Becoming a project manager is something that many people aspire to. Rightly so: it's an interesting job that comes with a decent salary. Project managers also often work remotely, which allows for a great work/life balance. But the question is, how to get a job as a PM, right? Answer: there are lots of different roads to becoming a PM. Here's mine. A decade+ into my career as an educator and general worker of odd jobs, I decided that I wanted to shift gears and become a clinical research project manager. How did I decide that? I made that decision by reading ads on Indeed.com, looking for careers that offered a solid middle-class salary and remote work options. I was also looking for a career that involved technology and/or science. Clinical Research has plenty of both. Once I set my sights on becoming a Clinical Research Project Manager, I found a temp job at a university working as a...wait for it...graduate program coordinator. Why did I make this my first step? I wanted to get my foot in the door at that employer. Once I was in, I started applying to every clinical research project manager job that was posted. 8 months later, and voila! I got my first research administration gig. This is the equivalent of a CTA (clinical trial assistant) in the private sector. From there, I was promoted to Research Project Manager within a year or so. Now, almost a decade later, I have experience as a Research Project manager in both academia and the private sector, and still am learning and growing in my career every day. My advice for those of you who are trying to score your first PM gig? Don't hesitate to take a temp or contract job, or a job at a lower salary than you want. I would compromise on those things, and would even work for an employer that I don't particularly want to work for if I could gain good experience there. The most important thing is to start building experience. Landing a salaried employee project manager role with no experience is unlikely. Once you have a couple of years of experience, it will be relatively easy to get another PM role. So, if you get an opportunity that looks like it is putting you on the PM path you want to travel, go for it!

I start most work days around 7:30 am, still in my pajamas, checking DMs that came from my colleagues in India or Europe. I answer any pressing DMs or emails that need immediate attention, then take my dog for her morning walk. By 8:30 am, I'm dressed and have makeup on if I have a morning client meeting or meeting with my bosses. Otherwise, I get to work, still in pajamas. Yawn. First cup of chai tea for the day. I answer more emails and make my to do list for the day, most often adding to the previous day's list. Answer DMs as they come in. I do my best to block off time everyday to have uninterrupted hours to do revenue forecasting, look at hours billed by project team members (and let them know, in the nicest possible way, if they seem excessive to me), and have calls with team members to see how their tasks are going and whether they foresee any out of scope items or hours. I also use this time to write project updates to supervisors and clients or file documents (I work in clinical research, which is heavily regulated--document submissions to our regulation-compliant document management system is a necessary thing to do for study quality and audit-readiness). My days are full of interaction with dozens of people. So, as an introvert, I have learned to meditate and make sure that I check in with my feelings and body when I'm interacting with 100+ people/day, and I often do (more about the emotional side of project management in future posts). Since I work remotely 100%, I usually sit in my living room up to 10 hours/day working, having meals, etc. So, in some ways, my day is very relaxing, even boring. In other ways, it can be very exciting, even stressful sometimes. There are so many rewarding aspects of the job. My favorite part of the job is supporting my team members, and helping to make their days better. That's not boring at all!

Check out this mock PMP exam. It's a great one to get you started. It focuses on testing your basic knowledge of the principles and project domains in PMBOK 7th Edition.