If you’re like me, you might have stumbled on the job of project manager by accident upon researching the best highest paying jobs. Maybe you are wondering if this is a job you’d actually enjoy? Who doesn’t want to earn six figures, lead projects and work remotely in your pj’s?

For me, I thought it was a fake, made up job when I was hired as a project manager! 

Now I can say that after doing the job without knowing what I was signing up for, I am an expert at describing exactly what a project manager is and what they do! 

How did I get the Job? 

How did I get the job if I didn’t even know what it was? It is sort of a long story but if you read this article til’ the end, not only will you come out learning what a project manager is but also which industry I work in and why I think it is the best for project managers! 

For now, I can say that I landed in the field of project management by applying to lots of job opportunities I found on Linkedin. We will cover this in detail throughout this article but If you are interested in project management, the best place to start is the field you are familiar with. I happen to be in the healthcare field. So naturally I applied to lots of jobs within my niche without paying attention to the role. 

I had a feeling I would be rejected anyway! But I kept applying to everything I could find as I was ready to level up. And of course project manager having the word manager in it seemed like a step up. However, as someone who now has experience, I can tell you project managers are not in leadership and do not manage people but projects. 

To make a long story a bit less long, I got a call back from an HR recruiter who works for a large company. I booked my phone interview, talked about my experience and was pushed through the next phase. I was in disbelief however, I figured that’s as far as I would get. 

Later that month I finally had a date set for an interview with the senior project manager at the company! I prepped by doing some research on what that exact company would ask and as it was remote I figured I wouldn’t be as stressed if I rehearsed some of the possible questions. 

During the interview, the senior manager asked me the usual questions. What is my experience within the industry, what type of projects I have worked on in the past and what were my strengths and weaknesses. 

After a few weeks of waiting for a response and an additional week of negotiating my salary… I was now a project manager at a large company within my industry. What a dream! 

What does a project manager do? 

Now that you know how I ended up in the project manager world, I think you will agree I am the best person to talk about what a project manager is and what they do. As I started out not knowing what I was signing up for, it took me a long time to understand and work through the challenges of being green. 

Even though a project manager can work in any industry, your mission will be the same. As a project manager, your main job is to make sure that the project you are managing is completed within the defined timelines and costs. Whether you are a project manager for a construction company or for a software company. The projects will be different, but the job is very similar. 

This might seem like a simple and to the point explanation of what a project manager is but we can break it down so that you can decide if this is a career you might see yourself in. 

As a project manager you will be responsible for projects which can vary in size and you might have to manage multiple of these projects at once. There are different methodologies to managing projects however that will be an article for a different day. 

Once you have the project assigned, you will work with many different stakeholders (people who care about the project). This is one of the most important parts of project management since it is mostly a soft skill. You have to communicate with everyone involved in the project to have them agree and align with what the project is trying to accomplish (also called a deliverable project). If you are a project manager for a tech company you might be charged with managing a new app, or device. 

After you understand the ins and outs of what you are trying to accomplish with the finished project. You plan and set up goals and deadlines for different parts of the project that have to be done. Of course you won’t be doing the actual work, unless you work for a smaller company where you might be the engineer/project manager. For the most part if you are a full time project manager, you will communicate with the software engineers, the marketing team, upper management, the user experience people, the end customer, literally everyone and their moms. These are known as the stakeholders since they are all concerned with the project or product that is being developed. 

During these meetings, you will have to talk to the right teams to make sure that the deadlines are being met and that you are staying within the budgets that your company agreed to on the contract. Perhaps marketing needs to work harder to develop advertising materials, or it turns out that the packaging for the project will be more expensive than anticipated, or the new app has too many bugs and it won’t be finished in time. These are just a few of the challenges that will come up as you manage a project. 

The cool part is that you get to be very involved in the project and will gain a deep understanding of all of its parts. And hopefully at the end of the project, if it all goes smoothly, you will realize that this is a very satisfying career. 

Is being a project manager hard? 

Just as it is great being a part of a large project and managing all of its moving parts, this also comes with great responsibility. 

Being a project manager is hard in different scenarios. If you are assigned a large project for example, you might be overwhelmed by the pressure to ensure you perform in a project that is worth possibly millions of dollars. Lots of people will depend on you and look to you for solutions. 

