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How to become a manager in construction. Profession project manager

Hello friends!

It so happens that my acquaintances and acquaintances of my acquaintances, to whom I was recommended, periodically contact me with approximately the same question: “How can I become a project manager in IT, if before that I worked in a similar position , but not in IT?

Since several such requests have accumulated in a fairly short time, I decided to write a separate article about this. Well, you understand - I’m lazy, and now I can immediately give a link to this text, instead of repeating answers that have already been formulated several times. The article does not pretend to be universal - this is just my view of the situation. At the same time, I will say that when you conduct interviews, hire and train project managers, quite a lot of general criteria accumulate that answer the question “What should an IT project manager actually know and be able to do?” in order to work successfully in IT .

By the way, knowledge of English is not even discussed in the article. It's simply a must.

What a request usually looks like:

Alexey, good afternoon! My name is<...>. I was advised to contact you<...>. We need your expert advice. I will be grateful to you for your advice. I found the training for project managers that you are reading. I would like to ask if I should take it. Briefly about my situation:<...>I would like to try to develop myself further in the project direction, but in the IT field. I have already had several interviews, but so far unsuccessful (employers often cite the fact that they have no experience in IT). In this regard, I had an idea about how to finally get the train to move. I would be very grateful for advice about courses. Perhaps it makes sense to look at something related to a project manager if there is no chance of being hired for such a position in the IT field? I would be grateful for any feedback.

The application options differ only in previous work experience in certain non-IT areas.

What can I recommend?

First I’ll scare and thicken the clouds.

1. Indeed, they almost always refuse precisely because it is extremely important for a project manager in IT to understand not only project management as such, but also IT. This is required for exactly two things: a) to find common language with subordinates(testers, analysts and developers, who are all IT specialists) and, accordingly, understanding the essence of dialogues, specifications, problems, etc., and b) to find common language with customer representatives, which often also have a mostly IT background. Of course, there are some small chances of convincing a future employer that understanding the specifics of the IT field is not critical for this position. It is important to remember that these chances are very, very small. Still, the employer knows better what he needs, and convincing him of something different is quite difficult. Especially employers in IT - they certainly know what kind of employee they need. At the same time, no one forbids trying to convince. Will it work out?

2. In IT, understanding the stages of product development (SDLC - Software Development Life Cycle) is very important. Working in non-IT organizations, this understanding fully Unfortunately, it is impossible to obtain. There are issues specific to the IT industry. And since a project manager in IT is responsible for developing a product/code/functionality by a given deadline, with a given quality and within a given quality/functionality framework, then he must understand how to achieve all this with the means that he usually has in IT. sphere. Other industries may have their own nuances that differ from IT in one way or another.

3. Any training on project management “in general” will most likely not help much. We need training on project management in IT. Let me explain why I think so: trainings “in general” will not provide an understanding of two important things: “IT technical language” and “understanding of the stages of development specifically in IT.”

4. Any IT company already has its own employees who want to become managers. And these employees (developers, testers, analysts) already understand IT (they speak the same technical language as those around them), and also know the SDLC. Moreover, they know the customer, know the specifics of the company and its internal kitchen (these are not critical points, but when compared with the zero knowledge of an external candidate, even these points can outweigh). Thus, it turns out that an external candidate NOT from the IT industry is forced to compete both with internal candidates from within the company itself, and with other external candidates, also from the IT industry.

So, what parameters did you get?

1. Proficiency in technical IT language. Understanding, for example, what FTP, Signoff, Sprint, ASAP, Regression, XML, Database request, Deadline, FYI, Client-Server Architecture, Redline, Smoke Test, FTE, Release are... The list goes on and on. Being a super expert in some of the things mentioned is not at all required. You need to understand the essence of what it is in general, what these terms are, what they mean, what is behind them, otherwise you will be like a blind person in a world of sighted people.

2. Knowledge of SDLC(Software Development Life Cycle) - stages of software product development. And not just knowledge, but an understanding of why exactly these stages, why in this order, where and why you can jump from one stage to another and whether it is possible to move through these stages in the opposite direction, and if so, when and under what conditions .

3. Methodological skills in project and people management (PM Hard Skills). This includes knowledge of methodologies, management principles and processes by area. Such as Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Waterfall, Communication management, Specification & Requirements management, Change management, Risk management, Reporting, etc. The good news is that all of this can be learned one way or another through relevant trainings, webinars and the many materials available online.

