Advertisment

Careers in Project Management

author-image
PANKAJ
New Update

In today's global economic scenario enterprises are continually seeking ways

through which they can manage and complete their various projects affordably and

in the most efficient manner. They have realized how crucial Project Managers

are towards the success of projects and the valuable benefits they bring to an

enterprise's business. A Project Manager has the responsibility to make sure

that his projects get completed within the given set of restraints, which may

comprise time, money, manpower, materials and quality. It is therefore necessary

that Project Managers possess organization, planning and team handling skills in

addition to the core technical aspects of the project that they handle. They

actually have a much stronger role to play now: analyzing and making sure they

are doing the proper work in the most cost-effective way and separating the

“wants” from the “needs”.

Advertisment

Organizations utilize the skills of Project Managers to assess the overall

data: by keeping an eye on the trends in resources, workload, activity and cost,

and providing valuable information for future management decisions. Many

organizations look for smarter Project Managers who can complete projects within

the stipulated time and budget and also are able to save time and money. Gone

are the days when most Project Managers merely had a given functional area

knowledge and were co-opted as a team member or leader of a team. Rather,

organizations now seek beyond the core functional domain knowledge for such

candidates. They look for subject matter experts who know the principles of

project management techniques as well. This has resulted in emergence of

professional Project Managers, who have no other role in an organization other

than Project Management. Project Management which was an undervalued skill till

recent years has now become a most sought after skillset and has become a career

domain in itself.

To be eligible for a PMI

credential, applicants must meet specific education, project and/or program

management experience requirements


Raj Kalady,

Managing Director, Project Management Institute -India

What are the career prospects in Project

Management domain and what type of job responsibilities does it incorporate?



Traditionally project managers have been 'grown' out of their roles on

the job serving on project teams and then elevating to more senior roles in

project management by leading and directing projects. With the increased

scope, larger budgets and higher complexity of projects and more diverse

roles have been defined to meet these needs in the field of project

management. This includes specialized areas of project scheduling and

project risk management as well as the more strategic roles of managing

multiple projects that are aligned with an organizational strategy as in

program management and the oversight of multiple programs through portfolio

management. All of these project management roles provide a variety of

career paths for aspiring or experienced project managers.

What are the requisites for a candidate to

gain PMI credentials? Can an IT professional gain an edge with Project

Management certification?



To be eligible for a PMI credential, applicants must meet specific

education, project and/or program management experience requirements.

Applicants also must pass evaluations

including a rigorous multiple-choice examination designed to objectively

assess and measure professional ability. PMI credentials support the

professional growth and advancement of project management practitioners and

also contribute and support organizational growth and maturity through

project management practices.

The five PMI project management

certifications provides the knowledge, skills and experience that positions

project management practitioners in any industry, including IT. IT

professionals are involved in projects from day one. Thus being prepared to

understand and manage projects is a huge benefit for freshers and

experienced professionals. A large percentage of PMI credential holders work

either in an IT function in another industry (e.g. IT function in the

financial/banking industry) or directly in the IT industry.

Opportunities in Project Management



Project managers are becoming critical to an organization during the

slowdown as they offer important IT governance skills in making sure all IT

projects are aligned with corporate goals while also cutting out waste. A

project manager's primary role is to be a facilitator with the goal being to

ensure that a project is completed on time, within budget, and according to

requirements. Most enterprises now demand Project Management certification for

employment or advancement as a Project Manger in the organization.

Advertisment
Most service organizations are

moving towards the project-based organization. A project based

organizational model provides a means of managing the business through well

defined projects, building teams to work together for a common set of goals

or objectives. Successful projects are one of the key parameters to measure

the strength of the organization.


Amar

Bhaskar
PMP, Program Executive, Project Management Center of

Excellence, IBM India

In the current scenario, concepts like remote

project management assume great significance as the growing demand for

skilled managers can be met through remote management. Developing and honing

the skills of project management has become the prerogative of many an

organization and keeping in tune with this, IBM has a Project Management

Center of Excellence, a body which is focused towards developing project

management practitioner community.

Project management as a career can take you to different directions and to

many different industries. It is the domain knowledge that you possess which

helps in deciding which industry you are apt for. Coming from an IT industry,

does not bound you to handle the projects in IT industry only. Your IT

knowledge, and project management skills can be suitable for enterprises that

are going through various IT implementation projects--for instance a financial

institution or a bank may require Project Mangers to handle their bank's

automation project which will require the expertise of an IT professional having

project management experience. IT professionals can aim for the project manager

positions not only in IT companies, but also for the IT functions in another

industries as well.

