Advice on moving from IT Trainer to PM/Junior PM/BA

[ittrainer87]

Hi,
I am currently an experienced IT trainer and have worked very closely with the Project's team within my last three jobs during software rollouts as part of the project team in the public sector and now in a private law firm. I have thoroughly enjoyed this part of my role and would like to move into this field of work from now on.

I have a good amount of exposure to projects mainly in a Prince2 environment and I am familiar with creating Gantt charts, issue logs and attending project meetings.
I have tried to speak with as many people as possible in this profession to determine what I can be doing in order to make myself look an attractive candidate for a junior project management role.

So far I have been told (and from my searching of job boards) that there are a very small number of junior PM roles around at the moment due to the economic climate and that most firms would want to either promote from within or employ someone who already has dedicated PM experience.

I have considered taking a Prince2 qualification but due to the cost and having been advised that it would be better to gain experience rather than a qualification leaves me in two minds over whether this is a good idea.

In the meantime I have bought the Prince2 book and decided to at least read up on it for now.
I have approached the PM manager at my current role (who is unfortunately leaving and working his notice currently) and he has advised me to aim for a BA role within my firm currently but can give no guarantees on when a vacancy for this role will arise.

So my question is; can I be doing anything else in order to further my chances or gain experience?

This is something I am very keen to progress with and my desire and determination coupled with current experience and skills leads me to be sure that I would make a good PM. I am happy to start as a Junior PM or as a BA and work my way up to PM if that is the best approach. I would just benefit from a bit of direction from someone experienced now to tell me if I am doing the right things or if I should concentrate on one aspect (perhaps acquiring Prince2) as I feel like I am trying to cover all bases at the moment and perhaps its not the most efficient approach.

Any information that any one can give me would be much appreciated and if I haven't given enough information then please ask me for any other details if you need to form a better picture of my experience so far.

[kwalford]

I would strongly suggest to take the Prince2 exam. I am currently studying for it and from what I have read online, it does seem to be a basic requirement of most PM jobs.

I have bought Dave Littens Prince2 Primer (google it) and it covers the entire syllabus for £70!