Do you have a knack for organization? Are you good at communicating with people and leading teams? In that case, a career in project management may fit you like a glove!
Obtaining an online degree in project management is a worthy investment as qualified professionals in high demand across the industries. As a matter of fact, 22 million new project management job openings are projected through 2027 according to the research done by the Project Management Institute.
If you still wonder whether a master of business and project management is the right thing for you, this article can help clarify why it could be your best career move.
What is The Scope of Project Management?
Project management consists of planning, organizing, securing, controlling, leading, and managing tasks and resources to achieve specific business goals.
Working as a project manager, you’d be in charge of determining strategies to kick off the project, as well as evaluating and understanding the project requirements, analyzing and bringing the required professionals on board, and lastly monitoring the progress of the work.
Sounds like a handful, right? If juggling multiple projects, schedules, and tasks sound too difficult to you, worry not as MSc in project management distance learning will teach you how to handle all of it and more.
6 Reasons To Earn an Online MSc in Project Management
And now, onto the main thing: How exactly can you benefit from earning your master of science in project management online?
We boiled it down to these six benefits:
- Growing Job Opportunities
- Solid Earning Potential
- Work Across The Industries
- Real-Life Experience
- Study Theory Behind Practice
- Learn From The Best
Growing Job Opportunities
As the number of project management jobs has dramatically increased over the last few decades, their description has become more defined and often requires more than experience working in the industry.
Obtaining a project management masters degree online showcases the potential employers that you take the field seriously and have a firm grasp on the standard practices of project management.
Solid Earning Potential
With high demand comes lucrative pay. Below are listed five highest-paying project management jobs (average U.S. salaries are taken for reference):
- Engineering project management professional: $124,434
Apart from collaborating with engineers, these professionals communicate with clients to make sure the end product satisfies their needs.
- Aerospace project management professional: $129,732
Focus areas for this position include risk management and quality control. Aerospace project managers work alongside engineers and designers to make sure new aircraft is delivered on time and budget.
- Pharmaceutical project management professional: $133,246
As the pharmaceutical industry is expected to reach $1.1 trillion in sales by 2022, it’s not surprising that these professionals earn one of the top five project management salaries. As in other branches, their role is to ensure that research and development activities stay on schedule and budget.
- Consulting project management professional: $134,149
These professionals are in charge of furnishing industry expertise and knowledge to the client to help them succeed in their project.
- Resources project management professional: $134,577
These project managers oversee the procurement of natural resources for efficient delivery to end consumers. They usually work with farmers, mining, and oil companies.
Work Across The Industries
From the IT field over the business service, oil and gas, finance and insurance, manufacturing, construction, and utility industries, project managers are needed all over the world.
Contrary to the past, when people were promoted to project managers after becoming experts in a particular field, today this position requires a very specific skill set that has little to do with the specific industry.
As long as there are technical experts, the project manager is responsible for overseeing and directing the work, rather than actually building the product. Since a business project management degree teaches you the processes and techniques necessary to lead in any sector, you can easily transition between industries.
Real-Life Experience
Most project management students are required to gain some practical experience during the last semesters of their studies. It’s usually in the form of an internship or practicum at a local company with an experienced project manager as a mentor.
Generally, an internship resembles a full-time job as the practicum combines academic research with part-time experience in an actual job setting.
It’s a great addition to your resume, as it showcases future employers that you have some hands-on experience.
Study Theory Behind the Practice
Another great advantage of earning a project management masters degree online is learning the theories behind specific practices. This allows you to understand why things are done a particular way further enabling you to recognize when a different approach is needed.
This especially goes for emerging technologies. As a project management professional, you need to analyze a situation, formulate a plan, and choose which tools will work best. This calls for a deeper understanding of the principles of project management which cannot be gained from experience alone.
Learn From The Best
Many lecturers in the project management master programs currently work or have worked in the field, so they can provide you with actual examples that illustrate the curriculum.
Along with the experts teaching the class, many students in project management degree programs are returning to school as adults with previous working experience either as a project manager or a similar position. This allows for more versatile discussions in the classroom.
Final Word
If this article sparked your interest and made you consider earning a master’s degree in project management, you should evaluate all of your options to find the program that works the best for you.
When looking for a postgraduate degree in project management program that best aligns with your personal and professional goals, keep the following questions in mind:
- Is the program flexible enough to allow you to pursue your degree while on the job?
- Are the program’s faculty members actual project management professionals?
- Will you have the opportunity to gain the industry-specific knowledge you’ll need for success?
We are happy to inform you that our MSc Project Management online program satisfies all of the requirements above.
You can learn more about the program by downloading our prospectus.
Feel free to contact us for any additional questions as we’ll be more than happy to help you.