The Seven Natural Phases
of a Project Management Career

By David Pells

About 25 years ago, some five or six years into my career as a project management professional, I was befriended by a retired professor from the University of California at Berkeley.  When I told him that I was planning to prepare a technical paper for a project management conference, he stated something like, “That’s a good idea.  It a normal sequence to begin writing and presenting papers at conferences; publishing is a natural step in your career.”

In the years since then, and as I consider the phases of my own professional development and career (and those of many others that I have known), it has occurred to me that there is a very natural sequence of steps or phases in most professional careers.  This is especially true in the project management field.  While there might be little new here for experienced project managers, I believe it can be very useful for those just beginning, to have an idea about what is in store or what they should plan to do.  In my own case, I was often impatient to advance.  I think that some guidance regarding career planning might be very helpful for younger professionals.

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