Questions about Project Management, etc. Mostly a Rant.

My name is Josh. I've lived in the Seattle-area my entire life, and actually like it here. More specifically, I live in a small condo in Lynnwood, with my girlfriend. Ever since I was the ripe age of 13, I've dreamed of working at Microsoft. Now, to some of you; this may sound insane. But, now, I have mixed feelings towards the company. I've worked at CompUSA as a sales rep (hated it), worked two separate contracts for Verizon Wireless, worked various help desks and call centers. I hate troubleshooting over the phone, yet I'm also getting tired of working as a PC Technician (field tech, bench tech, whatever you folks want to call it). I got an offer from Siemens IT to work as a Project Coordinator on the Microsoft campus. The pay is good, and I seem to be qualified for the position. Even though I mainly have a help desk background, I consider myself a "Jack of all trades" in IT. I have some server admin experience, some database experience, some of this and that. Of course, its not enough to really amount to anything. So, my resume basically looks like a jumbled piece of crap. I will be attending Western Governors University starting in May (I made a previous post about this), working towards my Bachelors.

I feel like I'm having a mid-life crisis. I WANT to stay in the IT field, but I don't think working on PC's will take me very far. I've considered taking up Project Management, but I would like some recommendations from anyone with my similar situation. I've worked nothing but contracts my entire "work life." I've never had a job with real benefits or a salary. I've always been hourly paid; (Which is good for overtime, I suppose). My last contract was $19/hr at Verizon. Siemens would be full-time with benefits and they also offer tuition reimbursement as well. I've been working with Apex Systems (contracting agency) for the past couple years, and they've been the only ones able to land me jobs. I'm tired of working contracts. I feel so trapped at this point, that I'll be working three month contracts my entire life. I always end up loving the company who I'm working for, just to find out that they don't have enough money to keep me there; contracted or not. I've been trying to get my foot in the door at either Microsoft or Boeing for years now...but to no avail.

So, will I be a better suited candidate, after I land my Bachelors? That may sound stupid, but it seems like thats my only ticket at this point.

Anyone currently working for/at Microsoft? Any good/bad things? Any advice? Anyone work for Boeing and can give me any recommendations? I'm familiar with their job website. I worked at Boeing previously as a help desk tech, and working as a technical writer part time. I loved working in Skill Development, writing documents for new hires. That was fun.

I also have a one-year contract lined up at Pemco for $23.00/hr, but alas, its another contract. (Poor benefits)

I'm currently drawing unemployment, so I will need to get back to work soon.

My questions to the public:

-Project Management: Is it a good field to jump into? What sort of opportunities do I have at that point?

-Or what can I expect to continue working Desktop Support?

-Any advice about going into Databases or Programming? How is the market for those positions?

-Anyone else in the Seattle-area with my same issues?

-I'll be turning 21 in September. Is roughly $20/hr good for someone with only a couple years of experience, for my age, and without a degree? I don't live IN Seattle, so I'm not paying high rent costs. I purchased my condo last year, at a reasonable price...

Thanks for any advice anyone decides to provide. I want to begin my life as an adult with an adult career path, but I still feel trapped like a teen. Anyone else know what I mean?

Thanks again,
-Josh

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Comments

hypnotoad

Good project managers are even more rare than good desktop people or programmers. Check out the PMP certification or the Project Management Associate Certificate.

50% of IT projects fail and 80% of them come in over budget and after deadlines. Don't let this scare you, but many companies are looking for someone with as much experience as possible in PM.

Lots of schools are also offering graduate degrees in PM or IT PM. This might be something to look in to.

sir_creamy_

candycorn wrote:

-Any advice about going into Databases or Programming? How is the market for those positions?

Everyone wants developers and everyone is willing to pay top dollar for them (provided they actually know how to write decent code). A bachelors in CS or software engineering would be your best bet but if that's not an option you could try your hand at some of the development certs.

candycorn

Yeah, a lot of my buddies are going into development and programming these days, so I believe them when they say its a valuable asset to have. I took a Visual Basic course in High school, but that was kind of a joke. I'm not sure what programming languages have the biggest impact, job-wise. Maybe I can pickup a book off amazon, with your recommendations of course. C++ or C#? Or should I shoot for the .Net stuff? Unfortunately, I wont have a much choice in my degree (It will just be a standard Bachelors of IT), but its something I would like to know more about on the side. ..

