I’m due to graduate in 2010 and I’m worried about the lack of opportunity for recently graduated students in project management. What can I do?
As a final year student you are right to be thinking about your career right now. This is a crucial time when you need to know and understand yourself and begin setting a direction for your career. You may be either a Project Management graduate with no experience; a Project Management graduate with a little experience or a Project Management graduate with a lot of project delivery experience who has gone back to university as a mature student. Whatever your situation, a personal stock take should be carried out so you can answer the questions, “Who am I? What do I want to achieve? And why should someone employ me?”.
Thinking about why you want to be a Project Manager, helps you to think through exactly what you’re trying to achieve when you finish university. It will also be an interview question at some point in your life, so give it thought and rehearse it. Do you know what makes a great project manager? Understanding this helps you think about what employers are actually looking for in a new employee and what you need to do to come across as having the “right stuff”. Remember, in most instances if you do not have work experience they will be employing based on potential rather than immediate project management capability!
Now is the time to start thinking about the sectors and domains that interest you, it’s not about narrowing it down to say IT or corporate business but more about getting an understanding how diverse the project management marketplace actually is. You don’t know what you don’t know, so researching the market is once again crucial if you want to stand out in the crowd. For those with previous experience there may be the opportunity to change domains, whilst for those with little or no experience this is about planning their careers rather than just waiting for opportunities to fall on their lap. As previously mentioned as a graduate with little or no experience it’s likely that you will not be engaged to go straight in at Project Manager level. Therefore if you understand the other roles that exist in programme and project management you can think about which will be a good first step in the stepping stone to a career as a PM.
You also need to keep up to date with the Project Management profession; do you get involved with your professional group? They have events for students and the opportunity to meet other Project Management students. Learning from your competitors (i.e., other graduates graduating at the same time as you with the same degree) and finding out what other graduates are doing will help in forming your own plan of action. Ask yourself the question – so what do I bring to the table? Be ready because this is what a potential employer is thinking!
Start thinking about how to gain experience NOW – don’t wait until you graduate. Experience is one of the top things employers are looking for in their graduate Project Managers, qualifications and degrees are a great tick in the box but some experience is what you also need to get a foot in the door. Some ideas to start gaining the experience now whilst in the final year include looking at any interest group, voluntary organisations or even the university which may have an opportunity you can get involved in. It may be as simple as planning a special event, building a website; whatever it is will show potential employers your initiative and allow you to gain some real world project management experience.
This article was published in PMI’s PM Network magazine which is available to PMI members. Arras People provide a Careers Q&A column each quarter.
Leave a comment, especially if you’re a graduate project manager and be a part of our Freedom of Speech February, each week we will be giving away free project management methodology software licences to readers who provide comments, view, opinions or just other resources that other readers will find useful and interesting. This is an excellent resource for those starting out in the field of project management
Image © xb3 and used with permission.
Twitter: pmstudent
Great stuff, especially the part about going after experience and networking opportunities through local groups.
I recorded a short video on PM organizations in response to questions I was receiving from new graduates (among others):
http://pmstudent.com/how-to-get-involved-with-project-management-organizations/
Another great point you made is regarding the fact that in many cases, you’ll be starting out as an individual contributor. It’s very rare for a new graduate with no experience to be given a pure project management role, at least with significantly large projects.
This video may help with planning the move from individual contributor to project manager:
.-= Josh Nankivel´s last blog ..How to get involved with project management organizations (video) =-.
1st thing is not to worry too much! be wise and do the right thing at the right time. Do not lose any opportunity and give it your best.
Graduate recruitment take place round the year and positions open up with time.
Keep yourself updated with current trends in project management and stay up to date about the industry.
These are basic fundamentals of securing a graduate job.
I really enjoyed reading this acticle. I will be graduating in one year and I am starting to feel like I choose the wrong major. I know what I wanted to do when I first enter school be have no experience has really bummed me out I am now starting to seek other avenues to gain ecperience in business, and creative art design. I know I can do this job and this article has helped rekindle the fire that was inside freshman year thank you!
Twitter: projectmgmt
What a great comment Velvet – I’m glad the fires have come back for you