Do you want to be a project manager?

In present fast developing world, the job of the project manager and project team member are highly appreciated and the salaries of experienced project workers are much higher than company average.

The beauty of this job is, that it is required in ANY country and in ANY industry. In order to get the job in any project, you should fulfill 2 criteria:

1. Have project work experience
2. Have Project management certificate

How to have work experience

The best way is to work in some project on certain post. Project manager is only one in the project, but there might be dozens of other posts which should be counted as project management job. Junior Project manager (sometimes called ans Project support, project assistance, project secretary), configuration manager, planner, business managers, communication manager etc...

Good news is, that sometimes you do not even know, that you have been working in project. Typical posts are suppliers and users. Did you participate on the development of some product (machinery, SW, service) which was developed for certain customer? Than you can be considered as Supplier.

Or, did your company buy some improvement, like new computers, new software, training, machinery? If you were influenced by this delivery, you can be considered as User.

Good news

Good news is, that both Users and Suppliers are also part of the project management team. Try to find more details about those project and than describe your experience into your CV.

Voila!!! You have project management work experience.

How to get a Project Management certificate

This is also an easy task. You have a choice of few project management standards, mainly PMI, APM, PRINCE2, IPMA from the classic project management and Scrum, DSDM, PMI-ACP, Crystal, TDD, XP and others from agile project management. (Some of the agile methods are oriented only in IT sector).

First of all, find in your sector (or company where you want to work, which is their favorable project management standard). Two of the most required standards are PMI (certificate PMP or CAPM) or PRINCE2 (PRINCE2 Foundation or PRINCE2 Practitioner).

PMP certificate is probably highest appreciated, but the most difficult to obtain. You need to prove thousands of hours of your project management experience in order to subscribe to the exam. CAPM is a bit easier. You should spend from 1 month to 1 year of learning. Good help is Linkedin group I want to be a PMP. The examination is not expensive, about $400, but I strongly advise to take some classroom training and a few weeks of vacation for preparation. (Plus PMBOK and Rita which is about $200 if you buy them new).

Much easier is PRINCE2 certification. You do not need any pre-conditions (neither for basic level PRINCE2 Foundation, neither for higher level PRINCE2 Practitioner). Training usually lasts 3+2 days, with about 20 hours of self-preparation. The exam is also easier, where you need only 55% of correct answers, while in PMP you need about 75% (the figure is only estimated). Moreover, there are many On-line pieces of training of PRINCE2, so you do not need to spend money on traveling and accommodation. A good start is the Project Academy, where you can download many Project management ebooks, but also take simulation exam tests for FREE.

Agile project management

The most famous Agile project management is Scrum. It is a good start because Scrum is also incorporated in PMI-ACP, PRINCE2 Agile, and other standards. You can also download an eBook about Scrum on Project Academy website.

Where to start?

If you feel, that the project management is the good start to your carrier (or a good change of your carrier), you should start immediately. There are plenty of Internet sources where you can start your search. Project Academy is only one of plenty of sites. BUT!!! Actually, you can undertake there FREE PRINCE2 training, which should be a good start for your carrier.

You should visit also AXELOS, PMI, Scrum study and other bid training organization.