4. Personal skills in project and people management (PM Soft Skills). These include Team & Client management skills, Ability to solve complex tasks, Presentation skills, Conflict management skills, Communication skills, Feedback skills, Ability to hear, listen & understand, Openness to other points of view, Ability to admit one’s own mistakes and to correct them, Self-criticism, Leadership skills, Coaching/Mentoring skills, Ability to explain, Professional culture (quality of speech, emails, calls), Ability to make decisions and take responsibility for it, Pro-activity, Task management skills, Delegation skills , Execution control skills, Personal effectiveness, Time management skills. The second good news is that all this can also be learned through appropriate training.

Let's create a summary table in which there will be three candidates:

external without knowledge of the IT industry
external with knowledge of the IT industry
internal with knowledge of the IT industry and company specifics

Skill/ability	External candidate without IT industry knowledge	External candidate with knowledge of the IT industry	Interior
1. Knowledge of IT language	—	+	+
2. Knowledge of SDLC	—	+/-	+
3. PM Hard Skills	+	+	+
4. PM Soft Skills	+	+	+

This way, it becomes obvious where you can try to compete.

My opinion is that without immersion in the IT environment it is impossible to master the IT language at least at the level of understanding. Thus, there is no point in competing with the first point. You (an external non-IT candidate) are guaranteed to lose here. The remaining three areas are quite susceptible to competition. Moreover, if the second (knowledge of SDLC) also requires immersion in the environment for complete understanding, then you can learn to at least roughly understand it without working in IT. The lack of SDLC knowledge can be compensated for by the knowledge of an intelligent technical lead, an architect, and indeed any technically competent person from your future team. But to find a common language with such a person and get his help, you need very serious skills in PM Soft Skills.

That leaves PM Hard Skills and PM Soft Skills - and these are exactly those areas where a non-IT candidate can significantly outperform a candidate from the IT industry. Why do I think this? Many IT managers grew up as developers, analysts, and testers. Yes, there are very cool specialists among them. Many of these management candidates are from the IT industry - at heart they remain the same programmers, analysts and testers. This means that their PM Hard and Soft Skills may be less developed than those of an external candidate. After all, both of these areas (PM Hard Skills and PM Soft Skills) do not depend on IT specifics. They can and should be developed regardless of the area where you currently work.

In the end, what happens? What could our summary table be like so that an external candidate who has not previously worked in IT has a chance?

Skill/ability	External candidate without IT industry knowledge	External candidate with knowledge of the IT industry	Interior candidate with knowledge of the IT industry and company specifics
1. Knowledge of IT language	—	+	+
2. Knowledge of SDLC	—	+/-	+
3. PM Hard Skills	+++	+	+
4. PM Soft Skills	+++	+	+

An action plan that may (or may not) help. But if you do nothing at all, it’s not guaranteed to help.

To summarize. To compete with guys who understand IT and also strive to become project managers, you need to seriously surpass them in PM Soft Skills.

P.S.: I was reasonably noted that IT is not limited to development. It's right. In this case, the second point (knowledge of SDLC) will be less significant, or completely replaced by something specific to your area.

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Thank you and good luck to you!

Read the continuation of this article “” and!

A project manager (project manager or Project manager) is a specialist responsible for the successful implementation of a project:

within the timeframe specified by the customer;
with the required quality;
with a fixed budget and limited human resources;
upon necessary requirements from the customer.

As a result, the main result of this manager’s work is customer satisfaction.

The position of project manager imposes high responsibility on the specialist, because... It is he who manages all the processes of the project and the final result of the work depends on him. The career path of a project manager always leads to top management and towards larger budget projects.

Places of work

The project manager profession is in high demand in many industries:

information technologies (programming, automation, website creation);
construction;
finance;
insurance
pharmaceuticals;
organization of events;
sport.

The concept of Project Manager was born in the field of information technology, which is why there is the highest demand for managers there. At the same time, in every large business, the profession of a project manager is necessary and economically justified.

History of the profession

Leaders, commanders and leaders appeared many thousands of years ago. Some managed the state, some managed the army or ship, some managed construction. In modern language, each of their tasks was a project, and they were its leader.

The history of the project manager profession is associated with the emergence of the term “project” during the era of rapid economic development in the 20th century.

