Education · 1 of 5

The path

Almost nobody starts here. You arrive from somewhere else in technology.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 11 and 12

   Math, English and any computing course. Organizing anything real, a team, a club, an event, counts for more than it sounds.

2. 2

   Bachelor's degree

   4 years

   Computer science, information systems or business are the common ones. Plenty of good project managers hold unrelated degrees.

3. 3

   A technical job first

   2 to 4 years

   Support technician, tester, business analyst or developer. You need to understand what the team is actually doing.

4. 4

   Start coordinating

   1 to 2 years

   Take the schedule, the status notes and the meeting nobody wants to run. This is how the title arrives.

5. 5

   Certify and specialize

   Alongside work

   CompTIA Project+ early on, then the PMP (Project Management Professional) once you have enough hours of leading projects.