The reason is that to successfully execute a project in any vertical or industry field, people in project management jobs need specialized knowledge of that field, without which they are bound to fail. However, they also need a firm grasp over the general needs of the project and its interconnection with parallel projects and functions in other verticals. So, project manager jobs require a thorough understanding of general functions that are related with, but not part of a project.
Now, if specialization means knowing more and more about less and less, and generalization means knowing less and less about more and more, then people in project management jobs require to know both more and less. They need to possess specialized knowledge of work verticals, and generalized knowledge of the interrelation of their verticals with other projects and functions of the company, as well as their interrelation with the state of the market. For example, it is impossible to visualize persons in charge of project manager jobs in a construction project to know little about the process of construction, and at the same time know nothing about logistics and future projections of cement prices.
Project manager jobs, surprisingly, are described to be part of only construction projects and at a position higher than that of a supervisor. Even in quite high ranking pages on the internet, you will find project management jobs being described as jobs of a construction manager. This is awful, because project manager jobs exist in every industry and every business organization, whether in information technology or in agriculture. As there is work to be done in every field of human endeavor, so there are time bound projects to be completed in every productive activity, and project manager jobs are to be found everywhere. What puts a person in charge of a project is, as discussed above, a specialized knowledge of the work vertical coupled with a broad perspective and generalized knowledge of industry or business sectors.
People in project manager jobs are often required to coordinate between several verticals to ensure timely completion of work and task delivery. One of the most difficult areas in project management jobs is change management and overseeing execution of new organizational initiatives.
People in project manager jobs differ from supervisors in the approach towards things, though both positions involve overseeing work execution. While supervisors are generally concerned with time bound production, people in project management jobs are concerned with time, quality, quantity, and budget. Quite often, persons in project manager jobs are required to prepare project details outlining and predicting the costs and time involved in delivering a certain amount of work.
Project manager jobs involve daily work like creating work schedules, developing change, reporting progress, prioritizing activities, and creating better workflows and systems to enhance process performance. Thus, project management jobs involve the kind of work that taxes personal abilities to the utmost and deep involvement and attachment with work responsibilities, - they require a mindset out of the ordinary.