Kunal

Nagarkatti




Executive Vice President & Head — Technology, TechProcess Solutions.

An individual having Project Management

skills is generally in a good position to handle various tasks with various

areas of criticality ranging from employee management, client management,

vendor management, product/process management, quality assurance etc. Being

in the normal course of their operational dispensation, these activities

form a substantial part of their tasks. Project management trains an

individual to handle complexities, which I believe is an essential skill set

for individuals progressing into senior echelons of the management cadre.

While the general perception is that the requirement for project managers is

for the software industry, almost all industries ranging from Infrastructure

execution organizations to manufacturing enterprises require PM.

Advertisment

In the current global economic conditions, enterprises are facing the need to

have better project management processes in place. There is a demand for

efficient project managers who can accomplish projects in a timely and efficient

manner. In contrast to that, the job opportunities are not that high. Due to the

current economic scenario, organizations themselves are not having many new

projects but, as the economy revives and projects start to flow in, the demand

for Project Mangement professionals will again soar high. As it is said, being

prepared for tough battles is half the victory achieved. So, if you aim for such

positions, then this is the right time to get some project management

certifications which will help you to chart out the way forward in this domain.

Vamsi

Madhav,




VP, VSoft

The fundamental skill that Project Management

candidates should possess is organization. A bachelors or masters degree in

an IT- or business-related field, a background in applications development

and five or more years of experience managing complex projects are other

requisites. Potential candidates should also have strong communication,

problem-solving and interpersonal skills; multi-task efficiently; and have a

strong ability to manage client expectations. Individuals with a Project

Management certification would start out as a Project Assistant, then become

a Project Coordinator and then move on to become a Project Manager,

presumably starting on small projects, responsible for a single team and

then working up to a full Project Manager and then on to Program Manager.

Prerequisites for becoming a PM



In an organization, a Project Manager (PM) should be proficient in analysis,

design, project planning, estimation, risk assessment. PMs also need to have

fair knowledge of the technology and domain. Project and program management

skills integrate appropriately with the technical knowledge, the process usage,

domain knowledge, infrastructure constraints, market conditions and process

assets to achieve success. Before an individual enters the project management

stream, it is essential that the person has relevant exposure in software

development and has contributed at the entry level. At the entry level an

individual contributes to the development, delivery and maintenance of

technology-based business solutions. With experience the individual gathers

competence in building the experiential knowledge network, providing project

consultancy expertise and undertaking research and analysis based on past

project data and market trends. Successful project managers not only have to

acquire project management certifications but also have excellent communications

skills, be able to think analytically, and have the ability to multitask.

Becoming a project manager can be a good way to take on management

responsibilities while staying on with development roles.

Advertisment

Career path



In the project management domain, there are two ways that can lead an

individual towards the Project Manger designation:

  1. Natural progression path (in most software organizations) wherein, over a

    period of time most candidates are induced into managing projects and

    generally acquire the needed skills while on the job, which eventually gets

    refined through training programs.
  2. By completing a project management course from a recognized program and

    then getting on with a job.
Advertisment

In software enterprises members who are inducted into Project Management are

generally inducted as Project Leader, Sr. Project Leaders, Project Managers, Sr.

Project Managers, Program Managers and Service Delivery Manager.

Individuals with a Project Management certification would start out as a

Project Assistant, then become a Project Coordinator and move on to become a

Project Manager, presumably starting on small projects, responsible for a single

team and then working up to a full Project Manager and then on to Program

Manager. A Project Manager is responsible for a single project (or indeed for a

number of individual projects) while a Program Manager is responsible for a very

large project or 'program' consisting of multiple projects that are inextricably

linked together, combining to form an overall result.

Project management certifications



Though project management requires soft skills of leadership and team

management, these qualities can't be reflected in an individual's resume.

Certifications helps in adding credentials to the resume, but also help the

individual to learn the principles of project management and the industry best

practices for project handling. There are industry recognized professional

project management certifications that include PMP, PRINCE2 that can be pursued.

IBM in particular also has accreditation and certification programs for

different proficiency levels in project management. As per a salary survey

conducted by ZDNET, candidates with PMP certifications were the highest paid.

Thus, with a PMP certificate from a Project Management Institute one can broaden

his scope not only for Indian companies but also abroad. Following is the list

of industry recognized Project Management courses which are globally accepted.

Advertisment