What can I do with a Degree in Project Management?

Have you ever wondered if there was a way to capitalize on your exceptional organizational and leadership skills? If so, earning an Online Master's of Project Management degree could be the next step to accelerating your career. These types of programs are a great opportunity for students to pursue their degree while gaining invaluable professional experience. Project Management degrees and training typically include many experiential learning scenarios, even in an online format. This combination of class work and hands on learning opportunities allows students to truly understand the many aspects involved in managing the completion of large scale projects from beginning to end. Project Management degrees are offered at the bachelor's and master's level, and many schools also offer this high demand subject as an additional certificate option. The Project Management Institute (PMI), an international organization for project managers, also offers an elective exam, the PMP Exam, of 200 multiple-choice questions that provides employees in the project management field with a professional certification endorsement. PMI estimates there will be 2.3 million project management job openings in the U.S. through 2020.

Project management is unique in that the skills involved can be easily be transferred into a variety of well-compensated specialty areas. The best project managers are willing and ready to dive into a wide range of duties. Generally, these duties include managing budgets, coordinating staff and resources, understanding the technological needs of individual tasks, and keeping projects on an allocated timeline. Project managers also develop project plans, manage all aspects of the assignments, and work in many specialty areas. Common areas of specialty or career paths for project managers include work in the fields of construction, healthcare, retail, engineering, and technology.

Project management positions are nothing new in the realm of construction and civil engineering. These types of projects include building new infrastructures such as bridges and office buildings, as well as repairing old infrastructures, such as homes or businesses. Assignments such as these naturally lend themselves to the need of general managers who can budget, delegate, and coordinate sizable projects.

Large healthcare organizations such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Aetna often employ many project managers to help maintain efficiency within the day-to-day tasks of the organization. Some positions are confined to an individual department within a larger company, while many others can include large scale assignments such as building new hospitals, community outreach projects, or data collection.

Technology is a vast sector of the project management industry. IT project management positions typically require a strong background in software applications, logistics, database design and networking, or various technology methodologies, such as DSDM and XP. Positions available within this cutting edge field often include jobs such as creating software, analyzing new forms of data, and developing solutions for today's highly technological world.

There are many other areas such as law, financial planning, energy, and general project management that can be accessed upon completion of a project management degree or professional certification. This is an in-demand field, with high return on investment potential and a wide variety of areas to utilize organizational, leadership, and communication skills.

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