Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Go into Project Management

Importance of project management

Project management is high in demand in variety of industries and so is the need of project managers. In today’s economy, irrespective of industry, project management finds its wide application. – Why? Organizations today face fierce competitions. They need to combat global challenges. And must respond to internal/external issues without undue delay. In response to these challenges, organizations need structured approach to plan, organize, control and manage their resources (& internal capabilities) to deliver timely results. And these results should be aligned to business goals and needs of today. Project managers with their sound project skills, are equipped to take these projects. Also, these projects may involve different levels and complexities. So if you are a project manger or willing to start career in a PMP profession, this article gives you a broad picture. – Why to opt Project management as a career in today’s time. What are the future prospects for your project management career path? Readers are encouraged to read this article till end to get a sky view of project management as a coveted career path to shape up your future.

Importance of project management

Project management career – Fact & Figures

project management career
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Project management has become a sought – after career path in present agile environment. As per the recent report published by PMI on PMP job growth (Project management – Job Growth and Talent gap, 2017 – 2027), 

  • A widening gap between the need of skilled PMPs & their availability across the globe. Hence, employers and organizations are looking for the skilled project management professionals. It gives you an opportunity to fit yourself in their requirements. 

  • By 2027, there'll be a need of filling breakthrough 87.7 million PMP roles – quite an exciting figure, isn’t it? Due to increased demand along with high attrition (because of many retirements), there will be huge job opportunity for a project management role in coming future in variety of sectors, including manufacturing & construction, Information services & publishing, finance & insurance, management & professional services, utilities among others.

  • As per the research conducted by Anderson Economic Group (AEG) in conjunction with PMI, there will be an increase to 8.8 million PM related jobs in year 2027 from 6.7 million jobs in year 2017 in United States. In India this figure soars from 14.7 million to 21.7 million in year 2027 over the period of 10 years. This research expects a PM related job growth of 33 percent. 

  • Apart from a lot of jobs for PM positions in future, it’s good to hear that PM jobs will also be financially rewarding. As per the study - in the United States in year 2017, Salaries of project management-oriented professionals in projectized industries were far higher on average than salaries of non-project-oriented professionals by a premium of 82 percent. 

I hope by now you understand the benefits of project manager career path as a rewarding in future than ever.

Why project management is important?

Value addition to organization on hiring a project manager:

We have seen a rapid growth and globalization in past decades. Sudden changes in technology, internal and external environmental changes, global competition, new customized requirements on products & services, new expectations of now more educated customers & users than before. - These are some of the factors that organizations come across frequently in today’s economy. If the organization doesn’t respond to these changes, it puts the self in a big potential risk. – May risk its existence in future. So, analyzing these risks & managing them well to ease necessary changes is much a need. A project manager is responsible to lead various small or large complex projects. A skilled PM professional knows – how to identify, assess and manage risks, while on a project. He is proficient at deploying the necessary changes in an integrated manner. He facilitates the necessary changes by involving necessary stakeholders. This way, project manager is an individual, who adds value to an organization. He helps organization combating upfront risks. And prepares it for sustenance by warranting the achievement of project goals. 

What does Project Manager do?

Let's go along following bullets to understand more about PM role and responsibilities:

  1. Planning & scheduling: Project managers plan and schedule before executing the project. Which sets the direction to them – how to move forward and adhere to the timelines.

  2. Managing resources: They are good at managing the project resources including people, efficiently. And bring out the project results with optimized cost factor.

  3. Boosting team morale: People management is an important aspect of a PM job. Because Project Managers deal with lot of people. They leave no opportunity to encourage and hand hold their project teams. And they ensure that their teams’ effort should not go unrewarded in the end.

  4. Controlling cost overrun: Project manager ensures to control cost overrun. They are responsible to complete the projects within project budget. In case of any deviation, they notify to relevant stakeholders well in advance. And, hence cut the chances of last moment surprises.

  5. Ensuring quality as expected: They make sure to maintain the project quality at the top. They ensure that project outcomes should meet or exceed the needs of stakeholders including end customers and users.

  6. Retain knowledge & learning: They get the opportunity to work in different challenging environments. So they carry lot of knowledge and experience with them. They learn something new with each project. And retain their knowledge & experience as organizational assets.

  7. Deploying changes: Project managers are also responsible for implementing and deploying necessary changes. Till the time changes get incorporated and standardized, project managers take the onus. Thus sometimes they are called as change agents also.

  8. Managing & ensuring integration: They ensure to manage and integrate different functions. Ensure integrating project methodology and PM knowledge areas to get desired project outcomes. 

