This week’s question comes from Mr JJ:
I have been a software engineer for the past 4 years and bored of the role now because the company I work for is a small one and I believe I have exhausted how far I can go with the firm. Project management within the IT/Financial industry is an option I am considering strongly having had elements of project management in my current role. How would you advise I go about this?
Project management within the IT industry may very well be an option for you however the issue you face immediately is how can you build on the “elements of project management” you have and turn yourself in a good candidate for a project management position. There are two possible roads to go down; (1) Don’t leave your current firm until you have been able to step up into a project management or project lead role (2) Start thinking about the help you need to take your informal project management knowledge and turning it into something more formal.
Now there is a risk with option 2 because even though you might take some formal training and accreditation you’re still left with this issue of no real practical experience of project management, and the bottom line is would you hire you to be a project manager?
Even though your current firm is small, I’m guessing that because you’re already doing some elements of project management that either your firm already has at least one project manager or at the very least a good enough attitude to project management in so far that it’s recognised is a need at some level. If there is no scope for you becoming a project manager within your current firm is there at least an option where you could perform the dual roles of software engineer and project lead/manager? Is this is a possibility, you should then look in every conceivable place for support in helping yourself firm up both your theoretical knowledge and your hands on leadership of the project team.
The situation you find yourself now, thinking about a career in project management is a very common one – there are a lot of people wanting to make similar transitions however the general project management marketplace is not flowing with opportunity for people taking their first steps. Of the two options above, option one at least allows you to continue earning a living whilst gaining that precious experience; experience which can be very elusive if you find yourself out in the cold of the job market
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Hi, I am in a very similar situation. I am working in a small software firm for past 4 years and I don’t see any chance of developing a career path further in this company. There is a tech head in the company who manages everything and there isn’t any other role which I can assume that would include major elements of project management. In short this is making my job very monotonous and so I have been seriously thinking of taking up a IT Project Manager role as an option. For the same reason I also underwent a formal diploma in Project Management from the local university. Can you suggest how do I move on from here? But still I do not have any practical experience. Should I look for a change in another company as a Team Lead or similar position? But this would be like starting from square one, because unless a company has an insight into your skills they would not give you a more responsible position. And this can take another 2-3 year may be. Do some organizations take software people as project management interns and provide them practical training? And then put them as an associate under an existing Project Manager in a project. Please guide me…