland SecurityFulton, MD, United States
My suggestion would be to talk with other project managers in your organization about your career goals. If possible, meet with project managers at different stages of their careers. Talk to junior as well as senior project managers to get their advice as well as "picking their brains" for information. I'd say treat your career as a proeject. Figure out your career goals and with the advice of others in your company set up a plan (i.e., career steps, training plan, etc.) to achieve your goals. Good luck Victoria! Saving Changes...
I'm glad to hear that you excel in the project mgt-profession!
How to move on...a good questions without any clear answers...but here are some hints;
* Learn the "trade" from the bottom and upwards. Accept that you need to learn how to write reports, book conf-rooms, analyse stats...etc..
* Start by managing small projects and work your way up to larger size projects. Take your time and accept a failure (or two as long as you learn from them)
* Work with different kinds of projects. Build, buy and blend.
* Learn from other PM's.
* Start to write a PM-diary. Short notes about what has happend during the day and you accomplishments. Good and bad.
* Have training. I strongly recommend the training-courses that ESI provides.
* Aim for a PMI-certification in the long run. You need to build some experience first.
* Last but not least...Always deliver more and better than others...