A project is a task that has a beginning and an end, a clearly defined deadline, resource limitations, criteria for quality and successful completion. First, Project Manager positions appeared in IT companies, then in construction and manufacturing, and later in other industries.

Project Manager Responsibilities

The job responsibilities of a project manager greatly depend on the company’s field of activity, but they have a common set of tasks:

project management (quality control, deadlines, budgets and risks);
communications with the customer (coordination of plans, deadlines, requirements, budgets);
project team management;
maintaining design and technical documentation:
- calendar plans;
- technical specifications;
- functional requirements;
- financial reports;
- and so on.
participation in the sales process and conclusion of contracts (including participation in tenders);
post-project customer management and additional sales.

Sometimes the functions of a project manager include the tasks of a sales manager: active search for clients, preparation of commercial proposals, negotiations, conclusion of contracts, etc.

Requirements for a project manager

Requirements for project managers depend on the company’s field of activity. At a construction site you need one thing, in IT - another, in the banking industry - a third. The average set of requirements is:

Higher education (preferably in the company's field of work);
Work experience of at least 1 year (serious positions require more than 3 years);
Good knowledge of the field of activity and its market;
Ability to prepare documentation (technical and design);
Leadership experience (within project teams);
Excellent communication skills.

Sometimes among the requirements for project managers you can find:

knowledge of MS Project;
spoken and written English;
understanding of project management principles (eg PMI)
willingness to travel.

Project Manager Resume Sample

How to become a project manager

The required knowledge, skills and abilities of a project manager significantly depend on the profile of the company.

Let's take construction as an example. To become a project manager in construction, you must have a higher technical education and experience working in construction companies (usually more than three years and preferably in management positions).

You also need to be able to manage a team of more than three people, negotiate at a high level and be able to defend your point of view, have time management skills, and have a stable psyche.

Project manager salary

The salary of a project manager can vary from 20 to 150 thousand rubles per month. At the same time, the payment system always contains many bonuses, premiums, percentages of sales or completed stages. Therefore, the final income may be significantly higher than the stated salary. The average salary of a project manager is approximately 50 thousand rubles per month + bonuses based on work results.

Where to get training

In addition to higher education, there are a number of short-term training on the market, usually lasting from a week to a year.

Interregional Academy of Construction and Industrial Complex and its courses in the direction of "".

The Institute of Professional Education "IPO" invites you to take distance courses in the direction of "" (there are options 256, 512 and 1024 academic hours) to receive a diploma or state-issued certificate. We have trained more than 8,000 graduates from almost 200 cities. You can undergo external training and receive interest-free installments.

There is a lot of advice for those thinking about becoming a project manager. But, perhaps, in any list of such advice, the majority will relate not to the projects themselves, but to people, their tasks and load distribution. Because it is these moments that hide both the keys to the success of the project and risk factors. Therefore, any instruction for a project manager will include many points on managing a project team.

If your employees are overworked beyond their capabilities or if they are confused about tasks and responsibilities, then their productivity will drop sharply, and they themselves will become dissatisfied and resentful. To avoid overdrafts in the work of personnel caused by really high work intensity and conflicting tasks, which in turn reduce the moral climate in the team, workload management must be organized. And it cannot exist without proper distribution of resources and identification of those problems, the solution of which will allow optimizing the management of resources and their load.

Load management? As easy as pie!

Resource Allocation

One popular definition of the term “resource allocation” (“PMO and Project Management Dictionary” by PM Hut) is as scheduling work and assigning the resources needed to complete each job within the resource availability constraints and time frame of the project.

Resources usually include personnel, tools and equipment, technology and machinery, real estate, natural and financial resources. The purpose of resource allocation is to select those options for their use that ensure maximum efficiency and achievement of the goals of a specific project and the company as a whole. It is impossible to find the answer to the question “How to become a project manager?” without familiarization with the basics of resource allocation.

For the purposes of this article, resources mostly refer to people, and workload management refers to the proper distribution of tasks among them to achieve optimal project results.

What does a project manager do before committing resources? It must answer three critical questions in the following areas:

Expected results

What problems or challenges does the client have? What does the client expect to receive upon completion of the project? By answering these questions, you will be able to determine the scope of the project and the scope of work, which is the starting point for starting to formulate a project plan. A person who knows how to become a project manager primarily focuses on the needs and requirements of clients, taking into account the opinions of all stakeholders.

