Making a Party out of Project Management: Epilogue - Getting Started in a Project Management Career

“I’m still interested in project management after reading this book. What should I do next?”

If reading this story makes you more interested in entering the world of professional project management, keep reading below for specific steps you should take next. There are specific actions to take and current costs are shown when applicable. Please note that the Project Management Institute has not endorsed this story in any way; the points below are simply recommendations based on the story writer’s own professional experience. 

While these three steps are technically optional, they’re strongly encouraged as ways to get more opportunities to land a project management job:

1.      Visit the Project Management Institute’s website, https://www.pmi.org/, and sign up to become a member of PMI. As of August 2025, the cost of membership is $164 annually, plus a smaller chapter membership fee for your local PMI chapter (usually in the range of $30-50 annually). If you’re a student, you may be eligible for a substantial discount on these fees. This membership helps you to network with those already working in project management, plus provides access to an e-copy of the current PMBoK, a regular newsletter, and discounts on certification exam fees.

2.      Prepare to take the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification exam. The requirements for this exam are to have a high school diploma and 23 hours of project management education completed by the time you sit for the exam. There are lots of online offerings that fit this requirement at various prices.

3.      Take the CAPM certification exam to earn the certification. The cost is $225 for PMI members ($300 for non-members) as of August 2025. Once you have this certification, you are ready to take a job as a project coordinator or other entry-level project management specialist if you aren’t working as one already.

So far, you’ve probably spent about $500 on a PMI membership, a training course to meet the education requirement for the CAPM exam, and the fee for the exam itself. The average project management specialist earns about $100,000 per year [20], so if this is much more than what you make now, taking the steps above would probably be a good use of your time and money.

[20] According the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics: Project Management Specialists (bls.gov)

Making a Party out of Project Management: Chapter 9 - Wrapping Up the Project

Project Closure

Abby woke up late the next morning, catching up on some sleep after working so hard on the party and then going out with friends afterwards. She was really happy that everything went so well with the party and that Nathan had so much fun. And she was so appreciative of all the help everyone gave her – she never could have put it on by herself. Altogether, everything went great, from the idea of throwing the party, to planning it out, to doing all the work and making adjustments as needed along the way.

Now, Abby just had some loose ends to tie up this morning. First, Abby needed to close the project. She needed to review all her documentation for anything that needed an update before being archived into the organizational process assets as a reference for any parties she or others in the family might throw in the future. This included any final edits in her plans, updating data from execution of work or any adjustments made on the fly that hadn’t been recorded yet – all of this could provide helpful insight for a future project. The other matter for Abby to take care of was closing procurements. While she already paid for, used, and returned the rented party items and the bouncy castle service, she still needed to finalize all the costs and provide an online review for the vendor she used. Were they good enough that she would choose them again, or recommend them to a friend? Closing procurements and closing the project in general is about reviewing the project and confirming in writing that the project finished as it did.

To start reviewing and closing the project, Abby turned on her tablet and opened the folder where all the party project documentation was kept. Open watch items, like risks or stakeholders being regularly monitored, were closed. They didn’t need to be monitored anymore. Then, Abby performed a final round of project integration management to ensure she had updated all project documentation one last time.

Some of the work to close the project had been done just before the party started. For example, Abby showed her parents shortly before the party that everything was set up and ready to go, and they reviewed several specific deliverables one by one. Also, the start of the party represented the transition of the overall deliverable (the party) from development by the project team to use by the customers (Nathan and the party guests). So, the project was practically done yesterday, but the work of documenting final results and getting the project officially complete in writing is still very important for tying up any loose ends and making the documentation as useful as possible for future reference.

Reviewing documentation and results at the end of a project is also a good way to capture lessons learned that were discovered during the project. Abby thought through what she might want to do differently if she threw another party later; this could be avoiding a repeat of mistakes made during the projects or just realizing a better way to do something in the future.

There were still a few things to do for closing procurements. One thing was to have the park groundskeeper inspect the pavilion so that Abby could get her deposit back for that and return that money to the project sponsors. Then, as was mentioned in the explanation about planning cost management, she had to do an expense report by reviewing all the party costs on the debit card statement and verifying that they matched all the costs on her receipts, and that there weren’t any other charges. Abby added the pavilion inspection confirmation and her expense report to her collection of procurements documentation, which allowed her to mark the procurement checklist items complete.

After getting procurements totally closed, Abby’s next step was to finalize the other costs to figure out the grand total actual cost of the project. She could compare this to her original estimate to tell if she overspent on the project or if it came in on budget. Abby added up the cost of the food for the party, the decorations, vendor help, and the money she spent on gift cards for her friends to give them for their help with setting up the party. There was only one variance to her originally approved budget, and that was the approved change request to buy the extra-large chocolate bar for Nathan. Like all the other documentation, the costs that the project budget paid for were included in the project documentation archives. Now Abby had a full set of OPAs she could review for the next party she would want to host!

Once she had all of that done, Abby had finally finished her project! The party was over, and it was a big success. Everything was wrapped up and there was nothing left to do. Abby was now ready to use all she had learned on this project for planning any future parties that she might want to host or help with later. Hopefully now, you as the reader have a good idea of what project management is about and whether or not you might like to investigate it further as a possible career for yourself. If so, check out the following for what to do next!

Next post in the series: Making a Party out of Project Management: Epilogue - Getting Started in a Project Management Career

Making a Party out of Project Management: Chapter 8 - It's Time to Party!

Mom was leaving to pick up Nathan from baseball practice, but Abby wanted to make sure the project sponsors were happy with everything and ready for the party to start. So, Abby took her dad around to show him the food spread and decorations, taking pictures of these things with her tablet so that her mom could review the pictures while she waited for Nathan in the car. There were certain things Mom really cared about, like having the food on ice and a meat thermometer to ensure the food was fully cooked, so Abby made sure to send pictures that showed these things. Dad followed Abby as she showed him everything, but he also kept an eye out to make sure everyone was having fun as more and more relatives showed up. Abby’s parents looking over all these things to ensure they were going well (more inspection) is called scope validation, and their approval of the work done and everything set up at the party resulted in what are called the accepted deliverables.

Everything was finished and the party was all ready to start just in time! Mom and Nathan were pulling into the parking lot and Dad was just finishing cooking the meat and putting the platter on the serving table. When Nathan got out, his eyes lit up and grew big, and his jaw dropped as he saw everything that had been done for him. Everybody cheered for Nathan arriving and he ran up to Abby and gave her a big hug, just about tackling her to the ground. She embraced him back, and after a big squeeze she handed him the special birthday plate and told him he got to dish up first. Everyone followed Nathan through the line and soon the party was really bustling. An hour or so into the party, it was time to start serving dessert. After everyone sang Happy Birthday to Nathan, Dad cut the cake, and Mom scooped ice cream for everyone to eat. There was lots of laughter and lively chatter the entire time, and Abby felt a surge of pride over how much everyone was enjoying themselves at the party!

After cake and ice cream, and a few hours of games and visiting with friends and family, Abby and her friends got everything else at the park cleaned up before taking Nathan and his friends home. As they were getting things cleaned up, Abby also checked in with Brian to ensure that he got back all the items he brought for Nathan and his friends to use. By ensuring everything was returned at the end of the party, Abby satisfied all the terms of the rental agreement.

Next post in the series: Making a Party out of Project Management: Chapter 9 - Wrapping Up the Project