Career advice needed! Project Managers or Information Technology

[ToBeyond]

I am 45, single parent to 3 children age (5, 7, 10) and need to carve a career. I have been in low paid jobs for a long time and I am interested in project management or IT. I tried coding and could do tutorials but didn’t really click with it. I can get through html but not excited by web design. project management sounds interesting. I have no previous experience in PM or IT but if I could gain a qualification, would it open doors to a real career? Is azure difficult to understand? Is scrum easy to master? Would Prince2 foundation be worth doing? Would beginner courses in those help land a good starting salary of 28K plus?

Please can you guide me to exams/professional qualifications I need to get into the industry? I really want my DC to have a good role model and if I can achieve this, it would help them in so many ways.

Anyone??

Well done you! Attitude and getting of your arse is half the battle and you've shown you're willing to do that, which many, many aren't, so well done. I work in IT/cloud so am trying to think of ideas for you. That salary would definitely be achievable once you're in, and there are a lot of "getting mothers back in the workplace" initiatives out there. I'm wondering if you'd need to jazz up your previous experience a bit? What did you do before?

The best way in is to be involved in a team or to get experience by actually doing. I wouldn’t hire someone on the basis of having got a qualification, I would want actual experience too - it’s totally do-able but you would need to probably stay in the project support end and then work your way to to project manager - most project mgmt is based on having learned skills by delivering projects ( books don’t teach you the myriad of things that go wrong nor how to rectify them).

I think Azure/AWS and cloud is very, very topical. Azure certified might be the way to go (it's easier than coding imo) - but I think you need the end goal defined before you decide on what cert to do. Lack of experience might be the issue as you will be competing against people already in the industry. Having said that, they are desperate for women in IT (outside of coding/development, which is the only place where there are a few really) and the salary you mention is very much graduate/starting level so if you were prepared to do that kind of role for a couple of years and then move up, I'm sure there's potential for you in IT.

Agree with @pinbinpin - well done for taking the bull by the horns. I'd recommend that Instead of spending time now doing additional courses etc, you should look out for 'women returners' programmes. I work in IT (as a project manager) and the industry is full of these initiatives atm. Employers are v keen to show how diverse & flexible they are and it might be slightly easier for you to get in somewhere using this route, than going up against others who have experience plus the types of qualifications you mentioned?

Project management can be tricky to enter, as employers want to see experience and proven results. You would typically start in a project associate or support role and build from there. Qualification is for when you are a couple of years in, it won't help you enter the field unfortunately. It is also not for everyone. You would be running on adrenaline a lot, and you say goodbye to switching completely off in the evenings and weekends. It cab be so rewarding if you love that style of working, and thrive under pressure. I would recommend looking for project support roles to get on the ladder.

Developer roles are much tougher to come by than they used to be. These days most entry level jobs are outsourced to India or china where highly qualified candidates are much cheaper to hire.

If you fancy development you have to be the sort of person who can get very hyperfocussed on solving a problem, and do it for the love of it.

If you fancy a technical role there are a huge range outside of these. Helpdesk, system admin, database admin, service ownership etc.

Lots of women PMs of course but I don't know anything about project mgmt, I am technical. I'd say there's be more competition with PM so if you do have a technical bent, you might be able to make yourself stand out more?

Personally I would start with trying to get some sort of analyst or even admin role in the industry you are interested in. There is no way even with qualifications that you will walk into any sort of project management/IT PM role. You need industry experience. I ended up in my role over time through experience and starting as an analyst on an implementation project. I did well and they promoted me to PM. I have no qualifications aside from my degree from 20 years ago but a long career history in my industry. Sorry not an ideal answer but to summarise you won't get a qualification and then walk into a PM role. I know my specialisation inside out through many years of experience.

What jobs have you done in the past? Do you have any transferable skills that would also suit project management? E.g. planning, leading, communicating well, managing/tracking budgets, reporting, dealing with clients/customers etc? Start to make a list of times in your previous roles when you’ve demonstrated some of these skills.

Have you looked at jobs near you for Junior/Trainee PMs, project administrators etc? It might give you a more accurate idea of what employers are looking for, particularly if you’re interested in IT project management.

I would suggest that Agile would be the best place to start if you want to get into the IT industry. If you’re lucky you may also find an employer willing to subsidise the training for you.

If you don't mind starting in a junior position then look at sales and account manager roles. A decent sized tech company will give you extensive training in their products and market position. They'll also encourage basic certifications such as ITIL and Azure or AWS fundamentals. Once you're in and learning / earning then you'll easily spot opportunities within the business for either more technical support roles or more post sales project management/ implementation roles.

@1940s

If you don't mind starting in a junior position then look at sales and account manager roles. A decent sized tech company will give you extensive training in their products and market position. They'll also encourage basic certifications such as ITIL and Azure or AWS fundamentals. Once you're in and learning / earning then you'll easily spot opportunities within the business for either more technical support roles or more post sales project management/ implementation roles.

That's where I started and now am in a very senior project management / consultant role.

