What Can You Do with a Masters in Project Management?

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Project managers are skilled at measuring, planning, and executing projects in numerous industries. That’s why a master’s degree in project management can open the door to many career options.

Before getting into project management or any kind of master’s degree, you will naturally want to know your career options. Growing competition can also change the industry landscape, where new job opportunities may open up while others shut down.

No matter if you are doing courses for a master’s in project management online or in a renowned institution, you can go into the following professions:

Consultant

Average Salary: $90,460

Consultants are paid for their expert opinions on projects. In many cases, you can do your work remotely.  As a result, if you don’t want to follow a traditional career path that keeps you stuck in one city, this is a lucrative position.

Skills

In this profession, you will have to equip problem-solving skills alongside communication skills to come up with solutions to complex problems. Let’s list the skills needed to be a top-level consultant:

• Being capable of structuring and breaking down complex issues into manageable parts
• Interpersonal skills such as rapport-building, negotiating, influencing
• Communicating with clients through reports, presentations, and more
• Taking leadership roles to ensure success
• Being able to adapt to different personalities, cultures, and teams

Industries

Being a consultant opens you up to working in a large number of industries, including:

• Business
• Education
• Law
• Human resources
• Health care
• Security
• Science
• Engineering

There are also specific types of consultants. Strategy consultants focus on high-level business strategies and help a company meet its long- and mid-term goals.

On the other hand, IT consultants help clients apply and develop Information Technology.

Alongside your degrees, you will need strong networking skills and experience in relevant fields to land handsome jobs.

IT Project Manager

Average Salary: $99,109

IT project managers, as the name implies, work in technological fields. They are responsible for managing technology projects, mainly planning, executing, and completing them.

To be more specific, IT project managers are the intermediaries between the technical and business aspects of projects. Therefore, they ensure that all technical initiatives meet the business goals. Otherwise, the organisation may fail to generate revenue.

Skills

This is a career path where you will benefit from having technical skills. Here’s a list of the skills you should have for being a qualified IT project manager:

• Understanding the technologies involved with the project, including software, database, and network.
• Project management
• Being able to lead a team through motivation and manage conflicts
• Managing stakeholders and coming into a middle ground where you can secure the company’s goals while satisfying the investors
• Excellent communication skills to handle a team, talk to clients and shareholders

Industries

Similar to being a consultant, you can get into various industries through IT project management, including:

• Information Technology services
• Finance and banking
• Telecommunications
• Healthcare
• Retail
• Education
• Government
• Manufacturing

Any industry that uses technology to reach its goals benefits from an expert IT manager. Their unique skills make them a valuable asset, making them an excellent career option in a competitive market.

Senior Project Manager

Average Salary: $153,000

Senior project managers are in charge of overseeing complex projects. They often manage several teams and bring harmony within those groups to achieve the goals of a business.

This professional field requires a ton of knowledge and experience in project management skills, as you will have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. The growth of an organisation highly depends on how a senior project manager can handle complex projects.

Skills

Compared to other professions that you can get with a master’s degree in project management, being a senior project manager requires much more knowledge, experience, and skills. Here are a few:

• You will need advanced project management skills and should understand complex frameworks such as PRICE2, PMBOK, Agile, etc.
• You will need strong leadership skills to handle large teams and be on top.
• Excellent communication skills are necessary to convey important messages to the higher-ups and stakeholders while managing team conflicts.
• Being able to assess the risk of a project to predict a foreseeable outcome
• While you don’t need the same technical proficiency as an IT project manager, you will need some knowledge of your company’s technical aspects.

Industries

Senior project managers are employed in almost every important industry where multiple employees work towards achieving an organisation’s goals. Some examples are:

• Construction
• Engineering
• Healthcare
• Manufacturing
• Telecommunication
• Government and public sector
• Energy and utilities
• Aerospace and defense
• Consulting

To become a senior project manager, you must have several years of project management skills and a track record of success with your previous organisations. To enter big industries, you must have a track record of success. This highly competitive market benefits from some of the best people in the respective sectors.

Other Career Options

Here are some other career options available when you complete your master’s in project management:

• Assistant Project Manager
• Portfolio Manager
• Deliver Manager
• Project Scheduler
• Construction Project Manager
• Chief Operating Officer (COO)
• Academics

Final Note

The field of project management yearns for new talent. Employers value experience and outside skills as much as or even more than your degree. As a result, it’s important to weigh those options first. Understand if you can perform extracurricular activities that lead to a shining career.