The Different Paths to a Career in Project Management

What is a project manager?

A project manager is a skilled professional who plans, coordinates and oversees projects across industries as diverse as IT, finance, construction, healthcare and more. Projects can range from launching marketing campaigns and developing products to organizing large-scale events and implementing CRM platforms.

As project managers gain experience, they take on larger or more complex projects and may eventually oversee entire portfolios.

While projects and industries vary, all project managers:

• Identify the tasks needed to meet a project brief.
• Determine the people and resources required, including software.
• Set and monitor project budgets.
• Guide their team through each project stage.
• Ensure projects are completed on time and within budget.

Hayley Mountstevens, PR and communications officer at the Association for Project Management, highlighted the strong career prospects for project managers. “Choosing project management as your first or next career is the first step to a fulfilling professional future,” Mountstevens noted. “For many reasons, there’s a continually growing market and demand for project management skills.”

How to become a project manager

Several paths can lead to a project management career, including the following: 

• Getting a project management degree
• Landing a PM role through work experience
• Earning a project management certification

Getting a degree in project management

With the growing demand for project managers, many universities now offer project management degrees and courses, including bachelor’s and master’s programs. You can even specialize in specific industries, such as healthcare or event management.

• Bachelor’s degrees: A bachelor’s degree in project management provides a broad foundation, covering topics like project planning, risk management and stakeholder involvement. 
• Master’s degrees: Master’s programs teach advanced subjects, such as organizational behavior, business data analytics, and cost management and budgeting.

Both degree types blend on-the-job training with classroom learning. Students gain real-world experience through internships or volunteer work — which is valuable resume material for showcasing completed projects and delivered results.

If you pursue this path, experts recommend prioritizing the following in your coursework:

Communication skills

Karla Eidem, regional managing director for the Project Management Institute in North America, noted communication is a critical component of project management education. “Communication is a key skill for project success, yet it’s often overlooked or assumed,” Eidem noted. “A project manager’s ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders is critical and should be explicitly covered as part of a project management degree.”

Well-rounded subject matter

London Monty, VP and senior director of innovation consultancy Modern Giant and an adjunct professor at FIDM (Arizona State University), emphasized the importance of a well-rounded curriculum. “A strong project management degree should cover PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) essentials [while also] focusing on common pitfalls,” Monty advised. 

Monty recommended the following key courses:

• Scope and contract management to prevent derailment.
• Leadership and stakeholder management for team alignment.
• Cost and budgeting to control timelines and scope.
• Quality control so deliverables meet standards.
• Agile methodologies, especially in tech.
• Industry-specific courses, such as construction or enterprise resource planning.
• Portfolio management for career advancement.

Landing a PM role through work experience

Real-world work experience may lead you toward a PM career. Many executives and team leaders become project managers almost by accident. They’re assigned a project, forcing them to improvise early on. Over time, they refine their skills and knowledge to successfully complete the project and may enjoy it enough to pursue project management as a career.

To land a PM role through work experience, you’ll likely need the following: 

• Appropriate educational background: In the absence of a dedicated project manager, companies often assign projects to employees with backgrounds in business administration, finance, engineering or IT— fields typically including project management coursework.
• Demonstrated competency: To be tapped for a PM role, you’ll likely need to demonstrate competency, leadership ability and critical thinking skills in your current position. An exceptional work history shows you’re stable, professional and competent.

You may be assigned a project to manage, or you may proactively seek one out. In either case, emphasize the following: 

• Prior applicable experience: Perhaps you managed projects for previous employers, nonprofits or local businesses. Share your experiences, including successes and challenges. Additionally, showcase any prior general management experience.  
• Leadership qualities: Note instances where your leadership abilities helped propel an initiative forward or improved an outcome. 
• Improvement ideas: Identify areas where current operations can improve and share your ideas for solving these problems. Outlining a plan to boost revenue and efficiency or gain a competitive advantage can impress management. Consider compiling a report on an area where improved outcomes could give your employer a competitive advantage and presenting a project management plan to the leadership team.

Earning a project management certification

Earning a project management certification demonstrates your expertise and commitment to the field. There are two primary business certifications in project management, both administered by PMI, which also provides exam content outlines to help you prepare. Both certifications require a commitment to ongoing learning and recertification to retain your credentials. 

• Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM): You can take the CAPM exam if you have a high school diploma and 23 hours of project management education from a PMI Authorized Training Provider. CAPM is ideal for entry-level professionals looking to break into project management.
• Project Management Professional (PMP): With a four-year or associate degree, you need three years of project management experience plus 35 hours of training or CAPM certification to qualify for the PMP. Without a four-year or associate degree, you need five years of project management experience along with the same education requirement.

PMI provides training through U.S. partners. Both certifications require studying the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide, and PMI publishes exam content outlines to aid preparation.

In addition to having better chances of getting a good PM job, those with PMP certification report earning median salaries 33 percent higher than those without PMP certification, according to PMI’s project management salary survey. 

Do employers help with the costs of PM certification?

Many businesses invest in employee training and may be open to covering PM certification costs. However, policies vary, and there are no guarantees. 

If you ask your employer for PM certification sponsorship, emphasize your deep understanding of the organization and its company culture and explain how honing your expertise will positively impact the business.

