Personal Development, Project Management, Career Musings

It has been 15 weeks since I commenced studies of my first Masters module, M815 Project Management, with The Open University. It has been tough, reminding me of those late nights after a hard day of working to try and get in my studies, and working up to those TMA deadlines.

68% of the way there!

Looking at my study planner, I am now 68% through my module on Project Management, accounting for 15 out of the 24 weeks of the total duration of the module.

In June I got my first TMA in, and received a very good grade - a much better grade than I expected to get. This has given me a much needed confidence boost after being out of study since 2022 (even though that isn’t that long!). I have now submitted my second assignment, with a third due in early September, and my final End of Module Assessment due mid-October.

Personal Development in Project Management

As part of my studies, I have the privilege of having access to APM webinars, including one I attended tonight on exploring a career in project management. This was extremely informative, providing valuable insights and highlighted several interesting facts I was previously unaware of, including:

• Project Managers are not always involved in a project from inception through to completion.
• There is a talent shortage within the Project Management profession and across sectors, it is predicted that 25 million extra Project Managers will be needed by 2030!
• Many opportunities are available within the profession, with many professionals transitioning into the field from other disciplines.
• Many Project Managers enjoy travel opportunities, with projects across various sectors often involving working on a global scale.

The Golden Thread

Another interesting mention in the webinar was The Golden Thread, which is a study commissioned by the Asoociation for Project Management on the contribution the Project Profession makes to the UK economy.

This is something I intend to read more about, but was given a brief overview of during the webinar, which revealed the following:

• Role of project professionals envolves, with requirements to leverage new technology, build strong relationships, and align project outcomes with goals of organisations.
• The need for further development on these, as well as technical skills, so that the role of the Project Manager becomes more attractive.
• Project professionals are spread across many sectors within the economy, delivering strategic changes and overcoming important problems faced by society today.
• The profession is optimistic, with number of projects and their budgets increasing.
• Talent shortages means more needs to be done to sustain the growth of the profession.

Career Prospects

As I have developed greater self-awareness and personal reflection, I’ve come to a realisation about my current role as a Web Developer. Whilst I enjoy programming and problem-solving through code, I find myself increasingly drawn to the strategic and managerial aspects of the projects themselves. This growing interest has become more and more apparent as my studies continue to progress.

Through my studies, I’ve discovered a deep interest in Project Management and plan to pursue further qualifications in this field, starting with the APM Project Fundamentals Qualification.

I have come to realise that project management is fundamentally all about people - building relationships, fostering collaboration and guiding a team towards a common goal. I am therefore eager to leverage my background in law and technology, along with my career experiences of working with the public, managing staff as a company director and contributing to projects as a web developer towards pursuing career aspirations where I can combine technical expertise with strong people skills to make meaningful contributions, project by project.

This shift in focus has led me to refine my career goals: I am committed to further developing my skills as a developer with the long-term aim of stepping into leadership roles, such as senior developer, IT project manager, and perhaps even beyond to IT Director or CTO (but this is very much something to assess further in my career!).