Okay, here is a somewhat naive question. How much does Project Management have to do with number crunching and business administration theory? Many programs advertise their PM certificates as a qualification that benefits almost anyone in any field, and I can sure see why PM skills would come in handy almost everywhere. But when I look at some curricula, it seems like one needs a lot of prior knowledge in finance, budgeting, and other areas that I don't want to have anything to do with. I appreciate your advice!
IMO, for taking courses, prior knowledge is good but not necessary. As long as you have a general understanding of how it works, you should be fine. I'm in a PM role and have had to learn a lot about finance and budgeting. I consider it to be a weakness of mine, so I do my best to understand this aspect of the project. Do I really understand it: No, but I know enough to get by. I have a math background so when finance math comes along and tells me that the answer to 2 + 2 is whatever I want/need it to be, this answer does not sit well with me.
A lot of PM stuff includes Earned Value Management, budgets, projections, estimations, P&L, etc... You may never have complete responsibility for all the aspects of a project, until you do concentrate on the PM stuff and pick up the other stuff as needed.
I've had the role of PM several times in my career in aerospace. Here were some of the areas that I had to be involved with: Write or manage proposal activity (for high value proposals then a PM and team is needed) Estimating time to complete work packages Estimating cost of outside materials and services including travel Estimating management reserve (ha!) Obtaining personnel to support project Negotiating costs with suppliers Negotiating program cost with customers Keeping track of cost and schedule (often using C/SCSC (or earned value)) Ensuring compliance with company policies and customer requirements at all times Changing staffing mix as program proceeds In my experience the PM's major job is to control cost and schedule - the program engineer takes care of the technical side. Sometimes these two jobs are combined
Hm, thanks guys. May I should just get some more applied business experience and the at some point shoot for a management-oriented MBA.