Hi Oz,
I am thinking of doing a cert4 in project management to help get my foot in the door for a career path. It will be in the electrical field. I don't know how else to break into the market? Is it worth it? Anyone have this sort of experience?
I'm a qualified electrician and have been a leading hand for almost 3 years.
Most electrical project managers I have met have an electrical trades background not a tertiary degree or certificate.
^^This^^
Same for construction PMs, software PMs, business PMs, etc.
A degree or certificate helps, but having the knowledge / skills of the industry is probably more important.
Thanks for the comment Tom. With the trade I think it's slightly different. I guess more where I was going was you need experience to get into a role like that or can I kick start it by having something like that under my belt/on my resume? Eventually I would like to get into large scale construction and managing sites like that, to give an idea of where I would like go.
I think as Billy and GG pointed out, for a lot of people PM is a evolution of their area of expertise. As an example, I might be a good PM on a new product design project (I'm a mechanical engineer), but I would find it really difficult to be managing a civil construction project. There's a lot to know and you have to have a deep understanding of the tasks, how they are related to each other, and what options you might have (to reduce costs, lead times etc.).
One aspect that might be good would be logistics? Many logistics people I know have used that as a stepping stone for operations and project management. It's also a very overlooked area, every company I can think of has to have some level of logistics but for most people it's in the background.
Even if none of that helps, hope you find a path that works well for you, and you get a great job that you enjoy. Never stop learning. Cheers.
I'm a qualified electrician and have been a leading hand for almost 3 years
I was in a similar situation before (lots of experience in my field - finance and insurance - and wanting to get into a PM role). The most difficult part is that the requirements of every available PM role lists extensive work experience. They didn't seem to care about qualifications. It helps to have experience in your field, but the day to day of a PM is very different to a technical role.
I eventually built up the courage to apply a role at a large company where they had over 60 applications for a single role and, to my surprise, I got the job after one interview. After a couple of years, I asked why they hired me and they told me that "experience is something that can be learnt, but your intangible skills is something that is difficult to teach - you either have it or you don't". So if you been dealing with PMs, etc in your line of work, you might be able to find someone who is willing to give you that opportunity even without experience.
you either have it or you don't
This is so true. After working for years in construction you can just see it in an individual. There are some people that can do it and others that cannot. There is no in between or maybe you can generally tell through just a few professional interactions with somebody. The ability to complete a PM role shows in everything they do.
I agree.
I've done a few PM courses and I'm the first to admit that I'm a crap Project Manager and I avoid that role as it only leads to failure personally and for my employer.
There are aspects of a total project that i'm good at and I do my best to add those skills to the project team.
Here's my story:
I did a 2 day intro course through work of PM. It got me interested and I asked the presenter what he thought on options going forward. His opinion (even though he taught a cert 4) was that a university level was a better way to go if you want to go down that career path. If you want some supplementary tools and knowledge to assist in your current job, then the cert is probably the better way to go.
I went back to uni online and did a graduate certificate in PM. It took a year of part time study which I mostly did at nights or weekends. When I applied for jobs, my new employer recognised the qualification and although I was applying for an engineering role, my title got bumped up to Project Manager. In my view, the cost and time put in has been well worth it.
I am not too sure how this story translates to yourself apart from me saying that taking the initiative to learn and take on new skills is well worth the investment.