If you have managerial skills and can juggle several tasks at once, then a role in project management could be the job for you. The best news is that project managers are needed in all sorts of industries, says Thomas Peel, a Project Manager for a marketing agency in York.

What industry do you work in?

I’m a project manager for a company specialising in experiential marketing. This involves working with 3D design and build, shop fitting and dealing with lots of technical information.

What exactly does a project manager do?

Quite simply, I manage projects. That means managing budgets, schedules, timelines, contractors, fabricators,suppliers, deliveries, installations, and fits-outs.

I’m the person who does the joined-up thinking; if 20 people are contributing to a project, no one will know what the other is doing or why they’re doing it, because they are all focussed on doing their own bit. I have the biggest picture – I have to keep everything moving, so when people say they are going to deliver an element, I make sure it gets delivered.

What does a typical day involve?

If I’m on site, first of all I make sure everyone is there who’s supposed to be there. I deal with any health and safety issues to make sure everyone working on site is compliant. I’ll make sure everyone is delivering what they’re supposed to be delivering that day and I’ll check up on previous works and schedules. I try to find out if anyone has foreseen any problems and whether targets are going to be hit. The end date is all critical – we have a store to open on a certain day, so I need to know if there will be any slippage and work out how to manage that.

If it’s an office day, it’s generally spent preparing for site. So, ordering and buying things that we need, getting stuff delivered to site, finding contractors to build elements, as well as liaising with the designers about plans and the client for sign off on plans.

What skills do you need to be a good project manager?

Ideally, you need a good technical understanding of everybody’s job and how it all fits together. Because there are so many people to manage, you need to be a good communicator. You might not necessarily understand someone’s job, so you need to be able to ask elementary questions without annoying them.

Because the project manager is the driving force behind the project, you need to keep morale up. This means staying calm under pressure even when you‘ve got about a million plates to spin. You need a good head for information because there’s a tremendous amount of info to take in. It helps if you’re confident too, because even if you don’t have a clue what’s going on, it’s good to be able to pretend you have!

What do you enjoy about your job?

I love the freedom. I work from home on a number of different projects, so I’m always working at a different site on different tasks. I enjoy not sitting in an office all day. The buzz when a project is coming together is really great too.

Is there any element you don’t enjoy?

With so many people to manage, it can be stressful – but your success is completely in the hands of these people. Some people wouldn’t be able to cope with that.

Is it a recession-proof career?

Yes, in that there are a million types of project managers working in a million types of industries and professions, whether that’s e.g. architecture, software or construction.

What advice do you have for anyone wanting to be a project manager?

Identify what industry you want to work in and then target companies in that field. Because it’s a very management-heavy job, your CV should reflect some management experience.  Depending on what industry you choose, there are certain bodies that will put you through skills training – it’s up to you to do the research.

For some great project management opportunities, visit Jobsite today.

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