What's the industry demand for Project Managers or positions in Project Management? How rewarding is the field? What are the jobs tasks and how different is it from Business Analysts'? I did some research but got mixed results about job tasks, salary and demand...Maybe someone with experience or knowledge in that field could provide some feedback here.

Nepalijose -

Industry demand is pretty strong across most vertical and regions as far as I know. Given the structure of most businesses, it is likely to remain steady for the foreseeable future across the global playing field although it might vary by country and region (ie its booming in India and China along with the rest of the economy)

Just my thoughts.

The Project Management Institute website might be of interest to you : - http://www.pmi.org/info/default.asp

Captain Haddock,

Thanks for the input. I too noticed that it is a discipline that is portable across many industries and in great demand specially in growing economies. I had checked out the PMI site before but it had more information on the organization itself and provided little information to someone who wanted to get started off in that field. What would be an ideal career path to becoming a Project Manager?

NepaliJose,
Project management is a very very rewarding field.For a person with technical skills like engineering,health care it can be a very good catalyst in cementing one's career.
In a day where we are talking about 6 sigma concept..limiting to 3.2 errors in million opportunity ...project management can be and is applied everywhere.
I myself being in a technical field know how important it is for managing projects. after all what ever u do...where ever u work...its about making money...

Although I know you would need to have the all the technical know-hows to become a Project Manager in a specific industry (e.g. IT industry), is it absolutely necessary to first be on a technical position for sometime before moving into Project Management?? I see it more of a position with a good blend of technical and analytical skills because, unlike a traditional management position, the Project Management discipline seems to be an area where you are helping an organization meet its goals by making the most use of resources and minimizing risk.

I know that technical people later on move to Management later on in their respective fields after gaining experience and advanced degrees. Is it the same for Project Managers? I understand that PM positions (just like Business Analysts) are horizontal to Technical people and not vertical. Correct me if I am wrong here..

Also, what are some of the commonly used tools??

more input??

Nepalijose -

Please see my responses below.

" What would be an ideal career path to becoming a Project Manager? "

I am not sure if there is such a thing an ideal path. You need to have strong leadership qualities and in most organizations, especially in the services sector, it doesn't matter what your academic background is. An MBA might help - again depending on the firm - but most organizations that I know of accept people with Bachelors degrees. In many consulting firms, you can get in as an associate or junior associate (titles vary by firms) and then move along the career structure (ie on to Sr Associate, Manager, Sr Mgr, Director, VP etc)

"l though I know you would need to have the all the technical know-hows to become a Project Manager in a specific industry (e.g. IT industry), is it absolutely necessary to first be on a technical position for sometime before moving into Project Management?? "

No. Hence the entry-level PM positions mentioned above. But subject matter knowledge is definitely an advantage.

" I see it more of a position with a good blend of technical and analytical skills because, unlike a traditional management position, the Project Management discipline seems to be an area where you are helping an organization meet its goals by making the most use of resources and minimizing risk."

Above all leadership skills (please dont ask me for a definition :P - it would vary by org but the standard stuff around "soft" and "hard" skills ...managing, motivating, empathy, growing others yada yada ...lookup PMI and/or google)

" I know that technical people later on move to Management later on in their respective fields after gaining experience and advanced degrees. Is it the same for Project Managers? "

Yes, there would /should typically be a career path up that would vary by organization.

"I understand that PM positions (just like Business Analysts) are horizontal to Technical people and not vertical. Correct me if I am wrong here.. "

It depends. Some PMs could be vertical too depending on the organization and project.

This is all based on my own understanding of things. Obviously, project management practices and structures differs from firm to firm, industry to industry and you run the risk of broad stroking if you try to look at this too generically.

Captain Haddock,

Your response is much appreciated and you seem to have a pretty good knowledge of this. Thanks!!

The position titles that I see these days such as Business Analysts, Application Analysts and even PMs are so vague and diverse in its nature and responsibilities that it is difficult to define what they do and I guess the best answer for that would be "It depends". Unlike more traditional IT positions like a Programmer or a Database Administrator, these positions can be pretty confusing to understand at first and that is why even after doing some research, I found the job responsibilities and requirements for PMs vary from company to company.

More conversation in this topic is encouraged.

BTY, there is a very good opening for PM for a telecom company in TX for min. of 2 years. Basic requirements includes some previous work experience in IT project management, knowledge in IBM middleware products (WebSphere) - optional, and strong communication skills. Interested?, write me at : brain_malfunction0[AT]yahoo[DOT]com. It is a very urgent requirement.