A member of the pmStudent community contacted me for advice about where she should focus her efforts with the end goal of being a great project manager.  I’ll give my thoughts, and would love to get input for her from the rest of you as well.

“I am wondering if it is better to be a good programmer first, really good specialist (technically) and than become PM, or maybe other way…would be better to gain more experience as a member of IT team as a programmer, then team leader, try to find a job in a big IT company OR to try to gain PM experience in small company with small projects.”

First off, THANK YOU for contacting me with the question!  I applaud your maturity in formulating a plan to reach your career goals!

There are different thoughts on this, and it does depend on the type and size of projects you plan to work on.  I agree with what Bill Duncan has said before here on pmStudent.com:

“Technically skilled and knowledgeable PMs are fine on smaller, simpler projects where they are as apt to be making technical decisions as management decisions. But as their projects get larger and/or more managerially complex, they will be making management decisions, and their technical skills are as likely to be a handicap as a benefit.”

“I’ve seen many, many, more situations where the PM got into trouble because [he or she] did not have the sense to defer to the technical leads on the project.”

One of the most dangerous things on a project can be a technical PM who thinks they know (or really do know) more than the technical leads and takes on technical decisions when they should not.   On small projects this can be fine, but as the project increases in technical complexity and size, there’s an increased risk of bad consequences from having too much power and knowledge in one person.   The PM should know enough to understand what is going on at a high level technically, but not enough that day-to-day technical decisions are being made by a PM.  The PM should be primarily focused on communication and management as much as possible.  Project managers can benefit by earning an MBA online or similar master’s degree.

The key is being able to effectively communicate with the techies and business suits…you need a foot in both worlds for this.  Personally, in your situation I would:

• Continue working as a member of the project team
• Start asking your project manager (and those managing other projects) what you can do to help them out
• Show your interest in what the project managers are doing, and ask them questions.  Most people are very happy to help as long as you are tactful and not too demanding or annoying!
• Be willing to commit your own personal time without pay to gain valuable experience and build relationships with mentors
• Start thinking about the work you and your team are doing from both the technical AND management perspective

Leave a comment below and let’s get a discussion going here!

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I received an email from someone the other day who is very interested in becoming a project manager. She doesn’t have any experience in the field yet, and wanted some advice on how to proceed. She assumed that the PMP exam is what she should be looking into getting.

She mentioned that she is saving up for a training camp that claims they can train her to pass the PMP exam without project experience. I want to thank her for writing to me and taking action towards her career goals!

Unfortunately, that training camp is engaging in unethical practices. If they are condoning that people take the PMP exam without any work experience as a project manager, that really burns me!

Becoming a Project Manager

For those who would like to get started in project management the RIGHT way, here are a few suggestions:

1. I’ve said this before, but when it comes to project management, general management, and many other careers you just need to go get some experience.  Get on a project team somehow and find someone who is doing what you want to get into.  Ask them to mentor you.  Do odd jobs for them, things they find tedious but that you will learn from.  Go above and beyond and tap into the veterans.  You will be surprised how quickly a great attitude and passion can open doors for progressively greater levels of responsibility.
2. If you have no experience yet, the PMP certification is NOT for you.  Neither are the IPMA certifications.  The lowest-level IMPA certification requires “2 FTE years working on projects or 6 months and BA/BS” experience.  The PMP requires 3 of experience with a BA/BS, or 5 without.  I interpret “leads and directs project teams” as experience as an actual project manager.
3. A great way to get some formal education and an introductory certification is to go for the CAPM exam.  The minimum requirements for this exam are 23 contact hours of project management education OR 1,500 hours where you “contribute to a project team”.

If you do seek education in project management, I would like to add that it’s value is greatly diminished unless you are actively working in a project environment where you can implement the concepts you are learning, or at least use a real project environment as a means for comparing “book learning” to real life.

All that said, there’s one product I endorse for both the CAPM and PMP exams…if you don’t have the experience to qualify for the PMP exam, this training is still very useful and inexpensive.  It’s what I bought and used to study for the PMP exam, and I liked it because it focused on the concepts and leveraging stories of real-world examples instead of trying to get you to memorize the answers to questions.  I also like the fact that I could pop the MP3′s into my player and drive to and from work while studying.  It was excellent.

Get more advice for new project managers.

I hope that helps if you are wanting to break into project management.  Any more advice from veterans out there who are reading this?  (Besides “run away!  What are you thinking?!?  It’s hell in here!!!!)

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