Project managers are responsible for ensuring a team completes their projects on time, within budget and to a high standard. Specifically, this could involve organizing teams, setting outcomes, tracking progress and managing resources. The role suits someone who enjoys planning, setting goals and seeing projects through to completion.

Launching a career as a project manager does not require any specific qualifications or skills, but the path you choose to take into the role could determine the industry you end up in. Project managers are typically needed in construction, engineering, finance and IT.

As so many different organizations operate on a project-to-project basis, project managers are highly sought after. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for the role will grow by 6% between 2022 and 2032 — faster than average. By 2027, employers will need nearly 88 million professionals in project management–oriented roles globally, according to a report from the Project Management Institute.

Whether you’re transitioning from a different field or embarking on a career change, this guide will give you all the information you need to set you on the path to success as a project manager.

Disclaimer: This article is sponsored by Coursera.

What does a project manager do?

A project manager is responsible for a number of tasks to ensure a project runs smoothly from its inception to the finish line, including:

• Creating and updating a project timeline.
• Selecting and training appropriate team members.
• Establishing deliverables and targets.
• Allocating and otherwise managing the budget or other resources.
• Keeping track of deadlines and performance metrics like number of errors and cost performance index.
• Communicating with team members, management and client, including updating on progress or delays.

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

What skills are required to be a project manager?

Many of the skills necessary to succeed as a project manager are nontechnical and can either be innate or gained through experience. They include:

• Leadership: Strong leadership ability enables a project manager to guide their team toward the project goals effectively.
• Time management: A good project manager efficiently allocates time to tasks, ensuring project milestones are met within deadlines.
• Knowledge of project management tools: Proficiency with Jira, Trello, Asana, Wrike and other common project management software is a huge asset.
• Communication: Strong communication skills, both oral and written, are essential for clearly conveying ideas, expectations and feedback to team members and stakeholders.
• Data analysis: Data-driven decisions are important for a project’s success, so a good project manager should be able to interpret project data with tools like Excel or PowerBI.
• Budgeting: Budgeting skills are crucial for managing project finances, ensuring resources are used effectively and costs are controlled.

Be sure to highlight these skills or experiences on your resume or CV, demonstrating them when applying for your first project manager role.

SEE: Project Management Reviews & Tutorials on TechRepublic

How do you launch a career as a project manager?

While many professional careers nowadays do require an undergraduate degree, a project manager is not necessarily one of them. What is most important is gaining experience managing projects, which can be obtained at university or in the workplace.

Manage projects in your existing role

Gaining project management experience can be achieved by volunteering to lead small projects or initiatives in your current job, which helps develop the essential skills highlighted in the last section. You may organize and lead team meetings, company events, training sessions or the implementation of new software. If you’re studying for a degree, participating in group projects can provide practical project management experience.

These scenarios can enable an aspiring project manager to exercise a number of transferable skills, including managing schedules, creating Gantt charts and developing risk mitigation strategies.

The industry in which you acquire a project manager role will likely be determined by where your experience lies. For example, if you are an engineering student and lead a group project as part of your studies, you will find it most easy to land your first job at an engineering firm.

Learn new technical skills

Certain technical skills are useful to project managers, but these can be difficult to obtain if you’re working in an unrelated field. Exploring self-study options outside of working hours, like books, video tutorials or short courses, could help lead to the first project manager job.

The following methodologies are the most widely used across industries, so mastering them could prove helpful:

• Agile: Agile project management focuses on iterative development and collaboration, allowing teams to react quickly to changes. It is a broad philosophy that guides how projects are managed and delivered.
• Scrum: Scrum is a defined framework within Agile for managing complex projects. It is characterized by its set of roles such as Scrum Master, ceremonies like spring planning and artifacts like product backlog.
• PRINCE2: Projects In Controlled Environments, or PRINCE2, is another structured project management methodology used widely in the U.K. It divides projects into stages and measures progress against six defined performance targets or ‘tolerances’.

