Jose is PMI Portland's May Volunteer of the Month. He has had a whirlwind introduction to project management, and has been enjoying every minute. Jose worked for the Washington State Department of Agriculture performing project management work by auditing, enforcing food safety and inspections for nine years. He really enjoyed the planning, organizing, and orchestrating aspect of his work. Without realizing it yet, the project management spark had been lit, and after nine years at a good job, he still felt it was time for a change.
Looking for a career shift into technology Jose went back to school. Thinking it offered a broad scope of possibilities Jose took business classes, but it was an operations class that brought him back to project management - it fit his strengths and he loved that it spans so many industries.
By July of 2021 Jose started the Google PM courses, and after some advice Jose joined LinkedIn, where a PMI member from Texas reached out to him and they spoke over the web. On a trip to visit friends in Portland last October, Jose attended a PMI Portland networking event. He felt immediately welcomed by our community and made many connections. One was Penelope, our VP of Membership, and based on Jose’s interests she suggested he work as the Assistant Director of Technology in Operations.
Since then, Jose has loved joining the Operations team which provided the professional environment he had been seeking. Jose also worked with Saby Waraich on the mentor team, who helped encourage and advise him to grow into his career in technology. The exposure to networks and courses provided Jose the tools to rewrite his resume to target his goal of a career in technology. He considers it a direct result from his volunteer time with PMI that only after two months into his new career search, in March of 2022, Tecology hired him as a Project Coordinator.
Jose feels he was able to stand out in his job hunt because of his volunteer time with PMI Portland for the Annual Spring Conference. Networking with the Chapter empowered him with the knowledge of who to work with, which grew his role to be a part of the annual committee. Sarah Foote and he designed the conference landing page, and created a dashboard for the conference that was instrumental in keeping the team organized.
Jose would recommend that if you’re curious about PMI or project management, then try one of the outreach events, where you can meet this talented group of people, ask questions and make new connections. He highly recommends volunteering to open yourself up to the many opportunities available, while also building the skills to become a project manager that offers a broad range of industries and roles. He can’t imagine a better way to get exposure to this career, support from peers and advice that will help further any career. PMI Portland’s community and support really inspired Jose to stay involved, continue to push himself and even mentor others into this great career path.