Best Way To Get Into Project Management

[Regards]

Hello all,

I'm currently taking my last class before I graduate with my Bachelors in Business Administration with a focus in Management. I needed to take an elective for my last class, so I took Intro to Project Management, and I'm loving it. I've always wondered what I'd be doing after I graduate, now I consider PM a potential route. I'm also somewhat interested in Quality Management. With that being said most PM jobs require years of experience and from my knowledge, you don't just jump into a career as a PM, you start on small tasks and work your way up. What is the best route to get into this line of work? Other than PMI certs etc. Like where would I start? I currently work full time so being an intern would be near impossible. I'm not sure if it helps, but also I am 25 years old. ALL INPUT IS WELCOME.

Thanks,

Regards 

[DavidHume]

Hello all,

I'm currently taking my last class before I graduate with my Bachelors in Business Administration with a focus in Management. I needed to take an elective for my last class, so I took Intro to Project Management, and I'm loving it. I've always wondered what I'd be doing after I graduate, now I consider PM a potential route. I'm also somewhat interested in Quality Management. With that being said most PM jobs require years of experience and from my knowledge, you don't just jump into a career as a PM, you start on small tasks and work your way up. What is the best route to get into this line of work? Other than PMI certs etc. Like where would I start? I currently work full time so being an intern would be near impossible. I'm not sure if it helps, but also I am 25 years old. ALL INPUT IS WELCOME.

Thanks,

Regards 

Can you build your resume with your current position? Think of some small projects with minimal costs that you could suggest to your manager and take on. Things like updating procedure or training documents, initiating engagement programs, and the like can be a stepping stone to getting approval for bigger projects. Then use that experience to get a promotion or better position elsewhere.

[bjcheung77]

As DavidHume mentioned, work with your current employer and seek temporary assignments or promotions within the company. Since you're a fresh grad, they will know your experience is green. You have mentioned you don't have time to do internship, but you do have time to work on "smaller scale certifications".

Take your time to get more experience and a cert or two on the way. It's not time to go directly for PMP, but you can go for their smaller sibling, CAPM... check out the site. It's got other roles you may be interested in on the left hand side. https://www.pmi.org/certifications/types...ciate-capm

Three things to work on: 1) Degree - which you're about done with, or if you would like a higher level degree such as a Masters degree.
2) Experience - being a fresh grad, you won't have much, ask again for temp assignments within the same organization.
3) Certification - industry recognized certifications in your particular field, maybe get some Agile/Six Sigma/Scrum and so on.

[ajs1976a]

Join the local PMI chapter and network with the people there. Get the CAPM. Start trying to taylor your experience and resume towards PM work. Document and track hours for anything that would qualify as a project under the PMI guidelines to build towards the requirements for the PMP.

[jamshid666]

In addition to your regular job and local PMI chapter, check with your local charities or churches to see if they need any volunteer project management experience. Be sure to track your hours even for volunteer work, as it counts towards becoming a certified PiMP.

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Another option is to let your hobbies lead you to project management experience. Do you like running? Work with your local running groups and assist in the management of running a 5k race. Are you into wargaming? Work with your local game store to manage a tournament. Although you likely won't get paid for these activities, they will help you build on your project management expertise.

[Life Long Learning]

How about an AAS in PM from a CC?

[aviator guy]

I started out doing construction inspection, which lead to doing some light construction management.  When I had enough of that, I got a more "real" PM job as an "assistant" PM.  That lasted for a little while and I ended up as a "full" PM.  That didn't last long and I ended up as a PM/estimator/salesman.  Great career progression, unfortunately the paycheck has been sitting a few blocks behind at a green light texting or something... somebody needs to come up behind it and give it a quick honk.  With my luck it'll probably stick one finger out the window and put it in park out of spite.

Not bad for a guy that a short decade ago didn't know anything about anything that didn't fly.  Thank you (?) 2008 downturn for this... lovely... ahh "different" career path!

So to directly answer the OP, I have no idea how I got into project management, which makes me wholly unqualified to offer advice.  That being said, my advice: try to get into a field where project management is a "thing" but you also want to work in.  There are project managers in software development, and there are project managers in construction.  It's unlikely you'll ever successfully swap the two, so yeah... it is somewhat industry oriented.  For instance, a large majority of PMs in the construction/industrial world are also engineers (likely a reason for my laggard paycheck).  The basic function of a PM is to know a little bit about everything that's going on, and get the people that know a lot about a little bit to work together - gaining experience in these varied fields is extremely beneficial.  I attribute my movement from guy that took a simple materials testing job as a relocation hold-over until he could find something else in aviation to PM directly to my inquisitive nature.

[rlw74]

My husband is a Director of PM currently. He started as a field installer, worked his way up slowly. He had to take crappy jobs and travel 6 out of 7 days. In July of one year he was only home for 2 days. One project took him away from home for over 30 days straight. He was home 2 days and left for 45 days straight. We've lived in 8 states and moved between cities more times than I can count. It took a lot of years to get enough experience but it was worth it.

That said, I hope you have an easier time of it. Experience will always trump certifications in some fields. The most successful guys I know didn't waste time on certs, they just worked their butts off.

[kalishakti]

Thanks for this thread! I am curious about project management myself.

I tend to do SO much better with project/deadline-oriented work. I tend to struggle with routine work and especially schedule-oriented work. I liked my Project Management coursework and have successfully planned and executed quite a few community, religious, social and educational projects.

There seems to be quite a few job openings on Indeed for project managers.

[Thorne]

I'm quite interested myself. I'd love to work my way into project management or consulting within the next 10 years, so I'm all ears.