A program manager is someone who is able to clearly articulate the program's strategy. In addition, they're constantly evaluating projects that are needed to reach the program's goals.
A super important skill for you to have in this position is definitely communication. If you can't communicate to other people than forget it. Or work on it. Which you'll be able to do while you're in college because program managers need a bachelor's degree.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a program manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $47.55 an hour? That's $98,897 a year!
There are certain skills that many program managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, customer-service skills and leadership skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a program manager, we found that a lot of resumes listed 26.9% of program managers included project management, while 7.5% of resumes included procedures, and 4.4% of resumes included oversight. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the program manager job title. But what industry to start with? Most program managers actually find jobs in the technology and manufacturing industries.
If you're interested in becoming a program manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 41.2% of program managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 38.6% of program managers have master's degrees. Even though most program managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a program manager. When we researched the most common majors for a program manager, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on program manager resumes include associate degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a program manager. In fact, many program manager jobs require experience in a role such as project manager. Meanwhile, many program managers also have previous career experience in roles such as senior project manager or manager.
