Project Management Industry Overview

The best projects managers are like axels -- they smoothly link management, clients and staff to keep projects rolling. To be successful in a project management job, you’ll need people skills, business acumen and technical competence.

Project management job opportunities are found in many different industries at all types of organizations that need short-term programs and projects directed. Jobs in project management include those for technology project managers, construction project managers, engineering project managers, financial services project managers, telecom project managers and multimedia project managers.

Project Management Job Market

Slow economic growth, shifting global market priorities and a push for innovation will increase the need for project management, creating program management and portfolio management jobs, according to a survey from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

PMI also predicts an increase in agile and extreme project management work.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says project management jobs in IT and construction will grow about as fast as the average for all jobs. For IT project managers, cloud computing will reduce jobs, while a recent trend to move offshored jobs back to low-cost US locations will increase jobs in coming years, the BLS says.

Over the next decade, Baby Boomer construction project managers will retire in substantial numbers, creating room for younger project manager job seekers, the BLS reports. With the real estate market having reached bottom in a number of markets, home builders are breaking ground on new developments, so construction employment overall should improve in 2013.

Project Management Salaries

The best-paying project management careers are those that require advanced technical knowledge and that are located in high-cost areas. PMI says the average project manager salary in the US was $105,000 in 2011.

Those who earn the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential made an average of 16 percent more (approximately $14,500) than noncredentialed project managers in 2011, PMI says.

The median IT project manager salary was $115,780 and the median construction project manager salary was $83,860 in 2010, according to the BLS.