PMI: Legal One of the Hottest Sectors for Project Management Careers

In an article posted to its Career Central Web site, the Project Management Institute lists the legal sector as one of the hottest job sectors for project managers right now.^[1] 

The article includes with some advice on how project managers can land jobs in the hot job sectors it lists. The advice given is generic and mostly common sense and basically boils down to: focus on accomplishments. The best advice it gives is: \"Demands vary by industry so project managers should create a targeted and specific résumé.\" This is difficult if you have no exposure to the legal industry. Few law firms, corporate legal departments, or litigation-support vendors are going to hire people on their project-management merits alone. 

While IT project managers might find it easier to transition to litigation-support project management, project managers from many industries might find it challenging to convince legal-sector employers that their skills and experience are relevant. Not impossible, mind you, just an uphill climb. I think of project managers like sales people. A great sales person can probably succeed selling in almost any industry. Likewise, a great project manager can successfully manage projects in most industries. In my experience, however, one thing that most great sales people and project managers have in common is the amount of time and effort they put into understanding whatever industry they are working in: the major players, technologies, trends, and cultures. It take more than tweaking your résumé.