Eidem advocates for employer-sponsored PM certification, viewing it as a high-return investment. “A gold-standard certification like the PMP boosts a project manager’s confidence, competence and credibility, increasing their chance of leading successful projects that can result in additional revenue, cost savings or enhanced customer satisfaction,” Eidem explained. “In addition, PMI research shows that organizations that invest in their project managers’ development experience higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates.”

Monty emphasized that investing in staff training is more cost effective than hiring externally, which demands significant time and resources. “A new project manager might eventually pick up the skills through years of trial and error, but by then, the company has likely dealt with its share of cost overruns, resource bottlenecks, and communication breakdowns,” Monty said. “Investing in professional development upfront eliminates much of that heartache and serves as a force multiplier, equipping your team with true leaders who are ready to make an impact from day one.”

Expert advice for new project managers

Consider the following tips and advice for new or prospective PMs: 

Be prepared to improvise.

Jason Yim, founder and CEO of extended reality agency Trigger XR, started his business with other graphic designers after graduating from UCLA. They quickly landed high-profile clients like 20th Century Fox.

Extended reality projects are complex, multistep and prone to frequent revisions. While they successfully pitched big ideas to prestigious clients, they often lacked a concrete execution plan — let alone the project management skills to oversee them.

“Looking back, our lack of a formal project management structure/skills/understanding was shocking,” Yim recalled. “We built with very little milestones or formal review (and more importantly, without formal QA steps). While we now lay out a path for a project before getting started on it, those early years taught me one thing. If you come to a roadblock … make your own path.”

This “make your own path” mindset can guide accidental first-time project managers and inspire creativity. People in this position rarely have a perfect plan in place, but by staying flexible and learning on the fly, they’ll build a solid foundation for a successful career in project management.

Lean on those around you.

Eidem emphasized that first-time project managers won’t be experts right away, making strong workplace relationships essential. “When I started managing projects for a global bank, I didn’t have all the necessary background and context, so leaning on my teammates, boss and community helped me overcome those challenges,” Eidem explained. 

Eidem encourages new project managers to stay curious, ask questions and build strong relationships — key steps for setting up a project for success.

Learn to manage scope and team dynamics.

Your first projects will be challenging, and managing scope is often the biggest headache.

“Imagine something as simple as making a chocolate cake — are we talking one layer or three, icing or elaborate designs, special flavors, and what about nut allergies?” Monty said. “Every addition introduces new risks, costs and work, and managing these without being labeled the ‘killjoy’ is no small feat.”

Determining team roles is equally tricky. “Resource conflicts, miscommunication and team dynamics can quickly derail things, so strong leadership and clear communication are your lifelines,” Monty advised. “Also, don’t underestimate the challenge of balancing all this while keeping stakeholders happy and the project on track.”

Your early projects may be tough, but they’re also your best learning opportunities. You’ll adapt, collaborate and build the skills that set you up for long-term success as a project manager.

Keep learning and stay adaptable. 

Mountstevens emphasized that project management challenges don’t disappear after your first few projects. Scope creep, poor communication and resource allocation remain persistent hurdles.

“Your first project will teach you a lot, but the challenges don’t stop there,” Mountstevens warned. “Managing conflicts, understanding your organization’s way of working, and dealing with unexpected situations all come with the territory. The key is to keep learning, stay adaptable and build strong relationships — because no project manager has all the answers from day one.”

Project management trends and emerging tools

As technology evolves and new trends emerge, the role of project managers will change. Here are six emerging areas that will shape the future of project management.

Generative AI integration

Like many roles in corporate life, project management is being transformed by the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and workflow automation. These technologies increase accuracy, efficiency and speed by streamlining tasks like scheduling, reporting and risk analysis. As a result, PMs and their teams can focus more on strategy, innovation and leadership rather than administrative work.

Project management apps

Technology is enhancing communication and collaboration for project managers. In addition to video conferencing tools like Zoom and Skype, goal-setting and tracking tools — such as ProofHub, monday.com, Teamwork.com and TaskOPad — are growing in popularity.

PMs use these tools to streamline task allocation, facilitate file sharing and monitor project scope, budgets and stakeholder satisfaction. [Read related article: monday CRM review]

Data-driven decision-making in PM

Although data has always informed project management, AI-driven big data analysis and advanced software tools are making projects more efficient and accelerating completion times.

PMs can now generate reports and create custom dashboards to track project progress at both macro and micro levels. Real-time analytics and predictive algorithms can quickly detect deviations — however small — from the original project plan, helping managers make proactive adjustments.

Using hybrid project management models

In recent years, project management methodologies have become more fluid, with PMs increasingly blending different approaches based on project needs — a trend that is expected to continue. 

Previously, project managers tended to specialize in a single methodology, but today, they often combine multiple frameworks to align with different project phases. 

For example, a project may use the Waterfall methodology during the planning and design stages, Agile during testing and development, and DevOps for deployment and postlaunch maintenance. Going forward, PMs should become more acquainted with different methodologies to optimize project outcomes.

Sustainability and social responsibility

Sustainability and social responsibility are gaining importance in project management, mirroring increased environmental, social and governance awareness and stakeholder expectations. Today, project managers are often expected to integrate social and economic considerations into every project stage.

These efforts may include minimizing environmental impact and enhancing social benefits through initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). [Read related article: Can You Make a Profit and Be Socially Responsible?]

Ryan Ayers contributed to this article.