By Galow Low, General Manager at The Digital Project Manager
The project management industry is forever expanding, with 88 million people predicted to be required in project management roles by 2027.
This comes as organisations seek new ways to maintain and improve productivity, with project managers able to manage the day-to-day business operations and ensure teams meet goals on time and within budget.
But as the industry continues to expand, how can teams attract and train new employees that will take them into a new age of rapid technological advancement? One word – TikTok.
TikTok, a video-sharing platform made popular by Gen-Z, allows users to create and share short-form videos on any topic, project management included.
There are currently 89.4M views for #projectmanagement on TikTok, plus other popular hashtags #projectmanager (72.3M views), #projectmanagementtiktok (6.7M views) and #projectmanagementtips (3.9M views).
Project Influencers have been taking to the platform to share advice for people thinking of getting into the project management industry to inspire the next generation.
Here’s a roundup of some of the best advice on TikTok:
1. What skills do you need to become a project manager? @apmprojectmanagement
The Association of Project Management (APM) has a TikTok channel with over 12.8K followers that shares videos on how to get into project management, interview tips and ways to improve your CV.
One particularly popular video, with over 100K views, is one on skills required to get into the industry.
Tips include:
· Be effective at planning, monitoring and reviewing
· Motivate and encourage others
· Be decisive and able to work well under pressure
· Be able to resolve conflict
· Be good at problem-solving
· Have an understanding of health and safety
· Good communication skills, both verbal and written
· Be able to coordinate work carried out by both people and organisations
· Be a team player
· Be able to control and monitor budgets
2. How I went from $65K/yr as a Project Manager to making $500K/yr @chelsea.winstead
With 99.9K followers, Chelsea is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to project influencing. In December, she posted a series of videos detailing how she made it big by freelancing a few years ago, which have over 100K views collectively.
Here’s what she did:
· Used freelancing websites like UpWork to find and connect with companies who needed project management but couldn’t afford to hire someone full-time.
· Perfected her process by getting clear on systems and technology, as well as businesses she wanted to work alongside.
· Next, she offered set-price retainers, so companies paid money upfront for her services.
· Finally, she established a team of contractors to work alongside her to help complete projects within time and budget constraints.
3. How to become a project manager with no experience? @therealcolinrocker
With 63K followers, Colin Rocker describes himself as a ‘Consultant turned Tech Bro in NYC, offering career advice’. He has a series of videos sharing tips on how to get into the industry with limited or no experience.
His advice:
· Get a Google Project Management certificate or a PMP certification to learn key skills and give you the upper hand against other applicants.
· Seek mentorship from others to finetune strategy and tweak resume to ensure skills and job history is relevant.
· In an interview, make sure you present yourself as professionally as possible to make yourself seem trustworthy and prepare anecdotes for examples of when something didn’t go as planned.
· Start networking with the type of people you want to work with to gain insight.
· Demonstrate project-based work on your CV and highlight how you can lead and motivate others towards a goal.
· Identify skills gaps and learn concepts such as scrum, agile combine and other soft skills that may be required.
4. Job Titles to look for (for Project Management roles) @careercoachmelissa
Anyone new to the industry might not know there is a variety of job titles used to describe project managers, which have the same specifications and day-to-day responsibilities.
Melissa Blackmore, a career coach, currently has 52K followers on TikTok, where she shares her top career and project management tips. In one video with over 11.4K views, she shares a variety of different project management job titles:
· Program Manager
· Associate Project Manager
· Project Coordinator
· Planning Manager
· Director of Operations
· Delivery Manager
· Customer Success Manager
· Decision Support Analyst
But, remember…
While TikTok is a great way to find and share advice, not everything you watch is always 100 percent correct. Think of the video-sharing platform as a starting point and seek further advice from industry experts, such as these project management influencers, for best practices.
