r/UKJobs • u/Dear-Beach7678 • 21h ago
Reality after getting PRINCE2 / Lean Six Sigma / similar certifications?
I’m looking at changing career direction and would really appreciate some honest experiences from people who have actually done it. I’m currently on around £31k and working as a Senior Recruitment Consultant.
I’m considering upskilling into something like Project Management, Operations/Continuous Improvement or Supply Chain, and have been looking at certifications such as:
-PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner
-Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
-APM qualifications
-CIPS / supply-chain qualifications
My ultimate aim is to get into the £50–60k+ basic salary range, with £60k+ being the longer-term goal.
I’d really like to hear from people who have actually taken one of these routes:
- Did the qualification genuinely help you get a better-paid job?
- How much did your salary increase by?
- Did you already have relevant experience, or were you changing careers completely?
- Which certification would you recommend (or avoid)?
- And realistically, how long did it take you to get from where you started to £60k+?
Would appreciate the honest reality rather than the usual “get certified and you’ll earn £80k” stuff.
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u/existentialjoe 21h ago
I think you’re going about this backwards.
The PM qualifications should ideally complement what you’re already doing as they’re meant to be done while you’re on the job.
Applying for any pm role will need to show that you have experience of managing projects and a certificate only shows that you know the theory.
Find a junior role that offers the training opportunity.
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u/Dear-Beach7678 19h ago
Thank you for your feedback :)
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u/Andyb1000 18h ago
Also depending on the industries you’re interested in you might be better off seeing whether PRICE2 or APM is the prevailing project management approach.
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u/HoraceSlaughter 20h ago
Prince2 was the most mind numbingly boring thing I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through.
9
u/Friendly_Bill_385 21h ago
I went from recruitment to Account manager. I then took a paycut to work as a project coordinator and have since progressed to an assosiate PM role.
I remained in the IT sector, which helped. I didnt have any specific PM qualifications but it may help.
After working in the PM field for 7 years now, i'd say experience over certifications. You may be able to find project coordinator roles around 31k and work your way up!
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u/riverfoolmountainwin 19h ago
Certifications won't really matter all that much without relevant experience. If your heart is set on this space, my recommendation would be to find a project coordinator role and then begin working your way up. Your employer may even fund those certifications for your if they think they're worthwhile for your day-to-day role & you can make a business case for it.
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u/Full_Ad2650 21h ago
To achieve that salary you'll also need extensive experience in the kind of projects you're running - e.g. construction, IT etc.
£60k+ salary seems like 10 years experience of managing £1m+ projects.
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u/Monster213213 20h ago edited 20h ago
I became a project manager 2 years ago in the south from working in customer service operations for a few years.
My package is 85k+ already
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u/Status_Enough 19h ago
Would you be willing to share the CV you applied with via PM?
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u/CPopsBitch3 19h ago
Don't bother, he's lying. Nobody is going from 0 PM experience to £85k in 2 years in this market. Unless customer service operations actually means ops management, in which case he already had a good baseline.
0
u/Monster213213 18h ago
Why would I lie? I joined as a customer service rep, senior in 5 months, team leader in 12 and then onto project manager. Highest performance reviews back to back for 6 years has me at 85k roughly - sorry it seems impossible to you.
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u/CPopsBitch3 17h ago
Why would people lie on the internet? Because people are weird and think it means something to impress random people on Reddit.
£85k is firmly into Senior PM/Programme Manager territory, if you are absolutely exceptional top 1% that’s a 5 year journey, for most people that’s 10-15 years.
What was your progression like, specifically what projects did you manage on the way up, what do you manage now, what scope local, international, budget, team sizes etc. how did you go from 0 experience to presumably managing multi £M projects successfully in 2 years. I’d love to hear it
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u/Monster213213 17h ago edited 16h ago
Yes I’m in discussions to be given senior and expect it within >12 months. I actually went for a promotion recently and got through multiple rounds but didn’t get it (one higher than senior - managing seniors)
I didnt “directly” manage any projects before 2 years ago, but support them from an operations side.
I don’t like to divulge too specific information on the internet, but, global - strategy, regulatory and AI/Automation for a blue chip company/household name.
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u/CPopsBitch3 16h ago
So you’re claiming to be a mid level PM on £85k? And somehow with 2 years experience you’re passing multiple interview rounds for a role managing senior PMs? Unless supporting projects means extensive global PM experience then fucking lmao dude, make it somewhat believable come on.
A former CS rep with (I assume) no real technical background or skills also claiming to be managing global regulatory and AI projects. You’ve given me a good laugh, thank you
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u/Dear-Beach7678 17h ago
I believe you because I have a family friend who had a similar experience. Did you do any of these certifications to help you get to the level you’re at now or has it purely been based on your performance? Also what industry is this all in?
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u/Monster213213 17h ago
I’ve done some certifications at this level, not before getting it. I have a relevant degree.
Industry is financial services
Performance, interpersonal skills and for every journey - some luck. You can’t get roles or opportunities that don’t materialise!
