Project Manager Career Path & Resources
There's a huge career gap in project management. Open to professionals from all walks of life, it is an excellent opportunity to break into the tech industry.
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Why should you become a
Project Manager?
It is expected that the technology industry is going to be in need of a lot more project manager soon. In fact, the career path is set to grow by a third in the next five years alone. Professionals that hone their PM skills today will be in huge demand.
What's so great about project management? It's a career path that's open to folks from a variety of backgrounds, being fueled by certifications and a strong organization skill more than degrees. As such, it has become one of the top ways to enter the technology industry and get a sure path to a six figure salary without having to go through the same storm as product managers or engineers.
Best books to build Project Management understanding.
A well-written and thorough book can be an amazing path to build deeper understanding and also act as
a
handbook as you discover the internet's vast resources.
These are our and our experts top picks to
get
started building career-relevant skills.
Project Management for Non-Project Managers
Project Management for Non-Project Managers demystifies the jargon and processes of project management, encouraging functional managers to jump into the PM arena and arming them with step-by-step guidelines for mastering the most critical PM skills, including business analysis techniques, work breakdown structures, program sequencing techniques, and risk management methods. Great managers are experts at getting bottom-line results, but often do not understand their role in the success or failure of their organization's projects.
Strategic Project Management Made Simple
Strategic Project Management Made Simple is the first book to couple a step-by-step process with an interactive thinking tool that takes a strategic approach to designing projects and action initiatives. Strategic Project Management Made Simple builds a solid platform upon four critical questions that are vital for teams to intelligently answer in order to create their own strong, strategic foundation.
The Lazy Project Manager: How to Be Twice as Productive and Still Leave the Office Early
In The Lazy Project Manager Peter Taylor reveals how adopting a more focused approach to life, projects and work can make us twice as productive. The Lazy Project Manager has been the project management book to own in the twenty-first century and the second edition brings the art of lazy productivity bang up to date.
Project Management All-in-One For Dummies
Packed with on-point PM wisdom, these 7 mini-books—including the bestselling Project Management and Agile Project Management For Dummies—help you and your team hit maximum productivity by razor-honing your skills in sizing, organizing, and scheduling projects for ultimate effectiveness. You’ll also find everything you need to overdeliver in a good way when choosing the right tech and software, assessing risk, and dodging the pitfalls that can snarl up even the best-laid plans.
The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You
No idea what you're doing? No problem. Good managers are made, not born. Top tech executive Julie Zhuo remembers the moment when she was asked to lead a team. She felt like she’d won the golden ticket, until reality came crashing in. She was just 25 and had barely any experience being managed, let alone managing others. Her co-workers became her employees overnight, and she faced a series of anxiety-inducing firsts, including agonising over whether to hire an interviewee; seeking the respect of reports who were cleverer than her; and having to fire someone she liked. Like most first-time managers, she wasn’t given any formal training, and had no resources to turn to for help. It took her years to find her way, but now she’s offering you the short-cut to success. This is the book she wishes she had on day one.
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more resources
Courses to deepen your Project Management skills.
These days, courses are no longer a sequence of videos. They are usually accompanied by projects and
a
learning community, keeping you accountable and on the path.
Our experts recommend these courses, from
free
selections to paid programs.
Foundations of Project Management
This course is the first in a series of six to equip you with the skills you need to apply to introductory-level roles in project management. Project managers play a key role in leading, planning and implementing critical projects to help their organizations succeed. In this course, you’ll discover foundational project management terminology and gain a deeper understanding of the role and responsibilities of a project manager. We’ll also introduce you to the kinds of jobs you might pursue after completing this program. Throughout the program, you’ll learn from current Google project managers, who can provide you with a multi-dimensional educational experience that will help you build your skills for on-the-job application.
Capstone: Applying Project Management in the Real World
n this final, capstone course of the Google Project Management Certificate, you will practice applying the project management knowledge and skills you have learned so far. We encourage learners to complete Courses 1-5 before beginning the final course, as they provide the foundation necessary to complete the activities in this course. After completing this program, you should be equipped to apply for introductory-level jobs as a project manager. You will also have the opportunity to claim a certification of completion badge that will be recognizable to employers.
