A Project Manager is a person who organizes a team to achieve a specific goal for a company or an organization. There are different ways of becoming a project manager. Some people study project management courses in school and use their knowledge and skills after graduating and others become Project Managers by simply working hard and taking on more responsibilities in the organization.
In this article, we will discuss the ways by which you can become a project manager without a degree.
Ways of Becoming a Project Manager Without a Degree
- Get Experience To Become a Project Manager
Many people start working on a non-managerial post in a team. For example, in the IT industry, many people work as IT associates or business analysts. They slowly expand their roles as they gain more experience in the industry and start doing managerial tasks, learn to work with team members, and develop organizational skills. If you want to become a project manager with a degree then you must keep looking forward to more opportunities in your current job role. Several tasks need to be planned and executed properly. Therefore, you can take part in such tasks and show your skills that can help you in becoming a project manager.
You can search for entry-level jobs in an organization and can step upwards in your career. You can search for different job titles such as operations coordinator, associate project manager, project coordinator, administrative associate, junior project manager, and operations associate.
- Develop Skills to Become a Project Manager
You must develop the skills required for becoming a project manager. You must develop technical as well as personal skills needed for managing a project efficiently. Some skills required to become a project manager include budgeting, planning, risk management, scrum knowledge, agile project management, communication, organization, and leadership. You can develop these skills by joining specific courses to get a certification and applying your knowledge at your workplace.
- Make Improvements in Your Resume
You must try to make improvements to your Resume by gaining more experience and enhancing your skills. You must review job listings for project managers from entry-level to advanced job roles and try to find out what specific skills companies are looking for. Make the qualifications in bold that match the job requirements and highlight them on your resume.
- Try to Get a Project Management Certification
You can find the right project management job by getting a project management certificate. You can consider getting a certified associate in project management (CAPM®) or a project management professional (PMP®) certificate. If you want to get an entry-level job role then you can choose the CAPM certificate and the PMP® certificate is a popular certificate for people who already have three or more years of experience in project management. PMP training can help you get the right job as per your experience.
- Hone Your Underlying Management Skills
If you have ever planned, scheduled, or documented a project then you will indeed have some project management skills. Have you ever organized a fest in college? Coordinated with a team to organize an event or helped your friends in organizing a party. If you have ever worked for such things you will possess some skills in project management and such skills can help you in becoming a project manager with a degree. If you have any kind of experience in working with a team and handling a project then you can apply for the post of project manager. If you have an experience of three years you can apply for the exam of Project Management Professionals (PMP) certification which can help you in getting the job role of a project manager.
Eligibility for Becoming a Project Manager
You do not need high qualifications for becoming a project manager. If you have some important personal skills such as modesty, empathy, foresight, pragmatism, client orientation, and organization then you can easily become a project manager. Some essential eligibility criteria for becoming a project manager are:
- Training: A company or an organization will choose the most educated and experienced team for handling its projects. You can either attend a college or a university to get a degree or you can enroll in a certification course to get a certification.
- Experience: Experience is another important requirement for becoming a project manager. You can start taking part in projects in your current job, you can apply for an internship, participate in a program, or you can apply for entry-level jobs as a project manager. Getting some experience in any form can help you achieve your goal of becoming a project manager with a degree.
- Project Management Certification: You can apply for a project management certificate if you have some experience in the field. There are different types of certificates for becoming certified project managers. PMP® or project management professional certification is the most renowned and recognized certificate offered by the project management institute that can help you in becoming a certified project manager.
Why Should You Apply For a PMP® Certification?
If you have some experience working on a project with a team then you can apply for a project management professional certification. It is the most important credential that will add more weight to your Resume and you will be easily recognized by the recruiters and the companies.
Having a PMP® certification you can earn a high salary with better job security in many cases.
The certificate will help you to work with a team in an organized way and you can give clear and to-the-point instructions to the team members while working on a project so that they can easily understand your commands.
Role Played by a Project Manager in Company
A project manager plays the most important role in a team while working on a project given by a company. A project manager is the most trusted person for a company therefore he/she has to work diligently and carefully to submit the project on time without any faults.
The role and responsibilities of a project manager will differ depending on the type of company or organization they are working for. But, the general role played by a project manager includes the following:
- Planning: The first and the most important role of a project manager is to design and make a plan for the project. After planning, the project manager has to get it approved and start working on it with his/her team members.
- Proper Execution of the Plan: After getting the plan approved by the company, the project manager has to execute the plan properly so that the team members can work efficiently on the project.
- Effective Communication: The most important role of a project manager is to effectively communicate with the team members while working on a project. He/she can communicate over the phone, through emails, meetings, and daily check-ins. This will help the project manager to understand and review the project status and progress made on the project.
- Identifying Issues in a Project and Finding a Resolution: Another important role of a project manager is to identify any problems that may occur while working on a project. A project manager must plan strategies for removing the problems immediately and find the right solutions to the problem.
- Budget Control: The client gives a budget for every project and a project manager has to ensure that the team is working within the approved budget. The project manager has to process invoices and have to look after the allocation and reallocation of resources if needed.
- Reporting: A Project Manager is the main person who communicates between the development team and the stakeholders. A project manager has to submit a report and give updates about the progress of the project to the stakeholders and also has to tell the development team about any changes recommended by the client at any step so that the end project is up to the mark.
- Team Coordination: A project manager has to keep cordial relations with the team members and he/she has to ensure that the team members are helping each other and they are working on the specific tasks assigned to them. The team members must remain happy and should coordinate properly so that they can work happily and achieve their goals.
- Submission of the Project on Time: It is the prime duty of a project manager to submit the given project on or before time. Therefore, the project manager has to ensure that the project development is taken as per schedule. This is important to earn the trust of the clients.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is not difficult to become a Project Manager. The simple way is to enroll in a project management course to get the Project Management Professional® certification. But, sometimes people do not have time to enroll in a course and get a certification. In such cases, people can still become project managers. They can take part in difficult tasks and show their skills through which they can get the position of a Project Manager in a company.
