What do you do if you're unsure of the potential career paths in Program Management?

If unsure of potential career paths in Program Management, you can do the following - 1. Research and Networking: Explore various industries, connect with professionals, and attend events to gain insights into different career trajectories. 2. Skill Assessment: Assess personal strengths, interests, and skills to align with potential career paths within Program Management. 3. Seek Guidance: Consult mentors, career counselors, or industry experts for advice and perspective on available opportunities. 4. Professional Development: Pursue certifications or additional training to broaden skill sets and increase marketability in diverse Program Management roles.

Have a clear understanding of the "Why" of program management before framing a discussion or taking up a program management position. Despite industry and organization specific "program manager" tiles, the undepinning need why "programs" are crearted is to realise additional benefits to the organization that cannot be derived via multiple mutually independent projects. If you see that the organization can derive an added benefit via a program, then make yourself avail and make sure you are able to articulate how the program would do that and the role of program manager in enabling that.

Program management is quite broad and each industry has its nuances and specific domain knowledge. Besides looking at the market trends, I suggest looking at various industry sectors to see which one aligns with your strengths and interests. Are you passionate about the health industry? Or is it finance industry? Or service, or retail, or construction? The next step is to talk to people in the industries you are interested in and find out more about the specific skills required.

Even if you have never held a title of "program manager" but have a wide repertoire of project management experience, do a study of what each industry domain and organization expects from program management and do an self GAP analysis. This will show you the transferable skills you already have to become a program manager as well as what additional tools, knowledge or experience you need to gather.

Consider reaching out to an experienced project manager, program manager or portfolio manager to make that person you mentor to understand how you should position yourself to successfully manage programs. Also, look for opportunities to join or manage programs as a volunteer and gather experience - many PMI local chapters have opportunities for aspiring program managers to volunteer to manage programs and gather experience.

I always think it’s better to fail fast, rather than trying to seek perfection. Keep trying new things, seek feedback, fail lots, then try again. The most successful people are generally the ones that have failed the most (and done it really fast - and learnt from it).

While experimenting and taking on smaller programs and delviering to sharpen your skills, do a review of requirements to obtain PgMP certification at PMI at least as a loing term goal.

Just a good project manager doesn't necessarily have to be a subject matter expert on a particular domain, try to become a program manager who can manage programs on different industry domains.