Google Project Management: Professional Certificate
Over 6 courses, gain in-demand skills that will prepare you for an entry-level job. Learn from Google employees whose foundations in project management served as launchpads for their own careers. At under 10 hours per week, you can complete in less than six months. Upon completion, you can directly apply for jobs with Google and over 130 U.S. employers, including Walmart, Best Buy, and Astreya. This program qualifies you for over 100 hours of project management education, which helps prepare you for Project Management Institute Certifications like the globally-recognized Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®.
The Project Management Course: Beginner to PROject Manager
Project Management is an exciting profession. Moving from one project to another, a Project manager constantly faces new businesses, new processes and systems, new people, and new situations. Such a dynamic environment helps you learn more all the time, and advances your skills much faster than traditional jobs do. Developing the ability to structure chaos into a project, along with solid project management knowledge and skills, will make your endeavors more successful than ever – whether it is the performance of a big organization, your own career progression, a new business start-up, or even your personal life projects! It’s no surprise that the demand for project managers is expected to be substantial in the years to come. Our program is carefully designed to help anyone build knowledge and skills, grow the needed confidence, and start managing projects on their own! This online course is unique, as it combines all critical lessons a PM should learn
Introduction to Project Management
Upscale your career with this Introduction to Project Management program by Simplilearn. Gain an understanding of project management fundamentals to prepare for the next big role in your professional career. Learn project management by familiarizing yourself with PMP® basics, Agile, Scrum, and Microsoft Project 2013 — to lead any project from start-to-finish.
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resources
The Project Management must-reads you shouldn't miss.
Key articles and posts of industry experts can help you get a better picture of what you are getting
into.
In our opinion, these are some must-reads you really shouldn't miss.
Your complete guide to project management in 2022
Learn how to manage your projects with this guide!
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What Does a Project Manager Do? | Roles and Responsibilities
If you’re considering a career in project management, you’re likely curious about the different roles and responsibilities you’ll have after earning your degree or certification. Here, we take a closer look at what project managers do—including key responsibilities—so you can better decide if it is the right career for you.
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How to become a project manager: the 2021 guide
The way we work is changing. No matter what role or industry you’re in, you’ve probably noticed it too. According to the consultancy firm Bain & Company, by 2027 most work will be project-based. And as a result, the Project Management Institute reports that the demand for project managers has been growing more rapidly than the demand for skilled workers in other occupations.
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Top Project Manager Qualifications and Career Path in 2022
The role of a project manager can be a very rewarding experience. They are responsible for every facet of a project, from parceling out tasks to picking materials. A project manager should be multi-talented when leading their team and have both hard and soft skills.
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20 Skills Every Project Manager Should Have
Project management skills allow you to successfully take a project from start to finish with more efficiency. Regardless of your role on the team, improving your project management skills can have a direct impact on the team's ability to complete an assignment. There are many project management skills that can improve your performance, but they take practice and development. In this article, we explore 20 skills every project manager should have.
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Project Management Isn't Just For Project Managers: 4 Skills You Need To Know
Believe it or not, over the years I’ve gotten more requests to provide Project Management training to non project managers than project managers. That may seem counter intuitive but not really. Organizations realize the benefits of those project management skills and abilities, and they need everyone to have that skill set, not just their official “project managers.” While most professionals may not carry the formal title “Project Manager,” virtually everyone manages projects from time to time. If you’ve organized a kid’s birthday party, coordinated a family reunion or planned a team retreat, you’ve managed a project!
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The Best and Worst Parts of Being a Project Manager
PMI estimates that there are 16.5 million project managers in the world. 16.5 million daredevils, because project management is not the easiest game to play in the job market. There are so many factors that can influence your work and so many hats a project manager should wear. At the same time, the reasons why you may want to enter this domain outweigh the challenges you face in the end. Being a project manager involves constant learning, interaction with all sorts of people, and increased responsibility. Many truly inspiring things. In this article, we’ll reveal why one enjoys being a project manager and open the Pandora’s box of why you might hate the project management profession.
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Is Project Management the Right Career for You?
Project management jobs are already aplenty. Do a quick search on LinkedIn and thousands of roles will pop into your feed. To the point, we did a search while writing this article and found more than half a million openings in the United States alone. These are just a few indicators that the project economy is here to stay. If you’re curious about this career, now is a great time to start learning about the field, what it takes to land a project management role, and if it is the right path for you.
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Opportunities and projects in the Project Management
space.
