Research has paid little attention to the careers and career models of project managers [Bredin/Söderlund 2013]. Some authors highlight the difficult situation project managers are exposed to, for example an article in the International Journal of Project Management (IJPM) titled “Great expectations and hard times: The paradoxical experience of the engineer as project manager” [Hodgson/Paton/Cicmil 2011]. There is only a few articles and books describing the potentials  of designing and implementing a career path for project managers [Hölzle 2010]. Basically, the Human Resource Department should take care for analysing the needs for and establishing a tailor-made career path. The blogpost “Human Resource Management in the project-oriented Organization” refers to one of the few books available in this area [http://blog.ipma.world/human-resource-management-in-the-project-oriented-organization/].

About one month ago I performed a small survey and asked the following questions by using a Likert scale from 1 “not important” to 7 “very important”:

• How important is it for you to take over responsibility for a project?
• How important are the following factors for you to take over responsibility for a project?
  • Responsibility given
  • Challenging tasks
  • Learning opportunities
  • Progressing own career
  • Others…. Please specify….
• How important is it for you to progress your career in your organization?
• How important are the following factors for you to make career in your organization?
  • Exposure to Top Management
  • Managing projects in time, budget and quality
  • Competences given at the present time
  • Project-friendly culture
  • Others…. Please specify….
• How many years of experience do you have in managing projects? [mean = 15.42]
• What is your age? [mean = 42.89]

The small sample of 44 people who have filled the questionnaire completely significantly limits the possibilities of an analysis. Thus, we need to take the results with caution. Nevertheless, taking over responsibility for a project is very important (6.2) for the respondents. It´s not their interest in progressing the career that drives a project manager to take responsibility, it´s rather the challenging tasks and the responsibility given. However, project managers are interested in progressing their careers (5.57). Age and the years of experience in the field of project management are negatively correlated with the importance of career. It isn´t the degree to which someone manages projects in time, budget and quality that has the highest impact on career, but factors such as the exposure to top management and the competences given at present time.

More research is needed for a better understanding of the special requirements, the demand and the possibilities of progressing careers in the domain of project management. Career progression will look (very) different for project managers in comparison with other people in an organization. A career might be defined as a sequence of professional activities and positions that one is moving along over a period of time. It may be rather horizontal, cross-functional or hybrid. Bredin and Söderlund mention that “the role of the project manager creates so much pressure that people tend to choose other career paths, despite the fact that they might favour the action-oriented, temporary engagements, and dynamic work environment typical for project-based work” and argue that the empirical context as such is generally of interest to better understand the changes of managerial careers in a projectized society.

Sources:

• Bredin K, Söderlund J (2013) Project managers and career models: An exploratory comparative study. International Journal of Project Management 31: 889-902
• Hodgson D, Paton S, Cicmil S (2011) Great expectations and hard times: The paradoxical experience of the engineer as project manager. International Journal of Project Management 29: 374-382
• Hölzle K (2010) Designing and implementing a career path for project managers. International Journal of Project Management 28: 779-786