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Project Manager Career Path

Project Manager Career Path

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Project Management is necessary for any business to get successful. It plays a vital role in undertaking all the operations of the organization. As a matter of fact, the role of Project Managers is to make a team of skilled workers, institute and construct team plans, and ease the execution of all projects. However, certain roles and duties for each Project Manager rely on the industry in which the company operates and on the company the manager works. Moreover, a reliable Project Manager should have experience in an industry before getting into this role. Keep on reading to know more about the various facts of the Project Manager career path.

What is the Role of Project Managers?

Before you get into the alternative career paths for Project Manager, it is crucial to perceive what are the roles of Project Managers that you can see below:

Usually, the Project Managers make a plan and supervise the accomplishment of particular projects for an organization while making sure that these projects are executed on budget, on time, and even within scope. They normally operate in a broad spectrum of industries right from engineering and construction to pharmaceutical science and healthcare. However, the actual roles of a Project Manager will differ as per the size of the organization, industry, and project type. There are a few tasks that all Project Managers normally perform on an everyday basis which are as follows:

 

  • Communicating with the key stakeholders and project team
  • Preparing project plans to develop a budget and define the scope of the project
  • Developing and leading team members
  • Organizing the tasks of the project
  • Delivering the project right after its completion


They are responsible to create value by making sure that projects are operating within parameters so that companies can optimize their efficiency. Therefore, the demand for Project Managers is high and compensated accordingly.

What are the Qualifications and Requirements? 

An individual who wants to pursue a career as a Project Manager should have an undergraduate degree in management. As a matter of fact, this degree offers a background in critical areas to the individuals like human resources skills and overall management that has a direct relation with the job. In addition, the courses taken by an individual in this degree even strengthen interaction as well as communication skills as both are vital to being successful as a Project Manager.

When it comes to the requirements for the position of Project Manager, they differ and rely on the industry in which the company operates and the company the individual applies to. However, certain organizations ask a person to have a master’s degree in Project Management to get selected for this position. Getting higher education that specializes in this specific field adds value and knowledge to any individual who applies for a post as a Project Manager. In fact, most companies are interested to see the huge potential of a candidate applying for the position. A higher degree in Project Management would make you get a higher salary package in this industry.

Why Should You Choose a Project Management Career Path?

As per the report from the Project Management Institute, the demand for Project Managers is enhancing faster over the next 10 years than the demand for workers in other occupations. Similarly, the report even claims that where the demand for roles of Project Management is increasing, the number of Project Management professionals is reducing. Hence, the lack of qualified ones and the need for Project Managers make the Project Manager career ladder attractive for various reasons which are as follows:

 

  • There is plenty of opportunity for advancement as well as growth
  • Higher demand leads to a higher salary
  • A lot of industries can benefit from Project Managers therefore you can work in an industry that meets your skills and interests

 
Top Industries Project Managers Work In

It is very important to consider what kind of industry you would like to work in as you start to build up a career in the Project Management profession. It would help you to become a specialist in your stream and can even help you to get more senior positions.

Information Technology

When it comes to the IT Project Manager career path, many professionals are looking to shape their careers in emerging industries like the IT industry. As per the report, about 50% of projects delivered in the year 2019 were in the space of Technology and Information Systems. When you work in the IT space, you deliver projects directly for the company you work for including network upgrades and software development. It even allows you to work with a range of clients that create IT strategies and adopt new technologies to a business.  

Construction and Infrastructure

It is the construction and infrastructure industries that come to mind while considering the role of Project Manager. As per the Future of Project Management report, the number of projects delivered in the year 2019 still has a deep focus on construction and infrastructure at 53%. In the industries of construction and infrastructure, you will operate with everyone right from the subcontractors to the Engineers and Architects to bring the project across the line. If you want to work in this industry, you would require to make sure that you have a great level of risk management and planning skills and you have a detailed knowledge of building legal requirements and legislation.

Business Transformation and Improvement

If you want a career path apart from the Infrastructure, construction, and IT industries, you can prefer business improvement and transformation as it showed high levels of projects accomplished in this field at 45%. The advantage of becoming a business improvement professional is that you can transfer these skills across a wide spectrum of industries right from finance, health, to hospitality and entertainment. No matter if it is opening a restaurant or delivering a mobile app, a highly skilled Project Manager is required to handle the project to ensure that it is completed and delivered successfully.

Career Paths of Project Management

If it is to talk about the technical Project Manager career path, some of the most popular positions of Project Management comprise Program Manager, Project Manager, Portfolio Manager, and many more.

Project Manager

The role of a Project Manager is to apply the right techniques, tools, and processes to accomplish the project successfully. They are even responsible for balancing the resources available and the scope of the work, meeting the quality standards needed by key stakeholders, and maintaining time constraints and budget. In fact, this role can help the professionals to hold various job titles like senior Project Manager, Project Manager I, or II. In addition, these roles include planning as well as executing projects by handling factors such as timeline, budget, and resource allocation.

Portfolio Manager

The portfolio of a project is an accumulation of programs and projects that are handled as a team to gain strategic business objectives. The role of a portfolio manager is to manage one or more portfolios centrally to fulfill the goals of an organization. Moreover, this position has a huge amount of responsibility and thereby needs enough expertise and experience. Besides, they can get a good salary package.

Program Manager

If an individual has reached the project level for a company, they can get into the role of supervising programs. A program is nothing but a defined group of projects handled in a coordinated way that makes sure the goal is achieved. Even though the program management includes overseeing certain projects, more responsibility is involved in this position. But, a Program Manager is more tactical as compared to managing multiple projects. This position even examines the business advantages of a program, creates program-level plans, and oversees dependencies between projects to bring a successful result. Furthermore, the salary of program managers depends on the experience level and industry. 

Industry-specific Project Management Roles

As a matter of fact, the professionals of Project Management have job opportunities in every industry and they might encounter industry-specific employment titles as their career moves ahead. Some of the most promising and reliable industries for Project Managers are construction and engineering, healthcare, software and information technology, and financial services. However, Project Managers would require to develop specialized skills associated with that particular field to progress within a specific industry.

Executive and Senior Level Positions

With the experience in the field, the Project Management professionals can pursue several executives and senior-level positions like chief operating officer or Project Management office director. In addition, a Project Management office director supervises the Project Management office of an organization and carries out the leadership role in establishing and maintaining standards for projects in the company. On the other hand, a Project Manager with 10 or more years of experience can get into the role of a chief operating officer as the skills are almost the same as those developed throughout the career of Project Management.

 

Simpliaxis is one of the leading professional certification training providers in the world offering multiple courses related to Project. We offer numerous Project related courses such as  Project Management Professional (PMP)® Certification Training, Project Management Techniques Training, PRINCE2® Foundation and Practitioner Certification Training, PRINCE2® Foundation Certification Training, PRINCE2® Practitioner Certification Training, Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) Certification Training, PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation Certification Training, PRINCE2 Agile® Practitioner Certification Training, Primavera P6 v 20.12 certification training, PRINCE2 Agile Foundation and Practitioner Certification Training, Project Management Fundamental Training   and much more. Simpliaxis delivers training to both individuals and corporate groups through instructor-led classroom and online virtual sessions.

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