Please help me and provide some guidance if possible.

My Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree is in Illustration (by hand – not with Adobe Illustrator, Quark, etc.) and I had been working in IT as a Technical Trainer and Project Manager for the past 7 years.

I fell in love with Project Management, and led the development, testing, training, and implementation of a mission-critical software package to sites across the globe. I was “downsized” in May after 16 years with the company. To reinvent myself as a Project Manager and to make myself more employable, I took and passed the PMP exam in August.

When I look at job postings for IT Project Managers, they typically require computer science or engineering degrees. Ideally, I would like to join the green building or solar industry, but I cannot apply and be considered with a BFA in Illustration. I want to pursue an MBA in Global Business Management, but I need a job first.

How do I overcome having the wrong type of degree for the career I am pursuing now? Should I continue obtaining credentials in the field I want to work in (i.e., LEED, etc.)?

I appreciate your insight!

As a current Sofware Test Engineer, I won’t say that I love what I do, but I at least like it.

What I love is being involved with IT.

I started my career as a teletype technician, working in communications, long before before the concept of IT became a reality.

Since that time I have worked in computer operations, a curriculm developer and intstructor in O&M, reinvented myself as a System Administrator and moved into System Engineering.

I have dabbled in network engineering and network administration;
I have supported Help Desk operations, ttracked and reported trends in wireless communications, and deveoped skills in ITIL, with a focus on Release Management, Problem Management, Configuration Management and Change Management.

Academically, I pursued and achieved a MS degree in Technology Systems Management.

Everything I have done has been with a focus on IT, and not just a single speciality.

Because all of these areas are related in some way, it allows me to use my knowledge and experience across a good part of the IT spectrum.

It starts with a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis of your skills or career.

You’ve been working / managing people for a while, so make an exhaustive list of your strengths and weaknesses in the context of the opportunities and threats facing your career.

Based on that prepare a career development plan that allows you to transition into doing more of what you love.

There should be a match between what you love doing and what you are good or excel at because we live in a competitive world and you may not be able to make a living out of everything that you love doing!

But if you love doing something and at the same time you can do it better than a lot of people or you excel at it or you have strong skills or background in those areas, then you will excel at that.

Finally, you have to develop your skills and offer it to employers or to the marketplace in a competitive way.

Just saying that you can write or speak is not good enough! You have to write or speak for a specific industry or domain!

You’re not alone in wanting to better use your skills or strengths to serve others.

I would recommend that you enlist in the IT Leadership Program. You can get more information about it here; http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/21/become-a-leader-and-get-the-job-you-want/

I’ve been in IT managing teams of developers for years. Now I’m in a career transition.

How do I find what I really love to do?

I’m looking for IT jobs similar to the one I had.

I don’t really want to go back into a big corporate environment but that’s what I know.