Stepping into Project Management

How are the latest trends increasing demand for Data Scientists?

February 9th, 2023

I’ve been working in the project management space for a while now and have placed a fair few PM’s, mainly at a senior level, however I was interested to find out how the people I have placed went about getting into project management.

I always have a lot of people asking me about this and I always felt I was on the back foot and was left wondering, just how do you get into one of the most exciting and challenging careers there is.

So, I asked my LinkedIn and candidate network, how did you get into project management and what advice would you give to those that are looking to get their foot in the door?

Through asking my network the same answer kept creeping up “it was by chance”. Is project management the kind of career you don’t plan for but end up in? It is clear that many of the people that end up in project management have a degree of training and development experience from previous roles.

Many of the candidates I speak to have similar skill sets which can surely be attributed to most PMs. Although the specifics of the role vary depending on the industry, project managers will come across the same issues.

Due to the high demand of this job project managers will have a set of transferable skills that they will have to use on a daily basis. These skills include problem solving, time management, organisational skills, strong attention to detail and communication skills.

All project managers I speak to are organised and enjoy leading, this may be why they naturally fall into this career choice. As a project manager they are, as the title suggests, in charge of executing, monitoring, and finishing specific projects within a business.

Through working with these particular roles I have noticed that there is a high demand of people with the ambition to work in project management. I have noticed a certain trend into the progression on project management.

On one side those that know they want to be a PM tend to start in a PMO role and focus on progression, however on the other side those who have “fallen” into project management tend to start work in a business focused role such as a Business Analyst.

Although this blog may not have completely answered my initial question of how to get into project management, it does show what skills are needed to get into this career and if you feel you tick the boxes a career in project management could be for you!