Deadlines

By what date does the client expect the project to be completed? Clearly setting deadlines helps to outline the time boundaries within which the project must be completed, which subsequently determines the maximum duration of each stage of the project.

Workload

How many people will be needed to implement the project? Which specialist is best suited to perform each specific task? Is it possible to attract them right now? If not now, then when? How much work can be entrusted to each specific specialist? Determining which employees can be included in the project team and how much each of them can be loaded with project tasks without compromising quality and within the agreed time frame is important for subsequent planning. You can then begin to create a people-task mapping matrix to maximize productivity and resource efficiency.

Gary Chin, in his presentation “The Accidental Project Manager,” lists three things needed to create a work schedule: task list, duration, and sequence. To properly distribute resources, you will need to decide on them:

Objectives refer to the work that needs to be done to achieve or create the required results;
Prioritization determines the sequence of tasks. For each task, you need to find an answer to the question “what tasks need to be completed before starting this one?”, which will allow you to plan which tasks should be performed sequentially, and what can be “parallelized” and, as a result, reduce the project completion time ;
The completion duration is the specific date on the calendar when the work must be completed.

Once you have decided on all this (for example, I will need a group of 10 people, divided into 2 subgroups of 5 employees each, to work respectively on the development of the external interface and the administration system of the Internet portal, so that the work is completed in 3 months, which corresponds to the wishes customer) and conveyed this information to your team, you can begin to allocate resources in the following order:

Delegation

Delegation is perhaps the most important thing a project manager does. First, you need to determine which specialists will best handle a particular job, then check their availability and get them on your team as soon as possible. This is a critical step to understanding how to become a project manager.

Documentation

Maintaining documents such as schedules, schedules, progress and status reports, etc. is an important part of the overall document management system of an organization. It is important to have project documentation in an up-to-date, presentable form so that all members of the project team can use it effectively for the purposes of the project. This not only reduces the likelihood of confusion, but also creates the conditions for better analysis of the entire project and individual processes. If you have your own project manager instructions, but do not have this item, then it is worth adding it there.

Cross Validation

Successfully navigating the waters involves using cross-checking as one of the techniques to improve workload management. It is necessary to constantly compare the planned and actual time spent on critical tasks. You need to continually review, re-evaluate, and update plans based on actual effort as the project progresses. It is especially important to follow this principle in large teams, where the norm may be long overtime for some employees while other team members are underworked, as well as periods of stressful activity with several deadlines at the same time.

How to become a project manager faster? Use Comindware Project!

Using dedicated project management software such as , you can provide transparency in the allocation of resources between and within projects. This way, you can avoid problems with all project participants understanding their role. Comindware Project's workload management functionality allows you to clearly monitor the workload of each team and avoid “conflicts” when using resources. You can easily determine which resources are available at a particular time with one click. And once a resource is assigned to one task, it automatically becomes unavailable for assignment to other tasks. At the same time, you can take advantage of forecasting capabilities that let you see how your decisions affect other projects. At the same time, you always have access to a common list of resources, which makes it easier to maneuver in conditions of uncertainty.

Instead of a conclusion

Effective project management involves efficient allocation of resources. But once resources are tied to specific tasks, your responsibility shifts to workload management. It is important to have a good strategy and tools at your disposal to avoid conflicts and complications and to ensure that the project is carried out without overburdened employees at maximum productivity.

Olga Zavyalova, an expert in the IT industry, has 10 years of experience as a project manager and project coordinator of international projects. Certified Project Manager (CSPM) and Business Analyst (CSBA) for software projects. Author of two textbooks and a specialized course on project and process management.

SEMYON
8 years in IT: 3 years as a developer and 5 years as a project manager.

What is the essence of the work of a project manager?

A project manager is a specialist who is responsible for managing the project as a whole: planning, task setting, communication, control, risk management, resolving day-to-day issues, etc. In fact, this is not so much a position as a person’s role in the project. In a sense, such a manager is an intermediary between the team that is developing the project and the customer. A project manager has two areas of responsibility: he is responsible both to the customer and to the company that fulfills the client’s order.

The project manager is the liaison. Problems begin when one of these links does not understand what the other needs. For example, a customer wants to rework or develop new functionality, but this is inconvenient for the developers themselves. Simply saying “do this” will not produce a good result. But, if you find out from the customer what this functionality is for, why it is necessary, and then convey this to the developers, they will understand and do as needed.

What skills and knowledge are needed?

