Why consider a job in project management?
Project Management courses are a boon for the corporate as well as the manufacturing sector. More often than one can count, the organizations have an insurmountable load on them. This load and the subsequent stress is due to the lack of proper organization and management in the projects they begin work on.
What does a project manager do exactly? Well, the name is self-explanatory. They organize, arrange, plan, and oversee the work on a project. Make sure the division of labor is fair and done efficiently. And above everything else, they make sure the deadlines are met. The importance of project management can’t be overstated.
It is due to this that Project Management courses are the perfect boost you need to enter the industry. While project management itself is an excellent career choice. The project managers have to juggle multiple projects at once and this job does come with a high-stress work environment almost guaranteed.
A Project Manager decides the appropriate skill set requirements for the project. They figure out the budget for the expenditure on the project. While also headlining meetings to track the project’s progress and make sure it’s on time.
Setting the schedules and deadlines themselves for the project and all related operations are a part of the job. Making management decisions on what strategy to adopt while navigating through the completion of the project. Reporting on the progress to the higher-ups and team organization and management.
All these above-mentioned tasks are a given part of the job profile that is project management. Thus, it requires a substantial amount of practical knowledge, skills, and strategies to undertake and excel at. Let’s take a closer look at the education required-
Education, Eligibility & Skills
A diverse set of technical abilities, paying close attention to the detail, and an understanding of the nuances of time management are important skills. As are great communication skills, a curious and learning mind along with strong foundational skills in management, commerce, analytics, and basic knowledge of STEM Fields.
Project management courses are postgraduate level and require a 60% aggregate score in 12th standard and a bachelor’s degree to qualify. The bachelors should preferably be from a business management stream or a STEM field in general. A strong foundation in economics, analytics, and team management is a plus.
Both direct and entrance test based enrollment is possible in these degrees and the course lasts about two years. If a good B-school is to be pursued a national entrance exam such as CAT, XAT, MAT, etc. needs to be cleared with a good result first.
It follows a general semester system and the course fees range between two lakh rupees per year to as high as fifteen lakhs depending on the B-school of choice. There is a postgraduate diploma in management as an alternative option to an MBA available. But an MBA certainly is preferred by the industry as it meets all the standards.
There are distance learning and MOOC alternatives to a traditional degree. The fees drop as well considerably but the practical knowledge is lower than the traditional on-campus degree to some extent.
Future Prospects, Job Profiles & Salaries
“India will require 70 lakh new project managers in the next 10 years. India will emerge as the fastest-growing country in the world for project management-oriented employment,” Project Management Institute’s (PMI) report – Project Management Job Growth and Talent Gap 2017-2027 was quoted as stating.
All the statistics and market trends point towards a heavy surge in the need for project managers. With the government’s push for entrepreneurial growth and manufacturing to increase on Indian soil. It goes without saying that the need for good project managers will be on the rise for the time being.
Working as a Project Manager, an entry-level job, will fetch you a salary of 5 – 6 LPA. As experience increases then a more seasoned professional can fetch a mid-career salary of 8 – 10 LPA. The late-career salaries of highly skilled managers can be as high as 15 – 20 LPA. Or even higher as the particular organization and scale of the projects vary a lot across the board.
The salary varies considerably with these parameters. Domain Expertise and pedigree of the B-school matter as well. A certain degree of patience, perhaps more than the other jobs in needed to perform well in this sector. Career progression, however, remains smooth.
