Dan Rogers shares his journey from computer science graduate to technical project manager at Microsoft and Google. He explains how project management isn't about control but about managing uncertainty and communicating across technical and business teams.

If you have an interesting job and would like to be a guest on the show, then email me at [email protected]

Book by Dan Rogers: Escape the Clock https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Clock-Project-Managers-Self-Discovery/dp/B0DJQJXZQR

Project Management Institute (PMI) - PMP Certification Information: https://www.pmi.org/certifications/project-management-pmp

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

0:50 Project Manager Overview

3:05 Managing Different Personalities

4:34 Computer Science Background

6:55 Required Certifications

8:50 Transition to Management

11:30 Becoming A TPM

13:00 First Project

16:45 Worst Project Experience

21:30 Working at Microsoft

25:15 Project Culture Differences

28:40 Working at Google

32:15 Microsoft vs Google

35:50 Leaving Google

39:20 Project Manager Compensation

43:45 Typical Work Day

50:10 Stakeholder Management

54:25 Burnout and Recovery

58:40 Career Advice

1:02:15 Life After Tech

1:05:30 Book: Escape Clock

1:09:45 Program vs Product vs Project Management

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