pmStudent Mailbag: Project Management Career Advice by goosmurf via flickr Hello, I am a Croatian graphic designer with 6 years of experience and a BSc in information systems from a US university. It probably doesn’t matter what my question is, but it does. I am in my thirties and want to get into project management. The biggest challenge is my work experience. How do I become employable and where can I find employment in the US? I don’t know what industry I would choose or how to do it. What advice would you give? P.S. Before I started my studies, I was thinking about volunteering at T-mobile’s corporate office in Croatia. This was parallel to my work as a graphic designer. What type of volunteer position would you recommend? Great questions! I will try my best to answer your questions.

• First, take a look through this list of career articles that I have written over the years… many will be useful for you.
• I decided not to pursue an MBA, because most project management positions don’t require this. Other factors also weigh heavily in my mind.
• PMI’s?PMP certification requires you to have some experience in managing projects.
• You might also find the My?PM Career newsletter of interest.
• Volunteering is a great idea. Volunteering for corporations can be difficult unless they have a program for project management or management internships. You could also volunteer with ….nonprofit organizations.
• My?PM Career Coaching Course will answer many of your questions, and help you make decisions about industry, company, etc. I have not found a book that I would recommend on this topic so I created the course. I don’t think there are many books on this topic.

I hope you find this helpful. If you are interested in my course, you can check out the complete lesson outline on the page to get an idea of what it contains and decide if it is right for you.