Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

ICT project manager to project manager

An ICT project manager already meets 45% of what the project manager role asks for. The move turns on 19 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From ICT project manager
45 % overlap
Partial match
To project manager
29 You already bring
19 Still to learn
68 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

65.4/ 100

1 How much of what a project manager is expected to do is already part of an ICT project manager’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the project manager role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A project manager role treats 17 of its required skills as things an ICT project manager already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • apply conflict management
  • build business relationships
  • create project specifications
  • draft project documentation
  • estimate duration of work
  • identify legal requirements

What stands in the way is 19 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 29 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A project manager role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an ICT project manager background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held draft project documentation communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held organise project meetings management skills
  • already held maintain a central project repository information skills
  • already held manage project changes management skills
  • already held project configuration management business, administration and law
  • already held manage project information information skills

All 29 carried skills, including the 17 the project manager role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 39 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 management skills 7 required, 6 supplementary
  • still to learn customise project methodologies required
  • still to learn ensure equipment availability required
  • still to learn ensure equipment maintenance required
  • still to learn establish daily priorities required
  • still to learn manage logistics required
  • still to learn manage supplies required
  • still to learn supervise daily information operations required
  • optional, not held design wayside signalling interlockings optional
  • optional, not held develop business plans optional
  • optional, not held find a replacement for stage manager optional
  • optional, not held manage several projects optional
  • optional, not held plan schedule optional
  • optional, not held strive for company growth optional
02 business, administration and law 3 required, 8 supplementary
  • still to learn project management required
  • still to learn project management methodology (PM²) required
  • still to learn project management principles required
  • optional, not held program management optional
  • optional, not held Prince2 project management optional
  • optional, not held corporate social responsibility optional
  • optional, not held legal studies optional
  • optional, not held office administration optional
  • optional, not held total quality control optional
  • optional, not held business processes optional
  • optional, not held risk identification optional
03 communication, collaboration and creativity 3 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn liaise with managers required
  • still to learn negotiate with stakeholders required
  • still to learn write work-related reports required
  • optional, not held use communication techniques optional
04 information skills 3 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn control of expenses required
  • still to learn manage project metrics required
  • still to learn perform PESTEL analysis required
  • optional, not held create a financial report optional
05 assisting and caring 2 required
  • still to learn ensure compliance with legal requirements required
  • still to learn follow company standards required
06 generic programmes and qualifications 1 required
  • still to learn communication principles required

3 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a project manager role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 29 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held apply conflict management skill
  • already held build business relationships skill
  • already held create project specifications skill
  • already held draft project documentation skill
  • already held estimate duration of work skill
  • already held identify legal requirements skill
  • already held internal risk management policy knowledge
  • already held manage budgets skill
  • already held manage project changes skill
  • already held manage project information skill
  • already held manage staff skill
  • already held organise project meetings skill
  • already held perform project management skill
  • already held perform resource planning skill
  • already held perform risk analysis skill
  • already held provide cost benefit analysis reports skill
  • already held train employees skill
  • already held Agile project management knowledge
  • already held analyse business plans skill
  • already held apply change management skill
  • already held crowdsourcing strategy knowledge
  • already held insourcing strategy knowledge
  • already held lean project management knowledge
  • already held maintain a central project repository skill
  • already held maintain relationship with suppliers skill
  • already held outsourcing strategy knowledge
  • already held project configuration management knowledge
  • already held quality assurance methodologies knowledge
  • already held recruit employees skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held mathematics optional
  • optional, not held statistics optional
08 engineering, manufacturing and construction 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held quantity surveying optional
09 working with computers 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held manage standard enterprise resource planning system optional
20 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held program management optional
  • optional, not held Prince2 project management optional
  • optional, not held corporate social responsibility optional
  • optional, not held create a financial report optional
  • optional, not held design wayside signalling interlockings optional
  • optional, not held develop business plans optional
  • optional, not held find a replacement for stage manager optional
  • optional, not held legal studies optional
  • optional, not held manage standard enterprise resource planning system optional
  • optional, not held office administration optional
  • optional, not held quantity surveying optional
  • optional, not held total quality control optional
  • optional, not held business processes optional
  • optional, not held manage several projects optional
  • optional, not held mathematics optional
  • optional, not held plan schedule optional
  • optional, not held risk identification optional
  • optional, not held statistics optional
  • optional, not held strive for company growth optional
  • optional, not held use communication techniques optional
42 held skills the project manager role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role Agile development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role DevOps knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT process quality models knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT project management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT project management methodologies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT system user requirements knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Open source model knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Outsourcing model knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Process-based management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Prototyping development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Rapid application development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Spiral development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Waterfall development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role apply organisational techniques skill
  • not needed by the target role blockchain mining principles knowledge
  • not needed by the target role carry out project activities skill
  • not needed by the target role coach employees skill
  • not needed by the target role create solutions to problems skill
  • not needed by the target role define roadmap for blockchain in applications skill
  • not needed by the target role define technical requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role define technology strategy skill
  • not needed by the target role develop blockchain technology skill
  • not needed by the target role develop information standards skill
  • not needed by the target role digital systems knowledge
  • not needed by the target role document management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role execute ICT audits skill
  • not needed by the target role hybrid model knowledge
  • not needed by the target role implement ICT risk management skill
  • not needed by the target role incremental development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role iterative development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role legal requirements of ICT products knowledge
  • not needed by the target role manage ICT project skill
  • not needed by the target role manage localisation skill
  • not needed by the target role object-oriented modelling knowledge
  • not needed by the target role perform procurement processes skill
  • not needed by the target role quality standards knowledge
  • not needed by the target role service-oriented modelling knowledge
  • not needed by the target role software architecture models knowledge
  • not needed by the target role software design methodologies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role systems development life-cycle knowledge

2 further entries not listed here

15 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn project management required
  • still to learn communication principles required
  • still to learn project management methodology (PM²) required
  • still to learn project management principles required
  • optional, not held program management optional
  • optional, not held Prince2 project management optional
  • optional, not held corporate social responsibility optional
  • optional, not held legal studies optional
  • optional, not held office administration optional
  • optional, not held quantity surveying optional
  • optional, not held total quality control optional
  • optional, not held business processes optional
  • optional, not held mathematics optional
  • optional, not held risk identification optional
  • optional, not held statistics optional
Index

Other moves recorded from ICT project manager

Full index of moves from ICT project manager

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can an ICT project manager become a project manager?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. An ICT project manager already covers 45% of what a project manager is expected to do: 29 skills carry over, 17 of which the project manager role treats as required.

What skills does an ICT project manager need to become a project manager?

19 required skills are missing, plus 20 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is project management.

How hard is the move from ICT project manager to project manager?

Its learning distance is 65.4 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.