Project Management as a Career

Description of the Job

Project Managers organize and lead teams to conclude projects or tasks. They are responsible for the planning, execution, monitoring, and completion of a project. They are also in charge of ensuring that projects are completed on time and within budget. To be successful, project managers should also have technical knowledge of the tasks that they are assigning to direct their team members.

Fast Facts

  • Number of hours per week40-50
  • Average starting pay$51k Nationally, $64k in the Bay Area
  • Amount of travel requiredMay be required, depends on project or company
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Roles & Responsibilities

  • Organizes and plans a project, along with the tasks that will be required
  • Delegates responsibilities to members of the project team
  • Monitors the progress and work of team members to ensure that the project is moving smoothly
  • Estimates the time and resources available to develop a budget and a timeline
  • Ensures that the client will be satisfied with the finished product
  • Documents and drafts reports proving that all the project requirements are fulfilled

Skills Needed

  • Strong Leadership Skills: Project Management is itself a leadership position, and therefore leadership skills are expected. Being able to delegate responsibilities, manage the team, and motivate others are all key responsibilities.
  • Knowledge of Finance: Project Managers will need to be able to properly allocate funds and ensure that the project stays within the allotted budget
  • Communication Skills: There will be a constant need to communicate tasks and other information to team members, so communication skills are required. Project Managers should readily tell their team members if something needs to be changed or if their work is not up to their standards.
  • Strong Organizational Skills: To prevent confusion, Project Managers need to be highly organized. They should be able to create a clear schedule and have clear instructions for each team member. 
  • Knowledge of the Target Field: Project Managers need to be informed about their project's field and should have basic technical knowledge. This better prepares them to work with team members.
  • Mental Fortitude: Project Managers often take a majority of the criticism for any mistakes. Also, things may not always go as planned, and the team may not be able to meet time constraints. Therefore, Project Managers must be tenacious and must have strong mental fortitude to address any criticism or issues.

Steps to Enter The Field

  • A bachelor’s degree is often required to be a Project Manager. Larger corporations may expect a more advanced degree.
  • Some common majors for Project Managers include finance and business management. However, getting a degree in the intended field of work may also be valuable.
  • The PMI and CAPM are valuable certifications, which may boost the odds of being hired.
  • Some universities, such as Boston University, may have Project Management graduate certificates. These are excellent ways to learn the skills needed to become a Project Manager, and look great on resumes.
  • Prospective Project Managers should become very familiar with the field they intend to enter. Technical literacy will be very important, regardless of the field.

Landscape of the Field & Companies in the Field

  • Practically every corporate company has Project Managers in various departments. 
  • Choosing a field to specialize in (examples include construction, engineering, software development, or pharmaceutical) will help to narrow down the top players.
  • Some companies specialize in Project Management Consulting. Top players for this field would be PMAlliance, CSL Consulting, Bechtel, or Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

External Resources to Learn More & Develop Skills

  • nTask: This website contains over 30 different blogs related to project management, along with descriptions of each one.
  • Project Management Institute: A link to the PMP certification website. Getting this certification is crucial for prospective Project Managers. Alongside the certification, this website also hosts many blog posts about project management, as well as a large community of project managers.
  • TaskWorld: This website contains a list of various resources and websites all related to project management, and briefly describes the content of each one.

Related Careers

  • Product Management, Program Management, Product Lead, Marketing Manager, Sales Director, Operations Director