English is a must have for any IT specialist. If you cannot speak the same language with the customer, you are of little use.

One of the pleasant discoveries: the presence of certain personal qualities and a level of English is quite sufficient luggage to enter the profession. And you can become a good specialist only by gaining experience on real projects.

A good place to start is to understand what the project life cycle is and what design constraints exist. Understand the stages of development from start to finish: initiation, requirements collection, development itself, testing, stabilization, etc. - and what are the tasks of the project manager at each of them.

A novice project manager should also know what approaches to development exist, that is, get acquainted with the methodology. There is a classic approach, when everything is done sequentially, and there is an iterative approach, when the client receives results “in portions.”

Of course, a project manager does not have to be a programmer, but it is advisable to know the basics. Not necessarily, because the basics of project management in any field are approximately the same. But in IT you need to know the subject area at least in general terms. Firstly, this will help you work faster with the project development team and explain to them more clearly what the customer wants to implement and how. Secondly, this will save time for the clients themselves: if something cannot be done within the framework of the project, you will immediately tell them about it or offer a suitable alternative.

What is the difference between a good project manager and a mediocre one?

The main task of a project manager is to implement a project of a certain quality within a specified time frame with limited resources. But, in my opinion, this is not enough to be considered a good specialist. The result of the work is not just a finished product. It is necessary that upon completion of the project both the customer and the development team are satisfied with the cooperation. If only one side is satisfied, it means the manager did not do everything he should have.

The second thing that makes a project manager a true professional is experience. It often happens that people delve deeply into self-education: they read books, study websites, attend various seminars and lectures, and attend courses. All this results in learning for the sake of learning. They consider themselves first-class specialists and have a large store of theoretical knowledge, but have never tried anything in practice. A good specialist tries to apply any new knowledge in his work.

ANTON
11 years in IT: 2 years as a developer, 9 years in management.
Now lives and works in the USA.

What does it take to become a project manager in IT?

Communication skills always play a key role, and with completely different people, who are not always sociable and easy to talk to. On the other hand, self-organization, responsibility and punctuality are needed. If you can’t take responsibility for your actions and responsibilities, then you shouldn’t take responsibility for the whole team.

In general, I like to adhere to the position of the Project Management Institute (PMI), which develops and standardizes project management methods. They have a code of professional ethics for project managers. Essentially, it all comes down to four qualities: responsibility, respect, fairness and honesty.

With the first one, everything is clear: you need to keep your word and not promise what you cannot fulfill. The second concerns relationships: you need to communicate equally politely and respectfully with both the customer and your team, regardless of position and hierarchy. That is, a Soviet manager who cannot communicate politely with subordinates will not be suitable. With fairness, everything is also clear - here we are talking about equal treatment of all employees, a fair distribution of areas of responsibility.

The most difficult thing is honesty: you need to tell everyone the truth. There is often a temptation, if something goes wrong, to say that everything is normal. It turns out that in order to be honest, a project manager also needs to be courageous. At the same time, it is important not to confuse honesty with disclosure of information - it must be remembered that not all information may be available to all project participants.

Who to learn from?

It’s worth starting with your colleagues: you need someone experienced who can give sensible advice. First, you just need to try to communicate with the customer: for example, with the consent of the manager, hold daily calls where you talk about how the work is progressing and ask questions.

It helps to communicate with other project managers who have been working in this area for a long time. Fortunately, in Minsk now there are no problems with this: conferences are held in the city, there are guys who promote their own seminars on project management.

It is useful to attend less formal meetups, where you can freely communicate with experienced managers on given topics. For example, you can go to Kirill Baranoshnik, which regularly organizes Meetups People v Process. He invites project managers not only from Belarus, but also from abroad. Usually a meet-up is dedicated to one specific topic or problem that can be discussed with speakers.

I am a little ambivalent about the Certified Scrum Master certificate and the training that is required to obtain it. On the one hand, for me such training in 2012 was a real impetus for a real understanding of Scrum and Agile, which I did not have after reading several books and articles on my own. On the other hand, I have met many people both in Belarus and in the USA who received this certificate and completed the training, but did not understand the essence of Agile. I think in this case the result greatly depends on the personality of the coach.

