The question: On course for project management
role?
I am an IBM AS/400 professional with seven years' analyst
programming experience. I am working for an insurance company where
I do not see myself progressing either as a team leader or through
acquiring new skills. I am considering getting into project
management and I am preparing for PMI certification. Can you please
advise me if I am going in the correct direction and guide me
through a few ways to get into project manager roles.
The solution: PMI certificate will help your
cause
Training can never be wrong and rarely can you have too many
qualifications. Opting to train for the Project Management
Institute certificate shows commitment to project management and
will stand you in good stead if/when you enter the field
formally.
In terms of what you can do in your existing role and with your
current employer, try to get involved in small projects and focus
on a more business analyst type of role initially before building
towards bigger projects and undertakings.
As well as formal qualifications and working with your employer
to get experience on relevant projects, there are other areas of
development you may wish to consider. In addition to technical
aptitude, communication skills are critical to project management
roles, so perhaps some external course in team communication or
verbal/written skills would be beneficial.
In order to ensure your skills are still relevant to the world
outside your current employer, I would suggest you try to gain
skills working with the IBM iSeries, which is the natural
progression from AS/400. This way, if the move into project
management is unsuccessful, your skills will be relevant for new
analyst programmer roles.