Comment Re:Consider it an advantage... (Score 2, Informative) 521
A note from a Project Manager....
Well, here is the thing. A lot of times as a Project Manager your are responsible for the business side of things (i.e. budgets, requirements management, prioritization..I can go on an on). While a project might be technical in nature, there is still a lot of business and ego stuff that surrounds a project that has to be dealt with. Having worked with some technical folks (who are very good at development work and running a development team)they failed at the Project Management aspect of the project because they were too technical (and true to the development process). We all want to be able to follow the steps of the SDLC and create a quality product but in the end its about who gets the product out first or who introduces a new technology into an organization. The PM really should be a strong subject matter expert as opposed to being technical. A good PM will LISTEN to the development team and must be able to sort out what needs to be done versus what would be nice to do.
If you are technical and want to go into project management, my advice is don't worry about the details (i.e. you really shouldn't worry about what a db schema looks like, you should really be worrying about how well will it scale over time). Shed the idea that you will actually practice your technical knowledge because in the end you will have to deal more with the business side of things. Its painful...but sometimes, its fun.
Well, here is the thing. A lot of times as a Project Manager your are responsible for the business side of things (i.e. budgets, requirements management, prioritization..I can go on an on). While a project might be technical in nature, there is still a lot of business and ego stuff that surrounds a project that has to be dealt with. Having worked with some technical folks (who are very good at development work and running a development team)they failed at the Project Management aspect of the project because they were too technical (and true to the development process). We all want to be able to follow the steps of the SDLC and create a quality product but in the end its about who gets the product out first or who introduces a new technology into an organization. The PM really should be a strong subject matter expert as opposed to being technical. A good PM will LISTEN to the development team and must be able to sort out what needs to be done versus what would be nice to do.
If you are technical and want to go into project management, my advice is don't worry about the details (i.e. you really shouldn't worry about what a db schema looks like, you should really be worrying about how well will it scale over time). Shed the idea that you will actually practice your technical knowledge because in the end you will have to deal more with the business side of things. Its painful...but sometimes, its fun.
