Do you always find yourself leading your colleagues towards a professional goal? If your answer is yes, you could easily find a career in project management!
Project managers can easily find jobs in many different industries; however, you’ll often find them in the finance, insurance, manufacturing, construction and IT fields as well as any other field that has project-oriented work.
The good news is that you’ll find plenty of opportunities for advancement – experienced and specialized project managers are always in high demand. That’s because project managers can make a real difference to the bottom line of a business.
In fact, some people believe that project managers are CEOs in training. That makes sense because they have similar challenges and their roles require comparable skills and talents. You’ll be working with investors, exploring projects and serving clients – while also dealing with budgetary constraints and other challenges.
But to become a project manager, you should enjoy learning and refreshing your knowledge regularly because you’ll have to be an expert at processes, structures, technology, emerging markets and a lot more!
Are you ready for a complex and rewarding career as a project manager? Let’s find out what it entails and how to ensure that it’s the right career move for you.
What Do Project Managers Do?
They make sure that team members cooperate with each other while performing tasks appropriately and in the required order.
Project management is no longer only limited to large enterprises, but even the smaller businesses need a person who will be responsible for efficient workflow and who directs the business processes to achieve the best results.
As a project manager, you will be exposed to challenging positions and roles that pay well. But to pursue a career in project management, you will need to earn the right certification. There are many project management online courses that can help you learn about the fundamentals and software tools at your own pace.
Some of the essential skills required for project management include communication, leadership, risk management, time management, analytics and more.
By the time you are done with these courses, you’ll ace planning, organizing, controlling, leading and managing people and resources, while also successfully achieving business goals.
Is Project Management a Good Career Choice?
If you haven’t already figured it out yet, the answer is a resounding YES!
You see, companies initiate projects to increase their profitability, and they need someone to make timely decisions, keep stakeholders happy and achieve the goals of every project.
That makes project managers indispensable – and that’s why it’s possible to make a lot of money in this career.
As long as you have the aptitude to understand project requirements, come up with strategies, hire the right people and keep an eye on their progress, you can be good at managing projects.
5 Ways To Advance Your Career In Project Management
Now that we know why PM makes for a great career choice, let’s figure out how you can excel at it.
Gain The Right Experience
Hands-on experience in project management is vital because it gives you demonstrable expertise that comes in handy across your career.
Now you might be wondering how you can build a project management experience if you are not a project manager yet. The answer to this is you can look for opportunities at your current organization.
There are two ways to accomplish this: either by asking your manager to allow you to lead a small project in your department or at least support an ongoing project as a deputy project manager. For this, you need your manager to be entirely on-board with your aspirations.
But if you have already been in leading positions, you need to take stock of your experience in areas such as quality management, cost management, risk management and much more. You can compare your experience with these knowledge areas to assess your skills and if they perfectly align with the job duties of a project manager.
You might discover that you have some fantastic project management skills, and are better at it than you give yourself credit for.
Determine Your Learning Needs
If you want to start a career in project management, start with focused, intentional learning. But before you opt for training or an online certification course, you need to determine the knowledge gaps that need to be filled.
First, prioritize learning skills that you lack, these areas of PM can make or break your success.
Ask yourself if your current role can help you acquire the necessary skills? Can you take on new tasks where you are now? Can you find a mentor in project management within your organization?
As soon as you have the answers to these questions, you can make a plan and take advantage of the learning opportunities available. It does not necessarily mean that you will have to read lots of books and visit seminars, but if you want to become a professional, many diploma courses of project management in Australia are available for you to explore.
Boost Your Soft Skills
As a project manager, it is imperative to develop soft skills.
After all, project leaders are meant to be effective leaders who set the vision, motivate teams and satisfy stakeholders with impeccable execution. Now, the majority of these skills needed for project management are derived from leadership qualities such as communication, coaching, risk management, conflict resolution and much more.
You must be an authoritative leader while also being good at communication and interpersonal skills. Moreover, you must be keen to showcase these skills in front of employers, potential clients or stakeholders who will want to see your gusto as a project manager.
So, if you think that your soft skills need some more refinement and honing, you can improve them by attending an online course or a seminar.
Leverage Networking
Networking can be very uncomfortable, especially for introverts. But it is the perfect opportunity to meet the right people who can guide you towards a bigger, better career.
You could always go to networking events that have the sole purpose of bringing together professionals who can help each other. Look for industry experts who inspire you or people who are working at companies you would like to work for.
Moreover, these networking events will help you to develop your communications skills as you practice delivering your ideas and thoughts to people. Talking with people from diverse backgrounds and different personalities will help you prepare for a team with diverse mindsets.
Build Your Persona On Social Media
If you are a project manager with strong opinions, voice your thoughts to a greater audience. With social media, you can easily network, find opportunities and share your opinions with people who are interested in the same topics as you.
Twitter is an effective platform for voicing your opinions and sharing them with a broad audience from all over the world. Also, if you have more knowledge on a subject that cannot be handled by Twitter’s limited word count, you can start a blog. Sharing your opinions and positioning yourself as an expert in the industry will surely help you get noticed.
Additionally, leverage LinkedIn, a popular hiring platform, to set yourself up as an expert in the field and find new opportunities to explore a career in project management. You can easily display all your career achievements to potential employers and others in your industry.
It also allows you to share your knowledge with project managers from all around the world. This establishes you as a trustworthy and credible person and makes it easier to get hired.
Conclusion
The fact of the matter is that project managers with the right certifications can demand higher salaries and have better opportunities than those who are just winging it.
Once you have set your mind to building your career in project management, all you need to do is to identify your goals and develop a realistic plan to achieve them by employing the strategies as mentioned above. Your career path to becoming a project manager will solely depend on you, your skills and your circumstances.
If you are convinced that project management is the perfect career for you, start your learning journey right now. Acquire the right skills and explore several online courses available in Australia to help you out. Head over to MCI Institute to equip yourself with the knowledge needed to become an effective project manager.
Leave a Reply