Project management organizations can be a great resource for new project managers or even aspiring project managers who are just learning project management.
This is a short video demonstrating how to find them and get involved.
I received a few questions from the UK regarding the question of getting into project management, and involving yourself in project management organizations is a key part of my answer. This is especially true for these two who are from London where there are multiple organizations they can tap into. Even if you are in an area where going to regular events in person is not an option, there are other resources to network online and find project managers in your area you can speak with. The International Community of Project Managers (ICPM) and ProjectManagers.net are two I know of and use.
I discuss how certifications and education are great, but neither are going to make you a great project manager. Then I demonstrate how I found specific project management events and organizations for these individuals to go attend and get active with these groups. I cover the PMI UK chapter and APM, but also make mention of using LinkedIn events, the IPMA, the Brittish Computer Society, etc. There are many options available.
What did you think? What do you have to add? (Leave a comment below)
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Hello.
I am always willing to help other PM’s get started. I would suggest the following if you are interested in getting into PM or are just starting out:
1. If you are working in corporate america, then there are probably PM’s in your org (employees or contractors). Itroduce yourself, express interest in talking to them, and offer them lunch in return.
2. Most cities have a local PMI chapter. PMI.org has a listing
3. Does your boss know of your aspiration? Tell him and perhaps you will begin to gain some experience.
That is how I got started. Maybe that can help you too.
Regards,
Jason Edleman http://www.turningiris.com – Seeing, Simplifying, Seizing Project Management (& life)
Thanks for the great comment Jason!
That last one is important and I think many people miss it. Make sure everyone knows you want to manage projects… Find needs internally and volunteer to do a small project to implement the solution.
Jason n Josh,
I am new get-starter as PM. I request you both to have your kind guidance. I really wanna the one, to be like you n can able to share my thoughts around.
Thanks & regards,
Rajeev Gosain
Hey Rajeev, I know I already responded to you directly via email, but for the benefit of others who see this…
Check out my free newsletters and reports as a starting point:
http://pmstudent.com/free-newsletters-and-reports/
Josh,
First off, great clip. The sound is crisp and the content was well received.
Getting involved in the different project management institutes is really important and a great first step to becoming a project manager. Also, get involved in your community by volunteering to lead a block party or a special event. This will really test your abilities to influence people. Volunteers can quit easier than employees. So give it a whirl, test yourself while making a difference in your community.
Travis
Thanks Travis, and an excellent suggestion about helping out with an event.
I received an email the other day from someone who was rather sheepishly asking me if they volunteered to organize an event…even though “it’s not project management”.
My response was that it definitely IS project management. My cousin is an event manager in Denver, and I can tell you from talking with her, what she does IS project management.
So volunteer, even if it’s organizing a bake sale for your church or community center. If it’s a big event maybe they’ll have someone more experienced leading it…ask if you can assist them.
Josh,
Also regarding volunteer work, it is a great way to network. You never know who is watching. It could be your next boss or client in the crowd. Possibly even a fellow volunteer.
Travis
Lots of opportunities with asapm: http://www.asapm.org
Josh,
I am a full time student (senior) and I am thinking of gettting my Masters in Project Management. I have an Associates in Business Administration and my Bachelors will be in Business Administration with a concerntration in Human Resource Management. An instructor advised that after getting our degrees, that we should consider two (2) certifications. I’m considering project management. Do you recommend a Masters in Project Management or just finding a school that offers the certification. I live on a military post that offers the class that will enable you to sit for the exam. . .but I’ve heard that there is more to getting into this field than just having a PM or PMP certification.
How do I get started? I feel like I don’t know where to begin?
Felicia, I respectfully disagree with your instructor.
Even now while you are working on your Bachelor degree, and immediately after, I recommend you focus on gaining experience. After you have a few years of experience, you can make a better decision about what certifications or advanced degrees, if any, to pursue.
The truth is, you are much less likely to get hired as a project manager with a masters degree and no experience. You will be much better of building your experience base.
I’ve written quite a bit on how to gain experience when you are new to this field, and produced in-depth training on the topic as well.
For posts I’ve written, and please read the comments too:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=site%3Apmstudent.com+experience
And my my on-demand training:
http://learn.pmstudent.com/project-management-career-coaching
I hope that answer helps Felicia.
Hi Josh ,
I have gone through the video – how to get involved with project management organizations .
I too felt that it is good to start with the local PMI chapter where there are a lot of events happening every week .
I wish I had a PMI chapter in Coimbatore,India .Incidentally the nearest PMI chapter is in
Bangalore which is about 8 hours of travel .
I felt that those of us who are not located near a PMI chapter or have to travel a lot of distance
to reach the nearest organizations focussed on project management , could fill the knowledge gap and network
with other professionals by trying the following options .
Subscribing to free newsletters:
I found that subscribing to a lot of newsletters on project management helps us gain a broder
perspective on various issues that we have to face on a daily basis . In fact by subcribing to your newsletter
,Josh , I felt that I got a lot of information on various issues in project management .
Membership of project management groups on linkedin :
There are a lot of groups and subgroups on linkedin which are dedicated to project management.
By participating in the discussions on these forums , we could gain a lot of information from the fellow members
I have subscribed to a lot of such groups on linkedin and it has helped me a lot till date .
Membership of online communities for project managers :
There are a lot of online project management communities like Gantthead (for IT project managers),PMI’s agile
community of practise (for Agile practitioners) , etc besides other online project management communities .
By being a member of these communities we could gain access to a lot of project management resources like templates,
books(pdf’s) etc which are immensely helpful in our daily project management activities .
We are could also participate in a lot of events organized by these communities
As a member of Gantthead , I could attend PMXPO 2011 , a virtual project management conference .These events
helps us in a lot of ways like gaining PDU’s for PMP recertification .
Webinars/Seminars on project management :
There are a lot of organizations on the internet who organize free / paid webinars / seminars on project management
which are worth attending . While working on my recertification , I came across organizations like version one ,
ESI international(PMI-REP) , etc who had lots of webinars on project management .
I gained a lot of information from these webinars and gained my PDU’s as well .
Forums
You could also look out for other project management forums like the one where you could have done your project
management training / PMP certification training .They might have their own forums on the intrenet where we could participate
with other members and gain a lot of valuable information . For instance , I am a member of the forum at Simplilearn (PMI- REP) , where I had done my PMP training . These forums helped me a lot in gaining valuable information on project management besides gaining PDU’s for my recertification .
Thanks & Regards
Sabyasachi Gupta ,PMP
Thanks so much for your contribution Sabyasachi!
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