Developing Project Management Skills: How to Gain the Experience You Need to Succeed as a Project Manager

Getting project management experience is crucial for anyone looking to become a successful project manager. But how exactly do you go about getting this valuable experience that companies want to see?

This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know to build up your project management skills, knowledge, and qualifications to advance your career. We'll provide tips for gaining hands-on PM experience, earning certifications, choosing the right training, and highlighting your experience on your resume.

By the end, you’ll have a clear roadmap to developing the project management credentials you need to impress future employers and stand out from the competition. Let’s dive in!

What Qualifies as Project Management Experience?

When applying for project manager roles, employers want to see solid evidence that you have real-world experience actually managing projects from start to finish. But what exactly counts as valid project management experience that will appeal to recruiters and hiring managers?

Generally speaking, any hands-on experience where you personally led, directed, and guided projects through the full project management lifecycle can qualify as project management experience. This includes:

• Serving as the official project manager on work projects at your current company. Being able to show that you were directly responsible for planning, budgeting, scheduling, leading the team, tracking progress, resolving issues, and ultimately delivering projects successfully will appeal to employers.

• Leading a team and completely overseeing a project as part of a student group, volunteer organization, or community initiative. This demonstrates you have experience managing a real project through all stages while coordinating team members.

• Managing your own projects independently for clients as a freelancer or side business owner. Planning and executing projects yourself from scope definition through delivery shows you have end-to-end project management skills.

• Completing a project management internship where you took on PM responsibilities under the guidance of an experienced project manager mentor. Hands-on experience with real project work can be invaluable.

• Serving in a project leadership role like project coordinator or assistant project manager. Experience supporting a PM provides exposure to project workflows and processes.

The key is showing that you personally handled core project management responsibilities like defining scope, creating detailed project plans, developing budgets, managing resource schedules, leading a team, monitoring progress, controlling changes, mitigating risks, and closing projects out on time and within budget.

Any experience where you directly guided an entire project through the key stages of the project management process can demonstrate your capabilities as a project manager.

How to Get Project Management Experience

If you’re just starting out in your career, how can you get the hands-on project management experience employers want to see? Here are some of the best ways:

Take on PM Responsibilities in Your Current Role

Look for opportunities to manage projects and demonstrate PM skills in your current position, even if you aren’t officially a project manager. Bring up the desire to gain project management experience during your next one-on-one meeting with your manager. Volunteer to take lead on planning and executing team projects. Develop project charters, put together detailed project plans, manage cross-functional teams, create schedules and budgets, monitor progress using tools like Gantt charts, track issues, manage changes, communicate with stakeholders, and report on project performance.

Highlight all of these project management activities in your resume and interviews. Having direct project oversight and leadership experience is ideal. But taking on any PM responsibilities will help you gain knowledge and skills.

Volunteer to Lead Projects for Student Groups or Nonprofits

Volunteering is a great way to get hands-on experience managing projects. Look for opportunities to take on project manager roles with student groups on campus, local community organizations, places of worship, hospitals, or nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity. You can often find openings to manage fundraising events, build homes, organize conferences, develop apps, or work on other projects that benefit the organization and community. Leading real projects for volunteer groups provides concrete examples of project leadership you can include on your resume.

Manage Your Own Projects as an Independent Contractor

Run independent projects for clients as a freelancer or start your own side business doing contract work. Managing projects end-to-end for yourself allows you to gain experience in all aspects of project management. Define the scope and objectives, plan the project, assemble teams if needed, manage the budget and timeline, monitor progress, address issues, communicate status with clients, and deliver the final product.

Just be sure to track details like the project budget, duration, resources, timelines, deliverables, and results so you can quantify the full scope and impact of your projects. This will help you showcase these examples later in interviews and on your resume.

Complete a Project Management Internship

Interning with an experienced project manager is one of the best ways to gain hands-on experience. Project management internships allow you to learn directly from PMs working on real projects in your industry of interest. Look for internships at companies focused on project work like construction firms, IT project services, engineering and design agencies, consulting groups, or creative agencies.

In a PM internship, you’ll assist with key processes like creating project charters, developing detailed project plans, assembling teams, monitoring work, and reporting on progress. You’ll gain invaluable experience and have a mentor who can coach you and serve as a future reference.