SEE: 6 Best Agile Certifications for Project Managers in 2024

Take part in a project management course

There are a number of project management degrees and master’s degrees offered by universities that help students transition into a project manager role after graduation. However, the time and financial commitments that full-time courses of study require could be a luxury not all aspirants can afford.

Shorter and more flexible courses are available to professionals aiming to enhance their project management capabilities while retaining their existing job or other responsibilities. Industry-recognised certifications are delivered by the Project Management Institute, but many other relevant courses are offered by Coursera.

SEE: 5 Best Project Management Certifications for 2024

How long does it take to become a project manager?

Becoming a project manager can take different amounts of time depending on one’s career path. For university graduates, it typically requires about three years of gaining relevant experience, often starting in entry-level positions and progressively taking on more responsibilities.

If already employed at a company that hires project managers, the timeline can be shorter. It may take one or two years of gradually taking on more project management duties, supplemented by targeted training and certification. For those making a complete career change, the transition might take longer, as they need to acquire not only project management skills but also industry knowledge before they can land their first full-time role.

What are the best courses for aspiring project managers?

Microsoft Project Management Professional Certificate—Coursera

The Microsoft Project Management Professional Certificate program is designed to provide learners with the fundamental skills and knowledge needed for a project manager role. It requires no prerequisites, starting with defining commonly used terminology before moving into key areas like team development PMP formulas and Agile approaches. The course also teaches the basics of how to use Microsoft Excel for data preparation, analysis and visualization in the context of project scheduling. Content is delivered through a mix of videos, assessments and hands-on activities, which are regularly updated. The course is also designed to prepare learners to take the industry-recognized PMI Authorized PMP Exam, a global standard in project management certification.

Price

$49/£39 a month after a 7-day free trial.

Duration

Four months at ten hours a week.

Google Project Management: Professional Certificate—Coursera

The Google Project Management certificate is slightly more in depth than the Microsoft version. On top of the fundamentals of project management and Agile methodologies, it has a particular emphasis on Scrum. The course covers implementing Scrum events, building Scrum artifacts and understanding Scrum roles. Upon finishing the course, learners will have completed over 100 hours of project management education so they qualify for the PMI Certified Associate in Project Management exam.

Price

$49/£39 a month after a 7-day free trial.

Duration

Six months at ten hours a week.

PRINCE2 7 Foundation—PRINCE2

The PRINCE2 project management courses were pioneered by the U.K. government in 1989 and quickly became popular worldwide. The PRINCE2 methodology involves dividing a project into smaller stages, defining team members’ roles and responsibilities and using seven processes to manage the project life cycle. There are also seven key principles that team members should adhere to continually and seven themes that provide guidance on how to apply the principles. The Foundation course is specifically designed for entry-level project managers with no experience with the PRINCE2 method.

Price

Starting at $1,186/£1,725.

Duration

Three days.

Project Management Basics—PMI

The PMI is the most well-regarded project management body in the U.S. and offers a number of courses for project managers at different career stages. The Project Management Basics course covers fundamental concepts such as the language of projects and PMI standards and is perfect for those who want to see if a career in project management is for them. It also offers a solid starting point for those aiming to pursue PMI certifications like the Project Management Professional, but it is not an official exam prep course. The course, online and self-paced, teaches the very basics of project management as outlined in the PMBOK guide.

Price

$400/£317.

Duration

23 hours, divided into 20 minute modules.

PMP® Certification Training—Master of Project Academy

The PMP certification is globally recognised as a mark of excellence in project management, and this crash course from the Master of Project Academy is specifically designed to prepare candidates for the PMP exam. It offers over 300 video lectures, 740 practice exam questions, a sample exam and 20 real-world situational project cases—all of which can be completed at the learner’s own pace. The course also boasts a 99.6% first-time pass rate and has a 30-day money-back guarantee. As candidates looking to take the PMP exam must have at least three years of project experience, this course is most suitable for professionals with existing leadership experience.

Price

$99/£78 per month.

Duration

35 hours.