Project Manager: What is the cost of hiring?
2025-10-0154000.00130802.89241000.00YEARLY
Project Manager: What is the cost of hiring?
As of April 2022, the average number of job seekers per project manager job in Australia is 6.3.
a project manager: What is the cost of hiring?
As of April 2022, the average number of job seekers per project manager job in Australia is 6.3.
Why hire a project manager?
Hiring a project manager can give your organisation a critical advantage, especially if your business is growing. A good project manager plans, organises and oversees different projects so that they are successfully completed on time and under budget. Generally speaking, project managers keep things on track and help you meet milestones.
Contributions of a great project manager:
- Saves you time and money and helps you make sound business decisions
- Provides leadership and motivates employees to get the job done
- Helps your business set and achieve goals while reducing risks
Deciding between a full-time vs freelance project manager
Project manager is a job that can be performed full-time as an in-house employee, or on a freelance or contractor basis. An in-house project manager can be more cost-effective in the long term than bringing in an external expert every time projects arise. They will be familiar with the structures and culture in your organisation and will have already established the necessary interpersonal relationships.
A contract project manager is hired by a company to manage a single project and provide expert guidance and management. For the duration of the project, they are responsible for keeping the project on track, staying on top of expenses and ensuring that the in-house project team members are all doing their part and fulfilling their allocated duties. Some employers also go on to hire their contractor project managers full-time if they are happy with their performance and the project manager is open to the idea.
What are the different types of project manager?
When hiring a project manager, make sure you know exactly what projects and duties you need them for. There are different ranks and types of project manager, and you want to hire the right one for your business and specific departments. Examples include:
- IT project manager: Software and hardware expert who works in a company’s IT department and is responsible for implementing the IT strategy and successfully completing projects.
- Construction project manager: Plans and oversees specific building projects from start to finish, monitoring supplies, balancing budgets and working with subcontractors while ensuring regulations are met.
- Marketing project manager: Specialises in planning, managing and executing
marketing
campaign projects on time and within budget.
- Junior and senior project managers: As the title suggests, junior project managers are often entry-level employees who work as part of a particular project team; senior project managers oversee multiple projects and project teams throughout a company and require more in-depth knowledge and experience than their junior counterparts.
Where to find a project manager
To find the right project manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
- The Australian Institute of Project Management: Australia’s premier industry association for project managers is a good first port of call; advertise in their members’ magazine or consider becoming a sponsor of their annual conference and get your name out there, especially if you’re regularly looking for contractors.
- Advertise: Post a job ad in a business newspaper with your contact details or a link to the application page on your website.
- Indeed Smart Sourcing: Take advantage of the Indeed Smart Sourcing: search for ‘project manager’ and browse the results for suitable candidates.
- Ask for referrals: Ask your industry peers for recommendations (perhaps at your next local business meet-up); they have likely used a project manager before and can give you some names.
Post your job online: Try posting your project manager job on Indeed to find and attract quality project manager candidates.
Skills to look for in a great project manager
A great project manager candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:
- highly effective communication skills to liaise with peers and internal and external stakeholders
- technical expertise in relevant software programs
- team-building and conflict resolution skills
- sound negotiation skills to save costs and optimise resources
- an ability to problem-solve and multitask
Writing a project manager job description
A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified project manager candidates. A project manager job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.
When writing your job description for a project manager, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on project manager jobs, according to Indeed data:
- project manager
- construction project manager
- construction
- project management
- construction manager
- project manager construction
- IT project manager
- project
Interviewing project manager candidates
Strong candidates for project manager positions will be confident answering questions regarding:
- project management training and certifications
- previous experience with projects’ time and budget restrictions
- communication skills and ability to build relationships with customers, suppliers and in-house staff in different departments
- their leadership style
- their most and least successful projects completed in the past, and reasons for success or difficulties
Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of project manager interview questions for examples (with sample answers).
*Indeed provides this information as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your recruiting or legal advisor, we are not responsible for the content of your job descriptions, and none of the information provided herein guarantees performance.
