IT Project Manager to Networking Administrator

Decided that I will be departing project management to get back into the technical field. I've been doing project management for about 4 years now and as it has been an experience, I think it's best for me to move back into a domain I'm more comfortable in. The problems you experience as a PM is people and I'm not the best with people. Budgets, stakeholders, executives, death-by-PowerPoint. That said, I have learned a lot about people skills while working in project management and being able to see things from a holistic viewpoint has given me a bigger picture on how things flow. The experience I carry with me as a PM will be instrumental to my future in other fields so I hope others (hiring officials) see this as well.

I have an interview for a networking job tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. I am a little nervous because it has been awhile ( 6 years) since I have served in a direct networking role, but I've been hammering the CCNA and getting caught up on some things. I've had people tell me I've moving backwards, but my goal is to reach an engineering level, so I figured before I root myself as a PM, I may as well cut things short while my finances are in good order.

Has anyone else left a non-technical field to go back into it?

Wish me luck!

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Comments

scaredoftests

Yes. good luck and relax!

NavyMooseCCNA

Sounds awfully familiar. I made the change from PM back into IT. Good luck!!

DatabaseHead

Project Management is one of the worst positions you can hold in IT.

I am sincerely happy for you. Why anyone would want to be a PM is beyond my comprehension. It is a **** ground role where you are always wrong and the stakeholders are always right.

Brutal......

And yes I did it for ~2 years, worst two years of my career.

Moldygr33nb3an

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Project Management is one of the worst positions you can hold in IT.

I am sincerely happy for you. Why anyone would want to be a PM is beyond my comprehension. It is a **** ground role where you are always wrong and the stakeholders are always right.

Brutal......

And yes I did it for ~2 years, worst two years of my career.

This

I use to think it was just my organization. Turns out, I've never heard anyone in PM say anything good about it. I love my Program Manager (Boss), but his frustrations have rubbed off on me, and I think it's time to move on to something less frustrating on a social level.

I feel like I need to go to school for psychology if I ever expect to excel in PM...

Just my .02.

Thanks database head and thanks everyone!

DatabaseHead

Good luck on your CCNA, wise choice!

You are most certainly welcome!

Just be happy you didn't spend all that time and money on the PMP. Which is another topic altogether.

Sorry for the ramblings but I love this scenario.

On a call with a group of stakeholders, which has been rescheduled 5 times. Finally get everyone except Joe, the champion, who also is the biggest complainer is not on the call. Basically a worthless call, oh and he is on vaca for 2 weeks. Gotta work through Jane, but she is in marketing and doesn't understand sales as well and Joe. (In a 40000 person company and only one person truly understands the need) ***Again a completely different issues, but one the PM deals with. While your on the call in frustration you have Herb the Architect tapping with two fingers really hard on your cube trying to get your attention while you are salvaging a call and trying not to sound like you are about to lose it. Oh and while this is going on your IM is getting blasted, code red from your program manager. Emails are pilling up, it's 3 pm and you still have 6 hours of work left.

Good times!

Moldygr33nb3an

Reminds me of those T shirts I have.

"Being a Project Manager is easy. It's like riding a bike except the bike in on fire. You're on fire. Everything is on fire. And you're in hell."

and

"IT Project Manager - We do precision guess work based on unreliable data, provided by those with questionable knowledge."

Pretty much sums up project management.

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Good luck on your CCNA, wise choice!

You are most certainly welcome!

Just be happy you didn't spend all that time and money on the PMP. Which is another topic altogether.

Sorry for the ramblings but I love this scenario.

On a call with a group of stakeholders, which has been rescheduled 5 times. Finally get everyone except Joe, the champion, who also is the biggest complainer is not on the call. Basically a worthless call, oh and he is on vaca for 2 weeks. Gotta work through Jane, but she is in marketing and doesn't understand sales as well and Joe. (In a 40000 person company and only one person truly understands the need) ***Again a completely different issues, but one the PM deals with. While your on the call in frustration you have Herb the Architect tapping with two fingers really hard on your cube trying to get your attention while you are salvaging a call and trying not to sound like you are about to lose it. Oh and while this is going on your IM is getting blasted, code red from your program manager. Emails are pilling up, it's 3 pm and you still have 6 hours of work left.

