Not exactly the right topic, but PRINCE2, any experience?

[LemonBreeland]

I have been offered the possible opportunity to go on PRINCE2 training through my work. It doesn't have much to do with my current role at work, but selfishly I am thinking of my future, as I am likely to be made redundant in 2 years time.

I want to know more about the kind of roles I would be able to get if I had PRINCE2. Also is project management something that anyone ever does part time, or would it be full time jobs only?

Prince 2 is something that looks good on CVs so if your company has offered to pay for it then grab it with both hands.

In itself having Prince 2 doesn't mean a huge deal. I certainly wouldn't give someome a job in projects just based on the fact they have it, but that coupled with some project experience would help a lot.

I was a Project Manager and found it very difficult to do p/t, some people who are tremendously organised ( and enjoy picking up their blackberry on their days off) probably can do it, but not me. However there are other jobs within project work that can be done part time, I'm now an analyst which I enjoy enormously - it's more around the doing and analysing whereas the Project manager is the one who does the reporting, the plan and the shouting at people. Alternatively PMO (Project Management Office) is a role that can be done p/t - that's around project organisation, governance and so forth.

I'd do the course, see how you enjoy it and take it from there. Presumably your employers will be keen for you to use their expensive training so you will get some project experience.

Thanks for the reply. Yes there will be opportunities to use the training helping with other peoples projects.

I do like the idea of it for my cv and to widen my possible job opportunities in the future.

Do the training - it's well respected, and if you have a logical mind, it's not that tricky. If you have an understanding of projects and governance/levels of delegation, you'll find it mostly to be a vocabulary test - it covers terminology rather than project management techniques.

My DS1 (25) did this qualification. He paid for it himself, but think he found it on line at a discounted price.
He has all of his details on LinkedIn and as soon as he posted this qualification he was being contacted by recruitment consultants.
He ended up leaving his banking job to go to a very large management consultancy, got a £10,000 salary increase and is now working on a risk project at another large bank so it definitely opened more options for him.

It is essential to have PRINCE 2 to be a certain level of PM in the organisation I work for (v big government agency). We have p/t PMs. Prince2 training is tough though!

Foundation or Practitioner? Definitely do the course. It's good having it on your cv and shows a good understanding of Project Life cycle, stakeholder management and risk management (among other things) I am not a PM, I'm not that structured, but having Prince2 and CSM on my cv gets me loads interviews.

And the exams a lot easier since the change to multiple choice.

Thanks for all of the further comments, it is really helpful. I think it would probably just be the foundation course, but I can see that it woild be good to have it on my cv for many kinds of jobs.

Prince 2 is very CV-friendly.

We have some part time PMs, but it's not my department, so I don't know how it affects them - do they get smaller projects, etc.

Also, I'd do the Practitioner level. I recently did the Foundation level only as I was about to finish for maternity leave and thought the full week's course to cover Practitioner level would be too much for me.

The course content was all covered prior to the Foundation exam, and there was only revision done to prepare for the Practitioner level. In hindsight, I think I could've passed the Practitioner level without the extra revision - there was no additional content to learn.

Do it! All of the OGC qualifications are worth doing if you get the chance.

Definitely push for Practitioner level though.

I have done PRINCE2 (foundation) whilst in a pt role as a project coordinator. Obviously not as high up the chain as a pm but still rewarding and definitely manageable pt. I am not in a direct project role now, but the knowledge of project life cycle and ability to talk the lingo is invaluable. Plus the course is not too tricky at all. Good luck!

I did prince 2 foundation and it really is just spending hours before the course reading the book, then going over again during the course (3 days irc), then answering a multiple choice exam. It's all about remembering the terminology. The practitioner was another day of revising then exam (written I think).

It's good to know the lingo, but doubt it would improve job prospects without relevant experience. Might get you noticed as its an easy thing for recruiters to search cv's for.

Do the course, but then try to get onto as many projects as possible (in various roles if possible) to experience the project cycle and put on cv.

Does any one know which is the best to register for princ2 online.

I can recommend PRINCE2 - I have the Practitioner accreditation and not only is it great for the CV but helps me as a Business Analyst. If you work in other roles e.g. Business Analyst, tech lead, tester it gives an end to end view of the Project lifecycle and shows a future employer you have a good command of projects across the board.

This is fascinating (sorry to hijack lemonbree) I did some systems work with ou

I fancy having a go at project management - are there any reasonable ways of doing the course?

I used to work at OGC answering queries about the training but that is may years ago!!