How Will You Get There?
Let’s say you have entered the world of project management and have
collected the skills necessary to lead a small project. In order to move
up to an intermediate or large project, you must collect all the advanced
skills necessary and have one to three years’ experience at that level.
You can continue your progress through the project management
ranks by gaining expert skills and three to five years’ experience. Of
course, a project or program must be available for you to lead when you
are available. It is not unusual for a company to use a qualified project
manager to lead or participate in a new business proposal whenever
there is no immediate project to lead. This, of course, is a matter of
chance and company practice. The bottom line is that you will either
find project activity in your own company or move to another company.
Follow the same rationale to get you where you want to be. In fact,
this scene will play over and over again throughout your project management
career.
Depending on your education and training, you may have entered
the ‘‘stream’’ somewhere other than at the small project level. In this
case, only the entry point will be different. The rationale is the same
from that point on.