Just like the Title says...anyone?

I am in the process of a career change and I am thinking of heading in that direction.

Anything I need to know before I jump in head first?

...any info is appreciated.

 

Jamz..I have nothing to contribute to help with your questions, just wanted to say thats awesome you're making a change. I wish I could. Are you going to school or gonna get a job somewhere and work your way up?


BREW

 

Question: Are you Project Management certified?? Do you have your PMC? It would greatly improve your chances of getting a PM position.

 

Yeah jamz, you can't out something like that out there and not tell us anything. What is going on?

 

"Project Management" typically is not a career in itself.....typically you choose a career path which has a fair amount of project management in its tasks......

.....for example.....my formal education is within Civil Engineering.....most of my day is spent doing project management related activities......

.....do you have a field in mind that you would like to point your career to?.....most likely this will need some additional education/training.......

.....we need more info....I understand you hate your current employment....but do not make too rash of a move until you know the direction you want to move......

 

Construction I'm guessing?


What area are you looking at...large scale projects, residential, or anything that will get you away from your current job?

 

thnx BREW.

Yeah, I am gonna take some courses, and transfer to a different department here in the company I currently work for, and get some experience in this field. Once I have some experience and I'm really comfortable, I'll will look for a new company to work for and hopefully be able to relocate.

The wife is behind me 100% .. and that's cool.

 

No sir, I dont have a PMC....YET. I will take baby steps till I do. It has been brought to my attention that I can get hired on here withOUT the cert, and the company will help me get it.

 

Wow....I didn't think I would bring up so many questions.

I am new to this and I am still researching. I just had lunch with a friend that is doing it now for this company and she and I have worked together for many years. She knows me well, and when she heard that they are going to be hiring a couple of people, she immediately sent me an email to meet for lunch.

We went over some of the responsibilities, and I'm all for it.

That's why I started this thread so i could get some feedback from you guys.

keep em coming BTW

 

The job itself doesn't matter to me. I am in tech support now, and I am complately burnt out.

Basically networking. Fiber installs for schools, churches, hospitals, etc.

Did that answer your question?

 

Oh, also, I have done some small projects here in the department I work for now, but on an extremely small scale....that will have to be put on my resume. Also, I'll be training using Microsoft Project. From what I hear, that will look good on a resume as well.

 

I'm an electrical engineer at Kimberly-Clark (we make diapers here). I spent 2.5 years in a project manager role, leading projects anywhere from $100k to multi-million. Different companies have different requirments of their project managers and the title changes within different fields.

At KC, we own the projects from a local standpoint and work with our "staff" project managers. We do all of the management of the project, including financials (handling placed in service, writeoffs, etc.) which many companies have handled by finance folks. We manage the installation timeframe, equipment requirements, manpower, getting contractors for modifications, project justification, etc.

The big skill needed for project managers is to be able to juggle tasks and not lose track of what needs to be done.

 

MS Project is huge.

There is also a large demand for what you're offering. In my area there are several companies that specialize in this, but there are also a lot of CM companies that are adding full time supers just to handle the networking portions of large projects.

The downside with going with a construction company, at least in my area, is that you'll be bounced around the country depending on where they need you. There simply isn't enough work in Buffalo.


A large part of PM work is on the business side. You will work with contractors, subs, the owners, bankers, local governments agencies, utilities, etc. That is by far the down side to the job (in my opinion). But being in tech support I'm sure you have developed a lot of skills when it comes to explaining things to people who don't have a clue what they're talking about.

 

AGREED!

Learn to love an office with post it note wallpaper.

 

Union is the only way to go.