Good times!

mzx380

Are you making the right move? Depends on what your interest is!

Speaking as a PM, you're only as strong as your project portfolio. If you are working on complex agile projects then they are very interesting and allow you to grow as a professional. If you haven't then of course it can be boring just like anything else.

LA2

Moldygr33nb3an wrote: »

Reminds me of those T shirts I have.

"Being a Project Manager is easy. It's like riding a bike except the bike in on fire. You're on fire. Everything is on fire. And you're in hell."

and

"IT Project Manager - We do precision guess work based on unreliable data, provided by those with questionable knowledge."

Pretty much sums up project management.

Literally laughed out loud.

DatabaseHead

Agreed that was very funny!

yoba222

I just decided to cross PMP off my maybe to-do in 2-3 years list.

DatabaseHead

yoba222 wrote: »

I just decided to cross PMP off my maybe to-do in 2-3 years list.

You already have the CAPM, you know the processes there is really no reason to get the PMP unless you really want to become a "Professional Project Management Consultant" who literally is only brought in to deliver projects and move onto other engagements.

Most internal project managers, such as corporate ones don't need the PMP in fact from what I have seen it hurts them, because they try to crow bar those methodology and documents, tools, techniques into an environment that doesn't want them. Each organizations has it's own set of beliefs, artifacts or lack thereof, processes, procedures, rules and the list goes on and on. I will say this as an exception, IF the organization you work for has a unified PMO that acts as a vertical such as finance, markets, sales and the senior director (AKA PMI Portfolio Manager wants that type of alignment then it would make sense). But I have work for 4 fortune 500 companies as a FTE and none of them followed PMI to a tee. In fact I would argue it's better to understand the most popular PM tools, such as Excel, Project, PowerPoint, and even some UML if you are working on detail system diagramming and or software development efforts.

Truth be told, I have found that the Six Sigma terminology is used a lot more than the PMI's terms. (Again just my opinion).

Most of the PM's I have seen take positions for these reason, which IMO none are good reasons:

Not good at technology
Trying to get into management. --I've seen PM roles assigned to would be managers who senior management feel "aren't" ready yet.
Strictly for the money
They don't know what they want to do. (Never a good reason to take a role blindly without having some idea of direction).

PMP = CAPEX projects, such as new PHYSICAL infrastructure, buildings.

Six Sigma = Process improvements, defects, quantitative financial analysis, showing TCO

SCRUM = While I find a little corny IMO ties to the real world the best for IT and Data Projects. I think the daily stand up is bizarre almost cultish, the iterative approach and use of Kanban boards are by far the best way to deliver on IT projects.

Think Jira Kanban.

Moldygr33nb3an

Thanks for all the feedback.

Just an update:

I interviewed for the Networking position and based on reputable sources, I am 99% confident that I was selected. Nothing is official until you hear it from a selecting official, but I am pretty stoked. Apparently I did a phenomenal job in the interview. Since the position was Sr. level, it was technical and was oriented around network security. If I am selected, it will be in time for my birthday of 30. I always said since I was 18 if I am not doing what I want by 30, I'm moving to Europe and disappearing lol. I guess fate and a whole lot of willpower has kept me from abandoning the grind. I hope this is a huge leap for where I want to be in the future.

Moldygr33nb3an

DatabaseHead wrote: »

They don't know what they want to do. (Never a good reason to take a role blindly without having some idea of direction).

Me

And I will second this.

I figured PM would allow me to see how IT processes flow from a holistic POV. Allow me to get my hands in everything - and it did to an extent. But it was only a matter of time I realized the only POV I had was mad faces and PPT presentations.