JDMurray

sir_creamy_ wrote:

Everyone wants developers and everyone is willing to pay top dollar for them (provided they actually know how to write decent code).

You want good programmers? There's nearly one million of them in India, and they work for 20% of what programmers here in the USA want. The project and culture management is a bit tricky, but off-shoring is doing better now than it ever has.

eMeS

I don't know the market up there, but down here in Texas, at your age and experience level, what you're making would be pretty good....of course it would be much better if you had benefits subsidized by an employer.

I know a few good project managers with the PMP certification. The independent ones have no problem keeping their time booked at a reasonable rate, and the ones that work full time in organizations that I know stay busy as well. Which side of that fence people choose is really a function of how much control someone wants in their life. The project managers that I know that work independently have much more control over what work they do and at what rate, and much more authority over the projects they manage. Generally, what I have seen of this same role as a permanent position in large organizations is that the project managers have less responsibility and control.

To each his own....

In your case, because of your lack of a degree and experience managing projects, you will not qualify for the PMP. For someone without a degree, 7500 hours of verifiable, non-overlapping hours of experience "leading and directing project tasks" is required. Once you earn your degree, the experience requirement is reduced to 4500 hours. Additionally, you are required to have completed 35 hours of formal proejct management training. A 200 question 4 hour test is required to complete the certification.

But, if project management is a field that interests you, then you can start now. PMI offers a new credential called the "CAPM". The experience requirements are 1500 hours working on a project team (which you have very likely completed at this point in your career), 23 hours of formal project management education, and a 3-hour 150 question test.

I do not know the value of the CAPM because I don't know anyone that holds it. However, I do believe it is a good way to begin documenting your experience working on projects, if your longer-term goal is to work as a project manager and earn the PMP.

Additionally, and once again I don't know anyone that holds this cert, CompTIA offers the Project+ certification. I no almost nothing about this cert, but I believe the intent was to offer a cert that could be earned in less time than a PMP, and would attest to some minimal level of project management knowledge.

I am planning to take the PMP exam very soon. I have the education, plus the experience and the training requirements met from years and years of working in IT. As I have been working through test preparation material recommended by PMI (www.pmi.org) , I find the exam questions to be very simple for people that have worked on and managed projects. I feel reasonably certain that these same exam questions would be almost impossible to someone that has never managed projects.

The real high-ground in the project management world is now the PgMP. It is all about manages programs, or collections of related projects. I do not know of anyone directly that holds it, but I have heard of several employers that are looking for them. It requires a vast amount of experience coordinating multiple projects, a hard multiple choice exam, and an even harder assessment by multiple raters.

I recommend the following link to you...it is a breakdown of all of the credentials offered by PMI, and what one has to do to achieve them:

http://www.pmi.org/CareerDevelopment/Pages/Credential_Comparison.aspx

Good luck,

MS

candycorn

Thanks for the help, MS. I'll keep that in mind.

eMeS

Another thing that I should have pointed out earlier is that the PMI certifications are not speficially technical certs.

I know people that have earned the PMP and have done everything from technology project management to construction project management to pharmaceutical project management.

MS

Turgon

candycorn wrote:

My name is Josh. I've lived in the Seattle-area my entire life, and actually like it here. More specifically, I live in a small condo in Lynnwood, with my girlfriend. Ever since I was the ripe age of 13, I've dreamed of working at Microsoft. Now, to some of you; this may sound insane. But, now, I have mixed feelings towards the company. I've worked at CompUSA as a sales rep (hated it), worked two separate contracts for Verizon Wireless, worked various help desks and call centers. I hate troubleshooting over the phone, yet I'm also getting tired of working as a PC Technician (field tech, bench tech, whatever you folks want to call it). I got an offer from Siemens IT to work as a Project Coordinator on the Microsoft campus. The pay is good, and I seem to be qualified for the position. Even though I mainly have a help desk background, I consider myself a "Jack of all trades" in IT. I have some server admin experience, some database experience, some of this and that. Of course, its not enough to really amount to anything. So, my resume basically looks like a jumbled piece of crap. I will be attending Western Governors University starting in May (I made a previous post about this), working towards my Bachelors.

