Have you ever considered a career as a Project Manager, but aren’t entirely sure what the job entails?
Don’t fret, we’ve got you! We’ve chatted with an industry professional about all the things you could possibly want to know about project management.
让我们潜入！
Meet Adriana
What is a Project Manager?
Steps to Becoming a Project Manager
Future Outlook
Best Thing & Worst Thing
Advice for Aspiring Project Managers
Meet Adriana
Adriana Musić currently works as a Project Manager forPresent Company。But this company isn’t the only one that’s had the chance to utilise her talent —she’s had the opportunity to both study and work abroad in Paris!
How did you end up in this role?
“I work with Present Company. They are a strategy lead advertising agency — they incorporate a wide breadth of disciplines: design, development, accounts, and social media.I sit on the tech team with around 15 designers and developers,” Adriana tells us.
Studies and Experience
Adriana then had the chance to take up anundergrad student exchange with HEC Paris, which is a specialised business school. She also undertook aMasters of Management at a university in Paris, which was the first time she was introduced to Project Managing as a subject.
With project management in mind,she ended up studying a relevant course — which she really enjoyed。This led to her在巴黎登陆实习和她的第一个项目经理角色。
From these experiences,she learned to liaise with contacts and work on a smaller scale。She just kept moving on and over to one role after the other!
是什么让你想在这个行业工作？
“IInitially had an interest in this roleafter it was introduced to me while studying abroad,” Adriana reveals.
Sometimes, like Adriana, you don’t exactly know what you want to pursue while you’re still in uni, but from broadening your horizons, you might find something that just clicks!
What is a Project Manager?
The role of Project Manager is a versatile and highly social role — theyhave the responsibility ofplanning, developing, monitoring and finalising a project.项目经理将工作developing a task, brief or idea from its fruition to its finalisation!
Roles and Responsibilities
There are many different hats that a Project Manager will wear. From the advent to the finalisation of a project, a Project Manager will oversee it all!
“My day to day revolves around a client bringing in a brief — an example of this could be working out how the client can improve the quality of student satisfaction at a certain University.我把this brief and try to understand how to make this happen,” says Adriana.
“As a project manager,you work as the glue between all these different people and departments, trying to push towards a solution。I will prepare quotes, liaise with all the different stakeholders to ensure they are satisfied and their needs are being met.”
“It’s kinda like if you’re working on a group assignment, you as the Project Manager pulls the role of asking everyone ‘Hey, have you done your bit yet?’.you will be pulling everyone together to talk and develop,” she adds.
Which industries can this career be found in?
项目经理的角色可以找到的行业是无穷无尽的！y你可以找到项目经理advertising agencies and corporate affairs— evennot-for-profit organisationshave Project Managers on their teams.
Characteristics and Qualities
As a project manager,it is imperative that you are an优秀的沟通者。Skills such asspeaking, reading comprehension and active listeningwill be ones you become an expert at!
you will also need to have aclerical knowledge并舒服customer service, since you’ll be working with many different clients and stakeholders.
Some of your activities will includeplanning and prioritising work, building relationships and communicating within a team.
Steps to Becoming a Project Manager
What should you study?
To become a Project Manager there are不需要正式资格— however, they do help with getting your foot into the door. Graduating with aBachelor of Business, Commerce, or any other business-related fieldwill be highly beneficial!
Check out the following Business and Commerce degrees to learn more:
How long does it take to become a Project Manager?
Once you’ve graduated from university, you may be able tosecure a position as a Junior Project Manager.这取决于我f you choose to study a degree at a university, your undergrad studiesmay take 3 to 4 years to complete!
Industry Knowledge
“You won’t particularly have to use the software itself, but ithelps to have an understanding of the software that the people working around you will use— try and get a user based knowledge! You don’t need to get deep into them, but it will be helpful.I essentially live on the phone or in my email inbox,” Adriana tells us.
有许多不同的软件，您将作为项目经理跨越design softwares to planning and project management toolssuch asmonday.com, which helps to improve team processes.
What will this career look like in the future?
How in-demand is this career?
Currently there are116,700 individualscommencing this career in Australia. Since this job is so versatile and can fit into so many sectors, such asconstruction, information technology, architecture and events management, there is a high-demand for it!
Insome instances, staff who don’t actually have the formal qualifications for the roles are finding themselves having to assume those responsibilities.
Are there opportunities to grow or specialise?
一旦您拥有足够量的项目经理，您可能是可能的进展到高级项目管理角色。来自高级角色，您甚至可以努力解决以下问题：
-
- Management consultant
- Portfolio manager
- Head of projects
Salary
| Annual Salary | Future Growth | Skill Level Rating |
|---|---|---|
| $ 86,000 + | 未来5年稳定 | High skill |
Influential Trends
Project managers of the future will need to be people who not only have thetechnical skills来做这项工作,但也软技能。It’s no longer about being an expert at just one thing, butbeing multi-skilled and able to adapt!
Another trend to keep an eye on is the increasing diversity of project management teams. Essentially, teams willnot just consist of full-time workerswithin the existing company, but project managers will be able toconsider hiring temporary workers for projects, such as freelance and contract workers.
The ability to diversify teams will create different dynamics between team members, which project managers will need to learn to adjust to.
这个行业的未来
“I think it feels like the next wave of change will occur soon! We will rapidlyhave more hyper-personalisation of content— maybe it will start to push a different way,” Adriana says.
Hyper-personalisation refers topushing relevant content to customers, which is specifically curated for them.It requires knowing your audience really well, and recommending products or services that the customer will actually be interested in!
Best Thing & Worst Thing
What do you enjoy most about this job?
“I think specifically to working with agencies, I love the challenges!you get thrown these ambiguous briefs and feel as though you are able to thrive and accomplish with a team。you can meet some lovely, funny and kooky people along the way,” Adriana says.
这项工作中最糟糕的部分是什么？
“You can expect really long hours. If you’re not carefulyou can really experience burnout,” Adriana tells us.
With any role that you find yourself in, it’s important toprioritise your well-being and ensuring that you have an adequate work-life balance.
Advice for Aspiring Project Managers
在你开始在这个职业生涯之前，你希望你知道什么？
“Nothing is permanent — you can always shift and change.you don’t need to have it all figured out,” Adriana says.
If you decide to start a career in project management,you don’t have to just stick to one industry!The beauty of being a project manager means thatyou can dip your toe into many different industries because the skills are transferrable, so you can find yourself managing a whole variety of projects.
Why should people consider taking on this career?
“It is a really fascinating introduction to the online and tech world. You really get to公司的全面体验— you really are able to gain lots of experiences from the beginning to the end of a project,” Adriana explains.
Job Flexibility
“There is absolutely room for flexibility!我一直在九个月内从家里工作—though it is doable it is not the most optimal.作为一个项目经理，在面对面时，读一个人更容易，“她说。
What is the workplace culture like?
“这个环境有a very young, fun and cheeky culture.This is quitespecific to an advertising agency though!Everyone is very hard working,” Adriana tells us.
If you’re looking towards a career in Project Management, we hope this article has helped you weigh your options!
Matilda Elliottis a Content Writer at Art of Smart and a Communication graduate with a major in Journalism at Western Sydney University. You can find some of her published work in a range of platforms including SBS World News, The Music Network and within her own creative exploits with her twin sister. Matilda is a lover of listening, helping people to tell their stories, making genuine connections, clowning around in her circus troupe and dancing like no one is watching at live music shows!
