All About Being a Project Manager

A project manager is in charge of planning and executing a particular project. The Project Management Institute defines project managers as “change agents” who work towards project goals as if they were their own and apply their expertise to organize the project team around the shared purpose. 

Most importantly, project managers work well under pressure and are comfortable with change and complexity in dynamic environments. Currently, there are about 16.5 million project managers globally. 

What Does a Project Manager Do?

In a broad sense, project managers are responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the completion of specific projects for an organization while ensuring that projects are on time, on budget, and within scope.

The “project life cycle” consists of five phases: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. 

Initiating the first phase of the project life cycle is about “kicking off” a project. 

Project managers will ask essential questions in the initiation phase, including why the project is necessary, the specific problem at hand, the desired outcome, who the stakeholders are, how the project will be funded, and if the project is within the overall scope.

Once the charter is approved, project managers will work with key stakeholders to create a project plan to attain the outlined goals. The planning phase is arguably the most critical project phase in the cycle.

The plan established during the planning process helps project managers oversee scope, cost, timeline, risk, quality issues, and communications. 

The third step is execution. During this phase, team members complete the work identified in the project plan. The project manager will ensure that all tasks are completed as scheduled. 

Monitoring and controlling processes commence at the beginning of a project and continue throughout planning, execution, and closing, despite being the fourth phase in the cycle. In the monitoring and controlling phase, project managers will monitor the progress of a project, manage the project’s budget, ensure that the team has reached key milestones, and compare actual performance against the planned and scheduled performance. 

And finally, the closing phase ensures the completion of all activities necessary to achieve the final result. The closing phase can be one of the most rewarding stages of project management, as it’s a great opportunity to recognize and acknowledge valuable team members and celebrate successes.

Project Manager Salary

The average salary for a project manager in the United States is $81,313 per year. Indeed.com generated this number based on 29.7 thousand salaries reported as of September 2022.

For individuals with less than one year of experience as a project manager, the average salary is $78,768. And for project managers with over ten years of experience, the average wage lands at $84,598. 

But the level of education one attains also plays a vital role in salary. As in most industries, higher educational attainment can often yield higher pay. 

According to Coursera, individuals with a four-year college degree can make up to $110,250 per year, those with a master’s degree can make up to $120,000, and those with a doctoral degree can make about $123,000.

Top Companies Hiring Project Managers 2022

The following is a list of the top 10 companies looking for project managers this year:

• IBM - Rating: 4/5
  IBM is a premier corporate research organization with 28 years of experience. The average project manager’s salary at IBM is $102,090 per year.
• Deloitte - Rating: 4/5
  Deloitte delivers measurable and lasting results by providing its clients with the best audit, consulting, tax, and advisory services. Deloitte’s average project manager’s salary is $126,930 per year.
• JPMorgan - Rating: 4/5
  Since 1799, JPMorgan has been helping businesses, markets, and communities establish and grow. Currently, the company has clients in over 100 countries. The average project manager’s salary at JPMorgan is $103,750 per year.
• Bank of America - Rating: 4/5
  The Bank of America was founded in 1904 and is one of the world’s leading financial institutions covering banking services, investing, risk management, etc. The average project manager's salary at Bank of America is $133,369.
• Accenture - Rating: 4/5
  Since 1989, Accenture has used leading technologies to create software, including market-shaping AI and self-optimizing systems. The project manager's salary at Accenture is $123,000 per year.
• Kaiser Permanente - Rating: 4/5
  Kaiser Permanente provides a leading not-for-profit health plan for over 12.5 million members in 600 locations. Kaiser Permanente’s average project manager’s salary is $123,533 per year.
• Verizon - Rating: 3.9/5
  Verizon is one of the world leaders in technology, communications, information, and entertainment products. Verizon’s average project manager’s salary is $103,500 per year.
• Honeywell - Rating: 3.8/5
  Honeywell was founded in 1885 and has worked across multiple industries, including aerospace and tech, for over a century. The average project manager’s salary at Honeywell is $103,771 per year.
• AT&T - Rating: 3.7/5
  AT&T covers tech, communication, and entertainment. The company gives premium experiences to its customers in each of these sectors. AT&T's average project manager's salary is $100,186 per year.
• AECOM - Rating: 3.7/5
  AECOM is one of the most trusted infrastructure consulting firms globally, offering services for the entire project cycle. The average project manager’s salary at AECOM is $91,798 per year.