So this will be the first of many questions I'll ask on this site, this particular question is in regards to qualifications and furthering my education and skills. I've recently completed a Diploma in Project Management, which actually qualifies me to be a fully fledged PM with all the knowledge required to start in the field. Although this is a good start, I wanted to ask for some guidance insofar as what qualifications to gain after this? I'm in Australia, moving to NZ so if anyone has any advice specific to that particular situation, that would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, what route should I take, MBA, Bachelor of Project Management, Degree in Business Science? Not sure which way to go, but I am really eager to further my skills and education.
Thanks and I hope I've been clear enough with my question.
It would really depend on what industry or domain you are entering Martin. I would say if you have already done a Diploma in Project Management, then you may want to back it up with a professional qualification like the CAPM or PMP while you gain a few years of experience under your belt. I still assume you are relatively young. You can do an MBA down the track if it helps you in your industry. Once you get a few years of experience, a CAPM or PMP, and hold the Diploma, a Bachelor's degree in the field is going to be pretty useless to be honest. Good luck :-) Saving Changes...
You haven't provided any details about your experience. Without that, the statement "qualifies me to be a fully fledged PM" is overly ambitious.
If you can provide some details about your actual PM experience, that could then enable the community to provide some recommendations.
A degree program in PM needs to be driven by more than just the job market. Unless you want to pursue a career in PM academia, experience will be much more more important.
Sante, thanks for your feedback, I will most probably enter the construction industry, although IT is also a possibility. I thought a PMP required one to have a certain amount of hours of experience before taking the exam? OK so seems that experience will the most vital aspect of my career, which I did think would be the case. The reason for wanting to further my skills with a degree was for personal reasons more so than anything else. Thanks again for the feedback :) Saving Changes...
Thanks for the feedback also, my experience is pretty limited, although I have been apart of many home renovations and assisted in the managing of those projects. Also I have been a part of Health and Safety Initiatives at my work place. I'm currently in the process of volunteering for businesses around my area to gain some experience.
I say that it qualifies me to be a fully fledged PM because the course I completed was rather practical based and covered all the topics required to start and finish a project. So it allowed me to have a very concrete understanding of the ins and outs of running a project, albeit the actual experience.
So if I were to perhaps want to enter a career as a teacher, or author on the subject of PM, then a degree would be worth considering? Otherwise as you and Sante have said, experience.
Martin.
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2 replies by Kevin Drake and Kiron Bondale
Feb 21, 2018 7:20 AM
Kevin Drake
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Martin, have you got your diploma from Tafe? I went through their program and I am afraid to say it is really weak in comparison to PMP, and as matter of fact it based on 4th edition and we are now heading to 6th edition.
I strongly encourage you to get CAPM as a start and once you have enough working experience get the PMP.
Feb 21, 2018 8:40 AM
Kiron Bondale
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Martin -
It is very difficult to be a credible PM teacher if you don't have sufficient practical experience across a number of different project domains and with different lifecycles (e.g. deterministic, adaptive).
I would recommend focusing on gaining more breadth & depth of true PM experience first before pursuing anymore education.
Thanks for the feedback also, my experience is pretty limited, although I have been apart of many home renovations and assisted in the managing of those projects. Also I have been a part of Health and Safety Initiatives at my work place. I'm currently in the process of volunteering for businesses around my area to gain some experience.
I say that it qualifies me to be a fully fledged PM because the course I completed was rather practical based and covered all the topics required to start and finish a project. So it allowed me to have a very concrete understanding of the ins and outs of running a project, albeit the actual experience.
So if I were to perhaps want to enter a career as a teacher, or author on the subject of PM, then a degree would be worth considering? Otherwise as you and Sante have said, experience.
Martin.
Martin, have you got your diploma from Tafe? I went through their program and I am afraid to say it is really weak in comparison to PMP, and as matter of fact it based on 4th edition and we are now heading to 6th edition.
I strongly encourage you to get CAPM as a start and once you have enough working experience get the PMP. Saving Changes...
Thanks for the feedback also, my experience is pretty limited, although I have been apart of many home renovations and assisted in the managing of those projects. Also I have been a part of Health and Safety Initiatives at my work place. I'm currently in the process of volunteering for businesses around my area to gain some experience.
I say that it qualifies me to be a fully fledged PM because the course I completed was rather practical based and covered all the topics required to start and finish a project. So it allowed me to have a very concrete understanding of the ins and outs of running a project, albeit the actual experience.
So if I were to perhaps want to enter a career as a teacher, or author on the subject of PM, then a degree would be worth considering? Otherwise as you and Sante have said, experience.
Martin.
Martin -
It is very difficult to be a credible PM teacher if you don't have sufficient practical experience across a number of different project domains and with different lifecycles (e.g. deterministic, adaptive).
I would recommend focusing on gaining more breadth & depth of true PM experience first before pursuing anymore education.
Kevin, I did indeed, how so? I found the course to be rather thorough and really cover the aspects required to run and manage a project from start to finish. Are there significant differences between the 4th and 6th editions?
Yes, I am looking into getting a CAPM, but that also requires 1500 hours of PM experience which I have yet to gather! Although I definitely will be going down the path of CAPM and PMP as suggested, with experience of course.
Kiron, thanks again for the feedback, I am definitely grasping the fact that experience is vital and I'm in the process of re-writing my resume and applying for volunteer positions to gain momentum and experience as a PM.
