Project Management is fast becoming a new career choice with many retraining in this field. There are approximately 16.5 million people worldwide practicing as Project Managers (PM’s) in one guise or another. Although only 400000 were PMP qualified.

Anyone and everyone manages a project a some stage in their lives whether they realise it or not, think about the last holiday you went on, I bet you went on a similar course to the following- ‘I need a holiday’ then ‘where can I go’ and then you did research and booked where you fancied. Then you will have ensured all the correct documentation in order, bought currency and then travelled. A logical process in which is very similar to project management principles of ‘Concept’- Your decision to go on holiday, ‘Definition’- You decided where to go’, ‘Implementation’- you booked your holiday and went away, ‘Handover & Close out’ – You came home and reviewed your holiday. See, you managed a project!

So what drives people to train to become PM’s? In the US the average salary in 2007 was $87000 per annum and in the UK the average is £42000 per annum. Not bad salary’s for full time work. Experienced PM’s can earn as much as £100’s of pounds an hour for freelance work. The work is often strenuous but the rewards to see your project complete is one of great satisfaction and financial pleasure. Bonuses can range from hundreds of pounds to tens of thousands of pounds. One PM I met earned a six-figure sum for completing a large 5 year complex construction project!

So what do you have to do to become a PM? Well, formally, not a lot, but be good with planning, estimating, controlling people, managing, accounting, H&S and the list goes on. Most companies however look for formal qualifications, such as PMP, Prince2 and APM. Training can be expensive and many companies now offer these courses for a pricely sum. The APM BoK 5th Edition alone is £47, PMP £43 and Prince2 manual £75! If you are going to book a course then do your research into the company offering it. If you are interested in the APM Book of Knowledge you can purchase it as an ebook/pdf here http://uploadnsell.com/buy/BaYiLE for only £20. (Guarantee you wont find it cheaper!)

Project Management is a very rewarding career, and one that I am enjoying. I hope you found this article interesting.