Research Summary. Here are some key points about hiring project managers in the United States:
Hiring a project manager comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting project managers involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of project manager recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.
Project managers earn a median yearly salary is $91,578 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find project managers for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $30 and $62.
To hire a project manager, you should create an ideal candidate profile, determine a budget, and post and promote your job. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a project manager:
The first step to find project managers for hire is determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.
Before you hire a project manager, you should also consider the ideal background you'd like them to have. For example, what industry or field they have experience in, what level of seniority or education the job requires, and how much it'll cost to hire a candidate that fits the bill.
This list presents the salaries of various project manager positions.
Type Of Project Manager | Description | Hourly Rate |
---|---|---|
Project Manager | Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any domain of engineering. Project managers are first point of contact for any issues or discrepancies arising from within the heads of various departments. | $30-62 |
Information Technology Project Manager | An information technology project manager is responsible for supervising the technology department, ensuring that all tasks are being done by following technological strategies and solutions. Information technology project managers' duties include monitoring the technology team's daily operation, handling team members' concerns, managing customers' inquiries and complaints, helping team members' in achieving their professional growth, creating reports, sharing updates during team and board meetings, and maintaining effectivity of operational procedures... Show More | $36-71 |
Manager, Project Management | The role of a project management manager involves the planning, execution, monitoring, control, and closure of projects. Project managers oversee the scope of the entire project, the team, success or failure, and its resources... Show More | $35-69 |
Before creating a project manager job description, imagine the ideal employee for this position and begin creating a profile. What skills do they have and what responsibilities do they have to be proficient in?
Here are some of the most common project manager skills:
Here are the responsibilities that most project managers perform:
Beyond the nuts and bolts, cultural fit is an important factor. It might help to ask yourself how your ideal project manager will live by the company's mission statement and contribute to the team dynamic you already have in place. Clearly communicating this vision in your project manager job description will help attract candidates who are better suited for the role.
Rank # | State | # Of Jobs | % of Population | Avg. Salary |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Virginia | 2,110 | 25% | $91,100 |
2 | Washington | 2,012 | 27% | $91,396 |
3 | Massachusetts | 1,794 | 26% | $99,738 |
4 | Georgia | 1,754 | 17% | $82,855 |
5 | New Jersey | 1,366 | 15% | $98,945 |
Including a salary range in the job description is a good way to get more applicants. A project manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, their level of experience, education and certifications, and the prestige of the employer. For example, the average salary for a project manager in Idaho may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level project manager. Additionally, a project manager with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.
Rank | State | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | California | $108,794 | $52 | 91 |
2 | Massachusetts | $99,862 | $48 | 227 |
3 | New Jersey | $99,177 | $48 | 27 |
4 | Connecticut | $98,841 | $48 | 59 |
5 | New York | $95,322 | $46 | 377 |
Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Citadel | $153,774 | $73.93 | |
2 | Apple | $139,620 | $67.13 | 45 |
3 | Meta | $139,071 | $66.86 | 830 |
4 | Reed Smith | $138,841 | $66.75 | |
5 | $136,483 | $65.62 | 212 | |
6 | Intuitive Surgical | $133,831 | $64.34 | |
7 | ServiceNow | $133,042 | $63.96 | 11 |
8 | Varian Medical Systems | $132,638 | $63.77 | 60 |
9 | Western Digital | $131,926 | $63.43 | |
10 | PayPal | $131,277 | $63.11 | 4 |
11 | Airbnb | $130,710 | $62.84 | |
12 | Mayo Clinic | $130,460 | $62.72 | 20 |
13 | NVIDIA | $128,976 | $62.01 | 25 |
14 | Waters | $128,943 | $61.99 | 1 |
15 | Bridgewater Associates | $128,658 | $61.85 | |
16 | Lyft | $128,410 | $61.74 | 2 |
17 | BP America Inc | $127,859 | $61.47 | |
18 | Chegg | $127,814 | $61.45 | |
19 | Safeway | $127,424 | $61.26 | |
20 | The New York Times Company | $127,117 | $61.11 |
A project manager job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a project manager job description:
There are a few common ways to find project managers for your business:
Post your job online:
Your first interview with project manager candidates should focus on their interest in the role and their specific background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.
It's also a good idea to ask about candidates' special skills and talents to see if they map with your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Once you've found the project manager candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary, as well as the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer needs to be competitive if you really like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.
It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
To prepare for the new project manager first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources needs to make sure that a new employee file is created for internal recordkeeping.