Careers in project management

Are you someone who thrives under pressure when it comes to group projects? If your colleagues look to you for plans or strategies, there’s a good chance you have a natural aptitude for getting things done.

Project management could be a natural career path for individuals with strong leadership skills who love the satisfaction of a job well done. Companies in the technology, construction or engineering sectors often seek talented people for project management roles. If this sounds appealing, you might consider an educational program that specializes in project management skills.

However, there’s more than meets the eye to training for a career in project management. Here’s what you need to know.

At its core, project management is the art and practice of managing teams or specific tasks within a company. These professionals manage and motivate teams and ensure a project is seen through. For instance, a project manager (PM) might:

• Track marketing projects and measure their success
• Design costs and timelines for the launch of a new project
• Analyze the implications of change and develop solutions
• Collaborate with a variety of stakeholders to ensure that projects stay on track, within budget and aligned with specified requirements and outcomes.

There are big differences between the roles and responsibilities of a project manager and a general manager or supervisor. Namely, a general manager oversees the day-to-day operations of a department or company. By contrast, project managers dedicate their work to completing a finite task.

Project management professionals often work within breakout groups created to accomplish a specific job. Examples of one-time projects can include uses for a single grant at a nonprofit or how to put an empty building on a company property to use.

For a closer look at what a career in project management entails, University of Phoenix offers a project manager career guide. Alternately, read on to better understand how this field works.

Depending on a project’s scope, a project manager might assemble a team, create checklists for critical steps, track progress (including data, if applicable) and share updates on each milestone the team reaches. But what does that look like on a daily basis?

According to industry group Project Management Institute (PMI), project planning and project management can include the following tasks:

• Laying out the vision for the overall project, including short- and long-term goals
• Explaining why the project is important to the business and what the company expects to achieve
• Describing what the finished product or result of the project should look like, including scope and types of deliverables
• Determining resources a team will need, including laptops or devices, document access and software
• Creating a project template
• Creating memos for upper management on the project, its expected costs, the potential return on investment, etc.
• Tackling unforeseen issues, including staff turnover or transitions and partial funding loss
• Collecting receipts and invoices and tracking expenses against the overall budget to ensure the project arrives on time and within budget
• Keeping upper management abreast of developments, including setbacks and achievements, to let company leaders know if the project is on track
• Concluding the project and planning for the next steps
• Recapping the process, looking at the next steps, identifying what went right or wrong and preparing a report containing the metrics and deliverables, often for stakeholders or their manager

Project management happens across industries and sectors, but at its core, here’s what a project manager role looks like.

Project managers plan, execute and close out projects. They lead teams, set timelines and allocate resources to ensure teams achieve project goals within specific time, budget and quality constraints. Most project managers need a bachelor’s degree in business, project management or related fields. Sometimes they may also need certification from project management-focused organizations, such as PMI.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), project management specialists earned between $57,500 and $163,040, with a median wage of $98,580, as of May 2023. Between 2022 and 2032, BLS projected 6% growth in the number of open roles, or about 68,100 per year.

Working as a project manager is one thing. Using project management skills in a related role is another. The following roles, which can rely heavily on project management skills but often require a bachelor’s degree in business or a related field, exemplify this.

General and operations managers typically oversee an organization’s business operations and ensure they run smoothly and efficiently. Having strong project management skills can be helpful in general roles of management.

Typical responsibilities can include creating policies, managing daily operations and planning how best to use resources, such as employees or materials. It’s a diverse set of activities that can’t really be classified into one area of management or administration.

If that sounds a little bit like project management, you’re not wrong.

The skills needed in project management serve professionals in other professions as well. Some of the most prominent hard skills necessary for project managers and related roles include the following:

• Project planning and scheduling: In addition to understanding project management software, PMs must be able to create detailed project plans that include timelines, milestones and deliverables.
• Budget management: Project management involves ensuring projects are completed within the budget, which means PMs must be familiar with cost estimation and some financial forecasting.
• Risk management: Project managers must identify and mitigate risks, monitoring and controlling them throughout the project’s lifecycle.
• Quality management: PMs use industry-leading quality assurance (QA) practices to ensure project deliverables meet (or exceed) quality standards.
• Technical proficiency: Project management often requires industry-specific knowledge and understanding, from tools and technologies to methodologies.

Shepherding projects across the finish line requires more than technical skills. The right soft skills can often grease the wheels of a project and ensure things run smoothly. Common soft skills for project managers include:

• Leadership: PMs must be able to inspire and motivate their team members by providing clear direction and maintaining morale.
• Communication: Strong verbal and written communication allows for effective stakeholder engagement. Great PMs perform active listening and clearly convey complex details for projects.
• Problem-solving: Analytical thinking is a must for PMs, who need to creatively overcome obstacles and adapt to changes that stem from potential issues.
• Time management: PMs must balance multiple tasks and responsibilities and know which ones to prioritize and when.
• Negotiation: Even PMs need to negotiate within their organizations for resources, budgets and timelines with stakeholders. Managing interpersonal and intrapersonal conflict is important too.

Combining these hard and soft skills enables project managers to effectively lead and complete projects, meet their goals and contribute to organizational success.

While many online business degree programs can help prepare you for a project manager role, another option is to tailor your education specifically toward that goal. Degree and certificate programs that align with the PMI’s industry standards can help you learn the most up-to-date information, best practices and terminology within the industry.

University of Phoenix’s Bachelor of Science in Business with a Project Management Certificate, for example, is a four-year program that covers:

• Strategic planning
• Project scoping
• Project management tools
• Business process
• Process improvement
• Agile methodology
• Project Management Institute (PMI) methodology
• Corrective and preventative action (CAPA)

Students who complete this program emerge with a bachelor’s degree and a certificate in PM. This prepares them with skills they can apply toward project management roles.

Other options include an online Project Management Certificate. At UOPX, the program length for this option is seven months, depending on whether you pursue an undergraduate certificate or a graduate-level certificate program. Professionals with a Bachelor of Science or a bachelor’s in another field should consider the latter.

While there are outside project management certifications, UOPX does not specifically prepare for those certification exams. However, UOPX offers several business programs that teach relevant skills such as project management and other management skills that will guide individuals eager to implement management strategy and leadership.

Need help deciding which path to project management is right for you? Reach out to an enrollment representative to learn more.

Organizations and professional groups often categorize project management based on the principles of methodologies and industries. Common types of project management include the following:

• Waterfall project management
• Agile project management
• Scrum project management
• Lean project management
• Kanban project management
• PRINCE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environments)

The highest salaries for project managers often depend on industry and specialized roles.

Project managers have versatile skill sets that translate well to other careers, including operations management, product management, consulting, business analyst roles and leadership positions overseeing other project managers.