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IT Project Manager

Plan and run technology projects so they finish on schedule and budget.

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Start with: STEM Foundations: The Universal Skill StackTake the career survey

Career facts

Preparation
Considerable preparation needed · most need a bachelor's degree
Ways in
  • Bachelor's degree
  • Industry certification
Field
Design, management & teaching

About this career

IT project managers define a project's scope, build the schedule and budget, assign work, track progress in stand-ups and status reports, and resolve risks before they become delays. They use planning tools such as Jira or Microsoft Project and methods such as Agile or Scrum. Most hold a bachelor's degree, prior work in IT, and often a PMP or Scrum certification.

Learning path

Take these courses in order, from beginner to mid-level.

  1. Step 1: STEM Foundations: The Universal Skill Stack

    The shared base every STEM career uses: working with numbers and units, testing ideas fairly, handling data and code, and explaining your work.

    Level: Beginner4 modules · 12 lessons · 7h 18mAlso used in 34 other careers

  2. Step 2: Digital Literacy for Tech & STEM Work

    The everyday computer, internet, safety and AI skills every tech and STEM job assumes you already have.

    Level: Beginner4 modules · 12 lessons · 6h 8mAlso used in 34 other careers

  3. Step 3: Professional Communication & Teamwork

    Write clear emails and documents, present and run meetings, work well on teams, and navigate résumés, interviews and networking.

    Level: Beginner4 modules · 12 lessons · 7h 24mAlso used in 34 other careers

  4. Step 4: Math for Tech & STEM

    The practical math behind tech and STEM work: numbers, algebra, functions, geometry, logic and counting, with short code exercises.

    Level: Beginner5 modules · 15 lessons · 7h 32mAlso used in 34 other careers

  5. Step 5: Spreadsheets for Data Work

    Clean tables, correct formulas, lookups, pivot tables and honest charts in Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc or Excel.

    Level: Beginner3 modules · 9 lessons · 6h 35mAlso used in 16 other careers

  6. Step 6: SQL Fundamentals

    Query, summarise, join and change data in a relational database with SQL, practised in your browser.

    Level: Beginner4 modules · 12 lessons · 5h 44mAlso used in 11 other careers

  7. Step 7: Project Management Fundamentals

    Plan and run small projects: scope, stakeholders, work breakdown, schedules, estimates, risks, status reports and closure.

    Level: Beginner3 modules · 9 lessons · 5h 39mAlso used in 4 other careers

  8. Step 8: Foundations for Software, Data, Design & Tech Education Careers

    Understand tech roles and career ladders, pick a realistic learning route, build portfolio evidence, and navigate postings, interviews and your first 90 days.

    Level: Beginner3 modules · 9 lessons · 7h 22mAlso used in 20 other careers

  9. Step 9: Business & Systems Analysis

    Discover what a business really needs and turn it into clear requirements, process maps, user stories, data models and a gap analysis.

    Level: Intermediate3 modules · 9 lessons · 5h 9mAlso used in 1 other career

  10. Step 10: Agile Delivery: Scrum & Kanban

    Deliver work in short, steady cycles: agile values, Scrum roles and events, Kanban flow, backlogs, sprints, retrospectives, metrics and tools.

    Level: Intermediate3 modules · 9 lessons · 4h 34mAlso used in 2 other careers

  11. Step 11: IT Project Leadership

    Lead mid-size IT projects: hybrid delivery, governance, earned value, vendors, business cases, technical and security risk, recovery and your path to PMP and program management.

    Level: Mid-level4 modules · 12 lessons · 7h 14m

Skills you'll build

Problem Solving

Breaking big, vague problems into small concrete steps. The most transferable skill in tech.

Git

The version-control tool every software team uses to track and merge changes.

SQL

The language for asking questions of relational databases. Used everywhere.

Cloud Fundamentals

Core concepts of cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure): compute, storage, networking, IAM.

Security Fundamentals

Authentication, authorization, encryption, common attack patterns. Defense in depth.

Free resources to get started

Hand-picked courses and reading from trusted free providers.

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