Work Part-Time or Temp as a Project Coordinator

Many project coordinator and project assistant roles serve as a stepping stone to full project manager positions. These roles provide great opportunities to get your foot in the door with project management experience.

Look for project coordination jobs that will allow you to support PMs in planning projects, creating schedules and budgets, documenting requirements, assembling resources, facilitating team communication, tracking issues, managing change requests, monitoring progress, and reporting status.

Ask Your Manager for More Project Responsibility

If there are limited project opportunities in your current role, have an open conversation with your manager about your career interests. Explain that you aspire to become a project manager one day and are hoping to gain more hands-on PM experience. Ask if they would be willing to provide opportunities for you to take on more project leadership responsibilities to build this expertise. Offer to lead upcoming team projects and provide PM support where it’s needed most.

With your manager’s buy-in, volunteer to define scope requirements, create project plans, assemble teams, manage schedules and budgets, track progress in project management tools, and report on milestones. Document all the project details so you can include them on your resume later.

Earn Certifications to Demonstrate PM Knowledge

Beyond just hands-on experience, project management certifications show you have the knowledge and skills needed to align with industry best practices. They demonstrate initiative and signal to employers that you’re serious about a career in project management.

Here are two of the most well-recognized and respected PM certifications:

PMP Certification

The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI) is the gold standard certification for project managers. It proves extensive PM education, training, and experience. 

To qualify for the PMP:

• You must have a 4-year degree

• Complete 35 contact hours of formal project management education/training

• Provide proof of at least 3 years (or 36 months) and 4,500 hours of professional project management work experience

• Pass the PMP exam

Earning your PMP certification shows you have demonstrated comprehensive project management knowledge and a commitment to the profession. It will give you a significant advantage in the job market.

CAPM Certification

The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is another well-recognized certification from PMI. It has lower experience requirements, making it a good choice if you are earlier in your PM career.

To qualify for the CAPM:

• You need a high school diploma or secondary diploma

• Complete 23 hours of formal project management education/training

• Provide proof of at least 1,500 hours of experience participating on project teams

• Pass the CAPM exam

Since the CAPM has lower experience requirements, it’s a great way to get started with formal PM certification. You can then work towards meeting the higher requirements for the PMP down the road.

Overall, earning an industry certification proves you have invested in developing project management skills. It complements your hands-on experience and demonstrates your commitment to a career as a project manager.

Invest in Project Management Courses and Training

To earn a certification and further build your skills, invest time in project management training courses and educational programs. Here are some top options to consider:

Formal Degree Programs

Earning an associates or bachelors degree in project management provides comprehensive training tailored specifically for PM roles. Through two or four years of in-depth coursework, you’ll gain well-rounded expertise in areas like PM methodology, budget and schedule management, Procurement, Agile and waterfall frameworks, project leadership, tools like Microsoft Project, and much more. This is the most thorough option to build robust PM knowledge.

University Certificate Programs

University-issued project management certificate programs are another solid option. These shorter programs, often completed online in a matter of months, focus directly on core project management competencies needed for PM jobs. They provide hands-on training in essential skills like managing teams, PM methodology, project planning, budgeting, scheduling, risk management, Agile, communication, reporting, and project closing. Certificates can often count towards credits in a university’s degree program as well.

Online Courses

For maximum flexibility, consider taking individual online courses in project management topics you need to build skills in. There are online courses available to strengthen specific competencies like creating detailed project plans, managing remote teams, PM methodology, budget management, using Microsoft Project or other PM software tools, improving leadership skills, and more. Choose courses in your weakest or least developed areas of project management expertise.

Bootcamps

If you want very accelerated training, specialized project management bootcamps teach you core PM methodology in just weeks through intense hands-on learning. Combining case study reviews, software tool tutorials, role-playing exercises, and other interactive elements, bootcamps aim to rapidly build project management skills. Look for programs that also help with PM certification exam preparation and career placement support.

