Thinking about training in project management...thoughts please!

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I'm c.50 yrs old, been a creative - successful except for financial! - and supported myself with freelance with certain work (don't want to be too outing) that has kept me afloat (and the pay is ok). But the work is slowing down - maybe temporary but maybe a sign of external trends and pressures.

I'm very process led, as well as being creative (weirdly) and I'm very organised and quite assertive. I know I could do project management well.

I'm thinking of retraining to add this string to my bow. If you're in this line of work, is it worth it? Will I find work, will it take me years to find decent work? Is there any particular training, with a training body, that I should do?

All advice is welcome! Thanks

Have a look at APM they do courses. which industry would you like to work in as construction and IT are different?
I'm a PM/Scrum master so if you wanted to dm me please do so.
Read up on Agile as it's very popular atm though Prince2 is still need for many jobs.
Any questions please ask

Thanks so much, I will def message you, if that's ok

Please can you tell me what scrum master and agile mean?? I keep hearing these terms being used now in job market and I have no idea what they are???

Agile: Agile is an approach to project management and software development that emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and iterative progress. It promotes adaptive planning, continuous improvement, and quick response to changes. Agile methodologies focus on delivering value to customers through frequent iterations and close collaboration between team members.

Scrum Master: A Scrum Master is a role within the Scrum framework, which is an Agile methodology. The Scrum Master is responsible for facilitating the Scrum process and ensuring that the team follows Agile principles. They act as a coach and guide for the development team, removing any obstacles that may hinder progress. The Scrum Master also fosters collaboration, facilitates meetings, and helps the team achieve their goals efficiently.

If you’re creative I think you might find it boring. I work for a big corporate and project management is very much about following procedure and contractural rules etc. I prefer the technical side of project delivery and solving the issues.

Prince 2 is still looking to be on the majority of job specs for PMs at the moment.

come to the dark side- it’s fun! Stressful but fun! X

What does "iterative" mean?
I literally have no idea what all of that stuff means and I am a lawyer - what does a scrum masters typical working day involve?
I am honestly not being funny here I genuinely feel flummoxed by this terminology it seems so vague

I have no qualifications in this field but have managed to get a good well paid career out of it by thinking like a man.

I had redesigned work streams as part of a lower level job so applied for jobs well out of my comfort zone but in my knowledge base that were a foot in the door. I then applied up again into jobs that were out of my knowledge base but in my new skill set because I had the evidence of successful projects behind me.

The qualifications may help but I've not needed them so far, just carefully construct your CV to show off the desired skills

I pm creative projects and it can be extremely frustrating. Sometimes it’s like being the only adult in the room. But I do enjoy it kind of. I actually split my time between pm work and more strategic and creative work as full time pm in the arts would kill me.

It's all corporate bollocks. What I love about being an unqualified PM is I bowl into projects and meetings and everyone is treated like an equal and language is kept plain, and made up corporate jingo and acronyms are banned from my work place (by my own rules)

Wow. What does 'thinking like a man' mean? How long have you been doing it?

What industry are you in?

Thank you! So, how did you get into PM work, when, did you train etc?

So the theory is women underplay their acheivements when applying for jobs and only apply for posts they know they fit 90% or so of the application criteria. Men just think "I like that job I'm going for it"

I found applying for jobs in that manner I've significantly increased my salary expectations!

@Fallingintothings I like what you're saying.

I have also gone for jobs that I don't have direct experience in becasue I am confident (finally in my early 50s) that I can learn things pretty quickly and train myself up.

I like the idea of banning corporate speak, I find it so annoying

I'm also not remotely a fan of corporate bollocks. Will I be able to avoid it if I do some PM work?

I agree, I work in a creative events producer role and started an AMP course as I thought a lot of the principles would be the same and I found it so dull, just giving names and diagrams to processes that are just obvious parts of the process and labelling them something slightly different so it sounds more complicated 😆

Nope - you're the one organising meetings to discuss upcoming meetings. Or at least thats what i do in my PM role aha

I'm a senior project manager in software development. I started out as a project coordinator which didn't need any qualifications or experience in tech as it was just supporting the project managers and managing small pieces of work etc. I had a lot of transferable skills from working in admin, customer service.

I've just worked up to senior PM over the last few years. I've been put through training and qualifications by my company - on paper im an agile practitioner and qualified scrum master but that came later (and in my opinion they're not really worth the paper they're printed on but that's not the point)

Doubt it, I found the AMP course to be the epitome of pointless corporate nonsense tbh.

But by being the organiser you set the tone of the meeting. I admit to being a marmite kind of person but I find people only talk the corporate bollocks because they think it's expected of them, if you remove that expectation people relax and the work flow is so much smoother I find.

Check whether the organisation has a PMO (project management office) if it does you won’t be able to avoid the corp talk/lingo as easily. If you work for a smaller design studio or similar then you may manage it, but agile/scrum/waterfall etc are all standard project terms and methodology so I can’t see how you can avoid them all. Anything touching systems/tech will be jargon heavy in my experience.

waterfall - design what the project will deliver at the beginning and stick to the plan.
agile - design and deliver iteratively - get something working out the door that has the minimum level of features to function and then improve on it during further iterations of the project (known as sprints)

wagile PM here 😂 (we say we are agile but really it’s mostly waterfall based projects in my company)

Well, I'm used to working for money in an area that is not particularly creative. But I don't want too much dullness...

I'm guessing creative events production work is hard to come by?! I started out freelancing in the arts, for many years but a long time ago, and it was in it's own personal recession then

I'd agree with this small companies or public sector you can get away with it so long as you can demonstrate you can walk the walk

Fell into project management in the healthcare industry. Total constant, mind numbing, corporate bollocks. It's not a fun job but it pays well.