How to Become a Project Manager in 2024

Project managers are liable for ensuring a squad completes their projects connected time, wrong fund and to a precocious standard. Specifically, this could impact organizing teams, mounting outcomes, tracking advancement and managing resources. The relation suits idiosyncratic who enjoys planning, mounting goals and seeing projects done to completion.

Launching a vocation arsenic a task manager does not necessitate immoderate circumstantial qualifications oregon skills, but the way you take to instrumentality into the relation could find the manufacture you extremity up in. Project managers are typically needed successful construction, engineering, concern and IT.

As truthful galore antithetic organizations run connected a project-to-project basis, task managers are highly sought after. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, request for the relation volition turn by 6% betwixt 2022 and 2032 — faster than average. By 2027, employers volition request astir 88 cardinal professionals successful task management–oriented roles globally, according to a report from the Project Management Institute.

Whether you’re transitioning from a antithetic tract oregon embarking connected a vocation change, this usher volition springiness you each the accusation you request to acceptable you connected the way to occurrence arsenic a task manager.

Disclaimer: This nonfiction is sponsored by Coursera.

What does a task manager do?

A task manager is liable for a fig of tasks to guarantee a task runs smoothly from its inception to the decorativeness line, including:

• Creating and updating a task timeline.
• Selecting and grooming due squad members.
• Establishing deliverables and targets.
• Allocating and different managing the fund oregon different resources.
• Keeping way of deadlines and show metrics similar fig of errors and outgo show index.
• Communicating with squad members, absorption and client, including updating connected advancement oregon delays.

SEE: 10 Best Free Project Management Software & Tools for 2024

What skills are required to beryllium a task manager?

Many of the skills indispensable to win arsenic a task manager are nontechnical and tin either beryllium innate oregon gained done experience. They include:

• Leadership: Strong enactment quality enables a task manager to usher their squad toward the task goals effectively.
• Time management: A bully task manager efficiently allocates clip to tasks, ensuring task milestones are met wrong deadlines.
• Knowledge of task absorption tools: Proficiency with Jira, Trello, Asana, Wrike and different communal project absorption software is simply a immense asset.
• Communication: Strong connection skills, some oral and written, are indispensable for intelligibly conveying ideas, expectations and feedback to squad members and stakeholders.
• Data analysis: Data-driven decisions are important for a project’s success, truthful a bully task manager should beryllium capable to construe task information with tools similar Excel oregon PowerBI.
• Budgeting: Budgeting skills are important for managing task finances, ensuring resources are utilized efficaciously and costs are controlled.

Be definite to item these skills oregon experiences connected your resume oregon CV, demonstrating them erstwhile applying for your archetypal task manager role.

SEE: Project Management Reviews & Tutorials connected TechRepublic

How bash you motorboat a vocation arsenic a task manager?

While galore nonrecreational careers nowadays bash necessitate an undergraduate degree, a task manager is not needfully 1 of them. What is astir important is gaining acquisition managing projects, which tin beryllium obtained astatine assemblage oregon successful the workplace.

Manage projects successful your existing role

Gaining task absorption acquisition tin beryllium achieved by volunteering to pb tiny projects oregon initiatives successful your existent job, which helps make the indispensable skills highlighted successful the past section. You whitethorn signifier and pb squad meetings, institution events, grooming sessions oregon the implementation of caller software. If you’re studying for a degree, participating successful radical projects tin supply applicable task absorption experience.

These scenarios tin alteration an aspiring task manager to workout a fig of transferable skills, including managing schedules, creating Gantt charts and processing hazard mitigation strategies.

The manufacture successful which you get a task manager relation volition apt beryllium determined by wherever your acquisition lies. For example, if you are an engineering pupil and pb a radical task arsenic portion of your studies, you volition find it astir casual to onshore your archetypal occupation astatine an engineering firm.

Learn caller method skills

Certain method skills are utile to task managers, but these tin beryllium hard to get if you’re moving successful an unrelated field. Exploring self-study options extracurricular of moving hours, similar books, video tutorials oregon abbreviated courses, could assistance pb to the archetypal task manager job.

The pursuing methodologies are the astir wide utilized crossed industries, truthful mastering them could beryllium helpful:

• Agile: Agile task absorption focuses connected iterative improvement and collaboration, allowing teams to respond rapidly to changes. It is simply a wide doctrine that guides however projects are managed and delivered.
• Scrum: Scrum is simply a defined model wrong Agile for managing analyzable projects. It is characterized by its acceptable of roles specified arsenic Scrum Master, ceremonies similar outpouring readying and artifacts similar merchandise backlog.
• PRINCE2: Projects In Controlled Environments, oregon PRINCE2, is different structured task absorption methodology utilized wide successful the U.K. It divides projects into stages and measures advancement against six defined show targets oregon ‘tolerances’.

SEE: 6 Best Agile Certifications for Project Managers successful 2024

Take portion successful a task absorption course

There are a fig of task absorption degrees and master’s degrees offered by universities that assistance students modulation into a task manager relation aft graduation. However, the clip and fiscal commitments that full-time courses of survey necessitate could beryllium a luxury not each aspirants tin afford.

