The Project Management Institute (PMI) estimates that the global need for project managers will increase 33 percent – or by nearly 22 million jobs – through 2027. Project management is a versatile field that offers a lot of promise to professionals looking to build a future-proof career. But how do you get started in a project management career? With many companies switching to the work-from-home model, there’s been a spike in entry-level project management roles that businesses are looking to fill. We’ve compiled a list of best practices for you to land an exciting new role in project management – no matter what your employment history is.
Conduct informational interviews.
Informational interviews are short conversations with professionals in your desired field. You can ask questions about their career trajectory, essential skills in that field, and anything else you’d like to know about project management. To find someone to conduct an informational interview, you can either reach out to your professional network or find someone on Linkedin. It can be intimidating to initiate contact for an informational interview, but rest assured, professionals who have built long-lasting careers usually want to help others do the same. If you’d like a more in-depth look at informational interviews, check out our 15-minute workshop below:
Get certified.
A project management certification is the best way to add credibility to your resume and make you stand out from the other candidates for an entry-level role. The CAPM, PMP, and CompTIA Project+ certifications are the most widely-recognized certifications. The CAPM certification requires the least amount of project management experience. The CAPM exam can be taken by any individual who has completed 23 hours of any project management education, like the Pathstream Asana Project Management course.
Use transferable skills to make your resume fit a project management role.
Organizations looking to hire an entry-level Project Manager are seeking candidates who demonstrate skills like leadership, initiative, time management, training experience, and a flair for simplifying processes. Regardless of your work history, you likely have a few skills through your professional experiences and should highlight them on your resume. Remember to illustrate your skillset with quantifiable examples.
Examples of quantifiably illustrating these transferable skills:
Instead of: “Responsible for showing new employees how to use our customer invoice system.”
Use: “Trained 4-10 new employees per quarter on our customer invoicing system.”
Instead of: “Charged with maintaining the store inventory, ordering new inventory when needed.”
Use: “Maintained a store inventory of over 500 items, managing the ordering of new inventory.”
Display your certificates on your resume.
If you earned a project management certificate, be sure to display that on your resume as well. Typically you would do this by listing the name of the certificate, the issuing body, and the date earned. This is a great way to indicate to a recruiter or hiring manager that even though you’re coming into an entry-level position, you take this career path seriously and are equipped with an education that will make you a fantastic project manager.
Example:
Project+ Certification, CompTIA, December 2021
No matter what your professional experience looks like, it’s never too late to look into the growing field of project management. If you’d like to pursue a career in project management, be sure to check out the Pathstream Asana Project Management Certificate, which will give you the practical skills and education you need to pursue CAPM certification.
To download resume examples below, click here.
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