Moving jobs can be both a nervous and exciting opportunity for people, especially when it involves changing careers. But, that is what I did in 2022. After 8 or so years as a programmer/developer, I decided that I really wanted to change careers. For those of you that are interested in making a career change, read on and find out how I moved from being a web developer to a project manager – and how you can too.
Early on in my professional career, I was glad that I was a programmer. I liked fixing issues and bugs, finding ways to create a solution to a problem, working on client sites and creating systems from scratch. However, as time went on I slowly lost interest in coding. It might’ve been because of the ever-changing demand to learn new languages and technologies, the fact that I did what I set out to do – be able to create websites and systems from scratch, or perhaps because as with everyone, we change over time and what interested us once now longer excites us.
So why project management?
I chose project management because I wanted to stay in the tech industry – technology, websites, apps, etc. but I just don’t want to code, at least not professionally, maybe a bit on the side or as a hobby. I also like leadership and entrepreneurship, and I feel as though project management can really help create good leadership skills for people.
Also, previously I have learnt a lot about productivity and helped introduce productivity software and theories when I was a developer. For example, one company that I worked for loved using Excel for every part of their business. As a developer, I helped decrease the overuse of that by creating software, however, I also introduced Kanban boards such as a MeisterTask. This was first introduced within the IT department, however, I slowly rolled it out to the Account Management team, so that they could see the status of projects that I was working on. I also recommended using bi-weekly sprints for projects that I was working on as well. So, every two weeks we would have a meeting to discuss the progress of the project, and perhaps demonstrate what I had done so far.
During the Covid pandemic, when we working from home, I recommended daily stand-ups. This was actually something I tried to implement before the world went into lockdown, however, it became a necessity during 2020, because communication is key to all successful teams.
Not to mention, during 2020 I also set myself a goal of creating a podcast – I did complete this by recording one episode – and it was about productivity apps. Listen here – https://joshlister.com/podcast/
With this in mind, I started learning as much as I could on LinkedIn Learning. I found the courses to be professional, plus when you complete a course, a certificate can be added to your LinkedIn Profile – adding proof to employers and others that you are willing to learn. I took a course, Interview Questions for Project Managers, as well as enrolled in the Become a Project Manager Learning Path. What’s good about this learning path is that when you complete all the courses, it qualifies as an official academic credit at a selected university. Another good reason to use LinkedIn Learning.
Once I started to improve my knowledge, I updated my resume accordingly and started applying for jobs, as well as letting recruiters be aware that I wanted to change careers. There were of course some setbacks, whether it was regarding experience, pay or location. Changing a career can sometimes result in a cutback in pay, but it doesn’t always have to be that way. If you truly believe in yourself and your value, you don’t need to drop the amount you are earning. However, if you do believe that it will benefit you in the long term, and you are ok with it, then go for it.
To conclude
Confidence and knowing what you want are key to getting what you in life. These key attributes are exactly what you need when changing careers. As someone that has moved from being a web developer to a project manager role, it is definitely knowing my worth, the confidence and skills gained from previous employments that have helped propel me. If you come from a different background, don’t let that hinder you. Your outside knowledge of another subject can come in handy, especially if you were a programmer or a designer wanting to move into project management at a tech or digital agency.
In future posts, I’ll explain what I get up to as a project manager. For now, you can read this post about what I’ve learnt so far.
