project management msc
Discussion
hello all,
as mentioned on an earlier post of mine i'm feeling trapped in my current role and looking to change industry. maybe OG, maybe automotive. certainly not this.
anyway, i am looking to gain additional qualifications that may help when it becomes time to jump ship. i already have an MEng[hons] and so i am thinking of an MSc in project management.
i believe i can get my manager's support to do this by either distance learning or day release. the way training works here is that if he okays it all i need is a suitable course and the company will pay for it.
i've had a quick look on the tinterweb but would appreciate some advice from those who have done a similar course.
the most expedient question is whether i have left it too late to gain a place on a course starting in september?
secondly, which university would you recommend for the course? i am based in east yorkshire and work in lincolnshire but don't mind travelling upto a couple of hours each way. i was thinking manchester as i studied there originally and can combine visits with my graduate recruiting activities.
would you recommend distance learning? will employers differentiate between the two?
lastly, do you think its worth doing? did it help you or would you have gone about gaining the knowledge differently?
particularly interested in anyone who used it, as i hope to, to open doors in other industries.
cheers,
phil.
as mentioned on an earlier post of mine i'm feeling trapped in my current role and looking to change industry. maybe OG, maybe automotive. certainly not this.
anyway, i am looking to gain additional qualifications that may help when it becomes time to jump ship. i already have an MEng[hons] and so i am thinking of an MSc in project management.
i believe i can get my manager's support to do this by either distance learning or day release. the way training works here is that if he okays it all i need is a suitable course and the company will pay for it.
i've had a quick look on the tinterweb but would appreciate some advice from those who have done a similar course.
the most expedient question is whether i have left it too late to gain a place on a course starting in september?
secondly, which university would you recommend for the course? i am based in east yorkshire and work in lincolnshire but don't mind travelling upto a couple of hours each way. i was thinking manchester as i studied there originally and can combine visits with my graduate recruiting activities.
would you recommend distance learning? will employers differentiate between the two?
lastly, do you think its worth doing? did it help you or would you have gone about gaining the knowledge differently?
particularly interested in anyone who used it, as i hope to, to open doors in other industries.
cheers,
phil.
Hey, I decided to have a career change and studied PRINCE2 earlier this year. It was really good for my work as I was managing small projects and it gave me a good frame work to use. Prince used to be the top course to do but others may have taken over now. It was a 5 day intensive course in London with The Projects Group.
cheers for the replies fellas.
i am wary of starting a course and then leaving the company, but this doesn't phase me as i'm being very selective about my next career move.
i looked at the prince2 site. have you done this pizztapia? how widely is this used/recognised? looks like a 5day course and a few exams. i can get a 10day course in-house with the company's management college.
am going to have a chat with my boss tomorrow. spoke to the admissions desk at the university of mcr and they are discussing admissions tomorrow, meaning i've left it too late. sheffield uni are having an open evening on wednesday so i am hoping to pop along to that and sound out a few possible options.
just looking to make myself a more attractive proposition to my next employer as i may have to make a radical change of direction sometime soon. OH lives in london and there is not a great deal down there directly related to my current line of work.
i am wary of starting a course and then leaving the company, but this doesn't phase me as i'm being very selective about my next career move.
i looked at the prince2 site. have you done this pizztapia? how widely is this used/recognised? looks like a 5day course and a few exams. i can get a 10day course in-house with the company's management college.
am going to have a chat with my boss tomorrow. spoke to the admissions desk at the university of mcr and they are discussing admissions tomorrow, meaning i've left it too late. sheffield uni are having an open evening on wednesday so i am hoping to pop along to that and sound out a few possible options.
just looking to make myself a more attractive proposition to my next employer as i may have to make a radical change of direction sometime soon. OH lives in london and there is not a great deal down there directly related to my current line of work.
shirt said:
i looked at the prince2 site. have you done this pizztapia? how widely is this used/recognised? looks like a 5day course and a few exams. i can get a 10day course in-house with the company's management college.
I have not had the chance to actually sit the exam but every company I have worked for has used a Prince2 based PM methodology (most large companies do). It is recognised globally and is very much in demand. If you have a look at most job sites, they often reference to it. If you can get a Prince2 course in-house (assuming its cheaper) then go for it. It can be a tad pricy otherwise and if you are new to project management a 5 day course might be a little intense to start off with. ITIL & Prince2 are two different things.. both seem to be equally in demand when it comes to corporate IT.