The “Bible” of project management - Project Management Body of Knowledge(PMBOK), published by the already mentioned PMI Institute. It contains a description of all the processes and knowledge areas used in project management. I would not recommend it to beginners - the book is written in dry formal language, reminiscent not even of a textbook, but rather of traffic rules. When reading strict definitions of processes, techniques, tools, input and output information, it is difficult to understand what we are talking about if you have not encountered it before in practice. At the same time, the book is very useful for those who already have several years of experience behind them: it allows you to sort out all your existing experience and communicate in the same language with managers from any country.

I can recommend the Stratoplan resource. This is a joint project Alexandra Orlova And Vyacheslav Pankratov- two well-known project managers from Russia. Unlike PMBOK, Stratoplan focuses on so-called soft skills, i.e. skills to work and communicate with people. As practice shows, this is the most difficult part of project management. On the site you can sign up for correspondence courses, online training or classes with a personal trainer, or simply buy access to a library of materials. If you don’t want to spend money yet, you can only subscribe to the mailing list (sometimes it informs about interesting offers and promotions, including free access to materials) or read the blog.

Among the books, you should pay attention to “Deadline. A novel about project management" Tom DeMarco And Timothy Lister. The book is written in the form of a work of fiction - it looks like an ordinary story, only from the life of a manager. Although I would not say that the book has great artistic merits, there are some sensible thoughts about how to treat the project and people.

There are several other books that are considered the cornerstones of the project manager profession: “The Mythical Man-Month” Frederick Brooks and "The Kamikaze Way" Edward Yordon. The ideas in them are correct and useful, but they are greatly extended throughout the text. In addition, there are many details that are already outdated today. For example, they advise writing down everything that happens on a project in a notebook. Of course, no one does that anymore. But the book's core ideas are still true.

The book Getting Things Done helped me personally learn to manage my time more competently. David Allen. It's about how to organize your time. And we are talking about letters and tasks. This is a typical problem that any project manager faces: hundreds of letters start pouring into the mail, someone writes on Skype, there are a lot of unread messages on Viber - all at the same time. Training will help with this same problem. Maxim Dorofeeva"Jedi Empty Inbox Technique."

ANDREY
19 years in IT: 10 years in programming, 9 years in project management.

What should a new project manager do?

Start with courses or training. Now there is a large selection of courses, trainings and seminars. Start with them. You master the basics - and with it you go to a company where there are well-established processes and employees from whom you can learn, consolidate and put into practice all the theory that is taught in the courses.

Rely on methodology. At the very beginning of work, it is best to adhere to one or another standard in project management - this helps not to get confused and not make many mistakes at the start. You shouldn’t come up with your own approach until you’ve worked the first 10 thousand hours in your specialty. Well, then experiment, try, optimize.

Learn to be cool. The job of a manager involves a fairly high level of stress. And the ability to remain calm when passions are raging around is a very valuable quality. Some people are born with abilities, but some things can be cultivated. There are trainings for this: on time management, communication, business communication.

Find yourself a mentor. A colleague who has something to learn from and is willing to teach you is priceless.
Find someone like that, and then everything will go much faster and easier. From such a person you can get advice or find inspiration. True, this will only work if you yourself are ready to accept advice and follow it.

Be flexible. All people are different, each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Discover them in your team. The principles of interaction with the team must change. It is impossible to always be only a commander or only a friend. You need to be able to support and inspire the team, but in some situations you will also have to be tough.

Be in your place. It must be remembered that there are no bad or good people, but there are those who are suitable or not for a certain job. On one project, your current skills and abilities are quite sufficient, you are ideally suited and can cope with everything, but on another you can fail everything. Know yourself, strengthen your strengths and improve your weaknesses.

Don't be afraid of failure. You become a good specialist with experience, and having gained a couple of bumps. There is an unsuccessful project in the career of any manager. There is no need to be discouraged, but you need to draw conclusions and move on. Negative experiences should not make you paranoid, otherwise you will “blow on water” when it is completely unnecessary. It’s better, of course, to learn from success - it motivates. Failures teach you what not to do, and successes teach you exactly what you should do.

Here.

Photo: website, personal archive of heroes.

CJSC "Itransition", UNP 190654745

Career in the IT industry

Hello friends!

By the way, knowledge of English is not even discussed in the article. It's simply a must.

Go?

