PM- Week 1

Do I want a career in Project Management?

After researching many positions for different levels of project management I was surprised. I had not realized the broad range of industries in which project managers can work. There are also many differences in the types of activities that project managers are involved in depending on the position.

According to the Project Management Institute there are nine areas of knowledge that project managers should possess. The effective management of all of these areas is essential in conducting an effective project. In my experience as a project manager I can say that the knowledge of these areas is very important. For example, when I was coordinating my daughter’s birthday party I would say that I managed the project. All of these areas had to be touched upon because I had to deal with limited resources. I will explain:
· integration management – planning and then having the party
· scope management – what kinds of activities would we be doing ex. games
· time management – Scheduling my time effectively to that I could do all of the purchasing and planning, as well as communicating with guests and helpers
· cost management – I set a budget of how much I could spend on the party and deciding which costs were essential and which could be added if there was enough money
· quality management – Making sure the decorations, invitations, and food were up to standard
· human resources management – Ensuring that I had sufficient help to complete the plans
· communications management – Sending out invitations
· Risk management – deciding what the risk of not having a Dora the explorer party would be, in this case an unhappy birthday girl. I ended up doing a Dora party for the second year in a row, the risk was too much!
· procurement management – ordering the cake and picking it up

All of these areas were important even for a child’s birthday party. I can imagine how important they would be for a large project.

When researching different job titles I noticed that for every position you need to have a good balance of education and experience in the role of a manager. It ranged from having a certificate and a year of work experience to having a master’s degree and 7 plus years of experience. One thing that I found interesting is that the project manager must have proficient knowledge of the industry in which they are working. Having the educational background such as a bachelor’s degree or diploma in project management is not enough. It makes sense that employers would ask for this because as a project manager you have to be able to communicate with the people that you are managing and if you don’t know the industry you will not be able to do be an effective leader.

Some important attributes of a project manager that I came across in all of the job descriptions are:

- Leadership ability
- Team player
- detail oriented and solid work ethic
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Planning and organization skills

The one skill that I felt was stood out in all of the job descriptions is the need for excellent interpersonal and communication skills. The project manager must be able to communicate well with people within the organization as well as external individuals.

I think that having the skills of a project manager are important for anyone. I would like to build my skills as I feel that I have many areas in which I could improve significantly. Once those skills are refined I feel that I would enjoy working as a project manager.

Job Descriptions Researched

IT Project Coordinator
http://jobsearch.monster.ca/getjob.asp?JobID=63395684&AVSDM=2007%2D10%2D12+17%3A24%3A52&Logo=1&q=project+coordinator&sort=dt&lid=228&cy=CA&dcjvlid=229


Junior Project Manager
http://jobsearch.monster.ca/getjob.asp?JobID=62562452&AVSDM=2007%2D09%2D19+15%3A45%3A21&Logo=1&q=assistant+project+manager&sort=dt&lid=228&cy=CA&dcjvlid=229


Project Manager
http://jobsearch.monster.ca/getjob.asp?JobID=63683785&AVSDM=2007%2D10%2D12+12%3A06%3A26&Logo=1&q=project+manager&sort=dt&lid=228&cy=CA&dcjvlid=229


Senior Project Manager
http://jobsearch.monster.ca/getjob.asp?JobID=63543576&AVSDM=2007%2D10%2D10+01%3A19%3A11&Logo=1&q=senior+project+manager&sort=dt&lid=228&cy=CA&dcjvlid=229


Program Managerhttp://jobsearch.monster.ca/getjob.asp?JobID=62668557&AVSDM=2007%2D09%2D19+18%3A06%3A02&Logo=1&sort=rv&pg=1&q=program+manager&lid=228&cy=CA&dcjvlid=229

Referenced Course Notes Topics 1.1 and 1.4