Being a project manager is hard when you are tasked with multiple projects all varying in complexity. You will have to manage and respond to key stakeholders on projects in different stages. This can also be overwhelming as you have to continuously switch back and forth between projects. Regardless of the amount of projects you are managing you are still expected to perform and treat every project with priority as the stakeholders may differ between each one. 

Personally, I think being a project manager is hard if you have never managed a project before. Just like many things in life, getting started is the most difficult part. It may feel like getting a job as a project manager is the most stressful and difficult part. However, once you land the job and you are assigned projects to manage, this is the hard part. You may feel unprepared and a bit of imposter syndrome might kick in as you realize that you are managing a live project! A lot will depend on your ability to communicate, strategize and deal with challenges and setbacks. 

However, once you get through the initial phase of figuring out what the expectations of your role are, and you have successfully completed a few projects on your own it becomes less difficult. Project management will alway have parts that are difficult and complex, as every project is different and will come with its own set of challenges. 

Do you like being a project manager? 

I hear this question a lot once I explain to friends and family what it is I actually do as a project manager. Even though I have to admit it is a challenging career and can have its challenges. I can say I really do like being a project manager! 

I would go a step further and say that I truly enjoy being a project manager! I enjoy the process of starting something new, aligning teams to ensure we get it done, working through the challenges and best of all… finishing a project. It is very rewarding to know that you had such a large impact in the development of something new! Whether it is a new piece of technology or a new medication that will help others. 

There are many pros and cons to a career in project management, but all of the cons are worth it when you know you are in a field that is in high demand and overall very rewarding. Project managers are also fairly compensated and many are remote workers depending on their industry. You will also never get bored as you can switch fields if you find that you would be a better fit within a different industry. Your skills in project management are transferable even if you might not be experienced in the new industry you choose. I can go from tech to construction and still have a good understanding of how to communicate and achieve the project’s goals. 

So long answer short.. Yes I like being a project manager! 

Best industry for project managers? 

As promised at the beginning of this article, let’s go over which industry I work in and why I think it is the best! Overall the best industry for you to become a project management in, is the one that you are already working in. Perhaps you are a software engineer, you can become a project manager for a software company. Or if you are a construction worker, you can become a project manager for a construction company. There are many paths to developing the skills you need to become a project manager. 

For me, having a background in healthcare and working as a coordinator in clinical research allowed me to have transferable skills to become a project manager in clinical research. I enjoy being a part of developing new medications and treatments by ensuring the project is a success. I was able to leverage my knowledge and pivot my experience of how clinical trials work, what is involved at the clinical level and what are the many moving parts in the long process of drug development. 

To loop it back to the beginning, I didn’t know what a project manager was or what the role involved, I simply knew that it involved clinical research. I searched for every job within my field once I decided I wanted to work remotely. This led me to lots of rejections and a great success at being recruited by one of the largest pharmaceutical development companies. I was able to get through the interviews since I could speak on knowing how the development process works, who is involved and how I would be a good fit for the job.

Can you become a project manager without experience in any field? Can you switch to a new industry and become a project manager? 

With that being said, the best field for you to start your project management career is the one you are already in. However, even if you have never had a job in the past or want to switch fields, it is still possible to land the project management job of your dreams. You just have to work harder to acquire and sell your transferable skills during job interviews. 

If you have planned a wedding on your own, planned a vacation or even a surprise party you have managed a project before. All of these skills of having a budget you need to stick to, buying all of the essentials, talking to the people involved and coordinating how this will get done are all part of project management. 

I would also highly recommend that if you would like to become a project manager, you look into online learning. Sure you can learn the skills on the job but it will set you apart from people who have years of experience. Plus it will give you the confidence you need to get hired once you understand the lingo, the processes and what the different job duties entail. 

There are many courses online, however I would highly recommend a course you can do on your own time and that will give you experience through different activities and projects which you can showcase and talk about in your interviews. If you are interested in switching careers and becoming a project manager I encourage you to look into coursera.com. Their courses are affordable as you pay monthly for as long as it takes you to complete the course. It is self paced and they are taught by experienced professionals in their respective fields. 

I hope this article was helpful and that it inspired you to continue on your career swap into becoming a project manager. Or that it piqued your interest into what a project manager does and how it is the best job in the world!