The following article discusses the career path of Project Manager. Learn about how to become one, education requirements, job duties, traits and qualities, national salary outlook as well as top national employers of Project Managers.
Job Duties
Project managers are responsible for different projects within the organization. They plan and create strategies that define the goals of the project and the time frame in which it should be completed. They also document and coordinate the project team, assigning tasks to individual members, while supporting and directing the team as a whole. Furthermore, they manage the timeline, the budget, and the available resources for the project itself.
They examine any problems they encounter and develops solutions. They implement any changes as are needed to make sure the timeline is followed and the deadline can be reached within budget. They also report on the progress of their project to stakeholders, senior project managers, and the Board of Directors.
Other job duties of a project manager are:
- To assign the different resources to the elements of the projects, monitoring the objectives
- To create plans and budgets in order to reach all relevant targets
- To ensure that any issues are resolved in order to reach the relevant goals
- To communicate with the team about changes in performance, goals, or tasks
- To take part in contract finalization and client meetings
- To develop new specifications and requirements
Where We Work
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 281,700 administrative services managers in 2016. The largest employers of these professionals were:
- Educational services; state, local, and private: 13%
- Healthcare and social assistance: 13%
- Professional, scientific, and technical services: 9%
- Finance and insurance: 8%
- Local government, excluding education and hospitals: 7%
How to Become
Project managers usually have at least a bachelor’s degree. They must be very strong communicators with excellent problem solving and organizational skills, as well as being motivational leaders. This is often more than can be gained solely from completing a bachelor’s degree, which is why project managers are usually expected to have several years of relevant professional experience as well.
Education Requirements
Typically, project managers have at least a bachelor’s degree in order to gain employment in this field. Usually, the major of the degree is in information management, facility management, engineering, business, or related field. Work experience is also very important and this must reflect their leadership and managerial experiences. Usually, they have experience in project management, business operations, buildings maintenance, and so on. They also often have some administrative experience, particularly in relation to record keeping.
Certifications and licenses are not required for project managers, but it does provide a significant advantage, particularly if they have certification in a relevant field. Some of the applicable certifications, offered by the Project Management Institute, include:
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- Program Management Professional (PgMP)
- Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)
- Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
- PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)
- PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
- PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)
- PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)
Traits & Qualities
The most effective project managers have the following traits to some degree or other:
- Strong analytical skills
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
- Detail oriented
- Strong leadership skills
Minimum Education
Bachelor’s Degree
The national average salary estimate for Project Manager was $80,833. This number is estimated from over 12,915,524 employees, users past and present job advertisements from Indeed.com. This equates to an hourly salary of $42.10 and monthly of $6,736.
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$24,000
$170,000
The following section lists Project Manager salaries in each state around the country. The figures are based on the total number of job postings through Indeed.com. For example, California had the largest quoted salary of $87,996 while Montana had the smallest quoted salary of $57,085.
According to Indeed.com, the following states had employers looking to hire a Project Manager. The quoted salary figure represents the average salary from all job postings by this employer.
| Employer Name | Location | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Guarantee Construction Group | Colorado | $200,000 |
| Burns & McDonnell | Maryland | $189,737 |
| Goldman Sachs | New Jersey | $170,229 |
| WorleyParsons | Texas | $166,968 |
| Mackenzie Stuart plc | Alaska | $158,764 |
| HCL Technologies | New Jersey | $152,636 |
| Real Estate Development And Construction Company | Missouri | $140,000 |
| ConocoPhillips | Texas | $135,214 |
| Apple | California | $135,148 |
| CyberCoders | West Virginia | $135,054 |
| KBR | Texas | $135,009 |
| Xcel Energy | Colorado | $133,493 |
| Cigna | Pennsylvania | $133,385 |
| Mason Frank | DC | $132,453 |
| Technip | Texas | $131,172 |
| Primastep LLC | DC | $130,506 |
| Mitchell/Martin Inc. | New York | $129,723 |
| Piper Companies | DC | $128,401 |
| Los Alamos National Laboratory | New Mexico | $128,013 |
| HRmango | Utah | $127,572 |
Learn More
| Career Name | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| Forensic Accountant | $82,160 |
| Accounting Manager | $81,709 |
| Procurement Manager | $81,418 |
| Healthcare Manager | $81,093 |
| Director of Communications | $81,076 |
| Program Analyst | $78,849 |
| Insurance Underwriter | $77,694 |
| Investment Consultant | $76,236 |
| Investment Analyst | $76,199 |
| Technical Analyst | $76,186 |
