How popular would you be at your kid鈥檚 school career day if you were a project manager
for ? That鈥檚 a real job, posted in October. It鈥檚 also a great example to use if someone
asks, 鈥淲hat jobs can you get as a project manager?鈥�
Speaking of Jobs
Apple鈥檚 Steve Jobs often is cited as the consummate PM. A college dropout, Jobs was a technician with video game developer Atari Inc. before he gained legendary status as Apple鈥檚 co-founder. His forte wasn鈥檛 engineering or programming, it was leadership and selling a vision.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was the computer geek/wiz, which speaks to Jobs鈥� skill at delegating, which is the heart of project management. Jobs famously said, 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.鈥�
The job listings website, under the heading 鈥渉ow to write a project manager job description,鈥� sums up the PM role this way:
Project Managers are responsible for masterminding, outlining and developing projects.
They design the project goals and success markers, determine how success will be measured
and tracked. They ensure the project remains on time and on budget and help motivate
team members to hit their goals. Project Managers also act as a liaison between the
project team and upper level management. They prepare and present progress reports
and ensure the project is furthering organizational goals.
Fields of Project Manager Dreams
There are few fields or industries where PM鈥檚 don鈥檛 play a pivotal role. identifies the top five industries hiring project management professionals. They are construction, finance, information technology, energy, and health care.
So, if you can check all the boxes on the as defined by the Project Management Institute and have the and required by the employers that interest you, it鈥檚 time to begin the job hunt 鈥� and
you can look in almost any direction, from top jobs in the Tampa Bay area to plum
positions overseas.
Wanted in Most Fields: Project Managers
Job searching on LinkedIn yields a granular view of what a career in project management can look like and also shows the breadth of a job-hunting PM鈥檚 options. LinkedIn searches for construction, finance, information technology, energy, and health care project manager jobs generates thousands of hits.
The companies aren鈥檛 named here, but you can read about the types of businesses doing the hiring, the job requirements, and other pertinent information. In each category, we gleaned information from the first listing that included salary information.
Here鈥檚 what we found:
Construction Project Manager
The company describes itself as a 鈥渂outique real estate development services firm specializing in urban infill, multifamily and mixed-use projects.鈥�
Applicants Must 鈥�
鈥淧ossess outstanding communication skills and have an ability to dig into technical details (architecture & engineering plans, surveys, geotechnical reports, environmental reports, etc.) as required and make recommendations to the Managing Directors based on findings, and capable of working in a fast-paced environment with continually changing priorities.鈥�
Responsibilities
- Coordinating/managing new development projects
- Reviewing architectural plans for schematic, design and construction documents and making recommendations for cost savings and value addition
- Creating monthly construction progress and project finance reports
- Producing preliminary construction cost estimates
- Analyzing estimates, takeoffs and bids and making award decisions during the project bidding process
Minimum Requirements
- At least five years of experience in commercial construction, preferably multifamily unit construction
- A bachelor鈥檚 or master鈥檚 in construction management or equivalent combination of education and experience
- Be proficient with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and project management software
- Have strong writing and presentation skills
- Be organized and detail-oriented
- Be able 鈥渢o support multiple projects in parallel and prioritize competing demands鈥�
Salary
The base salary is advertised as $71,300, with a range of $47,000 to $108,000.
Finance Project Manager
The company describes itself as an 鈥淎merican bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts.鈥�
Applicants Must 鈥�
Be prepared to 鈥渄rive strategy and execute on high priority accounting projects for the company. You will work with smart and passionate people to deliver results that have a direct impact on the company鈥檚 bottom line.鈥�
Responsibilities
- Being the delivery lead in support of the controller鈥檚 organization, including internal initiatives
- Helping the controller鈥檚 business and technology stakeholders drive strategic initiatives and implement change
- Overseeing moderate to large accounting projects and programs
- Designing, developing, and managing accounting project plans
- Ensuring projects are properly documented to mitigate risk and facilitate timely delivery
Minimum Requirements
- 鈥淥utstanding influencing skills鈥� to effectively drive project/program efforts