Definitely try analyst entry level. I work in this industry and started as an analyst.

Worked my way up, took qualifications (Prince2, Agile, Lean Sixgma etc) and secured promotions. Took 10 years to get to Senior Service Manager but I have seen many do it quicker.

I'd forget about paying for any courses in PRINCE etc. as PPs have stated you need relevant experience.
You need to help out here, are you interested in IT, and a role as an IT PM, or IT or a PM?
You need experience in the area that you wish to project manage - what is your previous experience?

Good call on IT Sales Support too. The company I work for is actively recruiting people for these roles and they are very keen to hire women. Once you're in Sales roles for an IT company it can be easy to move around, if you're good, and especially if you're a much needed woman. Sounds very cynical and of course it is - they need their diversity stats looking good for IPO etc, but it really is a good time to be entering the IT market as a woman I think, in tech firms, they're practically rolling out the red carpet where I work and the last 10 hires in Europe have been 9 women. It was terrible being a woman in IT in the 90s/noughties, especially in financial services, I can tell you, but it's a much better place now. My company has all kinds of initiatives, including femal friendly hiring emphasizing skills not qualifications, to encourage women to apply.

Wow, so many responses! Thank you.
I would love to try azure, don’t know if I would be any good at it though until I have tried it.
A ‘returner to work’ scheme would be great.

Please keep going with this OP, I really admire you wanting to provide a good work ethic and role model for your children. It won't be easy as a single parent as you will be on your laptop in the evenings when they're in bed in most IT jobs, but it is doable. I know 3 or 4 women in senior roles (marketing director of an IT company, senior PM, IT Sales) who have done very well after feckless husband's fucked off, or in one case, they've always been a single parent.

So many great suggestions! I am reading through them and will respond.

Which websites would be good for the kind of roles I need to apply for as a novice in the industry? Would age be a barrier?

I also work in this field and started as PMO (Project Management Office) assistant (basically an admin assistant to help with the larger projects in a firm but his is where I cut my teeth and figured out that it was the career for me). I now tutor Project Management Apprentices - the programme gives them a recognised qualification (the APM PMQ) - remember that you don’t have to be a school leaver or similar to take up an apprenticeship. Worth looking to see if any firms in your area are looking for anything of this sort? The Level 4 Associate Project Manager is a great programme.

And good luck!

Thinking a bit more, one way into both would be to get an admin role in a Project Management Office in an IT department.

My last 2 jobs and last 5 years everything has been done via LinkedIn. I am late 40s and haven't found age a barrier, yet (I don't emphasise my age though). I'd recommend getting your LinkedIn profile as good as it can be and emphasis as many transferable skills as possible and then look for/follow relevant "getting women back in the workplace" initiatives. Also set your LinkedIn profile to "Actively looking for work".

Also have a look out for IT related apprenticeships. They should give you some experience and qualifications at the same time and are available in roles such as analyst or project management.

I’d also look at how to present your transferable skills. The best project managers and analysts I’ve worked with (I’m in a closely related field) are organised, good problem solvers, create good working relationships, have excellent communication skills etc.

Others have suggested support roles, which I’d second as well. Another one to keep an eye out for would be entry or junior roles in Project or Programme Management Offices. These are basically teams that coordinate lots of different projects or parts of projects. Often the entry level roles are more admin-based, but might be another way of getting your foot in the door and then looking for opportunities to grow from there.

Oh you have all been so helpful. I really appreciate it. I am going to explore all the avenues suggested and see what happens.

Hello OP

I'm a very similar age to you. I'm a single mum to one (young adult) DS. My job combines both, i.e. I'm a senior IT programme manager in financial services.

I don't have a degree. I didn't get my project management qualifications until I'd been doing the role for years.

My career route was like this:
Desktop Support analyst (2 years)
System Trainer (2 years)
Business Analyst (8 years)
Project Manager (10 years)
Programme Manager (current)

I agree with previous posters that knowing your preferred industry is very important.

AWS / cloud services and data science (machine learning) are both huge growth areas in financial services IT right now. Every company I know follows Agile methodology.

Professional qualifications won't hurt, but nothing will beat practical experience.

You might find Women in Technology useful.

Good luck!

@Raaaaaaarr

Personally I would start with trying to get some sort of analyst or even admin role in the industry you are interested in. There is no way even with qualifications that you will walk into any sort of project management/IT PM role. You need industry experience. I ended up in my role over time through experience and starting as an analyst on an implementation project. I did well and they promoted me to PM. I have no qualifications aside from my degree from 20 years ago but a long career history in my industry. Sorry not an ideal answer but to summarise you won't get a qualification and then walk into a PM role. I know my specialisation inside out through many years of experience.

This completely You need to be working within a project team/PMO first handling tasks. PRINCE2 is a qualification in project management, it does not teach how to manage projects therefore it is necessary to know how projects are run first. DH is a senior programme manager who manages project managers. He would look for project coordinators (sequencing tasks, planning, structure) who want to move up.