In the end, advancing your career is all about getting the right opportunities at the right time and
a
good portion of luck.
These are some interesting things going on in the Project Management space and you
probably don't want to miss them.
ProjectManager
ProjectManager is an award-winning software company that is transforming how businesses get work done. Our cloud-based work management products enable world-class collaboration for thousands of customers globally, with tools for project planning, workflow management, resource management and time tracking across the entire work lifecycle. ProjectManager is simple enough for anyone to use, yet powerful enough for managers and leaders to make data-driven decisions and for businesses to manage projects of all levels of complexity. Organizations such as NASA, Avis and the University of Washington rely on our software to manage their teams, their projects, and do amazing things together. ProjectManager is headquartered in Austin, with offices in Auckland, Seattle, and other great cities across the globe.
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Association for Project Management – APM
In our changing world, project professionals are at the forefront of delivering change and the environment for project delivery is becoming ever more complex. The project profession needs to be better understood, to have consistent standards and to set the highest bar. We’re a registered charity, delivering education and developing qualifications, conducting research and providing resources. We run events, share best practice and give the project management community – individuals and businesses – the opportunity to connect and debate. We know that better project delivery is about achieving your desired outcome. We believe it’s about more than process alone. When doing so will make a difference, we challenge the status quo and champion the new. So, in a complex and shifting world, we help the project profession deliver better.
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Project Management Institute (PMI)
Project Management Institute (PMI) is the leading professional association for project management, and the authority for a growing global community of millions of project professionals and individuals who use project management skills. Collectively, these professionals and “changemakers” consistently create better outcomes for businesses, community and society worldwide.
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Get inspired: 4 Great Project Management Examples
There is quite a wide range of project management tasks out there, all demanding that you complete the project on time and within budget. An example of an IT project could be creating a system to manage issues tracking, while one for operations could be creating a roster of employee dietary needs against package deliveries from start to finish. No matter how simple or complex the project, we have it on good authority—and so do groups like the Project Management Institute— that starting with a sample project methodology is a great way to start
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Investigating the Gap Between Engineering Graduates and Practicing Project Managers*
The trend of the projectification of organizations to achieve their business objectives is currently a reality. In this context, a growing number of engineers are having their working roles redefined as project workers and managers. This study examined what is the main gap existing between engineering graduates and project management profiles in terms of personal competencies needed to successfully lead projects. Through the participation of 183 individuals (88 engineering master’s students and 95 current project managers), using personal interviews and a survey, it was possible to assess eight competencies (emotional management; self-belief; commitment; communication; conflict management; resource management; team leadership, and; professionalism), and determine major differences between both groups. All personal competencies mean scores have shown to be higher for project managers than for engineering graduates. Five competencies are found to differ significantly for project managers than for engineering graduates: conflict management, team leadership, communication, emotional management, and professionalism. As a conclusion derived from this study, it is recommended to foster development of certain competencies from the early stages of engineers’ education and project managers’ careers. Special emphasis should be placed on strengthening conflict resolution, leadership and communication.
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Awesome Project Management
Awesome lists about Project Management interesting and useful topics.
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Project-Management.com
Project-Management.com is a website dedicated to providing modern tools, latest news, and best practice references for every project professional and business organization. The discipline of project management has continued to receive growing interest and attention over the past decades. Especially today, the importance and relevance of the project manager for any kind of undertaking is unquestionable. However, the challenges of modern society, business relationships and latest technology are also testing their competency and ability to deliver successful projects. Since its launch in 2001, PMcom has been featuring pertinent articles, management software and productivity tool reviews, books, interviews, training sites and other e-learning resources to help people be more productive and successful in their chosen path.
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ASQ
ASQ is committed to providing enhanced expertise, professional networks, tools, and solutions to help our members advance their products, services, and industries. We provide professional training, certifications, and knowledge to members globally. ASQ is a global organization with members in more than 130 countries. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we also operate centers in Mexico, India, and China. Our Society consists of member-led communities that help members connect with other quality professionals and practitioners, advance their knowledge and careers, and grow as thought leaders. At ASQ Headquarters, we create the tools and resources and provide the support necessary to help our member leaders continue offering these opportunities. Our magazine Quality Progress, online video series ASQTV, library of quality resources, and international conferences are all examples of the resources we provide and the chances you have to make a meaningful impact and deliver value to our members and customers.
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