I feel like I'm having a mid-life crisis. I WANT to stay in the IT field, but I don't think working on PC's will take me very far. I've considered taking up Project Management, but I would like some recommendations from anyone with my similar situation. I've worked nothing but contracts my entire "work life." I've never had a job with real benefits or a salary. I've always been hourly paid; (Which is good for overtime, I suppose). My last contract was $19/hr at Verizon. Siemens would be full-time with benefits and they also offer tuition reimbursement as well. I've been working with Apex Systems (contracting agency) for the past couple years, and they've been the only ones able to land me jobs. I'm tired of working contracts. I feel so trapped at this point, that I'll be working three month contracts my entire life. I always end up loving the company who I'm working for, just to find out that they don't have enough money to keep me there; contracted or not. I've been trying to get my foot in the door at either Microsoft or Boeing for years now...but to no avail.

So, will I be a better suited candidate, after I land my Bachelors? That may sound stupid, but it seems like thats my only ticket at this point.

Anyone currently working for/at Microsoft? Any good/bad things? Any advice? Anyone work for Boeing and can give me any recommendations? I'm familiar with their job website. I worked at Boeing previously as a help desk tech, and working as a technical writer part time. I loved working in Skill Development, writing documents for new hires. That was fun.

I also have a one-year contract lined up at Pemco for $23.00/hr, but alas, its another contract. (Poor benefits)

I'm currently drawing unemployment, so I will need to get back to work soon.

My questions to the public:

-Project Management: Is it a good field to jump into? What sort of opportunities do I have at that point?

-Or what can I expect to continue working Desktop Support?

-Any advice about going into Databases or Programming? How is the market for those positions?

-Anyone else in the Seattle-area with my same issues?

-I'll be turning 21 in September. Is roughly $20/hr good for someone with only a couple years of experience, for my age, and without a degree? I don't live IN Seattle, so I'm not paying high rent costs. I purchased my condo last year, at a reasonable price...

Thanks for any advice anyone decides to provide. I want to begin my life as an adult with an adult career path, but I still feel trapped like a teen. Anyone else know what I mean?

Thanks again,
-Josh

Well I work with a lot of project managers and have done a fair share of it myself. You are not too young to start. I would suggest you have a look at the Sybex Project + book which you can pick up used on amazon..spend a few weeks with that and the CD that comes with it and see if you think it's something you could do. Project Management, good project management..is something of an art and you need a range of skills to be truly effective at it.

candycorn

Thanks again, Turgon. I'll look for the book on amazon later tonight.

On a side note, I do have the most current PMBOK guide, if that might help.

I'm pretty sure thats PM related.

eMeS

candycorn wrote:

Thanks again, Turgon. I'll look for the book on amazon later tonight.

On a side note, I do have the most current PMBOK guide, if that might help.

I'm pretty sure thats PM related.

It is. A holder of a PMP certification is someone that has experience with and understands the PMBOK. The idea here is that someone who is credentialled to apply this methodology will have a better chance of managing a successful project than someone who isn't...

I agree with Tugon's advice about looking at Project+ first, as the raw PMBOK is not the best first thing to read about project management early in your career as a project manager. Unless you have severe insomnia....

MS

oo_snoopy

It's going to be tough to complete in the project management field with no degree. You at least need a BS.

candycorn

Thanks for the help, guys.

oo_snoopy: I am currently going to school for my BS, so that wont be a problem. But I still don't plan on graduating for another three years. Just an estimate, though.

I will buy a used copy of Project+ and study up on that first. Then I'll decide to take the certification or just crack open the PMBOK. I'm not entirely sure.

oo_snoopy

candycorn wrote:

Thanks for the help, guys.

oo_snoopy: I am currently going to school for my BS, so that wont be a problem. But I still don't plan on graduating for another three years. Just an estimate, though.

I will buy a used copy of Project+ and study up on that first. Then I'll decide to take the certification or just crack open the PMBOK. I'm not entirely sure.

Spot on. If you can get experience while going to school that's top notch.

candycorn

I know that I will be taking a course in my BS, that is PM related. With WGU, its required that I pass the Project+ certification. So that will definitely help me get started.