What's The Project Plan For Your Career?

Yesterday I had the pleasure of moderating yet another of our PW&WCBA webinar series. This session focused on career development - both for the manager that wants to bring out the best in their team, as well as the "rock star" on the team that wishes to drive their career forward. It got me thinking about project management and business analysis career paths, (which is always one of the hottest topics at PW&WCBA.)

Browsing PMI’s 2012 Pulse of the Profession I was interested to read the following:

"2011 PMI Project Management Salary Survey found that nearly 70% of organizations now have a career path for those engaged in project or program management. However, the majority of these are still informal and not clearly defined and in writing."

Anecdotal evidence from speaking with various PW&WCBA attendees agrees. One particular example from yesterday's webinar stood out to me as well: While the "rock star" on a team may need to be encouraged and developed to keep them within the team and the company - not everyone is suited to moving to a people management role, and in fact it may not even be something they're interested in. Whether that "rock star" is you, or you are the one in the management position, it is important to establish communication and evaluate what those career goals are.

If this is something you struggle with, several of our sessions at this year's PW&WCBA focus directly on next career moves, employee development and team leadership including:
What is a Business Architect and How Might YOU Get There? with Cecilie Hoffman, Business Architect, Railinc Corporation
Developing Project Managers into Project Leaders with Mark Schlosser, Director, Enterprise Project Change Management & Analytics, U.S. Cellular Corporation & Jackie Staley, Director, Enterprise Project Management, U.S. Cellular Corporation
How to Create and Sustain a Culture of Innovation in Your Organization with Srini Penchikala, Security Architecture Program Manager, Texas Guaranteed and
New Frontiers in PM: Creating High Performing Teams with Silvanus David, Program Manager, South African State Information Technology Agency

Plus, simply attending the conference can help you gain the skills and knowledge needed to take that next step - be it a people management role or more technical.  Download the brochure to learn more about these and all of our other sessions.

In your experience, is it difficult to define a project management or business analyst career path? Once you've reached a certain point, do you find yourself asking "what's next?" Share your experience with us in the comments.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and the voice behind the @Project_World twitter. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com