Seminars, Workshops and Local PMI Chapter Meetings

Don’t overlook local in-person training options as well. Attending project management seminars, workshops, PMI chapter meetings, conferences, and events allows you to expand your PM knowledge through short sessions. Absorb tips and best practices from industry experts at these events. PMI chapters also offer study groups and exam prep resources if you’re pursuing a certification.

Any investment you make in project management education, whether a full degree program or a single training workshop, will pay dividends by strengthening your resume as you pursue PM roles. Just be sure to quantify details like the length of courses, specific skills covered, any certifications attained, key deliverables, and anything else that captures the scope and depth of the training.

How to Highlight Your Experience on Your Resume

Once you’ve started gaining project management experience through work, volunteering, side projects, internships, and courses, make sure to effectively highlight it on your resume. Follow these tips:

List Any Official Project Manager Roles

Lead your experience section with any full-time or contract project manager roles. For each, include key details like:

• The company name

• Your official job title

• Dates of employment

• Project team size you managed

• Project types or industries

• Budgets managed

• Key project accomplishments

This quickly shows your dedicated PM experience up front.

Include a “Project Management Experience” Section

Next, include a separate “Project Management Experience” section and detail PM responsibilities you handled in other jobs, even if your title wasn't “project manager”. Outline:

• Company/group name

• Your role

• Project description

• Project duration

• Your specific responsibilities

Use hard numbers and on-the-job examples of things like leading cross-functional teams, executing projects end-to-end, creating project plans, managing budgets and schedules, tracking progress, resolving issues, and meeting delivery timelines.

Quantify Project Details

For each experience, quantify details like:

• The project budget

• Duration

• Number of team members

• Milestones met

• Final project impact

Metrics like these document the size and scope of the projects you successfully managed.

Specify Your Hands-On Responsibilities

Under each role, clarify your specific responsibilities, like:

• Developing project charters

• Creating detailed project plans and documentation

• Assembling project teams

• Managing budgets and resource schedules

• Leading status meetings

• Monitoring work progress

• Managing change requests and approvals

• Tracking issues and risks

• Reporting on milestones to stakeholders

• Keeping projects on-time and on-budget

Showing the hands-on PM tasks you’ve personally executed makes your experience stand out.

Add a “Project Management Skills” Section

Include a “Project Management Skills” section that highlights relevant proficiencies like:

• Budget management

• Resource planning

• Team leadership

• Agile methodologies

• Microsoft Project

• Presentation skills

• Risk analysis

• Requirements gathering

• Change management

Backing up your experience with key PM skills conveys your well-rounded expertise.

List Certifications, Education, and Training

Finally, end your resume with sections highlighting:

• Any project management certifications earned like CAPM or PMP

• Project management coursework, degrees, certificates, or bootcamps completed

• Project management conferences, workshops, or seminars you’ve attended 

This further exhibits your investment in building robust PM qualifications.

Following these tips will help you create a compelling and polished resume tailored perfectly for project management roles. You’ll stand out with a combination of proven hands-on PM experience coupled with education, training, and certifications.

Key Takeaways for Gaining Project Management Experience

Here’s a quick recap of the most important points for building up your project management credentials:

• Take on project leadership responsibilities in your current role whenever possible. Seek out opportunities to plan, budget, lead teams, track work, and deliver projects.

• Volunteer to manage projects for student groups, nonprofits, or community organizations. Tackle projects benefiting a cause while gaining great experience.

• Independently manage projects end-to-end as a freelancer or side business. Control the full project lifecycle from scoping to delivery.

• Complete project management internships to learn from experienced PM mentors. Gain hands-on experience supporting real projects.

• Consider part-time project coordinator roles that provide entry-level PM experience.

• Ask your manager for more responsibility in planning and leading team projects. Offer your PM skills where they’re needed most.

• Earn respected certifications like CAPM or PMP to demonstrate core PM knowledge.

• Invest in quality PM education through online courses, bootcamps, training programs, seminars, and certificate programs.

• On your resume, prominently highlight your project management experience, metrics, responsibilities, skills, certifications, and training.

Gaining project management experience takes time and dedication. But following the advice provided above will help you systematically build up expertise in successfully managing projects from inception to completion. With the right hands-on experience coupled with education and certifications, you can establish the strong project management foundation needed to advance your career as a PM.