Business & Management

project manager

Name: Project Manager skill & career-path data
Creator: Futureful

Learned from 419 real résumés for this role.

Across 419 real U.S. résumés for a project manager, the most distinctive skills are Offshore Resources, Change Management Processes and Program/Project Management — each far more common in this role than across all résumés. This is the real skill fingerprint, learned from résumés, not a job description.

Offshore Resources: 1% have it · 232.2× vs average
Change Management Processes: 1% have it · 232.2× vs average
Program/Project Management: 1% have it · 92.9× vs average

Based on Futureful's analysis of 102,822 U.S. résumés (2026).

What this means

Project managers in this dataset draw on a broad mix of skills, though no single one dominates. A smaller share of résumés list capabilities like program and project management and Cisco CUCM, each appearing on six résumés, along with change management processes, contractual obligations, and system performance tuning. This spread suggests the role blends organizational coordination with technical fluency rather than leaning on one specialty. Career movement here is well documented. Most people advance into IT project manager roles, while many step up to senior project manager or move into program manager and IT manager positions. Feeders are equally clear, with many arriving from IT project manager, project coordinator, business analyst, or program manager backgrounds.

AI summary · grounded only in the real data above · never invents a number

Skill fingerprint

ranked by distinctiveness

The skills that most define this role, more common here than across all résumés. The bar shows how distinctive; the % is how many people in the role have it.

offshore resources

232.2×

1% · N=3

change management processes

232.2×

1% · N=3

program/project management

92.9×

1% · N=6

cisco cucm

92.9×

1% · N=6

telesales

116.1×

1% · N=3

infragistics

116.1×

1% · N=3

contractual obligations

116.1×

1% · N=3

system performance tuning

116.1×

1% · N=3

pos terminals

116.1×

1% · N=3

oracle data integrator

116.1×

1% · N=3

time

116.1×

1% · N=3

training plans

116.1×

1% · N=3

client implementation

77.4×

1% · N=6

strategic leadership

73.3×

1% · N=6

meeting facilitation

69.7×

1% · N=6

Where people go next

Real onward moves from dated work history.

it project manager10% · N=186 senior project manager6% · N=102 senior it project manager2% · N=39 program manager2% · N=39 it manager1% · N=21 project coordinator1% · N=18 network administrator1% · N=18 it support1% · N=18

Where people come from

The roles that feed into this one.

it project manager8% · N=105 project coordinator11% · N=33 senior project manager5% · N=30 business analyst7% · N=27 program manager11% · N=24 it manager4% · N=24 consultant6% · N=21 it consultant5% · N=18

Common questions

Straight answers, every one backed by the real counts on this page.

What skills does a Project Manager need?

In 419 real résumés for this role, the most defining skills are Offshore Resources (1% have it), Change Management Processes (1% have it), Program/Project Management (1% have it), Cisco Cucm (1% have it), Telesales (1% have it). These are the skills that separate this role from the rest of the workforce.

What do people in Project Manager roles move on to next?

From real dated work history, the most common next roles are It Project Manager (10% of moves, N=186), Senior Project Manager (6% of moves, N=102), Senior It Project Manager (2% of moves, N=39).

What roles lead into Project Manager?

The roles that most often feed into this one are It Project Manager (8% of arrivals, N=105), Project Coordinator (11% of arrivals, N=33), Senior Project Manager (5% of arrivals, N=30).

Does this page show Project Manager salary?

No. Résumés do not carry pay, so Futureful holds no compensation data for this role and never invents a dollar figure. Every statistic here is a skill or career-move count backed by real résumés.

Where does this data come from?

The Futureful Career Atlas is built from 102,822 real US résumés, aggregated with no personal data. 419 of them are Project Manager résumés. Every number on this page is a count of real people, and thin pages are kept out of search. Full method: futureful.app/careers/methodology.

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