Prince 2 worth it ?

travelmonster

Okay guys

I've done small advisory roles for banks. But I want to develop somehow.


Do you guys think having a prince 2 would beneficial? Never done management before.

PasturesNew

Prince 2 is not "management". It's a specific method of running a project as a project manager.

It doesn't train you to become a manager.... you just learn the buzzwords and the way projects are structured and how/when they're signed off and where responsibility for things lies potentially... and even then it can only be used within an environment where the organisation is adhering to Prince 2.... which isn't many (mostly big companies or Govts).

What are you trying to do?

Ozzuk

It's like ITIL, employers often like to see it on a CV but unless you are looking to implement a new methodology then it isn't much use. As above, governments used to insist on Prince, I'm not sure if they still do though.

I think the downside is its a week long course (or at least the one I did was), with ITIL often the foundation is enough, which is easy to get. If there is an option to study yourself for Prince and just take the exam then I'd probably do that.

travelmonster

Well tbh I'm in a stage in my life that I just want get recognised for better roles. I work in the financial services.

Someone told me prince 2 is the way forward . Hence why I thought I'd ask here. But do u actually learn anything from the actual course as in ( practical skills)?

polgara

Its a project management methodology rather than practical project management training. Personally and I have in the past had Prince 2 qualification it certificated my skills that I'd learnt on the job. If I was recruiting a project manager then project management experience would be essential and the qualification would be desirable.

Have you thought about project management administration work - that would give you a grounding in the work first?

travelmonster

No I haven't thought about tbh. What will be the best way to get into that ? And what should I search for that ?

James_Blonde

I'd tend to agree with the advice given. I've worked in Prince 2 organisations my whole life, and NEVER seen it used to the letter. It gets you the buzzwords and the theory, but real life is always different - common sense and pragmatism are important. I'm a PM, I work in a P3M environment but I don't have Prince 2, though I do have other Agile PM, programme and ITIL quals, and a more importantly, ton of relevant experience. Qualifications AND experience count - experience more so, but qualifications aren't necessarily worthless, especially in the heavily regulated financial sector. Most of the jobs I've seen ask for the qualification and / or relevant experience. Having the cert might get you an interview, or it might allow you to get a temporary secondment allowing you to gain experience.

You don't say who's paying for the course? If you can get it through work (and I'd be surprised if you couldn't if your Bank cares about staff development) then do it! It's a no brainer! But do some reading up first on terminology and project management. If you're paying for it, it's not cheap, it's not easy if you don't know the lingo (both Prince and Project Management) and you'd still benefit from having PM experience.

travelmonster

Thanks for the great advice there ^ ...
I know in an ideal world experience beats any qualification. But I need to start from somewhere. I've always done the low end work.

I want to make a career in the financial industry.

As a project manager (in basic terms) what are the daily duties ? Or key responsibilities?

And what industries is prince 2 most suited for ?

James_Blonde

Prince 2 is one of the industry standard qualifications for Project Management, whether it's used in practice or not. So really, pick any industry, though it would tend to be older, larger, more established industries and organisations such as banks, civil service, large IT suppliers, etc. Even then, a lot of them are moving more towards Agile methodologies, so if you can do the Prince 2, and add the Prince 2 Agile add-on to it, all the better! It'll give you a more modern qualification and a degree of future proofing

Day to day you'll be working towards the delivery of something - you're in charge of managing that (not necessarily doing it!) and managing resource, quality, time and cost. A large part of my day is taken up running and attending meetings, project boards, planning sessions, change boards, etc. You'll also be writing a ton of project documentation - PIDs, project plans, risks, issues, maybe business cases, writing Emails, sending stuff out, change documents, scoping documents, collating other peoples documents, chasing for documents and basically pulling everything together towards the end goal, and meeting the organisations requirements for implementing your delivery - and in banking that can be quite onerous! You might be working as part of a team managing a section of a delivery, or you might be managing the whole thing. When it comes to delivery, you've got to make sure that everything is ready to go on the day, and you'll manage and communicate that delivery and any problems or issues that come out of it. and then you'll write it up, learn your lessons, rinse and repeat. Common sense counts for a lot, a level calm head, able to get on with people, a large degree of trust in your team and your specialists and an ability to communicate. I'd say its rare that any 2 days are the same, it can be high pressure, but you'll find there can be a a lot of hurrying up and waiting!

bluesnake

Americans do not use Prince, instead they go for PMBOK and PMP. I have no idea what European mainlanders use.

Then there is Lean and Six-Sigma. Lean is based upon waste and production methodology and the aim of Six-Sigma is perfection. All about quantity and quality of product or method.

....All like watching paint dry, if it is not your game, and just a money thing.

I work for an org that employs about 10000 people. Often is is not the cleverest, and neither the most qualified that get the job, but often it is someone personable, loyal and with a plan - even if it turns out to be a bad plan.

They may go out drinking with the right crowd. They [STRIKE]attach[/STRIKE] align themself to someone powerful on their way up and get dragged along. Shmoozing, especially with a bit of knowledge, able to placate others is a very valuable skill.