Have you been in the technical domain so far but are willing to take up a managerial role to achieve better career growth? Well, you are among the many professionals seeking project management as a career. And why not! Such an ambitious role is associated with a good reputation, a high paycheck, better recognition in an organization, and growing demand in the future as well. The added benefit is project managers are required in every industry, be it information technology, supply chain, telecommunications, banking and finance, or healthcare. So, it is worth pursuing a project management career, and you need to dedicatedly work towards gaining the right skills.
As project manager is a senior-level position, people take different ways to reach such a designation. But isn’t there some standard way to gain the right project management skills? Indeed! A project management Bootcamp is designed for this sole purpose – training aspirants to understand the ins and outs of project management and helping them gain the ability to bring projects to successful completion. There is a dedicated certification also which is highly recognized among organizations worldwide – the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification offered by the prestigious Project Management Institute (PMI). Here’s the catch, a project management Bootcamp is also helpful when preparing for the PMP certification.
But how do you choose a project management Bootcamp worth your time and money? This article makes you familiar with certain factors that will help you understand how to choose the best project management Bootcamp.
Choosing the Best Project Management Bootcamp
Here’s how to identify a genuinely good project management training course from the ones that only claim to deliver high-quality content but fail to do so upon enrollment.
Check out the syllabus
A good course will have a clearly defined learning path or syllabus. You need to check out if it includes all the important concepts of project management or not. After that, you need to ensure that the topics are covered step-by-step, meaning the syllabus starts with the basics and then moves to intermediate and advanced concepts. Some of the top skills to be covered are agile management, project management lifecycle, design thinking, customer experience design, project risk management, and digital transformation.
Must involve practical knowledge
One cannot become a project manager just by understanding the theoretical concepts. They must get a chance to apply those skills to have a better grasp of real-world scenarios. So, a project management Bootcamp should incorporate practical training through case studies, graded assignments, industry projects, or capstone projects. When learners use some tools and apply project management principles when working on an industry project, they will be better prepared for a corporate job and become aware of the challenges involved in a project.
Course duration
Don’t fall into the trap of lucrative advertisements for online courses that claim to teach you everything about project management in a month or two. Chances are you will get trained only on a few project management concepts. Remember that project management isn’t something that can be learned in a few days. It takes time to grasp the concepts, get used to the project management terminology, and learn everything in a structured way. So, it is better to go for a long-term course, which is at least 4 to 6 months long.
Project management tools
Knowledge of project management tools is something many employers seek when hiring a project manager for their organizations. A good project management Bootcamp should impart working knowledge of popular project management tools like JIRA, Minitab, MS Office, MS Excel, MS Project, Apache ANT, Grunt, and so on. When your resume shows you have worked on such tools, then you will definitely be preferred over your peers.
University partnership
Though not mandatory, a university partnership is an added benefit. You would be more confident in taking an online Bootcamp when it is designed in partnership with a renowned university. For example, there is a Post Graduate Program in Project Management offered on an online platform designed by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Isenberg School of Management). A course completion certificate from such an institute would be better recognized during interviews.
Career assistance
Again, this is not mandatory but an added feature that many professionals look for. Ultimately, everyone’s goal is to land their dream job after gaining new skills. The same holds true for a project management aspirant, he must be looking for a reliable course, but his next step would be to land a high-paying job with a project manager designation. Wouldn’t it be nice if the training provider itself offered this service? Services like resume preparation, interview preparation tips, portfolio review, access to career fairs, growing your professional network, and getting noticed by top employers are much appreciated by professionals, and a good Bootcamp should focus on it.
With all the above points, you will be better equipped to judge a project management Bootcamp. Enroll in the right training course today and kickstart your project management career.
