Hello All,
I am looking for a career change and I looked into Project Management as an option. It looks like the demand for PMs is increasing with loads of job openings in different sectors.
A little bit about me: I’m 35 and my background is in Further Education and, in particular, teaching English as a foreign/second language (10 years). I have managed and co-ordinated academic programmes (no budgeting involved), developed assessment/ learning materials and overall being involved in teaching and learning. I have an advanced teaching qualification and a MA in Linguistics. I have been on a second maternity leave for the last one year.
I don’t think that there is a lot of money in Education and even that I’ve been in senior positions my salary hasn’t increased a lot and realistically it will be very difficult to earn above the 30k mark. Now that I am a mother of two with a partner who is a good earner I feel that I want to make a good contribution to the family earnings and I am looking to be more stable financially in the long run.
So here are my questions re PM and I’d appreciate any advice and suggestions you may have and apologies if my questions seem to overlap a bit:
- How does one become a PM?
I fully understand that it will take time to become a PM and I should probably start at a lower level and work myself up the ladder. But what is that lower level and what would be the best place to start considering my background? Do I look for a Project Officer/Assistant/Support and more importantly where? Any suggestions for reputable recruitment agencies/firms that can give me a head start? Most support jobs seem to be very low paid, i.e. around the 20k mark. I am prepared to earn less to start off with but realistically how long may it take to transfer from support to PM? I know it depends on different variables but, from experience, what are your observations?
- Qualifications?
I understand that there are loads of PM qualifications out there and the PRINCE2 is just one of them. I also understand that you don’t need to be qualified in order to be a PM and experience is what employers would look at first. But I need to start somewhere and was wondering if the PRINCE2 qualification would make me more marketable and give me a better chance in finding a support role. Do I need to do the foundation to start off with as I think that PRINCE2 Practitioner would not make any sense unless I’m directly involved in PM?
- Progression route?
So with a background in education does it make sense to stay in the field or I can go straight to IT/Finance etc in a supporting role? It makes sense to me to stay in Education but I can’t see many jobs out there and the scope is very limited. I know bugger all about IT and Finance and don’t have the background knowledge. What fields can I move into? I am prepared to learn and I’m not afraid of exploring different fields but I don’t know whether in the real world an IT firm, for example, would employ someone with a background in Education who is PRINCE2 Foundation qualified with no previous experience. Thoughts on how I could best make that link in my career change? What would be the most sensible thing to do?
- How lucrative is the field?
Again, I know this is a very subjective questions but what are your observations? How much does a PM earn? Does it depend on what sector you’re in? I.e. does IT pay more compared to other fields?
- Job Search?
Where does one with little or no experience search for jobs and opportunities? Do you know of any reputable recruitment agencies or companies I can look into? Where do I search for support roles for specific sectors? Is an internship an option just to get me started? Any links to websites would be greatly appreciated.
I think that’s all for now and thank you in advance for your comments.