Why become a Project Manager? 

why to become project manager?
Image Source: https://pixabay.com

  1. Demand & Future prospects: PM professionals are high in demand, as discussed earlier. Due to emerging need of PM oriented jobs, there will be bunch of requirements of these skilled PM workers. So choosing this career will bring you lot of career opportunities.

  2. Compensation: PM professionals are drawing attractive compensations. Reason being their capabilities to take challenges in complex scenarios. As per the “Project Management Salary Survey – 10th Edition” report by PMI, the annualized median salary of a PM Professional in USA is 120K US Dollar. And in India, it is between 25K & 26K US Dollar. Report also mentions the increase in median salary of PM related roles year to year.

  3. People orientation: If you like to be surrounded by people. And you are good at managing them, then this profile suits you well. PMs are good at managing stakeholders and earning their buy – in to carry out projects.

  4. Travel Globally: If you love to travel internationally. Then, PM related profiles give you such opportunity. You may travel across the globe to take lead in multiple projects.

  5. Working Flexibility: Though PMs are supposed to work extensively on a project in hand. But, they often get the flexibility in place and time to work their own way. Virtual interfaces like video conferencing provide the flexibility to join from remote places. Hence, this profile maintains good work – life balance.

  6. Varied industries and sectors: PM job is not limited to a particular industry or sector. Moreover, this role gives you privilege to work in variety of environments & industries. Except some specialized sectorial requirements for IT or construction projects, project manager can find his position in different industries. This eventually multiplies your opportunity in landing a job in industries of preference. And getting the exposure to different work scenarios.

  7. Risk Manager: PMs acts as risk manager. They help organizations to identify potential risks, while carrying out a new project. They oversee all the possibilities of risk occurrences. And plan to combat these risks well in advance using their risk management skills. This way they reduce the chances of project failures to a great extent.

  8. Get trained for CEO level: The responsibility and exposure of a project manager & a CEO are very much alike. Because they both manage people. They both are focused in financial outcomes. They both take leadership at times to achieve goals. Also they both set direction towards goals and communicate the team their expectations. Hence, we can consider that PM role is a kind of training to professional for future CEO role.

  9. Act as a change agent: Project manager acts as a change agent. He is good at deploying the necessary changes after completion of the project. A very important aspect of any project success. If you are good at managing the changes and enjoy taking new challenges, this profile is for you.

  10. Learning opportunity: PM role offers you opportunities to learn something new each day. Project managers retain their vivid set of knowledge. And exchange them to the organization & people to ascertain continuous success. They know – how to capture and manage the knowledge to drive future projects with success. That is why seasoned project manager is an asset to the organization. If you are a good learner. Willing to expose yourself to variety of learning opportunities, this profile will help you. 

Why to get certified project manager?

Most of the professionals leading to PM career path have preconceived belief. That is, "PMP certification is not important for pursuing PM career."

So let me tell you - PMP certificate is a credential for PM professional’s suite. PMP certificate ensures skills & knowledge matching to all the requirements of PM essentials. PM's capabilities as a certified PMP enable them to contribute to organization’s strategies by carrying out projects as planned, scheduled, budgeted. Well-adopted and executed project management principles lead an organization to competitive advantages. Many organizations mandate PMP certificate as important criteria for the recruitment of PMs. PMI - PMP certification is globally recognized certificate. PMI offers following PM related certificates:

So, if you aspire to be a certified project manager. And you are looking for bright opportunities in PM jobs in variety of sectors across the globe. Then, you are the one who should do PMP certification. 

To explore more about the PMP certification benefits, you can go through our article. - “Six Reasons – Why PMP certification is worth it”

Is it important to join a training program to be certified? 

A very obvious question running in minds of most of the readers, who want to be a certified project manager. PMP training programs are helpful for you to crack the PMP certification exams. GreyCampus training modules cover the complete PMBOK topics. Also, in training, you’ll study some cases with real time approaches of project management. Our training programs on PMP are very well aligned to the today’s need of PMP professionals. Experienced Project management trainers conduct them. If you aspire to be a certified PMP or want to ace the PM approaches, you can join GreyCampus PMP courses.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, project managers have a bright future and huge demand, currently as well as in times to come. If you want to earn handsome packages. Want to maintain good lifestyle. Willing to travel globally. Aspiring to take top management positions. Like to deal with new challenges and love to learn new things daily. Then, PMP roles are the best match & will provide you a rewarding career indeed.

So go ahead to shape your career. 

Join now & explore the widening opportunities in project management! 
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Ankit Rastogi
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