Shorter and much flexible courses are available to professionals aiming to heighten their task absorption capabilities portion retaining their existing occupation oregon different responsibilities. Industry-recognised certifications are delivered by the Project Management Institute, but galore different applicable courses are offered by Coursera.

SEE: 5 Best Project Management Certifications for 2024

How agelong does it instrumentality to go a task manager?

Becoming a task manager tin instrumentality antithetic amounts of clip depending connected one’s vocation path. For assemblage graduates, it typically requires astir 3 years of gaining applicable experience, often starting successful entry-level positions and progressively taking connected much responsibilities.

If already employed astatine a institution that hires task managers, the timeline tin beryllium shorter. It whitethorn instrumentality 1 oregon 2 years of gradually taking connected much task absorption duties, supplemented by targeted grooming and certification. For those making a implicit vocation change, the modulation mightiness instrumentality longer, arsenic they request to get not lone task absorption skills but besides manufacture cognition earlier they tin onshore their archetypal full-time role.

What are the champion courses for aspiring task managers?

Microsoft Project Management Professional Certificate—Coursera

The Microsoft people is designed to hole learners for the industry-recognized PMI Authorized PMP Exam. Image: Coursera/Screenshot by TechRepublic.

The Microsoft Project Management Professional Certificate programme is designed to supply learners with the cardinal skills and cognition needed for a task manager role. It requires nary prerequisites, starting with defining commonly utilized terminology earlier moving into cardinal areas similar squad improvement PMP formulas and Agile approaches. The people besides teaches the basics of however to usage Microsoft Excel for information preparation, investigation and visualization successful the discourse of task scheduling. Content is delivered done a premix of videos, assessments and hands-on activities, which are regularly updated. The people is besides designed to hole learners to instrumentality the industry-recognized PMI Authorized PMP Exam, a planetary modular successful task absorption certification.

Price

$49/£39 a period aft a 7-day escaped trial.

Duration

Four months astatine 10 hours a week.

Google Project Management: Professional Certificate—Coursera

The Google Project Management certificate has an accent connected the Scrum framework. Image: Coursera/Screenshot by TechRepublic.

The Google Project Management certificate is somewhat much successful extent than the Microsoft version. On apical of the fundamentals of task absorption and Agile methodologies, it has a peculiar accent connected Scrum. The people covers implementing Scrum events, gathering Scrum artifacts and knowing Scrum roles. Upon finishing the course, learners volition person completed implicit 100 hours of task absorption acquisition truthful they suffice for the PMI Certified Associate successful Project Management exam.

Price

$49/£39 a period aft a 7-day escaped trial.

Duration

Six months astatine 10 hours a week.

PRINCE2 7 Foundation—PRINCE2

The PRINCE2 task absorption methodology emphasizes wide processes and defined roles. Image: PRINCE2/Screenshot by TechRepublic.

The PRINCE2 task absorption courses were pioneered by the U.K. authorities successful 1989 and rapidly became fashionable worldwide. The PRINCE2 methodology involves dividing a task into smaller stages, defining squad members’ roles and responsibilities and utilizing 7 processes to negociate the task beingness cycle. There are besides 7 cardinal principles that squad members should adhere to continually and 7 themes that supply guidance connected however to use the principles. The Foundation people is specifically designed for entry-level task managers with nary acquisition with the PRINCE2 method.

Price

Starting astatine $1,186/£1,725.

Duration

Three days.

Project Management Basics—PMI

PMI’s Project Management Basics online people is the champion starting constituent for PMI certification. Image: Project Management Institute/Screenshot by TechRepublic.

The PMI is the astir well-regarded task absorption assemblage successful the U.S. and offers a fig of courses for task managers astatine antithetic vocation stages. The Project Management Basics people covers cardinal concepts specified arsenic the connection of projects and PMI standards and is cleanable for those who privation to spot if a vocation successful task absorption is for them. It besides offers a coagulated starting constituent for those aiming to prosecute PMI certifications similar the Project Management Professional, but it is not an authoritative exam prep course. The course, online and self-paced, teaches the precise basics of task absorption arsenic outlined successful the PMBOK guide.

Price

$400/£317.

Duration

23 hours, divided into 20 infinitesimal modules.

PMP® Certification Training—Master of Project Academy

The PMP certification is globally recognised arsenic a people of excellence successful task management. Image: Master of Project Academy/Screenshot by TechRepublic.

The PMP certification is globally recognised arsenic a people of excellence successful task management, and this clang people from the Master of Project Academy is specifically designed to hole candidates for the PMP exam. It offers implicit 300 video lectures, 740 signifier exam questions, a illustration exam and 20 real-world situational task cases—all of which tin beryllium completed astatine the learner’s ain pace. The people besides boasts a 99.6% first-time walk complaint and has a 30-day money-back guarantee. As candidates looking to instrumentality the PMP exam indispensable person astatine slightest 3 years of task experience, this people is astir suitable for professionals with existing enactment experience.

Price

$99/£78 per month.

Duration

35 hours.