If you are looking at an IT PM career, Prince2 (or PMP) practitioner certification is a great start. Get a few projects under your belt & sell the successes for you next big jump to a large, challanging project.
If you are looking at an IT PM career, Prince2 (or PMP) practitioner certification is a great start. Get a few projects under your belt & sell the successes for you next big jump to a large, challanging project.
by all means feel free to butt in!
had a quick chat with the boss. its a bit complex as he knows i don't enjoy working here [i do my job well but i don't find it at all rewarding] and have had a couple of interviews elsewhere in the company so far this year.
not surprisingly he won't back me for sponsorship on the MSc, but is looking at a short course and maybe starting me on the in-house management program.
then 5 mins out of the meeting and i've seen a job in head office i'm interested in, so maybe for the best after all!
had a quick chat with the boss. its a bit complex as he knows i don't enjoy working here [i do my job well but i don't find it at all rewarding] and have had a couple of interviews elsewhere in the company so far this year.
not surprisingly he won't back me for sponsorship on the MSc, but is looking at a short course and maybe starting me on the in-house management program.
then 5 mins out of the meeting and i've seen a job in head office i'm interested in, so maybe for the best after all!
I have been a project manager for 5 years and am Prince2 qualified (although will need to re-cert soon), if you are considering a position as a PM then Prince2, PMBOK or APM would be your best bet.
If I were in your position I would go for Prince2, it is probably the most widely recognised PM qualification in the UK, and the methodology itself is a tool kit of processes and controls (although to use the complete Prince2 methodology from end to end on a project would probably inhibit its progress!).
Most companies will look for a Prince2 PM when recruiting and I have found that most organisations have developed an in house project methodology based around Prince2. I would suggest taking the Prince2 foundation course/exam and then studying for the practitioner exam in your own time. The foundation is a piece of cake but the practitioner is much more difficult and detailed. There are plenty of training companies out there who will do a classroom session for the foundation and then allow you to study remotely for the practitioner, a few friends of mine have used this company and recommended them; http://www.crazycolour.com/home/?title=Main_Page
I am also qualified in ITIL (only foundation though) and would not bother with this unless you are planning on going into operations management or service delivery. ITIL is a framework rather than a methodology and while there are parallels in some of the principals unless you are delivering a project into an ITIL managed environment it will probably be of limited use to you.
HTH
Good luck with with your change of career direction, I am considering the same myself but out of PM-ing rather than into it!!
If I were in your position I would go for Prince2, it is probably the most widely recognised PM qualification in the UK, and the methodology itself is a tool kit of processes and controls (although to use the complete Prince2 methodology from end to end on a project would probably inhibit its progress!).
Most companies will look for a Prince2 PM when recruiting and I have found that most organisations have developed an in house project methodology based around Prince2. I would suggest taking the Prince2 foundation course/exam and then studying for the practitioner exam in your own time. The foundation is a piece of cake but the practitioner is much more difficult and detailed. There are plenty of training companies out there who will do a classroom session for the foundation and then allow you to study remotely for the practitioner, a few friends of mine have used this company and recommended them; http://www.crazycolour.com/home/?title=Main_Page
I am also qualified in ITIL (only foundation though) and would not bother with this unless you are planning on going into operations management or service delivery. ITIL is a framework rather than a methodology and while there are parallels in some of the principals unless you are delivering a project into an ITIL managed environment it will probably be of limited use to you.
HTH
Good luck with with your change of career direction, I am considering the same myself but out of PM-ing rather than into it!!
I have the Prince2 however my job at the moment is becoming very restricting and only allowing me to deal with the rubbish from customers, while I enjoy the relationship management parts of my role, dealing with day to day stuff is getting to the point of pulling my hair out!
What are you looking ot get into now?
Shirt - What job are you going for? Good luck with it
)
What are you looking ot get into now?
Shirt - What job are you going for? Good luck with it
)sparksfly said:
I have the Prince2 however my job at the moment is becoming very restricting and only allowing me to deal with the rubbish from customers, while I enjoy the relationship management parts of my role, dealing with day to day stuff is getting to the point of pulling my hair out!
What are you looking ot get into now?
