What is project management?

Working as a project manager involves taking responsibility of a project and leading the project’s team to achieve a successful outcome.

There are six elements of a project that managers must handle. These are: schedule, scope, finance, quality, risk and resources. As a project manager, you would plan and assign tasks, ensure high standards are met, motivate your team, ensure the project meets the budget and deadline and perform many other duties.

Project management is needed in a wide variety of industries, so you could choose to work in a sector that you’re passionate about. Not everyone is suited to the job of project manager, but there are other roles available within project management.

Areas in Project Management

Other areas of project management include job positions such as the following:

• Project Administrator: This role involves providing support within a project environment. You will need to have some basic awareness about the project, such as its risks and budget.
• Project Coordinator: Working in a project management office, you would use basic project management skills to perform tasks like cost tracking, project scheduling and projecting risks.
• Project Planner: This is a specialist role used in complex projects such as capital investment projects. You’ll need to understand concepts like earned value management and critical path analysis if you want to become a project planner.

Why study a project management course?

If you want to work in project management, there are various entry routes to choose from.

Firstly, you could successfully complete an industry-recognised course at university. Available courses include MSc Project Management, BSc (Honours) Project Management and MSc International Project Management. With a university qualification under your belt, you’ll be eligible for graduate jobs in project management.

Secondly, you could enrol with an industry course through professional bodies like the Association for Project Management to earn a professional qualification. Available qualifications include the APM Project Fundamentals Qualification, the APM Project Management Qualification and the APM Project Professional Qualification.

Additional you could study a range of online cpd based project management courses.

Lastly, there are some apprenticeships available. This allows you to gain on-the-job training while you work for an industry-approved qualification.

Furthermore, an apprenticeship allows you to earn a basic wage. In England, you could do the level four Associate Project Manager, Trailblazer Apprenticeship. In Scotland and Wales, you could enrol with the level four Higher Apprenticeship Framework.

Career Outcomes from a Project Management Course

In addition to the career positions mentioned above, there are other roles in project management available.

For example, once you have successfully completed a project management course and you have some experience in project management, you could become a programme manager. This is a senior role. You would achieve strategic benefits by undertaking a number of related projects and by leading a team of managers.

Another option is to become a project management office manager. This involves managing a department and maintaining its project management standards.

You would not actually run projects yourself. Instead, you would perform tasks like performance analysis and project status reporting.

Get started with project management and enrol on an online project management course.