If you’re looking to become an IT project manager, Jennifer Bridges, PMP, explains the job description, skills, qualifications, path and training involved. Then read on to learn even more about starting your IT project manager career.
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What Is IT Project Management?
IT project management consists of applying project management principles to information technology projects. It involves planning, executing, monitoring and closing IT-related initiatives to ensure they align with business objectives. As this industry is constantly changing thanks to rapid technological enhancements, these projects must be completed on time to keep up with the competition.
Key aspects of IT project management are scope, schedule, cost, resource and risk management. Common IT project examples include IT system implementations, data center migrations, network infrastructure upgrades, software development or cloud computing deployments.
IT Project Manager Job Description, Skills & Qualifications
What does a project manager in IT do? Jennifer described an IT project manager as one who oversees the process of planning, executing and delegating responsibilities around an organization’s IT pursuits and goals, often with the help of IT project management software.
That sounds a lot like what a project manager does in any industry. For clarification, she went on to note some unique aspects of the job, by detailing the skills and qualifications needed to work as an IT project manager:
- Technical management skills
- Technical understanding including hardware, software, network, infrastructure, security, etc.
- Ability to analyze information and glean insights from data
- Good at informing others and at communicating with many different teams
- Capable of staffing many different roles
- Excellent at problem-solving
- Strong data center management skills
- Advanced resource planning, capacity planning and task scheduling skills
IT Project Manager Salary and Job Outlook
When it comes to an IT project manager’s salary, there is a broad range. In the U.S., this role can earn anywhere from $95,000 to $125,000 per year. Entry-level positions typically earn less while those with specialized skills and experience can earn considerably more. Key salary factors include location, experience, certifications, company size and industry. For example, IT project managers in finance or technology may offer more compensation.
The job outlook for IT project managers is overall positive. According to Gartner, worldwide IT spending is expected to grow to $5.74 trillion in 2025, a 9.3 percent increase from 2024. According to Zippia, the technology industry is the highest-paying for project managers, while project manager employment is expected to increase by 7 percent from 2023 to 2033.
Career Paths for IT Project Managers
If you’re interested in becoming an IT project manager but you’re not sure where to start, consider an entry-level position as a project coordinator or assistant. This is a great way to get hands-on experience supporting IT project managers. Volunteering to manage IT projects for a nonprofit organization can also build your portfolio.
Those who already work in IT may want to transition into a project management role. In this case, consider obtaining certifications such as a PMP (Project Management Professional), CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) or agile certifications like a scrum master. These can demonstrate your knowledge and commitment to project management. Don’t be afraid to attend industry events or conferences, or use platforms like LinkedIn to connect with IT professionals.
Preparing an IT Project Manager Resume
To land your dream job as an IT project manager, ensure your resume is as strong as possible. The top of your resume should include a customized summary for each job you’re applying for. Here, highlight relevant skills, technical expertise and leadership abilities. When showcasing your experience, list them in reverse chronological order, with your most recent position at the top. Quantify your results whenever possible (ex: reduced downtime by 20 percent) instead of using general language.
As IT projects are incredibly technical, be sure to emphasize technical skills on your resume. List any relevant hardware, software or programming languages you know and highlight proficiency in areas like cybersecurity or cloud computing. With this knowledge, you can use your resume to showcase your skills and land your next job.
IT Project Management Job Plan
To get that position as an IT project manager, Jennifer said, you’ll want to first look at what skills, experience and training you already have. Now compare that to the skills, experience and training necessary to land that IT project management position you’re after.
Where are the gaps in your skills, experience and training? Once you’ve identified them, you can begin to create a plan and work towards filling those holes in your resume.
Related: Using the STAR Method to Crush Your Next Interview
What About IT Project Management Training?
Training is always helpful for IT positions, especially if you lack real-world experience. Jennifer listed the following training courses that deal with the specific needs of an IT project manager.
- IT PM: Project management training that deals with technology, such as infrastructure, hardware, software, networks, etc.
- ITIL: Information Technology Infrastructure Library covers the best practices used to develop and execute IT service management for a company.
- ITSM: Information Technology Service Management teaches how to deliver end-to-end IT services for a company.
What About Scrum, Agile and Other Certifications?
Jennifer added that some people ask her how Scrum and Agile or other certifications fit in. She said it often has to do with your organization.
While it’s true that Scrum and Agile are often thought of in terms of managing IT projects, that’s not always the case. Those ideas have seeped into project management writ large. But more importantly, not all IT projects use them, so it’s not a deal-breaker.
Transcription:
Today we’re talking about how to become an IT project manager, and IT meaning information technology. And when someone asks me that, I love it because I know they’re intentional, but it really depends on how to get there for their career path.
So let’s take a look at some options. It depends on if someone starts in IT. They could be a techie or they could be some other role in IT already, so they have an interest in the project management piece.
They could also be non-IT, meaning they could be in a different business unit. Maybe like operations, marketing, or even finance. And they could be a project manager for those type of projects or they could be some other role.
So again, they have an interest in becoming a project manager for the IT part of the project.
So some people ask, “Well, what about Agile and Scrum? How does that fit in?” And it really depends on your organization, and it really depends on the type of projects you work on. Not every project is managed using the Agile or Scrum methodology, so you may not need it.
So let’s look at some…the job description, and let’s look at some common skills and qualifications that companies look for.
So the job description is, the project manager oversees the process of planning and executing and delegating responsibilities around the organization’s IT pursuits and goals.
So some of the job skills they look for is someone with technical management and a technical understanding. They wanna make sure the project manager has an understanding of how maybe the hardware or the software, the infrastructure, maybe network and security, all fit together.
They also wanna make sure that the person can analyze information because, in IT, there’s a lot of data and metrics that go. So they have to be able to take that information and glean insights for the project.
They also need to be good at informing others because, typically on IT projects, there are different types of things, again, people working on the infrastructure, the software, the hardware, that have to integrate and communicate.
Also, staffing the roles on the project, problem-solving things that come up, data center management. So typically, the technology is in data somewhere. It could be within the company or it could be somewhere outsourced by a third-party vendor.
And then also, it’s very important to understand advanced project management tools for resource planning and advanced scheduling feature. Something like a projectmanager.
So here are…when you’re looking at the career path, how to get there, so you wanna look at the skills, experience, and training that you have already, and you want to compare that to an IT project manager and the specific type of projects you’re interested in working in.
So look at the specific skills, experience, and training that you need or is required. And with that, you find the gaps, and that’s what you use to build your custom plan for you.
So let’s talk about some of the training. So with that, you will need project management training. But there’s also a specific IT training dealing with technology, specific understanding how to manage projects around infrastructure, hardware, software, maybe again networks, and now, security is so important.
But some people ask about ITIL and ITSM. So what does that stand for? So ITIL is Information Technology Infrastructure Library. It’s not project management. What it is is best practices used to develop and execute IT service management for the company.
And so ITSM is, again, Information Technology Services Management, and it’s how you deliver end to end IT services within the company.
So hopefully, that helps to delineate what some of the terms mean, understand what the description of the role is, and some of the requirements for that.
So if you need a tool that help you become an IT project manager, then sign up for our software now at ProjectManager.
