Considering potential career paths – either when starting out or looking to switch lanes – can be a difficult process. There are many variables to consider, and often too many unknowns involved to ever make a perfect decision. The more information you have, the better, helping you to see how you would fit into a certain role. With that in mind, here we’ll have a look at some of the best reasons to pursue a project management career.
The necessity of project management around the world
Project management is becoming increasingly important globally and promises to be a growth position long into the future. For example, PMI estimates that there will be a total of 8.8 million pm roles in the US by 2027 and 22 million new job openings worldwide in the same timeframe, representing a growth in demand of 33%. With such popularity and importance across the globe, project management represents a safe, future-proofed career choice.
Path into other industries
The skills and characteristics of an effective project manager can easily be put to use in a wide range of fields. Considering project management roles can stretch from digital marketing to construction to the pharmaceutical industry, having such a flexible skill set means that project managers often find it easier to move into other fields compared to very industry-specific paths.
This is especially important if you are not quite sure about the sector you are going into. Being a PM means that the experience and skills gained will have a high value even if you want to go into something completely different down the road.
Great remuneration
Of course, one of the most important factors to take into consideration in any possible career choice is what the money is like. With the average salary for PMs at $89,000 and even higher in some fields, being a PM can prove very rewarding both personally and financially. While salary should never be the only thing to take into account when looking at careers, knowing that you are going to be sufficiently rewarded for your efforts is definitely a major plus.
Learning the skills to climb the ladder
It’s a little talked about fact, though a very important one for those thinking about pursuing a project management career: the characteristics of an effective project manager also dovetail nicely with the basic skill set required of CEOs.
Competencies such as strategic forward planning, personnel management, clutch decision making, effective budget oversight and the ability to keep your head under pressure are essential for making it at the highest level. Project management is therefore the perfect training ground for those who want to climb the ladder all the way to the top.
Diversifying your experiences daily
Another great advantage of project management is that it requires PMs to work outside of any one specific field and to collaborate with a wide range of skill sets. By breaking down silos between departments, project managers become the link points that hold projects together. Along with fostering skills that allow you to improve collaboration between different functions, coming into constant contact with a wide variety of skills also increases your knowledge and understanding of different roles.
Starting out in project management today has been made even easier by the great advances in project management software. With specific tools to help communication, planning and oversight, the Planview AdaptiveWork suite of project management tools has quickly become every PM’s best friend. To find out more about how Planview AdaptiveWork makes project management easier and more effective, get in touch with our team to organize a live demonstration.
