Any project managers out there?

[Anonymous]

In another post someone (not me) asked about jobs where you help other people solve problems and someone suggested project management and gave a brief description of the field. I never knew what project management really was but the description sounded interesting to me and like it might fit my skills and interests. I really love to find ways of improving getting things done, improve communication, set up better business processes, etc. Am I correct in understanding that these are skills that would be used in project management? I've done a little googling but it's still a little nebulous to me. Any suggestions on where to go to read more about it? How did you get into project management? What is the job market like? Can you walk me through a typical day? I would appreciate anything you can tell me!

[Anonymous]

Check out PMI - the project mgmt institute

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In another post someone (not me) asked about jobs where you help other people solve problems and someone suggested project management and gave a brief description of the field. I never knew what project management really was but the description sounded interesting to me and like it might fit my skills and interests. I really love to find ways of improving getting things done, improve communication, set up better business processes, etc. Am I correct in understanding that these are skills that would be used in project management? I've done a little googling but it's still a little nebulous to me. Any suggestions on where to go to read more about it? How did you get into project management? What is the job market like? Can you walk me through a typical day? I would appreciate anything you can tell me!

I looked into project management, but then realised that I am not cut out for it. PMI is the place to start - the certification means a lot in the PM world.

I am in IT and the PM in my group works off a detailed project schedule. He manages the timelines and resources for every single task and organises a meeting of all the stakeholders (Developers, BA, QA) about 3 times a week when the project is in full swing. It is basically resource and time management and he is not the person who devises business processes as far as I know.

[Anonymous]

Yes -- I actually think project management as PMI defines it is pretty stifling. I often have a PM title on contracts I work on, but I don't get down in the weeks like PP describes. I think that's rare, though.

I would think you are talking more about organizational development and business process reengineering.

The job market for PMs is good if you also have IT expertise and preferably a security clearance. Otherwise it's tough like everything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is basically resource and time management and he is not the person who devises business processes as far as I know.

Exactly. The person is a facilitator and not an analyst.

signed
former PM (with PMP) but now an analyst

[Anonymous]

I work for a communications firm and we have two different types of project managers: creative project managers and digital producer/project managers. These are cool jobs where you budget, schedule milestones, make sure everyone's getting done what they need to get done when, etc. Essentially keeping things moving. Nice work!

[Anonymous]

OP- I work in IT and have done project management and business analysis in different projects. Project Management is more about time management, resource management and insuring that the job gets done. Business analysis however allows you to get more creative, delving into business problems and working with various teams to brain storm solutions for those problems. If it's a fairly small, low budget project, one person can probably do both but each of these roles require different skill sets.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks. I guess it's not what I thought it was!

[Anonymous]

I would suggest that if you are parenting, you already have loads of project management skills!

[Anonymous]

As a PM for a small mgt consulting company we usually fill the role of both PM and analyst/consultant at the same time. I like it because I work hands on with the client on solving their problems but I also get the aspects of PM'ing. Projects I've been a PM for so far have been smaller (2-4 people). But even the PMs for our larger projects do directly billable work for the client.

The company I work for has all federal clients and its rough right now. Between shrinking budgets, contract court, etc. lots of companies are losing contracts right and left. The bigger companies, like Booze, CSC, Columbia Group can weather it. Smaller companies like mine are hurting. We've laid off quite a few people recently. I'm thinking of getting out of federal consulting all together.