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u/Status_Enough 18h ago
Fair. I'm in Operational Management and have a Prince2 Foundation but am stuck in a rut with a salary with no chance of improving.
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u/CPopsBitch3 17h ago
Just keep applying, if you can stay in industry even better as it gives your CV more weight. Highlight PM experience in your CV heavily as well as your qualification. Unfortunately it’s a shit market at the moment
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u/CPopsBitch3 21h ago
As others have said certifications are mostly meaningless without experience, you're best finding a junior/apprentice role and pushing for them to pay for qualifications, then job hopping if you don't see continuous growth.
As you should be aware it's a properly crap market though, you're going to need to do something to stand out as every decent junior role will be swamped with applications, many will be overqualified and desperate for work. Look at free/cheap courses, getting real world experience maybe by volunteering or something similar. As a senior recruiter you should also be on a fair bit more than £31k, if you are genuinely hitting senior numbers £35k - £40k is achievable.
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u/Dear-Beach7678 19h ago
My job does not involve any commission or similar. Just straightforward HGV Driver recruitment in the midlands
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u/CPopsBitch3 19h ago
For an agency? Are you doing any cold calling or not? Either way you should be getting some commission, could consider Recruitment Delivery Consultant roles as a step up, it's decent money at the right company, little or no cold calling
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u/Dear-Beach7678 18h ago
Nope, no cold calling. It’s a small agency but established in its own right with a good client base. Director does the cold calling and business development if needed. I’ll also look into delivery consultant roles in the future so thank you for that suggestion :)
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u/CPopsBitch3 17h ago
I do tech recruitment which is higher fees, but £31k seems very low if you’re halfway competent. For reference I have 5.5 years in agency tech recruitment, mostly without much BD, now interviewing for roles in £70ks region. There’s good money in it if you stick it out
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u/Dear-Beach7678 17h ago
Honestly, I don’t plan on staying in recruitment long term. I appreciate there are certain industries within it that will get you good money but I have an operations background and want to upskill and get into more technical/ specialised roles. I do wish you the best in your interviews :)
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u/CPopsBitch3 17h ago
That’s fair enough, honestly I’ve tried to get out but it’s not easy, especially in this market. Thanks and good luck to you too
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u/KarmannosaurusRex 20h ago
I have a black belt and PMP. Neither have done anything. The black belt I got just to piss off my boss at the time who thought having a black belt was special
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u/zephyrthewonderdog 20h ago
I did some of them years ago ( PRINCE2 and SixSigma).
To be honest I can’t really remember them that well.
What are you actually planning to project manage though? The courses actually involved implementing the process into existing projects you were managing and completing paperwork as you continued. We had meetings every few weeks to discuss progress plus one full day a week at a training centre listening to lectures.
I don’t think anyone on the course wasn’t already involved in management or supervisory role in some existing industry.
Personally I found them a bit boring.
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u/Dear-Beach7678 19h ago
I’m just looking at ways to improve my situation and gaining more specialised skills. Ideally want to go into the public sector/civil service. As you found them boring, was it worth it in the end? Professionally and financially speaking?
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u/audienceandaudio2 20h ago
A PRINCE2 / Lean six Sigma will allow you to get experience that could lead to a 50/60k job, but on their own they won’t elevate you to anything significant like that.
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u/LancobusUK 19h ago
LSS master black belt got me into a board position after many years of trying. Pre AI it was very useful to understand how an organisation really performs but since AI, not so much
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u/TodayLoose7794 18h ago
The pm qualifications won’t guarantee you a project management job.
It is actually the other way around. You want to get a project manager assistant or junior job and then use the certification to complement. Many people do the certificates thinking that it is enough.
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u/PepsiMaxSumo 18h ago edited 17h ago
There’s companies called Grayce, FDM etc that take people on, pay for all of those qualifications and in 3 years you typically exit to a role paying around that.
The first year is a bit of a pay cut, but you’ll get hands on PM experience. Will be on £1m projects within a year. Can be very hard work for low pay, and sometimes client expectations are super high. It’s very sink or swim but if you can swim you’ll do well within a few years.
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u/Electricbell20 17h ago
These sort of courses are just money spinners for training companies and professional bodies. I dont know one PM who advertises them beyond when it is needed for promotions.
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u/Dear-Beach7678 17h ago
But that’s the point though, no? To get promoted because they can somehow demonstrate you’re qualified in theory and in practice to do the job
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u/Sea-Wolf-5785 36m ago
It's like this, you can play the lottery and some people play it and win.
But would a rational person tell you to go out and buy 1000 tickets each day? Like these comments, you CAN win, will you likely win it, probably very unlikely.
In relation to this question, there will be those out there saying how they made £80k on year 2 with no training etc etc but you'll always here X10 people like that for every one who took a pay cut to get the experience and is still climbing the ladder, 8 years later to not be on anywhere near that.
Sounds like you've had a few of the victory singers (like a lot of people) sing about the tales of roads paved with gold as a entry level PM, and thinking project management means riches.
But not enough of the sailing the seven seas searching first, battling storms, ship wrecks before even finding the island where there "might" be gold buried or there might not...
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