Project Management

Project management is open to graduates of any degree. Typically, graduates start in an entry level position. This may be a project assistant or junior/graduate project manager before progressing. See APM Salary and Market Trends Survey 2023 for more information.

Many employers will support project management graduates in gaining an industry recognised qualification. This may be a PRINCE 2 or Agile project management theory. You would study for these alongside working. Employers would not normally expect recent graduates to already have these qualifications.

Have a look at the job profiles in this sector on Prospects and targetjobs to find out more about what these roles involve and how to get into them. These are just some of the profiles available:

• Project manager
• Charity sector project manager. For more information on this sector see charities and voluntary organisations
• Construction project manager. For more information on this sector see civil engineering, geomatics and construction
• Healthcare project manager. For more information on this sector see healthcare
• IT project manager. For more information on this sector see technology and data
• Property project manager. For more information on this sector see property and surveying
• Translation project manager. For more information on this sector see language careers

Skills employers look for:

• organisational, planning and time management skills
• a logical and methodical approach
• negotiation skills and diplomacy
• the ability to motivate
• communication, interpersonal and people management skills
• ability to work under pressure and to deadlines
• IT knowledge
• budgeting skills
• commercial awareness

According to the APM Salary and Market Trends Survey 2023, 18 – 24-year-olds working in project management earned an average salary of £27,500. The average overall salary for project management professionals in the UK in 2023 was £47,500.

To learn more about typical starting salaries use the following resources:

• our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations
• job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs
• vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn

For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offers.

• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed
• use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13]
• attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates
• sign up for mentoring support with  and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting
• attend events, such as recruitment fairs and employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:

• RateMyPlacement - placement year reviews written by students.
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees

• Association for Project Management (APM): Careers advice– includes advice, case studies and routes into project management
• Prospects: How to become a project manager
• Future Learn: Become a project manager – includes free online project management courses
• Project Management Institute (PMI): Career central

• PM Today - sector news
• Project Smart - news and project management resources
• Association for Project Management (APM) – news, blogs and journals
• Project Management Institute and blog

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry.

See our Events and workshops page for upcoming events, including recruitment fairs and employer and sector insights.

Many large employers and the professional bodies in this sector run events and other opportunities, for example:

• Association for Project Management (APM) organise events and webinars and have active local community groups. Have a look at the North East branch
• The Project Management Institute also hold events

Use social media to find industry insights

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on X and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate.

Find out more about 

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network  

Professional bodies often: 

• run networking events
• have specialist groups you could join
• post vacancies on behalf of their members
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications 

Key organisations include: 

• Association for Project Management (APM) - free membership for students
• Project Management Institute – UK chapter, find additional chapters in other countries
• Chartered Management Institute (CMI)

Finding professional bodies worldwide

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.

Apply for advertised opportunities as early as possible.

UK applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled.

Several large graduate recruiters, such as Rolls-Royce, GE and Network Rail, offer students paid summer internships or placement years in project management.

Use our resources to get started: 

• MyCareer - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts  
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites 
• Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad 

Search the following external sites for more opportunities in project management: 

• RateMyPlacement - includes reviews of previous project management placements
• Prospects
• TARGETjobs
• Gradcracker - project management vacancies in STEM

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage and many are project based internships. 

• Search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer. Type in ‘NCL internship’ into the text search box.
• You can find these advertised throughout the academic year. Full-time summer opportunities are advertised from around March.

Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:  

• additional vacancy websites  
• CV, application and interview advice   
• Advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world.  

If you’re looking for inspiration, try searching our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank. 

The resources in this section advertise both graduate jobs and graduate schemes. See our graduate jobs page to understand the difference between them. 

For graduate schemes, apply as early as possible.  

UK applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled. 

Graduate jobs tend to be immediate start positions which can be available all year round. You are more likely to apply for these towards the end of your studies. 

Use our resources to get started: 

• MyCareer - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts. You can filter by occupational area (eg 'using languages'), vacancy type and location.
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites
• Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad

• APM Careers
• PMI Jobs - worldwide jobs
• Project Manager Jobs
• LinkedIn: Jobs
• The Guardian Jobs
• Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP). These are three-way partnerships involving a business, a graduate and an academic institution. Graduates work on research projects while gaining industrial experience with an employer. Projects are competitively paid. There is funding for personal development, and typically last 1-3 years. View current opportunities.

See International jobs for details of overseas vacancy sites. 

Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:  

• additional vacancy websites  
• CV, application and interview advice   
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of recruitment agencies in specific countries. They are listed under the following headings:  

• staffing agencies and temporary help firms  
• executive recruiters and search firms  

Recruitment agencies may not operate in the same way in different countries. In the UK agencies are free for job seekers, but this may not be the case elsewhere. Explore the terms and conditions of an agency before signing up to use them.  

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities: 

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in. 
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company. 
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated. 
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying! 

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you: 

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts 
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin 

• find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’
• use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page
• search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working
• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed

Use the resources below to find organisations in the North East, UK and worldwide. 

• North East Chamber of Commerce: Business directory – search for companies in the North East
• Journal Top 200 - 200 largest companies in the North East
• Yell.com - online business directory
• Sector-specific. select the 'Finding jobs' tab for employer directories for each particular sector
• LinkedIn Find Alumni Tool see where Newcastle University graduates are working for inspiration

See Researching Employers for more ways to source and research companies.

Search GoinGlobal’s employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.