A project manager is an individual responsible for managing a task for a business. While this job may sound simple in theory, it actually involves a great deal of organization, multi-tasking, and time management. Project managers must oversee an entire project from start to finish, which could involve hundreds of employees, materials, and man hours. This is not a career for a single-track mind. If you like to manager projects for businesses and organizations, this could be the career for you. The job description below should provide you with a general understanding of project management so you can determine if it is right for you.
Project Manager Job Duties
Project managers delegate an array of tasks for any given project. Some of their job duties may include: reserving venues for meetings or parties, hiring independent contractors, monitoring the budget, booking entertainment, recording guest lists, communicating between the project funder and project employees, scheduling event dates, buying materials for a project, and corresponding with other project managers. These tasks can change with each project, which is why project managers have to be great at multi-tasking and thinking on your feet. They must manage hundreds of tasks all at once, with no relief until a project is finished.
In some cases, the duties of a project manager are industry-specific. If you went to work as a project manager for a construction company, you may be in charge of delegating work for each of the contractors that help you with the construction project. You would have to manage the work of the roofers, painters, sheet rockers, floor installers, and anyone else you had working on a project. This is the case in every industry, so you may not know the details of your work until you actually get hired to work with a company. Then you will know more about the specific tasks that you are expected to delegate.
Project Manager Educational Requirements
To become a project manager, you will most likely need a bachelor’s degree in business, with an emphasis on project management. This is not always required, as there are some project managers that do not have any formal education whatsoever. Those individuals do not get jobs as easily as others do in the industry because they have to trust that their experiences will speak for themselves. If you want a guaranteed way to become a project manager, a college degree will suit you well.
You may come across a variety of courses within your project management degree program. Some of those assorted courses include: Accounting and Finance, Advanced Cost Management, Advanced Program Management, Applied Managerial Statistics, Business Systems Analysis, Change Management, Contracts and Procurement, Developing a Business Perspective, Ethics and Enterprise, Fundamentals of E-Business, Fundamentals of Management and Leadership, Fundamentals of Marketing and Sales, Human Resources and Communication in Projects, Introduction to Project Management, Leadership and Organizational Behavior, Legal and Ethical Dimensions of Business, Managing Project Risk, Managing Quality, Motivating Project Teams, Project Cost and Schedule Control, Project Management Systems, and Total Quality Management. These courses will vary from school to school based on the degrees the school has to offer.
Project Manager Salary Levels
The amount of money you earn as a project manager will depend on the clients you work with. Some common industries and salary levels for project management include Financial Services: $48,305 – $118,781; Healthcare: $48,128 – $120,253; Information Technology (IT) Services: $44,444 – $116,386; IT Consulting: $48,683 – $120,499; and Software Applications: $49,252 – $117,609. Notice that the range of money that you may earn is incredibly vast. That is because there are so many variables to keep in mind. The employer, location, and project as a whole will have a he impact on the amount of money you make in the future.
Testing the Project Management Industry
If you want to see if you would like project management as a career, you may try to manage a small project for a local organization to see how the process works. You could manage a project for a church that you attend or for a school organization you participate in. See if you can effectively delegate all of the tasks that need to be done for the project, and then see if you enjoy whatever it is that you are doing. If so, you may enjoy a career in project management in the future.
Being a project manager is not always easy, but it can be exciting and stimulating in the right settings. With a good education and a well-paying employer, you could easily enjoy making this career your own.
