The first thing you need to know is you’re not a project manager. You may have that title but you’re not, you’re a coordinator. You don’t set up scopes, you don’t set up stakeholders, you don’t set up budgets. You’re given locations, you’re given accounts, and you’re told to do it. Whatever goes wrong will be blamed on you whether it’s your department or not. Something happens in manufacturing. It’s your fault. Something happens in design. It’s your fault. Any delay, any extra costs, you’re held accountable. It’s all about metrics. They will give you a financially low account and tell you not to worry based on your metrics and the expectations you are to meet but then when it comes right down to it, it’s all about the metrics and if you look bad on paper, like you have low margins which you can’t control because it’s a contracted margin, or you have low revenue which you can’t control because this is the Budget that has been contracted, or customer deadlines aren’t met because customer keep keeps changing information. It’s your fault, you look bad, you’re the problem.
Most managers have the attitude of work overtime (no pay as it’s salary) work weekends, get the job done. Work in balance depends on your manager. Raises are little to none. They feel a 1% raise is a gift.
