by goosmurf via Flickr
Hello,
I am a graphic designer in Croatia with 6 years of work experience and a BS in information systems from the US university (it probably does not matter for my question, but anyway). I am in my mid thirties and would like to enter the field of project management.
At the moment I was thinking of getting an MBA in project management in the US and getting a PMI certification. However, the big challenge is the working experience. How will I be employable after that and where would I look for employment (in the US? And I am not even sure what industry I would work in and how you pick that. What kind of advice would you suggest? What is the book you would recommend reading to get me started?
P.S. Before I would start my studies I was thinking about volunteering at the T-mobile corporate office here in Croatia parallel to my work in graphic desing. What kind of volunteering position would you recommend I seek?
Great questions! I will do my best to answer them for you.
- First, take a look at this list of career articles I’ve written over the years…many will be helpful for you.
- I chose NOT to pursue an MBA myself, as most project management positions are not requiring this and other factors weigh more heavily in my opinion
- The PMP certification from PMI requires some work experience managing projects, just so you know.
- My PM Career newsletter may be of interest to you as well.
- Volunteering is an excellent idea. Doing it for corporations may be tough unless they have an internship program for management or project management you could fit into….non-profit organizations or project management organizations are other options for volunteering as well.
- My PM Career Coaching Course is designed to answer many of your questions and help you decide on things like industry, company, etc. I haven’t come across a book I’d recommend on this topic, which is why I put the course together instead. There are some books out there but they are pretty limited as far as I’m concerned.
I hope that helps. If you are interested in my course, just check out the full lesson outline the page so you can get an idea of what’s included and see if it’s for you.
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Hi Goosmurf,
Like Josh, I too am a lifelong project manager, but coming up through the construction management.
As a trainer and mentor to many people about the same age as yourself, I have slightly different perspective.
First, I agree that getting an advanced degree in project management would be a wise move. But I honestly think the European or Australian Universities offer much more value for the money than do any of the US schools. I got my Master’s in Project Management from George Washington University and I understand that program is now ~$54,000, which is outrageous. My recommendation would be to look into the French based SKEMA School of Business (which is where I got my PhD) http://www.skema.edu/en or look into Curtin University, Perth, University of Technology, Sydney or Bond University, Gold Coast. All four are accredited and have internationally recognized reputations at a fraction of the cost of the US schools.
As for certifications, I believe the PMP is starting to lose favor. How do I know this? Because having been in the project management certification business for 20 years now, we are seeing the “early adopter” clients moving beyond the PMP and looking either for more technically sophisticated credentials, such as those offered by AACE or INCOSE or better yet, many are now seeking COMPETENCY based credentials, such as those offered by IPMA or in the USA, asapm. To get an idea of the general ranking of the various project management certifications benchmarked against the US Professional Engineer (PE) license, click here http://www.pmforum.org/library/papers/2010/PDFs/feb/FP-Giammalvo-PMCertsCompared.pdf
As for “getting into” project management, I cannot believe that as a graphic designer, you aren’t already “doing” projects already? Isn’t assignment you get somehow unique, with a start and a finish? And doesn’t your work require the consumption of resources and coordination and communication within and between stakeholders? Assuming the answer to that question is yes, then you are already a “project manager”.
Bottom line- given you are coming from an EU country, I would urge you to pick SKEMA and the IPMA credentials, and given you already are doing project management, then my only challenge to you would be to seek larger and more complex projects. At 30 years old, you have a long future in front of you and plenty of time to hone your skills before taking on larger, more complex projects. In the end, you will learn that project management is not about estimating or scheduling or risk management, so much as it is about managing people, and that usually only comes with time and experience. And that cannot be learned out of books.
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta, Indonesia
http://www,build-project-management-competency.com