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Good Afternoon All,

My name is Edriss and I have acquired my certificate in Project Management from UC Berkeley on July 2017. I have been looking around the web to find an entry level role in project management but discovered that there are no such things as "entry level" roles in project management as all roles require a varying degree of experiences (ie. varying years of experiences). I have also looked into unpaid internships but have also been unsuccessful thus far. All entry level roles literally ask for at least 3 years of experience as a project manager in my area. So my only question to this community of project managers is:

How can I acquire valuable project management experience without an official role (job)?

Could anyone help me out here as I am a newcomer in the world of PM?

-Edriss

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    Historically, we've closed career advice questions like this as being too individualized and not canonical. I'm going to close it, but if the community feels strongly about it it can be voted open or discussed on meta. – Todd A. Jacobs♦ Aug 16 '18 at 17:52
  • CAPM? is a junior PM – Mark C. Wallace Aug 16 '18 at 17:56
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First of all, past experience should not block you. You've got a degree and probably a bit of experience or practice related to workshops you did.

I've been involved in "ABC Gestion de projet" community. There is also an English speaking community. Maybe you should apply there and get a bit more practice on a team during the MOOC.

Your colleagues and coworkers could also recommend you, and empower you with self-confidence in your own skills.

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First off, just because a job lists needed experience, doesn't mean you shouldn't apply. My first job out of school listed 3-5 years of C# web experience. I had 3 months of C# desktop. I applied anyway, and got the job.

Second, have you looked into volunteer work? Depending on your location, that may be easier to get into than paid.

Even if not, why not get together a large (3-10) group of friends and take on a large hobby project (building a log cabin, creating a new software product, climbing a mountain...), and manage that project yourself? Or perhaps multiple smaller projects (building a shed, developing a mod for a game or a fork of an open-source product, climbing a... smaller mountain? Okay, I'm bad at examples). It might not be as relevant as managing a project for an organization, but it does demonstrate your interest in the subject.

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You do not need the title of PM to be a PM or to do the work of a PM.

Project management is a job function that spans every job role, job family, and industry. You build experience, and more importantly knowledge and skill, by performing the role and the tasks.

No matter the job you have, you will do projects in them. Manage them well and then cite them as your experience.

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