I absolutely love it when people find something that “clicks” for them like project management did with me!
I recently received an email with a wonderful story and some questions about getting started in project management. I find that the inspiration I get in replying to people individually results in something I feel lots of others can get benefit from.
On the CAPM, it can be good if you are trying to learn the PMI standard and get introduced to formal PM as a discipline. It’s not so hot in terms of helping you land a job, and many people who are new to PM think they need to go get a certification right away to land a job, but it just doesn’t work like that. Many training providers are more than happy to take your money and sell you on a certification that isn’t right for you, so be careful!
Also, you should know that some of the things in your background definitely are the kinds of things PMs do. Event planning for one. A cousin of mine works in Denver as an event planner, and she never knew what she was doing was project management until I had coffee with her one day. I was trying to describe what I do to her, and we found out that we do similar things, although my products are mostly software or processes and her products are events. At the core though, it’s the same. I think your charity work probably contained a lot of those elements too…I volunteer for several organizations who work with children and families with special needs and these volunteer roles usually consist of many small projects….one of the ideas I’ve been kicking around is doing some training specifically for non-profits to improve their operations by applying project management principles. Organizations of all stripes can benefit from good project management.I can tell from your email and other context you’ve given that you’d be a great project manager. At it’s core, project management is about working with lots of people with varied interests and goals, leading them towards a common vision and helping them make it happen. When it comes down to it, project management is just people getting things done, and the project manager is lucky enough to play an important role in that effort.I wanted to also point you to some articles I’ve written that may be of interest to you:
In addition, I’ve done some training over the last year you could check out if you are interested, it’s geared towards new project managers. The PM Career Coaching course might be an option (check out the sample video) or I have other courses that walk through how I manage projects too.
Eureka! I’m a Project Manager! is a post from: pmStudent
I love to help new project managers and working project managers further their careers.
I also offer online project management training for you!
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