What a request usually looks like:

Alexey, good afternoon! My name is<...>. I was advised to contact you<...>. We need your expert advice. I will be grateful to you for your advice. I found the training for project managers that you are reading. I would like to ask if I should take it. Briefly about my situation:<...>I would like to try to develop myself further in the project direction, but in the IT field. I have already had several interviews, but so far unsuccessful (employers often cite the fact that they have no experience in IT). In this regard, I had an idea about how to finally get the train to move. I would be very grateful for advice about courses. Perhaps it makes sense to look at something related to a project manager if there is no chance of being hired for such a position in the IT field? I would be grateful for any feedback.

The application options differ only in previous work experience in certain non-IT areas.

What can I recommend?

First I’ll scare and thicken the clouds.

1. Indeed, they almost always refuse precisely because it is extremely important for a project manager in IT to understand not only project management as such, but also IT. This is required for exactly two things: a) to find common language with subordinates(testers, analysts and developers, who are all IT specialists) and, accordingly, understanding the essence of dialogues, specifications, problems, etc., and b) to find common language with customer representatives, which often also have a mostly IT background. Of course, there are some small chances of convincing a future employer that understanding the specifics of the IT field is not critical for this position. It is important to remember that these chances are very, very small. After all, the employer knows best what he needs, and convincing him otherwise is quite difficult. Especially employers in IT - they certainly know what kind of employee they need. At the same time, no one forbids trying to convince. Will it work out?

So, what parameters did you get?

1. Proficiency in technical IT language. Understanding, for example, what FTP, Signoff, Sprint, ASAP, Regression, XML, Database request, Deadline, FYI, Client-Server Architecture, Redline, Smoke Test, FTE, Release are... The list goes on and on. Being a super expert in some of the things mentioned is not required at all. You need to understand the essence of what it is in general, what these terms are, what they mean, what is behind them, otherwise you will be like a blind person in a world of sighted people.

Let's create a summary table in which there will be three candidates:

external without knowledge of the IT industry
external with knowledge of the IT industry
internal with knowledge of the IT industry and company specifics

This way, it becomes obvious where you can try to compete.

My opinion is that without immersion in the IT environment it is impossible to master the IT language at least at the level of understanding. Thus, there is no point in competing with the first point. You (an external non-IT candidate) are guaranteed to lose here. The remaining three areas are quite susceptible to competition. Moreover, if the second (knowledge of SDLC) also requires immersion in the environment for complete understanding, then you can learn to at least roughly understand it without working in IT. The lack of SDLC knowledge can be compensated for by the knowledge of an intelligent technical lead, an architect, and indeed any technically competent person from your future team. But in order to find a common language with such a person and get his help, you need very serious skills in PM Soft Skills.

In the end, what happens? What could our summary table be like so that an external candidate who has not previously worked in IT has a chance?

An action plan that may (or may not) help. But if you do nothing at all, it is not guaranteed to help.

1. Talk to one of the INTELLIGENT IT people you know (developers, testers, analysts, and even better, team leads or managers) about SDLC. Additionally, read about this on the Internet. It may be worth talking more than once or even twice.

2. Try to choose the role of an assistant project manager in IT, or the role of a junior PMO specialist (knowledge of management processes is more important there than knowledge of the stages and nuances and terms of development). Once you find yourself in any of these roles, you will need to study the terminology and specifics of IT from the inside if you really have a strong desire to move and develop in this particular area.

3. Explain at the interview that “Your strengths are the ability to resolve conflicts, the ability to work with difficult situations, success in negotiations, knowledge of the English language. And you will close technical gaps in knowledge through proper communication and assistance from technical specialists who will be your subordinates. After all, working with people is your strong point.” In approximately these words. It is important that it is really the truth about strengths, and not bravado to pass an interview. Believe me, any smart manager will determine during an interview if you are lying. And this will all end. But let’s say you got a job - then you urgently need to look for an ally among the techies who will help fully cover and regularly explain the technical side of the work, tasks and emerging difficulties.

Roughly speaking, you + a techie ally will be such a combined manager with two heads (maybe you will need more than one ally). Many hiring managers (your future boss) understand this and may not want to do this because you will be eating up the technicians' time, which will reduce the productivity of the team as a whole. So your lack of certain skills and knowledge will be on one side of the scale, and on the other side - your future manager will weigh the possible decrease in the efficiency and productivity of the team where they plan to take you. And the more efficiency weighs in, the less likely you are to be hired. Take this into account.

To summarize. To compete with guys who understand IT and also strive to become project managers, you need to seriously surpass them in PM Soft Skills.

P.S.: the original of this article (and other interesting materials) can be read on my blog: