Is it possible to become a project manager without much development experience?

Question

Project management

I have a higher technical education, in the field of automation / programming. I was engaged in programming for 2 years, I realized that this is not at all mine and is not interesting to me, but I have always been attracted by management, solving organizational issues, and I have decent work experience in this (though not in the IT field). How can you become a project manager without being a programmer? Any advice on this?

Answer 1

It is possible, however, I note that planning a rather complex project (not on a finished boxed product) is very much tied to the architecture of the software being created. Therefore, if the project is complex, then you cannot do without a person who will be an architect. If the project is not complicated and is based on a boxed product, then very often everything is done alone or by 2-3 people, and as a rule they do not need managers.
The main organizational moment is the formation of the correct TOR, that is, interaction with the customer, as a rule, there are many pitfalls when drawing up the TOR (for example, ignorance of the law).
Everyone just recruit a team, look for a suitable project and implement it)

Answer 2

There will be a typical Russian effective manager. Who knows nothing, understands nothing, and is constantly surprised by everything. In the USA, a number of companies in the Russian Federation or Japan, you will not become a project manager without solid experience in the relevant company / field. To get the position of a project manager in the same Yandex, you need to defend your PhD. To be sure. There were no gaps in knowledge. In something small - yes. And that will turn out "as always".

Answer 3

Can. You just need to understand that a project manager in IT is a specialist at the intersection of the humanities and the exact sciences. You should equally well be able to appreciate the beauty of the interface and break down the description of the project by the customer into tasks for developers. Many modern courses and books related to project management do not correspond to reality, they do not describe the immediate battlefield in any way, and the theory given in books does not always coincide with practice.
In your particular case, you have a good help in the form of technical education and experience as a developer, based on which we can assume that you have an analytical mindset, which will greatly help in the development of technical specifications and the distribution of work.
If I were you, I would imagine in my head the project that you would like to develop, break it into blocks of tasks and begin to study the technologies associated with these tasks. This will really help. I have been in project management for 6 years and every time I have to take on a project from a new field, I do just that.

Answer 4

Just working in IT as a programmer or someone else is an incredible field for showing your managerial abilities, if in two years you haven’t shown at work and couldn’t become a team leader or manager, then you should think about whether you have such abilities, because first of all management This is not a wide opportunity, but a very big responsibility.

Answer 5

For me, project work is very nervous and stressful. You need to be responsible for the whole team, promptly make changes. I was always very worried about the result. Now I have switched to a more festive specialization - I organize celebrations. I also found a job on Avito. As for me, it is easier here, because the collectives, the companies providing services are personally responsible for their reputation, and the middle managers have a greater herd instinct.

Answer 6

Not many people choose to work as a project manager. I've been in this position for almost a year now. During this time, our company had just a crazy turnover, because people simply could not stand such stress. I myself am very stress-resistant, I used to be))) Seriously, with such work it is impossible to control oneself. No, I don't want to quit, and no, it's not because there's nowhere else to work. I just like it and I feel that I have already learned to control myself and everyone around me. Vacancies with such a salary are not lying on the road. Even then I was lucky to find it already on Avito, somewhere in the depths of ads.