It is nowhere close to the struggles of a “glass ceiling” or a “seperate but equal” workplace inequity, but breaking into a new line of work undoubtedly has its rough patches and is bound with struggle and, occassionally, frustration.
Breaking into project management falls into the new line of work theorem above, as often people find their careers have led them on a road toward managing projects without their true understanding of what, exactly, they’ve gotten into.
For instance, say you’ve got a certified HND in Mechanical Engineering, and as such, you go to work for an automotive company. Before long, you find yourself progressing in managerial roles within the company. You are taking on projects, managing their effective production and even have undertaken training and earned certifications to manage projects to company standards. Then the wall caves on your days with the automotive company: left to find new work, you realise your hands-on engineering days may be numbered as you look for new employment. But you WERE a project manager, weren’t you? Can you try that path?
It happens more than you realise, and not just to mechanical engineers, either. People who found themselves doing it the company way, carrying the title of project manager, suddenly left to their own devices to discover that it is more than a title to other employers – it is a mantle. Nestled amongst a variety of qualifications – some helpful, some not so much – in the “survival of the fittest” job hunting landscape, the next batch of project management professionals might see a mountain when in reality it could be nothing but a mild tweak that could put the molehill in perspective.
Enter Arras People, the project management recruitment specialists, and their acclaimed Project Management Careers Clinics, a renowned 30 minute consultation that leads to better CVs and confident candidates.
Now, candidates have been given a two-day window to really get their money’s worth – money excluded! Free clinics from the Arras People Clinic Consultants are on offer 25-26 March at the NEC Birmingham during the Project Challenge Spring Show 2009. You can register for one online today, then hop down to stands 174-176 at the Spring Show for a 30-minute face-to-face consultation about your career path, CV, goals, experience, or whatever else you wish to find help about in your career.
Given the abundance of positive feedback we’ve received over the years for our paid clinics, it’s hard to pass up a golden opportunity like this one!
Arras People’s careers services are mentioned on the Knowledge Train blog (http://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/category/project-management-careers/page/4.php), as part of a series of articles written following an interview with one of Arras’s consultants.
When people want to build a career involving projects, they might attend a relevant training course. I can imagine how discussion with a careers advisor about putting what they’ve learned/existing skills/professional qualifications to the best advantage could be very helpful.
Keep up the good work!