Going From Test Analyst to a Project Management Role

[whittard_88]

Hi,

I am a Senior Test Analyst for a financial software house and after much consideration I am now looking at getting into project management, but what should my first steps be?

I was also hoping to get some answers for the questions below:

- There seems to be a number of different qualifications, which is the best for my industry?
- I have several years experience with managing my teams QA schedule. This involves:

1. Liaising with the resource manager and project managers over available QA resource
2. Estimating QA effort
3. Scheduling for a number of other testers
4. Managing and overseeing all testing within short agile sprint projects and QA in general

Will any of these responsibilities help towards becoming a project manager and finding a role?

- I'm hoping to gain some experience at my current company, but if this is not possible, what type of role should I be looking for to gain experience?

Any additional advice would be very helpful and much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[begeland]

By number of different qualifications, are you referring to certifications? If so, I would be less concerned with gaining a certifications as I would be with gaining a specific project management position and getting some PM experience on your resume, no matter how small it may be. And most certifications will require a number of hours of direct PM leadership experience anyway.

Yes, when correctly worded, the experience you've listed can be relevant to a PM position you're searching for. Be sure to quantify experience whenever necessary. Identify the number of testers you scheduled, use dollar amounts for the QA efforts you were responsible for, etc. Be aggressive, but honest. Show confidence....show leadership and ownership in your resume bullet items whenever possible.
Brad