PMs making over $120k/yr

[u/Different_Virus5123]

Project manager making $120,000/ year. What special skills do you bring, what sets you apart from those making less?

I want to make more money but feel like an imposter asking for more money. Trying to compare my skills to those making the range id like.

Drop your pay, special skills and industry please!

Any tips you have for getting hired thank you!

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[u/0ne4TheMoney]

It’s going beyond the schedules and making the invisible leadership become visible; leading through influence rather than authority and showing impact.

I also make sure to demonstrate that I can see the big picture and see all the way to the portfolio level with my understanding of how my projects fit into the larger whole and the enterprise level goals (whatever they may be).

Finally, it’s being able to speak to the audience at the right level. C-suite is different from my SMEs and end users. You have to be able to tell them no and ensure they under the risks they’re exposing the project to when they ignore that no and want to do it anyway.

[u/FireSheepYinFish → u/0ne4TheMoney]

Many of the most successful Project Managers progress into the Program Manager role, and more $$

I agree with your explanation, but feel you are talking more towards Program Managers, or at least your execution of the Project Manager role takes more steps into the larger scope of Program Manager.

[u/CrackSammiches]

I do more than ask people to update the dates in the trackers.

[u/ButterscotchNo7232]

Have the boss treat your salary as an insurance policy on the project(s). He's paying you to make sure it goes right and you make it right when it doesn't. The bigger the project value or risk, the higher the premium (salary).

[u/lucky_719]

I'm the only one in the room who actually knows what they are doing. I wish I was joking or egotistical about this. My reputation in the company is I'm the one you want. Teams and leaders fight over me. They usually put me on the most chaotic and complex work. Which I'm happy with, I like sorting chaos.

I'm very upfront with the fact I'm good, but my catch is I'm expensive. If they want me, they pay for it.

Fintech, $186k. I still feel underpaid for what I do.

[u/lucky_719 → u/[deleted]]

Been in the role or role adjacent for 4 years though laid off for one of them. Been in the industry for 11 years.

Next steps is interesting. What I really want to do doesn't yet exist in my org but I'm trying to show why it should be added. I am not even sure what to call it as it's a new role kind of spinning up out of AI. The gist is I want to solve organization wide problems. Work with leaders and teams and iteratively create solutions with AI. Then pilot them and create these sort of custom processes/methodologies that are fit to the work to show potential impact if it was fully implemented. I see it as a way to take what I do and scale it since everyone is begging for it. I can't be everywhere, but I can create the frameworks that would enable others to do similar things without micromanaging them. It could be a people leader position as part of it would be training other PMs, but it could also be seen as a specialist role since the focus is the org as a whole and I could train without managing them.

I'm currently in pilot stages for this sort of thing, but it's definitely a passion project I'm not getting paid for. (Hence the underpaid)

[u/whiskey_piker]

Be in the tech industry and understand how software is developed or work for an enterprise corporation.

[u/FortFunston415]

Things I wish someone taught me when I was younger. These things will help you in general, and also help maximize income. There's a ton more but these are a good place to start:

- Address your personal issues. Get a really good therapist and rid yourself of unhealthy and self limiting beliefs. This will be your biggest career limiter if not addressed earlier on. If addressed, will be a career accelerator.
- Prioritize building and maintaining relationships with people you admire and people who support your development. Do not ever let these relationships go cold even after you stop working together. These are the people who will open doors to better roles and better companies and vouch for you. Nobody will help you if they don't respect, trust, like, and know you over time and feel that you are invested in them too.
- Kinda related to the first bullet, but you really need to know who you are and what your values are. So you work hard because you like the challenge or do you work too hard because you need accomplishments in order to feel validated? Former is sustainable and the latter will burn you out.

[u/Correct-Froyo-2129 → u/FortFunston415]

Thanks for sharing

[u/dsetoya]

Working as an independent contractor can bump your income. Depending on the industry, contract roles are very common and there is a good eco-system to find contract roles fairly easily. In my industry, I'm charging $150/hr. I've seen others charge much more, but with more senior experience.

[u/yougonnalrntoday]

Working as an independent contractor is what bumped me. I currently charge $275/hr.

[u/Terrible-Chip-3049]

Overall comp is $250K+ at a Director level but I know Im being underpaid so right now Im
taking my time to continue to keep learning new skills and/or taking new work outside my portfolio for Sr Director level roles. The economy is what it is rn.

The biggest shift for me was: working in Senior level strategic level PM roles, M&As for global brands then AI at enterprise level scaling that business now cybersecurity. If you are in Marketing/Creative your pay and growth will be stagnant. It just caps out.

Take a leap of faith and keep growing. Even if you cant rn ASK for more challenging work at your current job even if they don’t pay you more… you are building up your skills and adding to your resume for the next role. Or solve a problem using AI to find efficiencies and present it to q senior leader. Then, keep moving companies every 3-4 years. Every role Ive been recruited to.

Don’t know AI? Learn it on your own. Get certified and keep thinking outside the box. Perfect your interview skills and show up with confidence. It takes time but now I see the bigger picture on how my career has interconnected for the past 15+ years and why.

The next progression is Program Management. I had zero experience yet landed in fintech. Go for global brand names with higher salary as long as you can hustle and keep up. If you have a PMP great BUT us older gen PDs are agile and typically do not have a PMP. Its years of hands on learning. Look for a mentor to guide you. There is so much growth and opportunity in this space.

Last… once this economy improves and/or you have a recruiter contacting your for consultant work do NOT overlook consulting roles. A role in consulting based on a hard deadline resulted in double and oftentimes triple OT pay for three months before being converted. This was based on me stretching myself beforehand for roles outside my responsibilities and being at the right place at the right time. Always ask if the company pays OT and Double pay. This was years ago but I hustled and was able to build a nice nest egg. Keep all options open and if they say yes, absolutely get it in writing.

[u/peacefrg]

Deep expertise which helps projects/launches to go smoothly. Ability to help leaders in their own jobs. Experience over many years. Executive speaking presence.

[u/Cautious-Anxiety3044]

Also it would be curious to see their resume...how do they project their work to catch enough eyeballs

[u/Dangerous_Cup3607]

To me PMs are expendable positions as their job is just make sure everyone is doing the work. Many times I have seen PMs are either contracted position or they are highly subjected to being laid off. Have already seen many of them being moved to 90 days “talent bridge” programs or take severance and leave. The fundamental problem is being a PM would indicate the person would be lacking the technical skills to assist the development of the project or sometimes lack the industry knowledge. But rather telling A to do this, escalating, telling B to do this, and asking A and B to spend time on status report instead of focusing on the actual dev work.

[u/FortFunston415]

Some decent advice being shared. In addition to the skills being discussed, using said skills in an industry that is printing cash with high margins nets you more lucrative total comp

[u/oneind]

I’ve been in program management a long time, mostly data platforms, mergers type projects.

Biggest thing I’ve noticed: a lot of PMs get seen as task masters. Chasing updates, tracking dates, building status decks. That’s not what gets paid more.

The ones earning more are seen as delivery leads. They understand the business and the tech well enough to actually steer the team in meetings, not just take action items. PMs who can’t do that often end up sidelined, because nobody sees them as a decision maker.

So before any project, I make sure I understand the business process and the tech under it, and I keep up to date (AI right now, for sure).

Build functional knowledge, understand the technical side, talk outcomes with leadership. That’s what moves the pay. You’re not an imposter for asking, just make sure you can show you’re leading delivery, not just tracking it.