Breaking Into Project Management: A Career Road Map for Absolute Beginners

This course provides aspiring or new project managers (or simply anyone curious about the role) with a basic understanding of the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to kickstart a successful career in this rapidly growing profession. Through seven engaging modules, participants will learn what project managers do, key skills and characteristics required to succeed, the value of popular certifications, how to transition into the role and what career paths exist, and how to find project management job opportunities.

What you’ll learn and how to apply it

• Understand the role of a project manager, importance of project managers within organizations, and why project managers are in such high-demand
• Learn the core skills and key leadership characteristics required to be a successful project manager
• Gain actionable advice on how to transition into project management from a non-project management role in your organization
• Identify transferable skills that could be used to transition into project management
• Discover potential career opportunities and career paths within project management
• Learn about project management certifications and identify which certifications may be beneficial for you to pursue
• Gain an introductory understanding of how to search for and apply to project management opportunities

This course is for you because

You're at a beginner level and this course is designed for anyone who is interested in learning more about pursuing a career in project management or would like to transition into project management from another career path. Due to the introductory nature of the material, you do not need to have any prerequisite skills or knowledge prior to taking this course. After completing this course, you will gain an overview of the project management field, required core skills, what certifications you may eventually need, career paths, and how to find your first job as a project manager.

This course is designed for:

• Anyone aspiring to or interested in transitioning into project management from another role or career.
• Current entry-level project managers who want to gain clarity on whether being a project manager is the right career choice.

Prerequisites

• None

About the Author

Lori Schoenhard, PMP, is a delivery professional with two decades of experience leading PMOs and cross-functional global teams. Her expertise spans global cloud transformations, managing mergers and acquisitions, overseeing business unit operations, directing digital strategy and client implementations, and spearheading change management and process improvement initiatives for Fortune 500 companies to small and medium businesses. Lori is the Founder and Principal of Athena Project Consulting, offering program and operations services, as well as project management talent development. Lori holds an MS in IT Project Management and Computer Information Systems from Boston University, as well as a BA in Music from Luther College. She has earned several certifications, including PMP, CSM, CSPO, SAFe, and ITIL.