Career Competition for Project Managers

Introduction

Choosing to embark on a career as a project manager could potentially be one of the wisest decisions you make. If you normally thrive in daily challenges, enjoy leading and working with teams at all levels within an organisation, and help teams push through issues and roadblocks, then project management may be for you. Project management is a rewarding profession that is in high demand. According to PMI¹, it is estimated that the global economy will need around 25 million new project professionals by the year 2030, which means that 2.3 million people will need to enter the project management field every year to keep up with the demand.

As technology rapidly evolves, post-pandemic and through the accelerating business and digital transformation, the project management profession experiences high competition and evolvement and switches from a reactive way of working to a more proactive and agile method of managing projects. More than 60% of projects are currently related to technology and transformation, which demonstrates that despite the challenges, new opportunities for innovation and improvement can emerge, and the adoption of innovative technologies, digital transformation and processes create new ways of working in project management, which represent new opportunities to competition between organisations and between project management professionals.  

Is Project Management Competitive?

Project Managers generally look forward to completing larger projects as their career progresses and improving their performance on each completed project successfully. Usually, project managers are paid bonuses, which are based on the project's overall performance, and they compete head-to-head across various performance metrics with other managers in their organisation. Their leadership and managerial responsibilities put them under pressure and some level of competition with their colleagues. The demand for project managers can vary depending on the industry, location, or even the organisation itself; the demand and the competition are constantly changing due to economic changes, technologies, and other factors.  

With the growth in industries, a huge growth in the field of project management will occur in many countries, especially in China and India. With all the economic changes and post-pandemic, organisations are looking for new opportunities in new countries to expand their business in new markets. In some countries, an economic expansion has occurred, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where large organisations from all over the world are looking for a piece of those growing economies, which creates many opportunities and significant competition for project management professionals.

Key Points to Keep Yourself in Competition

Also, besides onsite project management jobs, this economic growth will attract more project management professionals to work remotely, which means that millions of project management vacancies could be created around the world. So, the level of competition for project management professions varies widely by industry, economic cycle, location, and technological advances, and to be a competitive project management professional and to stay competitive, it is necessary to own some professional secrets to keep yourself firmly existing on the competition, and this could happen by following these steps: 

1. Be Proactive 

To stay competitive in project management, it is essential to be proactive and creative by taking the initiative and creating solutions before problems arise. Being innovative, curious, results-oriented, planning, setting goals, solving issues, avoiding delays and errors, and tracking progress can lead to increased potential and efficiency and make you more effective.  

2. Develop Essential Skills 

Developing your soft skills can keep you competitive as a project management professional. Essential skills such as Interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, problem-solving skills, leadership, improving communication skills, negotiating, motivating people, influencing stakeholders, managing conflict, practising self-awareness, and active listening enable you to compete highly and move on in your project management career. 

3. Embrace Changes 

Change is necessary to survive and continue, and change is unavoidable and inevitable in any project; it is crucial to be flexible and adaptable to deal with any change, such as scope creep, market conditions or stakeholder expectations and transform it into an opportunity. Adopting an agile mindset, communicating effectively, and involving the project team and stakeholders in decisions are crucial to keeping yourself in competition. 

4. Leverage Technology

Project management technology can help automate tasks, improve collaboration, and deliver faster. By choosing the right software and tools for your project, you can enhance quality and productivity.  

5. Explore New Challenges 

New challenges could be new opportunities, and these opportunities could expose you to new perspectives and new networks. By seeking new challenges that align with your goals and capabilities, such as new roles, responsibilities, or industries, you can add value to your career and help yourself improve professionally, learn, and grow as a project management professional.  

6. Continuous Learning  

One of the most important ways to stay competitive in project management is to stay updated with all the news in this field, such as new tools, changes, methodologies, or frameworks. Also, ongoing learning can help in managing projects more effectively; you can stay updated by attending events or webinars, taking courses, communicating with experts, joining professional communities, or reading books and more. 

7. Earn Project Management Certification  

To stay competitive and on the top of the candidate list, the key factor is to earn a project management certification, which is proof that you have the experience and the professional skills to be qualified as a project management professional. Project management certification is a global credential that opens better career opportunities and increases your potential earnings. It is a powerful tool to stay competitive and successfully build your project management career.

Conclusion

So, a competent Project Manager must combine technical and soft skills. Highly skilled and experienced project managers are key to successful project implementation. Project management is considered an enabler for promoting a culture of continuous improvement within a business. By enhancing project management skills and capabilities, organisations can improve their ability to deliver projects successfully and drive growth and competitiveness in today's fast-moving business environment. 

Finally, we believe that the future of project management will be shaped by the rapidly changing technological and business landscape. As technology advances, project managers will need to be proficient in using new tools and Agile methodologies.  

Reference Literature:

¹PMI. 2021`. "Narrowing the Talent Gap."