Why should I learn project management?

Project management is a valuable skill for most professional careers. Dedicating time to develop your project management skills can help you hit deadlines, reach goals, and lead challenging projects. These skills can make you an attractive candidate for many project management jobs, such as an event planner, project manager, or project management specialist.

How long does it take to learn project management?

The education needed to understand project management can be learned through courses, bootcamps, and executive education programs within a few weeks to a few months. If you’re interested in learning project management as part of a full-time bachelor’s degree program, this will take you four years. Additionally, project management skills are sharpened through real-world experience, and many experts say this is a process that continue your entire career.

How hard is it to learn project management?

It is not particularly hard to learn the skills needed to succeed in project management. The challenging aspect may come with putting these skills into practice, as sometimes they involve tough conversations, persistent leadership, and complex situations. A good training program will help prepare you for these situations where you can begin to grow through experience.

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Project Management | Introduction Image Description

What is project management?

Project management is the collection of processes and skills needed to plan, manage, and complete a task from start to finish. This process requires many different skills, such as organization, communication, time management, resource management, logistics, budgeting, and people management.

Why learn project management?

When you learn project management, you'll be equipped for many jobs, including project director, project coordinator, project analyst, event manager, marketing coordinator, and healthcare project manager.

Project management skills can be learned through standalone courses that last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. These skills can also be learned as part of degree programs in other disciplines where the ability to manage projects is particularly important, such as engineering, business, marketing, and construction.

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Choosing the right project management program for you

Finding the right project management training program for you depends on many factors. A few of the most important include:

Analyze your goal: If you're looking for a brand new career, considering a degree program that includes project management could be an option. If you're looking to augment your existing work, you may be more interested in a short-term, focused program.
Assess your availability: If you're looking to quickly improve your skills for your existing job, a more focused and intensive certificate or executive education program might be a better fit due to your prior time commitments. If you have additional availability, you can explore a more immersive learning opportunity like a degree program.

Here are a few of your options for learning project management:

Courses

Learn the fundamentals or advanced concepts involved with project management through a dedicated course.

Certificates

Earn a certificate in the skills needed to successfully manage projects and be able to tangibly share verification of those skills.

Executive education programs

Executive education programs in project management are designed for executives who need to manage existing time commitments with continuing education to stay up to date in current trends in project management.

Degrees

Explore formal degree programs where project management skills are taught alongside other skills in subjects like construction and business, where project management is vital.

Jobs in project management

The skills you'll learn in project management apply to just about every professional job or career in which you may be interested. Skills like time management, budgeting, logistics, scheduling, and organization are highly transferable. Many project managers become familiar with project management tools and software such as Asana, Jira, and Monday.

That said, some of the more applicable positions you may be qualified for include project manager, event manager, marketing manager, project management specialist, and healthcare project manager.

Project managers can work in a variety of environments, including an office setting, on a job site, or traveling if the project requires it.

Industries where project management skills may be most useful include marketing, construction, engineering, finance, and healthcare.

Here are a few specific jobs you may be interested in that utilize project management skills, with their required levels of education and salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):