Project Management

Introductory Resources

• Project Managers – general description, skills…, BU Vault.
• PhD Stories from PhDs who became Project Managers, PhD Career Stories.
• Key roles and responsibilities of Clinical Project Managers, and career transition advice towards becoming a clinical project manager, ProClinical.

Venturing further in this career area

• Scientific Project and Program Management, 1-hour career panel with PhDs.
• The PhD Progression program provides PhD students at BU with self-paced online modules – upon completion of a module, students get a digital badge that can be shared on LinkedIn. If you are interested in gaining project management badges, register for the project management pathways here and check out and complete modules on project planning, tracking, and management tools and approaches (including some used in industry).
• Analyze labor market insights – Choose the “By filtering for industry and occupation” and then “Health Sciences” for Industry and “Natural Science Managers” for occupation; you will then see salaries, key skills, hiring companies project managers, etc.

Learning by doing job-related tasks

Job Simulations are job-related tasks that can be completed in a few hours, to help you assess how enjoyable and how much of a good fit a specific job could be for you. Intersect Job Simulations have been created by PhDs for PhDs, to support their career transitions into a wide range of careers. To make the most of job simulations, please set up SMART Goals to perform each simulation in a reasonable timeline. When you have completed the task, fill out the Self-Reflection Sheet, which will help you reflect on what you enjoyed (or did not enjoy) about the simulation, and how it can help inform your career exploration efforts.

• Project Management Job Simulation – Creating a Scope of Work.
• Project Management Job Simulation – Setting a Meeting Agenda.
• Project Management Virtual Job Simulation.

Preparing your transition into this career area

• Focus on your skills, Nature article.
• Explore and connect with members of the following professional societies and institutes:
  • Project Management Institute (PMI).
  • International Project Management Association (IPMA).
• Look for and join relevant thematic groups on LinkedIn, online communities, etc.
• Look for GMS Alumni who have transitioned into this career area.
• Analyze job descriptions to learn more about what institutions and organizations are currently looking for.
• Study company websites, follow them on social media and YouTube.
• Growing your network and having informational interviews with PhDs who have transitioned into careers of interest to you will enable you to learn more about the job’s daily responsibilities, hiring process, career progression, etc., and the sector as a whole.