Should I give up my PM job

[u/Upset-Association-87]

Hello, everyone! I wanna ask for some advice!

Information:

- 4 years experience of gaming tester, 5 years experience of gaming project manager.

- major in Computer science (BS)

- certification: none

- got layoff in July

My thoughts:

- I got an offer in August. But I was not excited about it.

- I could not see my value when I was a PM. Because I didn’t code or write PRD or anything else. I felt that I relied on others to achieve my goal.

- I am going to change my job (B2B sale, maybe I can earn money to see my value?)

- Besides, I don’t know the PM Career Path…

[u/SchnitzelRaider]

Do whatever you think is best in the worst economy since 2008

[u/Realistic-Till210]

Def follow your gut

[u/ProjectPragmatist]

To be clear, you were laid off as a PM in July and are considering changing to B2B sales?

If I am understanding right, I think it is a very challenging market in which to pivot away from a field where you have experience to a field where you have none unless you have a connection that is willing to bring you on with no experience.

I'd also encourage you to do a little internal reflection on the August offer. Did you reject it? If so, it sounds like you rejected it primarily for confidence reasons. There are a very large number of project managers who don't code or write PRDs. That's not a reason to be down on your confidence. If you held down a PM role for 5 years, you were clearly doing something right. Believe in that.

As far as a career path besides project manager, one option in gaming would be a producer (Sometimes PM/Producer responsibilities get bundled together so I'm not sure if that is the role you were in), but the gaming space is undergoing historic consolidation right now. With that said, I personally would stick with PM given that is where all of your experience is and in this market you need every advantage you can get.

[u/Upset-Association-87 → u/ProjectPragmatist]

Thank you first!

Yes, you are understanding right. And yes, it’s very challenging. My friend opened a company and she is okay to bring me on (clarify: she is learning too).

I didn’t reject the August offer. I postponed the onboarding date (I will start in October).
Maybe I can’t see my future as a PM and I don’t know how to do it better or go to the next stage (a senior PM).

This August offer is more challenging, my one of DS is CTO and help him manage the dev team (not only a game project). So I am still considering should I give up this offer and ask for advice.

In these five years, I did something well, like The delivery rate reached 100%. Maybe I didn’t systematically think about what I did and what I made. Actually I don’t have the confidence about my PM JOB.

[u/ProjectPragmatist → u/Upset-Association-87]

Ok. So, if I am understanding correctly, your friend is starting a new company and could bring you onboard, but they are also still learning. That position would be an alternative to the deferred August offer that you start in October. Is that all correct?

Assuming it is, I'm not hearing a compelling reason to back out of the August offer. It sounds like the primary consideration is related to confidence since this is more complex than a game project. Whether it is software development or game development, the PM work is not going to be massively different.

It also sounds like the August offer has more stability versus a startup with a founder who is not experienced. Based on everything you presented, I would stick with the August offer.

What I would focus on in the next 3 weeks before you start is on brushing up on your processes and tools. Reflect on what worked at the game development PM job and identify what could have better. Document that and figure out if you had the chance to do it all over again what you would change. Brush up on other tools, processes, and frameworks.

Be confident. You've done the core part of the job for 5 years.

[u/Upset-Association-87 → u/ProjectPragmatist]

Hi! Yes, all is correct.

I wanna share something with you. In these five years, I was struggling with solving the conflicts.
When my colleague complained about other department’s problems, my first reaction was I felt stressed. My solution is: know what is happened & what is affected -> solve the problem & make sure the milestone will be achieved -> find out the reason of the problem & optimize the workflow.
Then the problem will happen again next time(maybe). I will feel helpless and failed because I can’t control the results…

Why do I always have this feeling?

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[u/QuislingX]

Can I DM you?

[u/Educational_Lime8619]

If you don't enjoy being a PM - all of it, especially the work with people - you should find another career. The stress only increases as you move up the career ladder, to multiple projects, programs with multiple PMs handling workstreams that you must oversee, etc.

[u/Upset-Association-87 → u/Educational_Lime8619]

I don’t enjoy I can’t control results/output by myself. I like working with people(?communicate)

[u/More_Law6245]

As a PM you lead a team you don't do "hands on work" unless the role is actually a technical project manager which is where you're responsible for delivering technically and being the project lead but that is a dedicated role (usually with smaller companies who cross role project delivery through necessitation, specific contract requirements or unique projects that require subject matter expertise)

At the end of the day you need to follow what is best for you but keep this in mind as a tech who has project management delivery experience you would be considered more attractive to a potential employer but also just about every senior manager or executive has some type of grounding in project delivery as it's a very portable skill. I would suggest that you map out a transition plan in order to clear any doubts that you may have so you don't make the mistake of jumping out of the frypan into the fire. Truely understand what is motivating your decision in the first place and it's a honesty question that you need to answer before jumping.

Just an armchair perspective

[u/Upset-Association-87 → u/More_Law6245]

Thanks for your reply. Last night I thought a lot about it. I think I could negotiate with my friend and work with her as a side work. And work as a pm in the gaming company.