How to Become a Project Manager without a Degree

Project management may be a fitting career choice if you are highly organized, good at managing people and processes, and an excellent problem solver. As a project manager, you might start as an expert in your field and develop and grow into a management-level position. Alternatively, you might start learning project management skills and gaining qualifications, which you then apply to a chosen field.

Project management is a high-level position; you generally need a bachelor’s degree with a relevant major. However, with the right experience, skills, certifications, and commitment to professional development, pursuing a career in project management without a degree is possible. 

Read more: What Is a Project Manager? A Career Guide

What does a project manager do?

A project manager oversees a project or several projects, managing a team of people to take the project from concept to completion. As a project manager, you ensure projects meet deadlines and align with budgets by developing and adhering to a project plan. By doing so, you'll delegate tasks, communicate with stakeholders, and solve problems that arise.

Read more: Project Manager Career Path: From Entry-Level to VP

Duties and responsibilities

As a project manager, you may work in a number of industries, such as information technology (IT), construction, or health care to name a few. Your duties and responsibilities vary depending on the industry, who you work for, and the type of project you’re working on. In general, project managers have the following core responsibilities:

• Communicating with senior management and stakeholders to determine the project scope, timeline, and budget

• Managing a team of people working on the project and delegating tasks

• Creating project plans and project schedules

• Implementing and managing a budget

• Keeping the project to deadlines and targets

• Addressing problems and issues quickly and decisively 

• Effectively communicating with and supporting team members

• Conducting quality assurance tests

• Communicating progress to stakeholders

How to become a project manager without a degree

According to Zippia, 68 percent of project managers hold a bachelor’s degree [1]. While this is a high percentage, it is possible to have a successful career as a project manager without a degree. However, it involves a great deal of work, gaining experience, certifications, skills, and proving yourself in your industry. 

Step 1: Get experience.

Having relevant and substantial experience is essential if you want to work as a project manager without a degree. Firstly, look to become an expert in your field. You may start in entry-level roles, or if you already have experience in a particular sector, build on this. Aside from your industry experience, you must gain experience in project management. This may be in your current role or moving on to something different. You may find you have developed workplace skills from previous roles, such as time management, leadership, and decision-making, as a starting point. 

Apply for work within project teams, or consider related positions such as project coordinator or project administrator so you have experience working on projects. Any management and leadership experience you gain is beneficial. Even if you hold a degree you can expect to need between three to five years of experience to become a project manager, which demonstrates how important experience is in gaining a position of this kind [2]. 

Read more: How to Get a Job with No Experience: A Job Seeker’s Guide

Career path to project management positions

If you have no experience in project management, you’ll find a number of project-related positions to help you qualify for a project manager role, including:

• Project coordinator

• Project administrator

• Project scheduler

• Team leader 

• Assistant project manager

Step 2: Develop essential skills.

Working as a project manager requires both workplace skills and technical skills. Some of the technical skills depend partly on the field you’re working in. Aside from experience to build these specific skills, you might hone them through a bootcamp or course. However, you’ll also find some general technical and workplace skills to be important, these include:

Technical skills

• Project management methodologies

• Budgeting

• Project scope

• Quality management

• Performance management

• Process management

• Stakeholder management

• Resource management

• Risk management

• Conflict management 

Workplace skills

• Leadership

• Problem-solving

• Decision making

• Critical thinking

• Communication

• Organization

• Collaboration

• Adaptability

• Time management

Step 4: Self-study.

Showing your knowledge and skills is especially important if you don’t have a degree, and self-study is an excellent way to demonstrate your learning, build your confidence, and prove you're dedicated to professional development. 

Self-study doesn’t have to involve a credential. It can be informal learning, such as books, articles, podcasts, skills sharing, and event attendance. If you’re looking for something more formal, consider an online course, bootcamp, or certificate. 

Step 5: Get certified.

Without a degree, it’s important that you have a project management certification to prove your skills. Even if you have a degree, a recognized certification can boost your chances of employment and is considered essential for some jobs. The industry standard certification is the Project Management Professional (PMP) delivered by the Project Management Institute (PMI).

In addition, PMI offers a range of project management certifications to fit the industry and position you want to work in, including PMI Construction Professional, PMI Risk Management Professional, and PMI Certified Consultant. Aside from PMP, you’ll find a number of certifications to consider, including:

• CompTIA Project+

• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)

• Certified Project Manager (IAPM)

• GAQM Certified Project Director (CPD)

• Prince2 7

Read more: How to Become a Certified Project Manager

Step 6: Network.

Networking by getting to know people in the industry who can help you, answer questions, or provide you with an introduction is a great way of putting yourself out there. You may find a mentor this way who can guide you and give you feedback.

Read more: What Is Networking? How to Grow Your Network

Step 7: Create your resume.

Before you start applying for work experience, internships, and entry-level positions in project management, you need to build a strong resume. Use your resume to demonstrate your skills, experience, and certifications. Make sure your resume is highly tailored to the role you’re applying for by using applicable keywords from the job description. 

Read more: Navigating the Applicant Tracking System (ATS): A Job Guide

Salary and job outlook

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average annual salary for a project management specialist in the US is $95,370 [3]. Glassdoor reports similar data, with a project manager's average annual base salary being $98,529,  rising to an average of $124,376 for a senior project manager [4,5].

The job outlook for project managers is good. The expected job growth is 6 percent, which is above average and would create 68,100 job openings per year across the nation[3].

Get started with Coursera. 

Project management is an advanced role that spans a range of industries, from finance to construction to manufacturing and many more. To start your career in project management without a degree, it’s important that you showcase your skills through certifications, relevant experience, skills, and self-directed learning. 

If you’re considering project management as a career, you might consider taking an online course as part of your self-directed learning. Look at the Google Project Management: Professional Certificate or the Project Management Specialization by the University of Colorado, Boulder, both conveniently hosted on Coursera. Upon completing either program, gain a shareable Professional Certificate to include in your resume, CV, or LinkedIn profile.