Shirt - What job are you going for? Good luck with it)
I am currently contracting which is quite good, clients pay reasonably well for a PM and don't want you to get involved with client politics and the usual daily grind - they want their project delivered! That said I am a bit fed up with PM-ing, if I change career back into being a permy I will probably look for a job where my relationship skills and operational knowledge allow me to earn as much as possible so some kind of sales account management position seems like an idea. I am between contracts at the moment so have an open mind, if the right permy role at the right company comes up I will take it, otherwise I will look for the next contract!What are you looking ot get into now?
Shirt - What job are you going for? Good luck with it
)are you guys all in IT?
i was thinking more engineering/construction project management. am from an engineering/manufacturing background but finding jobs in the capital very thin on the ground. the msc was an attempt at opening a few more doors.
the job i've seen in london is in trading. a world away from this but i am fed up living in the arse end of nowhere and its a grad. position so may have a chance even if it does mean a short term pay cut.
i was thinking more engineering/construction project management. am from an engineering/manufacturing background but finding jobs in the capital very thin on the ground. the msc was an attempt at opening a few more doors.
the job i've seen in london is in trading. a world away from this but i am fed up living in the arse end of nowhere and its a grad. position so may have a chance even if it does mean a short term pay cut.
I'm a PM in construction (oil and gas equipment) and the best advice I was ever given was if you have to study to be a PM you're not PM material!
If you want to be a PM in construction, be an engineer and get promoted. I'd personnally never hire a PM without experience, i.e. an academic.
My opinion, which is only my opinion so don't shoot me, is that a PM is an engineer with enough experience to be able to handle a team.
If you want to be a PM in construction, be an engineer and get promoted. I'd personnally never hire a PM without experience, i.e. an academic.
My opinion, which is only my opinion so don't shoot me, is that a PM is an engineer with enough experience to be able to handle a team.
fatbutt said:
I'm a PM in construction (oil and gas equipment) and the best advice I was ever given was if you have to study to be a PM you're not PM material!
If you want to be a PM in construction, be an engineer and get promoted. I'd personnally never hire a PM without experience, i.e. an academic.
My opinion, which is only my opinion so don't shoot me, is that a PM is an engineer with enough experience to be able to handle a team.
Totally agree, I was a PM for a year before taking my Prince2 and struggled - generally speaking Prince2 and common sense/experience don't go hand in hand! That said in the IT industry (where I hide) Prince2 is the de facto standard methodology so when companies go recruiting its the qualification they look for. Although Prince2 is geared towards IT and Telco projects as a methodology it is applicable to any industry or project from making a bacon sarny to the creation and implementation of an entire company infrastructure!If you want to be a PM in construction, be an engineer and get promoted. I'd personnally never hire a PM without experience, i.e. an academic.
My opinion, which is only my opinion so don't shoot me, is that a PM is an engineer with enough experience to be able to handle a team.
I specifically went into project management for the experience, I have managed engineering teams, consulting practices and been a service delivery manager but I did not have a way of tying all of my experience together - being a PM allowed me to do that!
fatbutt said:
I'm a PM in construction (oil and gas equipment) and the best advice I was ever given was if you have to study to be a PM you're not PM material!
If you want to be a PM in construction, be an engineer and get promoted. I'd personnally never hire a PM without experience, i.e. an academic.
My opinion, which is only my opinion so don't shoot me, is that a PM is an engineer with enough experience to be able to handle a team.
i have experience running projects prior to my current role as i used to be involved in process development - major enhancement schemes, factory planning etc. i have also worked as a process engineer with responsibility over the entire production crew, so i like to think i have at least some management skill If you want to be a PM in construction, be an engineer and get promoted. I'd personnally never hire a PM without experience, i.e. an academic.
My opinion, which is only my opinion so don't shoot me, is that a PM is an engineer with enough experience to be able to handle a team.
i just feel that with my career spent entirely in one company [heavy industrial] that i will find it difficult to move into a 'sexier' area such as construction, and that the MSc would help. from the comments so far it doesn't sound like it would.
am at a major career crossroads at present, and one of the roads i can take leads to london as that is where my OH lives & works [i live 200miles away at present!]. she can't get a job outside london [fashion designer] and will only move near to me if i move to a major european city [have interviewed for a couple of automotive jobs on the continent recently].
from what i can see, mech. eng. jobs are thin on the ground in the capital, whereas construction jobs are ten-a-penny. if only i had studied civil eng. instead!
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